Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo, multiple Ningworks (typically 38 Minutes), Digg, Reddit, Yammer, Google Apps (I include Mail, Docs and Wave), LinkedIn, Plaxo…. and there are more. I have also very recently started blogging and even though I knew it would be difficult to find the time, it really is difficult to find the time…

I’m now increasing my social fatigue by reviewing aggregator tools (+ mobile apps) to help me manage the various profiles I’ve set up. As Twitter and Facebook profiles become integrated in more and more apps/sites through Open ID mechanics, I find myself experiencing a degree of difficulty managing my personal PR. What exactly am I saying … to who … and where?

It has become a bit like sitting in a hall of mirrors, watching myself from all angles, though not necessarily gaining any perspective.  I wonder if it’s a bad thing that we’re slowly … perhaps not so slowly … drifting into an age where we cannot experience anything without documenting it.  I used to grind my teeth at people in gigs who would spend most of the time viewing the concert through the screen of their mobile phone. What’s the point? I would think…. you’re missing the live experience. I feel the same about people who continually micro-blog on holiday; can’t you just leave us [your audience] alone for a bit?

Micro-blogging might not be a bad thing …  I’d like to think I still have an open mind on this, but it may raise the question: how can you be entirely in a space with a loved one(s), if you’re also pondering about talking about it [however briefly] online?

Don’t think that I’m setting a better example…. I went to a gig last night and then stayed up late drinking tea and chatting to a friend [soooo rock and roll]. Yet, even though it was late when I went to bed, I still had to log into Facebook and tell my audience about my day. I’ve become addicted to documenting all my highs and lows in online social spaces.

And then there’s the subject of photos…. I have some female friends who seem to be deliberately manipulating photos … they are planned, rehearsed and Photoshopped. And who can blame them….?  Take a look at this piece on OKCupid.com…  I’ve yet to see male friends organising photo shoots to get their best side, but I have seen many pictures that have clearly been taken from a bedroom, at arm’s length, possibly involving at least a couple of takes to get an aesthetically pleasing, but in effect, dull photo.

There was an interesting article on the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge Blog on “Understanding Users of Social Networks”. The article makes a few points… not all nice …  not all that new either…?

“The biggest [social networking] usage categories are men looking at women they don’t know, followed by men looking at women they do know. Women look at other women they know. Overall, women receive two-thirds of all page views.

… A lot of guys in relationships are looking at women they don’t know. … It’s an easy way to see if anyone might be a better match.” Again, online networks act as cover.”

Social networking, particularly Facebook, can be a bit like watching late night crap T.V.; you don’t quite know why you’re there, but somehow can’t tear yourself away to do something more constructive.  I admit that I’m a Facebook girl, in the same way that certain Blondes associate themselves with Twitter. There remain some MySpace and even… ahem… Bebo users in the office, but we try not to mention them too often.

Evolution in social networking could be to focus on the profile, rather than the space (appreciate some of us are heading in that direction anyway) and lets throw in some AI (artificial intelligence) in there…. Why should our human minds have to do all the work? A possible solution, which has already been explored in parts, may accommodate technologies like this one:

“socially aware memory for companion agents”

So… creating avatars, based on various profiles/personas and to allow these representatives/programs/”familiars” to explore the Web. We would be able to pull and push information in a more dynamic, three-dimensional form; accommodating a degree of Search, C.V, business card exchange, RSS, calendar information, interests and perhaps even absorb other forms of ID.  Hmm, that’s a lot of waffle…. How about a kind of digital daemon (Pullman fans?) structured with Open ID access (independently owned)…. In fact I wonder if we could create digital daemons… whether these would become software products that people pay money to rent or own… Whilst ownership of this information remains controversial, I might be willing to review who I trust with this data if it cut me some slack in managing my profiles…

We have soft launched You Are What You App. The premise of this simple site is that your choice of iPhone applications probably reveals something about you.

And so it would seem. It’s the iPhone equivalent of having LLoyd Grossman looking through your keyhole.

The site appeals both to the iPhone exhibitionist and to the iPhone voyeur.

At the time of writing it’s early stages in terms of the number of active participants, but the average time on site is 7 minutes 30 seconds, suggesting that people are enjoying having a good nosey at other people’s apps.

I’ve already downloaded a few new gems as a result of seeing and reading about the apps that other people can’t live without.

There’s Byline, a mobile Google Reader app, which is perfect for keeping up with RSS feeds on the train.

Instapaper is an interesting looking application that allows you to save and read web pages offline at your convenience.

Around Me elegantly answers the question “where is the nearest x, y or z?”

And people are clearly sufficiently impressed with productivity applications like Omnifocus and Things to part with decent amounts of cash for them.

If you have an iPhone and a Twitter account please do add your apps to the site.

You Are What You App is our latest “hobby” project, following in the footsteps of WeMet for EdTwestival and EdTwinge.

Prototyping is probably the most underutilised component of a User Centered Design (UCD) process. It’s the first thing to be struck off the list when budgets and time are tight. Its value is often difficult to explain and its inclusion is often seen as unnecessary. Overkill. However, when we prototype designs, we always produce a far more effective product and reduce pain points for everyone involved.

First off lets define what a prototype is.

A prototype is a conceptual model, a statement of design intent. A prototype is a low-fi rendering of an idea or a structure. It’s a grey box rendering that you can interact with to get an idea of how something might feel to use.

A prototype is not a working model. This is the common misconception.

The Benefits of prototyping

So what exactly are the benefits of prototyping and how does it help make a better product?

- A great medium in which to communicate design intention and the best stage at which to flesh out design ideas before more subjective matters such as imagery and colour come into play.

- Enables you to test early. Make your mistakes and test assumptions before it gets costly to amend them. We should always enter a project open to the fact that everyone makes mistakes and makes wrong assumptions.

- An actual entity you can click on and interact with is far more tangible than documentation or static graphics. Stakeholders not only make better decisions if they fully understand what’s happening but also make these decisions earlier in the process.

- Makes the design process more transparent and inclusive. Prototyping together with wire-framing gives stakeholders a view into the how and why of design decisions. You can take people on a journey and make them feel they are included in the process. Giving someone a finished visual doesn’t do the same job.

So Why Not?

So maybe the more pertinent question is why shouldn’t we prototype? In a way, not to include this as part of a design process seems counter-intuitive. Making sure you’re building the right thing before you get started seems the obvious thing to do. Planning at the start of a project nearly always saves cost further down the line when mistakes are far more costly to amend.

The flow of a design process is what makes great products and prototyping definitely enhances it.

Further reading

http://boxesandarrows.com/view/integrating
http://www.newfangled.com/newfangleds_iterative_website_prototyping_process
http://www.seattle20.com/blog/Prototyping-Tool-Roundup.aspx

What’s your poison?

We’ve been hired by Channel 4’s 4iP fund to promote a new iPhone application called You Booze You Looze.

4iP is an investment fund administered by Channel 4 that is designed to support non-broadcast public service initiatives.

You Booze You Looze (YBYL) is one such initiative . It is the brainchild of a game developer in Dundee called Digital Goldfish. DG is already responsible for “Bloons”, one of the biggest selling games on the iPhone ever.

YBYL is an app that keeps tabs on what you and your friends are drinking. In a fun way it also informs you of the short and long term financial and health impacts of your drinking. It has Facebook Connect technology built in to allow groups of friends to be acutely aware of what everyone else is drinking. It features various sobriety tests/games that measure the effect of alcohol on things like balance, co-ordination, reaction time and concentration.

What has this got to do with public service you may ask.

Well.

One of Channel 4’s core values is “Making trouble in the public interest”. (One of my favourite brand values of all time).

The aim for this app is that it will be fun. Being fun will lead to social use in bars etc. Social use will hopefully lead to discussion.

Anyone who has read Nudge will be aware of the Amerian campus survey that showed that students tend to overestimate what their peers are drinking, and increase their consumption accordingly. Once told that their friends are actually drinking considerably less than they thought, their alcohol consumption dropped markedly.

So this app approaches the issue of excessive drinking by accepting that social drinking is fun, in the hope that it will provoke discussion. It is very different in tone from your average public sector anti drinking campaign.

Blonde is working with Stripe, Opticomm and one of our EdTwinge friends, Andrew Burnett, to promote the app through various channels, with a heavy dose of social media activity in the mix.

Read more at http://www.youboozeyoulooze.com/.

And if you have an iPhone click the Buy Now button to get one. A bargain at only 59p.

Follow @BoozeLooze on Twitter too.