What Do Social Network Users Want?

Copenhagen.
Lene Sørensen is up next at COST298, presenting on user demands for the next generation of social networking sites. Social networking is a very widespread activity now, and takes place across a large number of sites; it is no longer the domain of young users or a space for private activities only. Social network users engage in creative activities, and in self-management in relation to activities.

A number of further developments (towards Web 3.0 and Web 4.0) have already been foreshadowed by various authors - but what is it that actual users are interested in? To establish answers to such questions is non-trivial; for the most part, user expectations are limited by their knowledge of what is possible using existing information technology. Developers, too, operate mainly on their best guess of what additional features users may want.

Lene surveyed a number of IT researchers - people who have a relatively developed understanding of ICTs, but who are not necessarily themselves always lead users of such technologies. Among the known requirements for information systems in general are information and service quality, system usability, playfulness of the system, and system design quality; Lene's survey looked especially for responses on these points.

Needs and wants articulated by this group include exciting user interfaces, configurable filters for information, mobile-ready platforms, context-aware applications and services, artifical intelligence in the system, free services, user control and autonomy, and transparency of user data. Overall challenges for designers emerging from this are the user experience, trust and privacy, system and site quality, and full compatibility of data across individual sites, applications, and devices. More research is needed to examine differences in such needs across different socioeconomic and other groups, of course.

Technorati : COST298, future, social networking, user needs
Del.icio.us : COST298, future, social networking, user needs