Designing for Communities

published by Dan in Accessibility | Usability | Web 2.0 | Website Design with 1 Comment

The web has evolved from the old static pages to one that is rich and dynamic and one that involves a lot of social aspect. The last part, social aspect, has been what’s fueling the phenomenon of what is popularly called the web 2.0. Now, successful website ventures goes beyond the traditional pure content style to a one that involves more interaction with its readers/community. To some extent, this also changes the game of web design.

Designing for communities is a pretty big topic to be discussed in a single post. We will start with why it’s important to incorporate the community aspect in designing websites and what it entails to your design process.

To put simply, a website that was designed with the community in mind encourages more participation and enhances the stickiness to the reader’s attention. Having a community around your website also opens up a good feedback system where you can have a good conversation with your target readers. This will also open up conversations among your readers. It has its advantages as well as some implications.

Since the presence of a community adds a new important factor to a website, the web designer should work hand in hand with the client to ensure that an appropriate design is created anticipating all the consequences of fostering a community. Some design considerations might be reconsidered in a context of a website with a social (community) aspect.

Next post we’ll dwell more on web design and communities.

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