I have finally sent out my contribution to Jeff Caswell's "Project 100: Marketing in the Social Media Era.” In order to avoid writing about what I thought everyone else would, my idea is that online social interaction is not about its participants but the way they relate. So we don't have to socially interact only with other people - apps & tools & websites are welcome, too. Anyway, here's what I have written, and it is sorta compilation of several posts from here. But combining them made a better post - and a better story. So here it is.
I like thinking about branding and website design. Truth to be told, figuring out digital branding is a gruesome task. Mostly because the conversation gravitates around two areas: brands using or not using social networks (that annoying “hello, you are my friend now, so better get used to it” thing), or mindless ads & even more mindless branded destinations like minisites, advergames, viral videos, and immersive environments. I think that the truth is in between. And by in-between I don't mean some crazy social network-widget combo. (People already tried that. Doesn't work). I mean designing interactions that are not only useful & usable, but that are, well, human. This is not about making people interact with each other or creating a community. It is also not about “brands managing customer relations” in social networks. It is about making people interact with applications & site tools in a social way. It is about (social) interactions design. Something like thinking that interface has a human face.
I like to believe that every web interaction is a social interaction (and yes, saying that the web is social is a verbosity). By this I mostly mean that interactions are designed as roles and gestures between people. Something like this: when you are interacting with the real person who is maybe offering you advice, helping you do something or, just having a conversation with you. That interaction is ritualized, playful, funny, surprising and, mostly, continuous (think brand loyalty now). The brand websites should be designed like that.
In this world, the size of a button, the location of the image, a position of the search box or a number of links displayed does matter. And it matters because it represents a "break-it or make-it" point - a moment of truth about the brand. People either click or don't. They want to interact or not. They stay or they leave. (Social) interaction is possible even with the sites that are meant to be super-functional, like banking or online flight booking sites or shopping. They can be functional as if users are dealing with a real person and not with an interactive interface. Or, to say all of this in the simplest possible way: decisions about the human details like the above define if your brand makes money or it doesn’t. So why do only social networks care about this kind of stuff today? And, why do brands think that they need to go to a social network in order to be (or not) someone’s friend? The relationship can start right there on the brands’ site. It is all about the details.