How to design for adoption. Social Business Symposium July 22, 2011 Gia Lyons, Strategic Advisor

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Gia Lyons Strategic Advisor Jive Business Community Manager community.jivesoftware.com twitter.com/gialyons giatalks.com

For more information about Jive Software, visit www.jivesoftware.com

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Snapshot

First, know your company objectives, user needs, and key scenarios Then, design your social business environment for adoption Next, avoid common pitfalls Finally, routinely check your design’s health

Before you design anything, know what you’re

designing for

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Answer these questions:

What are your company’s objectives for a social business community or platform?

Who are your users, and what do they want?

What are one or two key user scenarios that map to both your company’s and your users’ needs?

What is the community’s overall identity?

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Example: company objectives Employee-­‐facing  social  business  pla3orm  

By  par'cipa'ng  in  a  social  business  pla2orm,  employees  can:  • Reach  more  people  • Find  informa'on  faster  • Be  more  aware  of  others  and  the  business    …  which  can  lead  to:  • Be>er  orchestra'on  of  customer  interac'on  • More  innova've  conversa'ons  • Overall  work  transforma'on  

…  which  supports  these  corporate  ini'a'ves:  • Improve  Customer  In'macy  • Achieve  Technology  Superiority  • Flawless  Execu'on  to  Gain  Market  Leadership  

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Example: company objectives Customer-­‐facing  community  

By  par'cipa'ng  in  a  customer-­‐facing  community,  employees,  prospects,  customers  and  partners  can  connect  to,  learn  from,  and  share  with  others  about  our  products  and  services  –  specifically,  how  to:  • Develop  and  internally  promote  a  business  case  • Implement,  support,  and  innovate  our  products  and  services  

 …  which  can  lead  to:  • Expanded  business  networks  across  employees,  prospects,  customers,  and  partners  • The  most  trusted,  single  source  of  truth  for  informa'on  and  best  prac'ces    …  which  supports  these  corporate  ini'a'ves:  

• Differen'ate  our  brand  as  a  thought  and  innova'on  leader  in  marketplace  • Deliver  a  digital  strategy  that  drives  lead  genera'on  

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Example: users and their needs

Employee-­‐facing  social  business  pla3orm  Our  company’s  wireless  business  is  comprised  of  10,000+  employees  across  several  business  units  who  have  no  easy  way  to:  

• Find  and  connect  to  wireless-­‐related  people  or  informa'on  

• Share  wireless-­‐related  messages,  ideas,  insights  and  exper'se  with  the  greater  employee  community  across  geographical  and  cultural  differences    

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Example: users and their needs

Customer-­‐facing  community  about  implemen7ng    electronic  health  record  (eHR)  systems  

Medical  professionals  are  responsible  for  using  an  eHR  for  as  part  of  daily  pa'ent  care  ac'vi'es,  and  are  concerned  about  the  impact  that  doing  so  might  have  on  delivering  quality  pa'ent  care  

Researchers  influence  decision  makers’  purchase  of  consul'ng  services,  and  both  groups  are  concerned  with  finding  proof  that  success  is  achievable  versus  choosing  to  budget  for  the  penalty  fee  

Employee  subject  ma>er  experts  (SMEs)  are  already  recognized  experts  in  the  healthcare  industry  and  are  focused  on  delivering  quality  consul'ng  services  to  healthcare  professionals  about  implemen'ng  eHR  

Knowing your objectives and users makes it much easier

to define key user scenarios, and the environment’s overall identity and design

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Design your community

1.  Identify key characteristics based on overall user needs

2.  Express them in purpose, calls to action, motivation, and examples

3.  Define activity flow

4.  Structure for ease of use

5.  Seed with balanced company and user content and interaction

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Iden7ty  

Sharing  Volunteering  Informa'on  

Rela7onships  Connec'ng  

Groups  Collabora'ng  

Presence  Broadcas'ng  

Reputa7on  Status  

Content  Consuming  Informa'on  

Conversa7ons  Dialogue  

1. Identify key characteristics

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2. Express the characteristics

Purpose “What’s this site all about in five seconds or less?”

Calls to Action “OK, I’m here. What do you want me to do? Make it obvious.”

Motivation “What’s in it for me if I answer your calls to action? Is it what I want?”

Example “What behavior do you want me to model? Give me an example.”

Purpose?    Calls  to  Ac7on?    Mo7va7on?    Example?  

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3. Define activity flow

“What happens when I click here?”

Newbie                                                          Savvy  

Member  AGributes   None   Low   Medium   High  

Familiarity  with  basic  computer  skills  

Willingness  to  learn  new  technologies  

Exposure  to  online  community/social  networking  concepts    

Perceived  value  of  online  communi'es  or  social  networking  

Social  technology  ac'vity  level  

Knowledge  level  about  your  community’s  topics  

Level of Concierge Service

The  higher  the  newbie  score,  the  higher  the  design’s  “concierge  service”  

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Example: concierge service

Newbie Savvy C:  “Introduce  Yourself”  

P:  All  about  Profiles  C:  Complete  your  profile  M:  Benefits  of  networking  E:  Profile  guidelines  E:  Featured  member  profile  

Open  profile  in  edit  mode   Open  profile  in  edit  mode  

C:  “Introduce  Yourself”  

Primary characteristic: Relationships

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4. Structure for ease of use

Provide just enough structure to support calls to action, key scenarios

Make. It. Simple.

Photo credits: Randomduck and Leo Reynolds

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Primary  characteris'cs:  Conversa7ons,  Sharing,  Rela7onships  Calls  to  ac'on:  Learn,  Share,  Connect  Suppor'ng  structure:  “lobby”  area  for  ini'al  par'cipa'on,  sub  areas  based  on  persona  

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5. Seed content and interaction

People do what they see other people do

People respond best to authentic examples, e.g., “Community Admin” shouldn’t be the primary contributor

Soft-launch to key users, ask them to enact the key scenarios before inviting others to the community

Photo credits: dmswart, Swami Stream, LadyDragonflyCC

Key  Scenario:  Sales  rep  asks  a  ques7on,  SME  answers  it  in  a  7mely  manner  

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Key  Scenario:  Sales  rep  asks  a  ques7on,  SME  answers  it  in  a  7mely  manner  

Once you’ve soft-launched your community, talk with users to ensure

that you’ve avoided these common pitfalls

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Avoid common pitfalls

One-way broadcasting Over-branding the look and feel Under-positioning with other applications and websites Over-structuring according to org charts or product lines

Periodically, make sure your design is healthy

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Check design health

Can a visitor understand what the site is all about in 5 seconds or less? Is it clear what users are supposed to do? Is it easy for them to do it? Is there just enough structure to enable key scenarios? Are there examples of desired behavior and the rewards for doing so? Is there a balance of company and user content?

Q & A