WediaBuzz

This part of Web 2.0 caught my attention. I wish I would have studied more psychology in college, but that was my loss.

Gavin Bell gave a rather technical talk at the Web 2.0 Expo recently, but his points are worth sharing.

He says developers and designers should design web sites for people not companies. He also says that we are all systems of human behavior and make decisions based on the world around us. We need to design products to fit into how people think about the world, he says.

Creating web sites is a process of understanding people. Site owners have something to offer and they want to help people to use the site to help themselves. Cognitive psychology has a lot to say about how we should be approaching web development from pace of change to exploration and interaction. Read more.

Here are some bullet points from Bell’s talk:

• Web sites need to be simple, adaptable and respect the audience you have acquired.
• People don’t want features. They want experiences that you have designed just for them.
• Don’t focus on the experts or new users, rather focus on the everyday person using your site.
• If you do things right users will respect the context in which you provide an experience.
• And, what I felt was most important, find a way to figure out what your users are doing right before they come to your site. It will help you better understand the experience they are having with your product.