connecting*the*dots

… what would we call this incarnation other than 2.0?

About 10 minutes ago, I was in the midst of creating a post about Web 2.0 and how its principles can be viewed from both a macro and micro perspective when I paused briefly to research a few of the features within flickr to help illustrate my point. Lo and behold, I immediately trip right over a classic example.

This particular post was created via the "Blog this photo" feature in flickr, which interfaces with TypePad (my blogging tool), enabling me to easily share data and information while in the context of my current mental model: exploring photographs.

Web 2.0 Yellow Pages Case Study
Originally uploaded by spcoon.

I was reviewing my “Creating Humane Experiences” presentation image on flickr, and I switched right to blogging the image itself. How dope is that?

Before you shout out “super dope!” check out the feature for yourself and try to imagine which missing interface requirements would’ve make this feature even more “2.0″ dope. I’ve got one, modeled after the persona of a seasoned blogger (me):

How about a TypePad API which allows flickr to display my TypePad list of categories (tags) within its branded interface, providing me with the ability to tag my flickr generated post with one or many of my universe of tags and the ability to create new tags and add them to my current tag universe?

The decision to implement such a feature would be an even more concise example of domains working together to satisfy user goals and tasks. Interaction design 101, yet modeled across multiple domains and stakeholders. Without this tag feature, I had to jump over to TypePad to assign the tags separately, which greatly reduced the usefulness of the flickr blog feature for me, the potential, archetypal blogger.

If these domains were both open source, and if I weren’t so technically challenged, I guess I’d be able to whip up some code to make this feature a reality. Yet as much as I buy into that philosophy, that shouldn’t impede flickr from doing their due diligence in putting out the most useful and usable product, first and foremost. Yes, I know, flickr is in quintessential beta mode (another 2.0 principle) and will probably iterate to include the communication of tag libraries across both domains, but this example of a partially useful feature is why user research is so important when modeling the scenarios for useful experiences. Agile development and interaction design can live hand in hand.

Another example of cross-domain, data sharing needs can be found within Yahoo! 360. Most bloggers like having their own branded domain, so why not follow flickr’s footsteps in accessing any number of blog tools topost in the user’s own domain? Similarly, why not allow a member to access their blog feed from 360’s "Make your own blog page," instead of having to use the "Share feeds" area on the main 360 page to present their blog?

As a blogger, I appreciate RSS, but don’t make me retrofit my "blog" into a ill-labeled feed box in my own Yahoo!  360 environment, leaving the blog area unused. That says to me, "use our blog service or screw off." While Yahoo!, the behemoth corporation, has their finger on the pulse of the web, this particular approach is not very 2.0.

As for the viral aspect of Web 2.0, if you follow the top image to flickr and click the link within the description area, you’ll fall ever deeper into the rabbit hole of the Web 2.0 conversation. flickr provided the features for tagging personal photographs and creating HTML laden image descriptions; users extended that context scenario by leveraging the existing interface to accomplish other goals—in my case, the unabashed promotion of a user experience presentation.

Enjoy!