I’m invited to speak at the Experience Design Summitthis spring, so I’ll be putting together some of my notes here. I think top of mind for me is, unsurprisingly, community design — building digital communities to enhance IRL community. Or something.
Initial topics
- Community design: inclusivity and accessibility
- The Economics of Community
- Sustainable business models that don’t compromise community values
- The relationship between monetization and community authenticity
- Non-monetary value exchanges in community settings
- ⭐️ Designing Community - Bridging Digital and Physical Connection
- Digital-Physical Community Integration
- Designing experiences that bridge online and offline connection
- How physical gatherings strengthen digital communities
- Creating continuity between digital and in-person interactions
- Community Stewardship vs. Ownership
- Models for distributed leadership and governance
- Transitioning from founder-led to community-led structures
- Creating systems for healthy succession and sustainability
- Dark Patterns in Community Design
- Exploitative community practices to avoid
- When “engagement” undermines genuine connection
- Ethical considerations in community growth strategies
Rough thoughts I want to mention
- Community can’t be build immediately, it’s a slow build which is contradictory to tech where we tend to build fast, ship fast, break things, learn. Experiments have to be more intentional.
- But there’s a threshold at which you’ve marinated too long and you become stagnant
- Failure feels higher risk because you’re building trust with people in a more intimate way
- Consistency is key: consistent people, consistent setting and time, consistent purpose, consistent expectations
- Maybe talk about third spaces and how design heuristics help to build that
Random but relevant links
