Online Communities: Designing Usability and Supporting Sociability

by Jenny Preece

Book Overview

Online Communities sind Gemeinschaften von Web-Nutzern, die sich aus den verschiedensten Gr?nden zusammenfinden. Was aber macht eine solche Gemeinschaft aus, wie kann man sie f?rdern und unterst?tzen? Die Autorin dieses ausgesprochen interdisziplin?r angelegten Bandes beleuchtet das Thema sowohl aus technischer als auch aus sozialer Sicht. So wird nicht nur besprochen, mit welcher Software man am besten kommuniziert, sondern auch, wie man allgemeing?ltige...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471805998
• ISBN13: 9780471805991
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Best book on online communities

This is by far the best book out there on online communities. Not only does Jenny address the most needed topic on online communities, usabaility, but offers explainations and concerns for running online communities in the business corporation, as opposed to the majority of online community books relating to internet or gaming communities.I have deeply benefited from this book and recommend it for anyone interested in managing or an online community or laying out an online community strategy.

The importance of usability

Jenny Preece's new book addresses what is one of the most important considerations in the spread of Internet use (or intranet, for that matter), and that's usability -- a necessary, fundamental adjunct to the function of being able to connect together successfully through this medium. Sites and activities with poor usability will vanish from the scene as people find other places and activities easier to use. Developers beware, and students take note! We have convinced those who are eager to adopt new technologies because they are interested in them. Now we need to entice with those who just want it simple, straightforward and helpful or fun as a phone call to friends. This book abounds in techniques for achieving that.

Bravo for linking sociability and usability

Jenny Preece's book thoughtfully links social interaction with interface design. Too many online ghost towns result from those who don't grasp the linkage and the importance of both aspects. Online community developers need to be aware of the impact of interface decisions, such as the simplicity of the login process or the ease in searching for background info on participants, on the effectiveness of a medical support group.This book also builds an important bridge between theory and practice. For example, network theory from sociology suggests who should be participants in an online community and common ground theory from psychology is linked to interface design decisions. While some wide-eyed technology promoters believe that immersive environments are the ultimate goal, Jenny Preece makes a compelling case that asynchronous environments can produce higher levels of engagement and empathic support. Her broad review with references are thorough and help readers see the emergence of a new discipline. This will be appreciated by established researchers and developers and a useful guide to novices and students.

Just what we need to support the design of online communitie

In Online Communities, Jenny Preece offers an excellent framework for considering how to design, work in, play in or just muse about the new world of communities "out there" on the internet. There are many people teaching and learning in this area now - the book is most timely and offers ideas for designers and researchers and a valuable approach to teaching and learning. Her section on community-centred development is a key part of the book along with her emphasis on usability and sociability. These concepts, especially that of sociability, offer her continuing research results to beginners and longer-term researchers and developers. The book is comprehensive in the way it covers many important topics. It is valuable for designers and developers and also offers considerable resource material though its web site. Use it! I already use Jenny Preece's book (written with others) on Human-Computer Interaction for teaching that subject. Her new book extends her support for the design and academic community in a significant way. My students have been using this book since it arrived at our bookshop at the University of Canberra (September 2000)- I can tell you they really appreciate it, of course because they are designing online communities.

A comprehensive guide to online communities

This extremely well documented book brings readers up to date with all we know about online communities (except for their economics). Preece's concept of community-centered design takes a big step toward bringing systemization and structure to the free wheeling world of online development. Business people will find many helpful "how to" guides, techniques and examples for community needs analysis, design, testing, monitoring and evaluation. Academics will relish her study documentation, references, articulation of continuing issues and recommendations for further reading. Students can learn much from the well documented case studies of several different online community applications.