The Feel of Web 2.0 Software

Note: This is not a political entry, despite the subject of the article referenced below.

Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal makes an interesting comparison between the general blogosphere and public demonstrations in the 1960’s. He likens similar-minded, link-sharing, bloggers, in his phrase, blogospheric daisy chain’s, to events or happenings in the 1960’s. They are part protest, part public display and as he says “part rock concert, part street theater, the rush of being part of a morally unblemished belief system.”

It’s a sense of belonging and being oneself voluntary and meaningful association with others or with a common cause.

The comparison sheds some light on the intangible feel of Web 2.0, web-based software. As an example, the technology behind blogs enables the creation of open spaces where people can rush in, join-up and participate, in a comfortable environment.

Web 2.0 type, web-based software, comes from the same place. It has an open, unrestricted feel to it a breather from MS Windows based desktop software or enterprise software that’s structured in the same way.

Its also a different breed from software motivated by ASP as business model or a Software As A Service (SAAS) model. (These tend to be about amortizing user-fees over time, rather than changing the user experience.)

Of course, web-based software has more rules, more defined parameters than blogs or My Space. The software needs to have more “shape” to it to convey functionality. But at its core, its firmly about things some would call “hippy-ish” like collaboration, networking, sharing and un-complicated association.

In practice, this means that interface, architecture and rules should intuitive and non-burdensome. When dealing with a group of users, information should gathered collaboratively and distributed out, shared across the relevant user network. Users shouldn’t have to spend days in training learning how to conform to someone else’s ideas of workflow or methodology. The software should let people be themselves and still belong to the project or cause and participate in its workflow.

          

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 15th, 2006 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Software and Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.