The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Interaction Design
Marta first, with her pink parasol and friendship.
Friendship seems like a curious thing to mention, but in terms of something we all understand really well, and can draw inspiration from, it’s a perfect experiential pattern. The important bit about friendship is not the favours you do for each other, the rides you give, the kidney you donate, those tangible results of friendship; the important bit is being friends. That’s definitely something where the process of doing is more important than the end result.
Now, the situation of being friends exerts all kinds of forces and pressures. There’s a pressure to remain friends, to avoid putting the other person in awkward spots, to do favours for them, and of course people like to display their friends.
If the Web has already understood and built on any of the experiential patterns I’ve identified, it’s this one. The engine that keeps most Web 2.0 sites ticking along is sociality. You know, who would post instructions on Instructibles if they weren’t gaining reputation and using it as a way to build and continue friendship. Or why is 43 Things popular, except it lets you game you own internal social drive to achieve personal goals.
We wrap all of this up in phrases like social software and architecture of participation, so I want to pick on something which is more specific, which is small groups.
People want to bond with other people, in friendships. Small groups are the molecules of the social world. They’re common, and stable, at, you know, 5 to a dozen people, that kind of number.