Deep Thoughts on Usability
Three concepts to engage members online.
We’ve been hard at work on a double top-secret online community. Do not click here. We know what we want—a content rich site that’s also ridiculously easy and intuitive to use. So we’ve come up with three usability concepts that can help all of us keep our eyes on the prize.

1. Buzz—People are more likely to take the time to engage when they see other people engaging. It’s the bandwagon effect. When you showcase each recent user’s online activity with their photo and name, you’re giving new users the chance to window shop the community, feeding their desire to join.
2. Action—It’s not enough to provide content. You have to give people something to do. The goal of an action-oriented approach to web design is to make engaging that much clearer and simpler, from sharing or commenting on an article to more complex actions like connecting with colleagues or updating their personal profile. It all needs to be up front and center.
3. Ego—Why does someone answer a question on a listserv or write a blog post or share an article? Because it gives them a sense of satisfaction and self-worth. Appeal to the professional ego of your members and give them a sense of ownership for their own data and activities in your social space. For example, let them add flair to their profile page and list all of their recent comments and postings in one place that they can reference.

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