The document discusses iterative design strategies for improving a website's comment system. It outlines the steps taken to improve Digg comments, including: releasing an initial version, adding more sophistication, gathering feedback, setting new goals, creating prototype designs, user testing, refining designs, and implementing changes. The process involved multiple iterations of gathering feedback, testing designs, and making incremental improvements to address issues and better meet user needs.

1. I’m dburka
digg flickr twitter clustershot last.fm
deltatangobravo.com daniel@deltatangobravo.com

2. What do I do?
Co-founder silverorange, creative dir. Digg, co-founder Pownce, dir. of design Tiny Speck

3. What’s a web designer?
UX, IA, Interaction designer, Creative Dir, Prod. manager, Designer, Webmaster

4. What do you do?
Designer, developer, product, entrepreneur, something else?
In-house or freelance?
Big, medium, little, lone gun?
Love it, like it, hate it, or meh?
Credit: “The 56 Geeks” by Scott Johnson, myextralife.com

5. Working titles
Design lessons learned in the trenches
A (semi-organized) brain dump of current design challenges
Stuff we got right and wrong (and what we’re doing about it)
Making complex things simpler
Credit: Flickr user ‘justin0842’

6. Ground rules
Ask questions anytime... yell out if I don’t see your hand
It’s more important to elaborate than to cover everything
@reply me @dburka with things to cover if you’re not an out loud person

7. Today’s agenda
A. Get the basics out of the way
1. Designing for engagement
2. Positive behaviors by design
4 of 5?
3. Handling (lots of) user feedback
4. Making complex interactions feel simple
4. Iterative design strategies + a case study
What else do you want to discuss?
Credit: Flickr user S.O.F.T.

8. Challenges
1. Encouraging people to participate
2. Promoting positive participation
3. Handling (lots of) user feedback
4. Making complex interactions feel simple
5. Managing change - Iterative design strategies

9. Joshua Porter (bokardo)
“You probably have a community
whether you know it or not.”
Via ChinPosin.com

10. How do your people participate?
Different sites have different issues

11. Reduce the barrier to entry
Simplify sign-up
Credit: Flickr user ‘notsogoodphotography’

17. Dip a toe in the water
Get going quickly and get invested quickly
Credit: Flickr user ‘notsogoodphotography’

20. Even as far as anonymity?
How much do you really need to know?
Credit: Flickr user ‘Photo Monkey’

22. E-commerce example

23. Start simple
Easier to grok, more engaging

33. Show, don’t tell
Showing is much more enticing (usually)

41. Increase benefit
Go beyond altruistic motivations
Credit: Flickr user ‘inoxkrow’

46. ?

47. Challenges
1. Encouraging people to participate
2. Promoting positive participation
3. Handling (lots of) user feedback
4. Making complex interactions feel simple
5. Managing change - Iterative design strategies

48. Personal profiles
Encourage trust and connections
Credit: Flickr user ‘mrclean’

54. Focus on tension points
Copy and design can go a long way
Credit: Flickr user ‘sarahkim’

57. Avoid negative competition
‘King of the hill’ contests don’t scale
Credit: Flickr user ‘cmichel67’

59. • Too basic, too static
• Frustrating to climb ladder once others established
Constop users list at any cost
Digg
•
•
Taps into negative self-interest as well
Cutthroats climb ladder
• Creates very influential users

60. • Easy to understand: simple sum
• Fantastic incentive to participate at the beginning
Pros top users listwhen benefit is low
Digg
•
•
Taps into peoples’ self-interest in a positive way
Healthy competition
• Creates recognizable ‘celebrity’ contributors

61. Digg top users list
Possible improvements?

62. Keep it positive
Seems simple, but it’s difficult to stay focused on it

63. Focus on the individual
Award individuals for personal accomplishments

65. Self-policing
Empower users to take care of issues themselves

66. Digg comment
reporting and voting
down

67. ?

68. Challenges
1. Encouraging people to participate
2. Promoting positive participation
3. Handling (lots of) user feedback
4. Making complex interactions feel simple
5. Managing change - Iterative design strategies

69. Mozilla.org
Public site redesign in 2004

72. I don't like it a bit. What was wrong with the current one?

73. I don't like it a bit. What was wrong with the current one?
Looks like your average small company website.

74. I don't like it a bit. What was wrong with the current one?
Looks like your average small company website.
Keep the old colors and ditch the new ones. It's too depressing.

75. I don't like it a bit. What was wrong with the current one?
Looks like your average small company website.
Keep the old colors and ditch the new ones. It's too depressing.
IMHO the current design looks MUCH better than this mess.

77. Feedback is more than
‘Good’ or ‘Bad’

79. Collecting feedback
How do you collect feedback?

80. Off the top of my head
Collecting Pownce, silverorange
feedback
Feedback at Digg,
Email Twitter, blogs, etc
Comments!
Press Focus groups
Phone
Stats Forums
Conferences Parties!
Townhalls Internal conversations Task analysis

81. Established vs Young
Experiences with the Digg and Pownce communities
via AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker

82. Young vs Established
• Pownce was relatively young
• ~270,000 users
• Just over a year and a half old
• Digg is relatively old
• ~3+ million users and 30+ million uniques/month
• Almost 4 years old

83. Young vs Established
• Feedback has less volume
• Less feedback is easier to parse
• Less feedback makes it harder to find patterns
• People feel connected to the site’s growth
• Positive, energetic, forgiving
• Nimble and responsive site

84. Young vs Established
• Feedback has more volume
• Difficult to parse and handle
• Patterns are less prone to error
• People have invested themselves
• Patterns and familiarities have formed
• Self aware communities and cliques exist
• Expectations of performance have been created
• And, your business may be slower too...

85. Types of feedback
a
Types of feedback
• Different types require different responses, carry
different weights

86. Types of feedback
a
Positive feedback
“
The new stuff looks great!! Now I know what
you’ve been working so hard on!!! Dad
“
Wow, this is so much better than the old
design. Now that I’ve had a chance to use it, I
love it. Thanks.

87. Types of feedback
a
Bug reports
“
When I select a username I get a 404 error.
Can you guys look into it?
“
The thing jumps around after I click on the
other thing. It’s annoying. Please fix it, thanks.

88. Types of feedback
a
Negative feedback
“ I want it to be like it was before...
“ I hate it! (the designer should be fired!!)
“ It doesn’t do something I need...
“ It would be easy just to...
“ It’s ok, but what took so long?

89. Types of feedback
a
Expert feedback
“ I am going to both share my opinion on
what the problems are and actually
address them...

90. Types of feedback
a
Implicit feedback
• Observing user behavior
• Objective metrics
• Speaks for the non-commenters
• People don’t do what they say
• Digg commenters are typical of this: “That’s
why I never come here anymore”!!

91. Reacting to feedback
b
Reacting to feedback
• First step: Don’t do anything!
• Immediate reaction will be to go back to the old way
• Hesitate to create a ‘back’ switch
• Don’t paint yourself into corners
• Don’t end up implementing a patchy fix instead
of seeing the problem

92. Reacting to feedback
b
Reacting to feedback
• Wait for a period and then collect the feedback
• Identify themes and strong ideas
• Try to make quantifiable judgements
• Cherry pick great ideas (especially from experts!)
• Take implicit feedback seriously... could be the
opposite of the explicit feedback

93. c Extreme feedback
Handling the extremes
Riots, petitions, mass-defection threats, etc.
• Take feedback seriously, but don’t sway your vision and
don’t panic
• BE AS HONEST AS YOU CAN BE
• You don’t have to go into technical specifics, but...
• Don’t be unnecessarily vague
• Try (key word!) to get out in front of issues...

94. ?

95. Challenges
1. Encouraging people to participate
2. Promoting positive participation
3. Handling (lots of) user feedback
4. Making complex interactions feel simple
5. Managing change - Iterative design strategies

96. Required reading....

97. Focus on THE thing
Why are people REALLY on your site or this page?
Credit: Flickr user ‘ihtatho’

109. Remove as much as you can
Is something REALLY necessary? Often a tough debate.
Credit: Flickr user ‘pgoyette’

112. Hide what you can’t remove
Contextual links and secondary content are candidates
Credit: Flickr user ‘aftab’

117. Give options in sequence
Only an option for logical sequences – handy sometimes
Credit: Flickr user ‘ r o s e n d a h l’

122. Strongly consider flow
You don’t need eye-tracking software to remove impediments
Credit: Flickr user ‘Mister V’

123. by dburka 20 minutes ago
Of course, what McCain is trying to avoid anyone noticing is that the problem isn't regulators failing to do
their job; it's that that man he tapped to write his economic policy - Phil Gramm - removed oversight of the
instruments that are laying waste to the finance sector from the regulators' job descriptions.
Reply to this comment
by marktrammell 16 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
5 Replies to this comment
by dburka 14 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
5 Replies to this comment
by kurtwilms 12 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out
the finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when
Phil hit the road.

127. ?
?? ? ?
? ?

128. Challenges
1. Encouraging people to participate
2. Promoting positive participation
3. Handling (lots of) user feedback
4. Making complex interactions feel simple
5. Managing change - Iterative design strategies

129. Your website sucks
Trust me, it could be a lot better
Photo Credit: Flickr user d-a-n-i-e-l

134. Dear Digg,
Go fuck yourself.
Your pal,
— J.G.

135. Photo Credit: Joi Ito
“If you review your first site version and don’t feel
embarrassment, you spent too much time on it.”
Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn

137. Take chances and release
Build with the expectation of change
Listen and iterate

138. Read this book...
How buildings learn: What happens after they’re built
Stewart Brand

139. High road architecture

141. Low road architecture

143. Build a castle in no time!

144. Credit: Phil Gyford
Desire paths
Don’t try to predict everything

149. Adapt to scale
This is a wonderful problem to have, don’t over-solve for it

150. Credit: kimballhoman
Realign, don’t redesign
Cameron Moll is awfully clever... read it on A List Apart

152. Subtraction is iteration too
Try to remove as much as you add – don’t be afraid to prune
Credit: Rev Dan Catt

155. xx
x x x x

157. Credit: Flickr user ‘Paulgi’
Really listen to your users
Both explicit and implicit feedback are crucial
Communication is the key to every good relationship

158. A case study
Digg comments

159. Step 1
We got it out there

160. Step 2
We added sophistication

161. by dburka 20 minutes ago
Of course, what McCain is trying to avoid anyone noticing is that the problem isn't regulators failing to do
their job; it's that that man he tapped to write his economic policy - Phil Gramm - removed oversight of the
instruments that are laying waste to the finance sector from the regulators' job descriptions.
Reply to this comment
by marktrammell 16 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
5 Replies to this comment
by dburka 14 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
Step 3
5 Replies to this comment
by kurtwilms 12 minutes ago
We started revising
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out
the finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when
Phil hit the road.
Reply to this comment
by kevinrose 10 minutes ago

162. Establish goals
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions

163. instruments that are laying waste to the finance sector from the regulators' job descriptions.
Reply to this comment
by marktrammell 16 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
5 Replies to this comment
by dburka 14 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
5 Replies to this comment
by kurtwilms 12 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out
the finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when
Phil hit the road.
Reply to this comment
by kevinrose 10 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out

166. Measure success
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions

167. One long year...
( I’m sorry )
Credit: Flickr user xjrlokix

168. Then we got it right
Well... sort of

169. Gather feedback
Explicit and implicit

170. Set new goals
(Idea is to avoid feature creep and gauge success)
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Improve performance
Add most requested functionality

171. Create some comps
Somewhere to start discussion

172. User test #1
Focus group novices and experts

173. Ask for more feedback
Really? Yes.

174. Create refined comps
In this case html/css/js comps

175. Implement
Work closely with the development team

176. User test #2
Perform task analysis

177. Launch it!
It works? It works!

178. Achieved goals?
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Improve performance
Add most requested functionality

179. Still weak for casual visitors
Scales technically, but not socially
Pseudo-pagination is cool, but not great
Hard to keep up-to-date with your conversations
Onerous registration to comment
Done? Nope
Start on next iterations

180. Stay fit: adapt to survive and thrive
If iterative design isn’t instinctual, be convincing

181. In summary....
Don’t try to build a perfect product, you can’t
Build on flexible technologies and leave room for adaptation
Embrace unpredicted activities
Think twice before starting from scratch
Subtraction is iteration too
Listen, listen, listen. Before, during, after.
Plan to iterate.

182. Your issues...
What’s been challenging you lately?

183. I’m dburka
digg flickr twitter clustershot last.fm
deltatangobravo.com daniel@deltatangobravo.com