Creating a Community/ Web 2.0 platform

This will be my final blog for the semester but who knows I may just actually use this blog for more than just assignments. For now let me talk about the task I have been assigned for this week. I have been tasked to create an entirely new Web 2.0 platform. I began to think what are some activities that I am passionate about and yet do not have signified web 2.0 platform for. Then I realized although gaming and anime have a huge following and is continuing to grow, there are no actual web 2.0 or any form of platform devoted for these categories. People mainly talk about and discuss gaming and anime on third party forum or social media sites, this gave me the idea for my app/ website.

My web 2.0 platform will be a social hub for all gamers and anime enthusiasts to come and talk to each other create communities, interact with each other, make friends and just discuss what they love and are passionate about. I believe this is a perfect example of carving out a niche. The app/website I desire to create is called A&G standing for anime and gaming. This app will combine the features from a variety of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, these features including the layout of the home screen and notifications and news feed updates so that the user is not scared away by change and does not have to learn a completely new behavior or layout. This platform also has a in app game which is tied directly to the website and the users gaming accounts and the amount of anime they watch. The game will most likely be a a turn based RPG game for mobile devices, this adds an extra layer of interaction between users as not only will they be able to talk to each other about gaming and anime in general they can create communities based on the game itself, helping each other complete quests and reach goals for their characters. The customization for these characters will be based on how many games the user has played (taking key items from these games and allowing them to add it to their own character, the same applies for anime series). The combination of all these features appeals to a niche of specific interests and who want a complete community platform instead of having to use third party platforms like Facebook or Reddit to discuss and share about the things they like.

The platform will be free to use however revenue will be made on advertisements about other games and also through people wanting to purchase in-game currency. In terms of competition and early adaption benefits, The social media aspect of the website combines and uses familiar layouts and formats of more current and popular social media sites as mentioned before. This gives new users a welcoming feeling and bring familiarity to the site and app. A more relevant benefit for early adopters is that they know anyone else they meet on the site has similar interests therefore eliminating a lot of social awkwardness with other associated with other platforms. Making friends and meeting people will become less of a chore and more a pleasant activity. Another large early adopter benefit comes from the in app game that goes with the website/app. We offer exclusive items for customization, quests, achievements and so on, for early adopters that cannot be unlocked by others after a certain period of time. From this foundation, the users are encouraged to show this app to their friends so that they can get the items to. As the social platform grows, people will instinctively invite their friends to join and so begins the network effect.

Looking at the Business perspective, early adopters can have their products advertised first and advertised more often than other products. There is one main start_up cost which is that, users will not adopt the app and begin to use it unless they know other people who are their friends who use it. This can be mitigated through the in app game as, although it is linked to the social platform it does not require one to use the social platform to play it. Users can start off playing the game then ease into the social aspect of the application.  The main question is how will I increase the success expectation. There are two things I must do, Testing for this game must be thorough and must be done enough to guarantee and solidify that we have created a solid working game with emphasis on user experience and connectivity and fun. Advertising for my app will need to be done through gaming sites, forums and maybe even gaming stores in general. This is where the testers come in, with enough positive reviews my app could get into market fairly quickly and success insurance will rise as more and more players are attracted to the app.

Overall the hardest part about creating a new community or Web 2.0 platform is creating and securing that niche and also creating a solid user base foundation in the early stages of release. This apps main purpose is to connect people who are passionate about gaming and anime and provide a full community platform for them to interact and create friendships and communities.

References

http://www.pixelprospector.com/the-big-list-of-video-game-sites/ 

The Whatsapp Effect ( Utilizing the Network effect)

Hello Fellow Bloggers,

For this week I have been tasked with giving an example of how Web 2.0 platforms utilize all the different types of network effects and how that impacted the platform and proceeded to add value to the platform. There are 4 types of Network effects: Direct, Indirect, Cross-Network and Local. Direct Network effects are when the value of a platform increases the more users they have. Indirect Network effects are when the usage of a product increases the value and production of complimentary products. Cross-Network Effects is when one network increases the value of another network through the use of their own platform. Local Network Effects are the social influence of the platform and how they directly impact consumers.

Whatsapp is the platform I have chosen is a cross platform mobile messaging app which, simply put, allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. It is one of the few and the very first application to allow iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, and Windows phones to all communicate with each other through the one application.

The direct network effect for Whatsapp comes in the form of connection. The application has a various amount of features that promote connectivity with others, the basics are there from calling to messaging, as well as the ability to make groups. The more people that use the application the more people can meet and converse with each other therefore increasing the applications popularity and value. If a large majority of people use the app others will start to think it is the best way of communication therefore again increasing the applications value.

Whatsapp does not really have an Indirect Network effect because the application does not have any complimentary products or features. There are no adds that could encourage consumers to buy products, there no sign up process so that they can redirect attention to say a website instead of the app itself and because it is multi-platform and does not promote a specific platform or service provider. For these reasons i do believe Whatsapp does not have any Indirect network effects.

However, Whatsapp does have a cross network effect or rather could have a cross network effect. The calls and messages sent through Whatsapp are multi-platform and use WI-FI and mobile data instead of mobile credit therefore saving the user money. This could encourage the consumer to upgrade their phone plan to one with higher mobile data, which in turn helps the service provider as well as the customer, the provider gets a consumer wanted a better plan and the consumer gets more data so that they can continue to use the application. A clear connection between service provider and service user.

Whatsapp's possibly largest network effect is its local network effect. This being initially the combination of all these features encourage the consumer to take initiative and show their friends and family the app so that they can join to. To further explain, as a user of Whatsapp my experience and the value of the app to me increases the more people i have from my contacts list using the application, although there are hundreds of thousands of others using the application my experience wont be enhanced by them using the app. This leads to promotion and spreading the word about the application to my friends and family.

I hope I have proven that Whatsapp not only implemented these web 2.0 strategies of network effects however, used them to increase the value of their app and the experience of the users which lead to their success.


References: http://platformed.info/twitter-whatsapp-uber-airbnb-network-effects/ 

                    http://platformed.info/reverse-network-effects-why-scale-may-be-the-biggest-threat-facing-todays-social-networks/

                    http://innovationfootprints.com/revisiting-know-network-effects-startups/

Lightweight models and cost effective scalability (Pinterest)

For this week I have been tasked as a member of team B to discuss the Web 2.0 pattern known as Lightweight models and cost effective scalability. The pattern itself is all about leveraging the benefits and opportunities presented by Web 2.0 basically to do more with less. It suggests that the business model for an application or web service should scale along side the technologies used to implement them. 

I believe I have found an exceptional example of this web 2.0 pattern in full effect. The photo sharing website known as Pinterest. Before I discuss why i believe Pinterest is a great example of Lightweight models and cost effective scalability, I will first explain what Pinterest actually is. In a nutshell Pinterest is a personalized media platform, it allows users to upload, save and sort images and videos referred to as pins. Pinterest acts as a personalized media platform. Users can browse the content of others on the main page. Users can then save individual pins to one of their own boards using the "Pin It" button, with Pinboards typically organized by a central topic or theme. Users can personalize their experience with Pinterest by pinning items, creating boards, and interacting with other members. By doing so, the users "pin feed" displays unique, personalized results.

Pinterest has experience some of the highest increases in growth in rate of usage in the entire online business environment. During 2012 Pinterest's user base grew from 9 million to 40 million and now to this day has over 70 million users. The company's employee count grew steadily as well from 20 staff members to 100. Pinterest currently consists of around 150 employees which is small in comparison to its user base, however Pinterest leads the way in the most number of users per employee compared to other social networking platforms including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  A true example of “doing more with less.” The company is now focusing on revenue as a priority, by considering advertising systems and taking a cut from traffic turned sales goods. 

In terms of building a business on top of components from others, Pinterest approaches this concept a little differently.  Its “Pin It” button is a browser, “plug-in,” in the form of a bookmark link. The link ensures that it is a seamless experience for users to “pin” content from any website, so that they do not need to open new pages or even leave the page they are on. As a result, users are not restricted to pin from only Pinterest, but rather the entire web. Furthermore, Pinterest incorporates a "share" button which links to the users Facebook or Twitter accounts, which allows the application to expand to other social networking sites. 

Pinterest main office is in San Francisco, California. However, recently the company has begun hiring  from other countries in an effort towards localisation of its services and in turn strive for globalization. The company has begun such efforts in the UK and initially plans on learning from these experiences and then expanding its teams to both France and Japan. However, Pinterest’s career page suggests that these plans are already underway with positions advertised for “Country Managers” in not only the UK, by Japan and France. These positions advertised state the responsibilities starting up operations in the company, increasing Pinterests local brand image, creating and maintaining relationships with other companies and recruiting, training and managing staff whilst constantly communication with the US team to find out local trends and opportunities. It is plain to see that Pinterest is utilizing outsourcing to exploit the expertise of localized teams.

Pinterest is in fact a free service meaning that the barrier for adoption is fairly low. As mentioned above, its ability to work alongside the entire web surfing experience seamlessly further makes adoption easier for users. Pinterests implements SaaS strategies, providing constant updates and welcoming user feedback. 

Pinterests astonishing growth in usage was obviously due to its viral adoption. Its "share" features which utilizes sites such as Facebook and Twitter means that viral and low cost marketing is possible. The way that Pinterest was designed made it seem like the developers were expecting rapid growth as it handled the change very effectively. The site’s design meant that users had control over the content and the site’s simplistic design could cater to varying loads of data. 

The Co-founder of Pinterest has definitely evaluated and identified all risks that they have undertaken since the very beginning of the project in his Keynote. In conclusion, I hope I have proved to you that Pinterest is indeed an excellent example of the web 2.0 pattern Lightweight models and cost effective scalability, the future for this website/application looks bright as the company continues to push forward in innovation and user connectivity. 

References: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinterest

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2398653,00.asp

http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/pinterest-stats/3/

http://www.cnet.com/au/products/pinterest/

Perpetual Beta ( FourSquare)

A long time ago before the internet was integrated into the development cycle of an application, Software was distributed through physical copies which would have to be manually installed into your PC. There was no continuous updating system, the next important update or additional features would be added into the next iteration of the software and re-released as an entirely new product. With minimal to no feedback from users, every new version of the software was slow and did not address the main issues that had plagued the software since the begging. Luckily this trend was broken and new software's soon arrived which utilized the internet to bring patches or updates quickly and efficiently. This concept is better known these days as the Perpetual Beta concept. Adopting this pattern of Web 2.0 brings many benefits to an application such as: 

§  Faster time to market by allowing your software to enter its early beta cycles with real world users testing your software

§  Reducing risk by receiving feedback by your users

§  Building a closer relationship with your clients.

§  Collective real time data from your users to help make quantifiable decisions

§  Increase responsiveness

A great example of how to correctly apply this pattern is the application known as FourSquare. Foursquare is a local search and discovery service mobile app which provides a personalized local search experience for its users. By taking into account the places a user goes, the things they have told the app that they like, and the other users whose advice they trust, Foursquare aims to provide highly personalized recommendations of the best places to go around a user's current location. Foursquare has gone through many iterations/updates by working with its users and developers. Most of the new features introduced were taken from the information given from the users, such as how they interact with the app, what feedback and features they want.

With that being said the following are the reasons why I believe Foursquare is a great example of Perpetual beta integration and how its helped them perform so well. From launch, Foursquare has gone through a variety of minor updates but 6 major updates. At the time of this Blog Foursquare is on version 8.0. Each update brings multiple new features such as "recently opened" or allowing users to check into a location with Facebook users who do not have the app or the explore feature getting an update so you can refine your search using categories "free-WiFi", "Chinese food" etc. Beside the updates of new features, Foursquare have redesigned its website and user interface incrementally since June of 2012 after receiving feedback from its mobile platforms such as iOS and Android. 

Apart from providing API to their developers, Foursquare encourages users to share their location with their friends by turning the activity into a  game of some sorts with perks and rewards.Users are also able to create new location on the map and create list of places to visit. Foursquare is able to monitor the usage and creation of new information while creating new features around it. Every feature introduced into  the app after release is thoroughly tested by the community. Foursquare reserves many features for users who actually create an account, and while technically no split tests are conducted, Foursquare is able to test different features for its different devices through users and exclusive testers thus allowing Foursquare to experiment. 

By knowing how users add new locations on the map, share data with friends and “check-in” into different locations, Foursquare is able to create features such as “Explore” and recommendations. Knowing what users like and dislike allow Foursquare to create and refine its algorithm that suggest places that the user should visit. With each new version of the application Foursquare brings new features with refine and improve upon existing features. While these updates are not withing scheduled intervals, they use that time to heir advantage by updating what they and the users believe needs to be fixed and added so that no time is wasted implementing features that are useless. 

While users add new location and comment on those locations, Foursquare have to take all the data generated to input into its algorithm which help suggest places to other users. Managing of data generated by multiple users and monitoring newly added data plays and important role in making sure the services retains the intended core purpose and quality.

So overall Foursquare uses the data that users generate and feedback given by users to create new features which benefit the community while providing reliable software as a service which moves forward with its community instead of behind it. I hope you see now how great of an example Foursquare is in terms of integrating the pattern Perpetual beta. 

Question: 

Is there an application you know off which tries to do the same task as Foursquare? What is their method for updating and bringing in new features to their community? 

References: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foursquare#Foursquare_2.0

https://developer.foursquare.com/docs/changelog

http://www.cnet.com/au/products/foursquare-android/

PANORAMIO THE INSATGRAM FOR TRAVELERS (RICH USER EXPERIENCE)

This week I have been tasked, as a member of team B, to Blog about a good example of Rich User Experience in the form of a web application or some kind of service. Before I get into that, let me explain what exactly a Rich User Experience is. Rich User Experiences (RUE) are a combination of Graphical User Interface (GUI) type applications and multimedia content. User Experience is the core element in the spread of computers and the internet that has adapted and improved the most over the ages. Rich User Experience is the use of applications installed onto the desktop and transferring them with applications used from the web browser which work and give similar experiences to the desktop applications. However in the current generation, the number of web based applications created and already existing are growing much faster than desktop based application in the Web 2.0 generation.

These days there are a variety of services and applications that provide Rich User Experiences such as HTML5 and JavaFX these are web 2.0 application development tools, and also applications such as Gmail and GoogleMaps which already provide Rich User Experiences. However today, I shall be explaining to all of you why Panoramio is a great example of an application which has a Rich User Experience.

Panoramio is a Community driven site for exploring interesting places in the world through photography, not just landmarks but cities, forests, lakes, anything place you can take a photo of. Panoramio is not a traditional photo sharing website, while it lets you share photos with friends and the general public you are also contributing unintentionally to the community effort. Its main purpose is for users to find out about a location through the pictures other users have taken and posted. The quality of the pictures you see amount to the talent of the photographer that took them not a computer or a fancy photo editing software/app. Panoramio uses Google Earth and Google Maps API’s (Application Programming Interface) to access these photos and pinpoint on the map where exactly the photos were taken so the user can assess whether or not they want to visit a certain area. 

Panoramio has an App for IOS and Android as well as a fully functional website. It does not however have a desktop application, Nevertheless it makes up for this by having a great interactive interface with high user engagement and fast performance. Users can edit the name or place of other photos and there own from an computer that has internet or phone. The application has an independent platform and provides ubiquitous access and collaboration.

Panoramio is a simple application which seeks to engage its users through efficiency and simplicity. With a simple UI( User Interface) accessible to anyone and easy to use controls and easy to pick up features its a great example of putting simplicity and user satisfaction first. It also benefits from data entry optimization and client side verification and validation. It has a simple user account creation system, and the cost of using the application is nothing, completely free. They have made finding a photos for a location very easy with two main methods either typing the location into the search bar or simply searching the map for the area you wish to visit, all photos are pasted exactly where they were taken on the map. The most popular pictures appear larger than the others indicating that the specific area with the photo has been visited, viewed and liked a lot.

Technology wise Panoramio uses a combination of services such as JavaScript, HTML and Google Ajax API’s which when combined delivers a Rich User Experience. As mentioned before users can search for photos by tabbing the name of the place or the name of the user into the search bar or simply by exploring the map. There are also multiple categories that can help narrow down a search. This application is the best example of preserving the photos addressability by pinpointing them on the Google maps. 

Panoramio does not exactly offer personalization in terms of the actual user profile itself however the application does offer another form of personalization. It automatically suggests photos based on the user own photo gallery, the areas the user has been viewing and popular hash tags. Furthermore, Google company has improved their Google Earth “Tour Guides” by adding 100,000 new “Tours” and over a million photos from Panoramio 

Panoramio is a great application for those who like to travel and want to share their travel photos with others around the globe. Panoramio makes it really easy for you to upload and link photos to the locations where they are taken. This makes it more than just a photo sharing website; actually it makes it quite useful. I hope I have shown you how Panoramio is a great example of a Rich User Experience application.

References:

http://photo-sharing-websites.no1reviews.com/panoramio.html

http://panoramio.appappeal.com/

http://reddoorreview.com/googles-panoramio/

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/09/24/visually-exploring-earth-with-panoramio/

DATA IS THE NEXT INTEL INSIDE (SOUNDCLOUD)

Data, one of the foundations of Web 2.0, My task as a member of team B is to find an example of hows Data is changing the way we make web applications and how it will become the next Intel inside. However how do we make the best use of data, well one way is to make an application. A great example of a very successful web application that runs mainly on data is SoundCloud.

Essentially SoundCloud is a online audio distribution platform that allows collaboration, distribution and promotion of songs, tunes, basically any form of audio recording. However why exactly is SoundCloud a good example of the Web 2.0 data application? allow me to inform you.

For starters, At the time this website was created it was the very first of its kind and set the standards and still maintains the standard for an audio sharing service. So basically this service has a very unique hard to recreate source of data. Created in 2007, SoundCloud fills the gap in the online music scene by providing a collaboration and audio distribution platform which met and exceeded the needs of countless musicians and song writers alike. In that time there were so many platforms and services for picture viewing, video sharing however nothing was made for the sole purpose of sharing music, this is what SoundCloud fulfills. These days, SoundCloud is marketed as The worlds leading social sound platform and rightfully so, made up of a unique and extensive data set, including audio tracks, musician’s profiles and a community of listeners.

It is not enough however to have the core data alone in this case the ability to share music, SoundCloud also enhances the core data by implementing social network features into the site. Such as the ability to create a profile or portfolio, follow other users, a full record of popular liked tracks and most followed groups and also the added ability to like and comment on tracks. One particular feature however is very unique only to this service which is the ability to comment and tag a specific section or time on the track and add a comment, the images bellow demonstrates this. another useful feature is the ability to recommend and tag tracks so that users could find exactly what kind of track they wanted quickly and easily.

SoundCloud also allows users to control the data that they upload to the site, by providing features to edit track and profile information, and delete tracks. The site also does not limit file size and allows public and private sharing. Another great feature is that users can control the copyright to their audio, including being able to tag tracks under Creative Commons licencing.

Although SoundCloud doesn’t technically own the user data the site contains, as the one of if not the largest online community of online creators of music and audio, SoundCloud has indefinitely established their leadership in the index of online audio. The site is a primary source of  Creative Commons music and is used by the official Creative Commons search engine. Because of their popularity many popular artists choose to stream and promote their music through the site.

One of SoundClouds greatest features is their ability to let the users share and reuse their audio in a variety of ways. SoundCloud allows users to share music with distinct URLs so that unlike social media sites like Facebook and Twitter it does not get lost in the news feed of random posts. SoundCloud also allows integration with existing technologies such as RSS feeds and provides code for embedding SoundCloud audio players into web pages.

SoundClouds developer website is a great example of a data strategy. The site provides information and an API for developers to build upon SoundCloud’s data and features. The site specifies developers can: share sounds and web recordings across the web, power apps with millions of sounds and build customized audio players for websites. SounCloud has also released an app for most operating systems, therefore proving that SoundCloud is trying to expand their market range.

In conclusion, SoundCloud is a great example of Web 2.0 practices and patterns being implemented to their full potential. It has paved the way for future audio distribution and sharing services and will continue to hold the benchmark for years to come.

References:

http://help.soundcloud.com/customer/portal/articles/247820-what-s-the-difference-between-each-subscription-level-

http://blog.soundcloud.com/tag/feature/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoundCloud