I came to SXSW Interactive 2011 to gain perspectives, discover technology and learn practical steps that will help Resurrection Online fulfill our purpose of building a Christian community where non and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians. I hope to share some highlights and next steps from the day for Resurrection Online and myself.
My Experience – Day 4
- I discovered the Delivering Happiness Bus Tour with Gowalla and picked up a free copy of the book, Delivering Happiness.
- I stuck around in downtown Austin for John Oliver’s show and enjoyed dinner at Koriente – highly recommended.
- I cruised through the Trade Show – more updates in a post to follow
Tweeting On Weekends: Are We Becoming Socially Anti-Social?
- You have to decide where your line for using or not using social media. Consider why you are using social media and make an decision about where your line for using or not using social media will be.
- People draw the line for social media usage in different places.
- Be aware of not invading other people’s time with your social media updates.
- Considering the quality of your update will help you decide whether or not to share an update.
- The smart person in the future is not the one who has memorized all the information, but the person who is able to sort through all the junk to find the good stuff.
How to Personalize Without Being Creepy
- Personalization helps the organization put something more relevant and likely more delightful in front of you.
- Transparency is important. There needs to be a clear communication about how data is being used and an easy way for customers to opt out and modify information if necessary.
- Personalization should be around data users chose to share – not assumptions that are made by the organization
- Let people know what inferences your site is making about them. Help them understand how it improves their experience.
- Explain why your user might be interested in something. “Because you liked X, you might like Y”
5 Steps to Bulletproof UX Strategy
- You need a user experience strategy. If you don’t have one, whatever you are doing is a fun guess.
- Start designing the user experience from the one thing that you want people to do on the site
- Steps to a User Design Strategy: Audit, Define the Vision, Plan, Implement, Measure
- A strong purpose communicated well will result in a successful user experience vision.
- Strategy session: “Tweak it until it’s perfect. Then leave it alone.” Measure, Iterate, Stop.
Game On: Design Patterns For User Engagement
- Game mechanics are design patterns that promote play and play-like engagement
- Game mechanics are powerful, because they connect with some of the most innate systems of reward that we have in our brain.
- Three primary design aspects involved in the user journey: Come and Try It – intial engagement; Bring Friends and Play Together – social; Come Back – creating repeat engagement
- Use metrics to determine if you are successful or not and be ready to implement based on learning gained from testing
- Determine what the metric will be for tracking any particular game mechanic
Comedy Showcase: John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show
- I was on the front row for the show and really enjoyed it.
- There were a series of comedians that will be on the show that will be on Comedy Central.
- The best part was during the final act, John was sitting just off stage and I could see him laugh and respond to the comedian on stage. It seems rare to see a professional comedian laughing along with the rest of the audience. It was fun!
Next Steps for Resurrection Online
- Pay careful attention to the updates that we encourage people to make about Resurrection Online
- Do not force people to log in or share contact information to worship
- Clearly communicate what will be done with information that is received in the attendance form
- Audit the Resurrection Online website
- Create a vision onesheet for Resurrection Online
- Intentionally design a user experience strategy for Resurrection Online
- Design game mechanics for Resurrection Online including: Come and Try It – intial engagement; Bring Friends and Play Together – social; Come Back – creating repeat engagement
Next Steps for Me
- Intentionally create boundaries for my use of social media and communicate them with friends and family
- Investigate:
Rev. Andrew Conard 