16 Core Observations of Social Design

I really like this list. I even like point #13 better than the “Del.icio.us Lesson” (which has always felt like an oversimplification to me).

Another useful list of points to remember while building products

One of the challenge I see is in designing for #5 People play different roles in different parts of their life. In what ways can we capture these different roles and design for those goals?

Thanks for a helpful list.

All too often I meet people who have ideas for new Web applications or startups but they lack the basic understanding of the human condition. They don’t understand these social observations.

We need to take the time to get away from our computers and hang out with people. We need to see these observations at work.

> 4. The primary use of the Internet is communication.

I’m kind of curious as to what the other uses are? The only use of the internet is communication - it’s a communication network?

It’s an interesting list though, do you have any sources for the items listed?

“Humans aren’t always rational, but are usually self-interested.”

Yes, but not always self-interested in therms of economy or even on some level on Maslow’s pyramid. Their (our) need are more mysterious.

Interesting contribution. I was wondering, are you sure that Technology doesn’t change us very fast? If you look at how technology has changed our social life you would have to conclude this is pretty big. Some people prefer an internet connection over a girlfriend. Social networks arise and this stimulates further globalization.

To get further into interface design; technology does change the interface design. Look at the interfaces ten years ago and the interfaces nowadays. New technologies allow richer interfaces, but also more challenging in making user friendly interfaces. At least that how I look at it. Interesting topic.