Design for Conversation or Some Troubles with Twitter
The popularity of social media focuses our attention on designing for
conversations. Increasingly we create social digital spaces that are instant,
ambient, and ubiquitous. What are the conversational resources that we use in
offline conversation that we need to take into account when designing these
spaces? What is the difference between an online and offline conversation, if
any? These are some of the questions we will consider as I review what
ethnomethodologists know about how people converse in person and in
technologically mediated contexts. Using examples from some of our favorite
applications, like Twitter, and new applications like Google Wave, I will
consider how these applications shape conversation and how users have molded
them to better serve their own needs. In particular, I will discuss how
conversation analysis gives us a way to examine social actions in these digital
spaces.
This presentation is intended for both those just beginning their career and
seasoned user experience professionals. In particular, it is for anyone
unfamiliar with conversation analysis who wants to know the history of the
methodology and what it brings to our understanding of designing the user
experience.
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