Built For Conversation: The Interaction Design of Social Media Networks November 20, 2008

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SORRY, THE GUEST LIST IS NOW CLOSED FOR THIS EVENT...
Please join us on December 10th!
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Social Media Networks, because they are built on the collective participation of individuals, can only be effectively guided by means of a researched and learned examination of social psychology. It is the interaction designer's job to understand how social media ecosystems are likely to evolve, given the interaction of the application constraints with users -- each of which with their own goals, prejudices, social ties, needs for sociality and irrational decision-making.

Design choices affecting application design, functions, and features can only steer individual and aggregate participation within the social network. This talk will begin with the basics of social psychology as it pertains to social media and networking sites and give a brief overview of identity creation in the context of social networking theory.

We will discuss design patterns in social media site architecture and their impact on human behavior, and why interaction designers engaged in building social networking ecosystems must leverage sociology, social network analysis, and behavioral economics to ensure their social media site is Built for Conversation. Time permitting I will discuss two case studies -- why social media/networking functionality failed on Kayak.com, and why it succeeded on Gather.com -- lessons learned the hard way.

DATE and TIME
Thursday, November 20th
6:30 - 7:00 networking and refreshments
7:00 - 8:00 presentation
8:00 - 8:30 Q&A and discussion
Important: Please plan to arrive no later than 6:50 p.m. to clear security and be seated.

LOCATION
HUGE
45 Main Street, 2nd floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
http://www.hugeinc.com
Google map: http://tinyurl.com/5rwy57

Subway directions:
F to York Street or A/C to High Street
http://hugeinc.com/contactus/contact_subway.html

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER
Will Evans is founder and Principal User Experience Architect for Semantic Foundry with 14 years industry experience in information architecture user experience design. His experience includes directing interaction design and information architecture for AIR Worldwide, UX architect for web 2.0 social networking site Gather.com, and UX architect responsible for information architecture and interaction design for Kayak.com. He has worked at enterprise technology companies Lotus/IBM (where he was the senior information architect), and Curl, a DARPA-funded MIT project at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science. Most recently, Will has lead redesign projects incorporating social media, crowdsourcing and social networking for startups and Fortune 100 companies.

Will holds masters degrees in business administration, human-computer interaction and cognitive psychology. His interests and studies have focused on design, information architecture, human factors and information visualization. He earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics and philosophy.

ABOUT OUR HOST
HUGE is a leading independent interactive agency that specializes in building sustainable businesses online for some of the largest and most demanding companies in the world. Founded in 1999, HUGE has evolved a unique methodology and culture that combine the best aspects of research, user-centered design, product planning, and technology expertise. The customer experiences designed by HUGE generate over $3.6 billion in annual revenue and are visited by over 120 million unique users each month. With offices in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and London, clients include IKEA, JetBlue Airways, Scholastic, TheStreet.com, Time Inc. and Readers Digest.

ABOUT IxDA
The Interaction Design Association (IxDA.org) is a member-supported organization committed to serving the needs of the international interaction design community. With the help of more than 10,000 members worldwide, we provide a network for advancing the discipline of interaction design.

IxDA was founded in 2003 as an online discussion list and in just five years the organization has grown to include over 60 local groups worldwide and the first global conference on interaction design for interaction designers. Our next conference, Interaction 09 | Vancouver (interaction09.ixda.org), resumes where our first conference, Interaction 09 | Savannah, left off -- as a space to bring together the best and broadest interaction design talent from around the world.

Best regards,
MJ Broadbent & Peter March
IxDA NYC Local Leaders