YouTube co-founder Christina Brodbeck is off on a new endeavor, a service to help couples stay happily together through mobile and social media. But her discoveries and advice from building that service offer some helpful insights for anyone who runs a relationship-related business (are you listening, arts organizations?). Rather than striving for efficiency and effectiveness, she suggests technology should instigate and facilitate meaningful human interaction. Her advice to designers and businesses hoping to build their business through better relationships?
Make it mobile: Short, fun, frequent interactions are now currency for any trade. Mobile technology, and the mobile mindset in designing interactions, are essential.
Don’t just facilitate conversations, start them: Current systems are great at conveying conversations, but do little to spark them. A compelling question, a leading insight, a juicy fact, can begin a conversation between two people that might not have happened on its own.
Aim to enhance real-world interactions, not replace them: Much as we might be tempted to ‘own’ the entire conversation and relationship, technology is best when it supports it. I’m thinking specifically here about arts organizations that over-manage the conversation or the interaction with their audience, rather than helping the audience find its way together.
I think this post is very true. Organizations need to find the fine line when it comes to mass communication. If the organization is constantly bombarding their constituents then the constituents are more than likely going to unsubscribe to the website or post because they are overwhelmed by information. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Philbrook Museum does a fabulous job on twitter. I follow them and they always have something interesting to share and they also use questions to encourage followers to get involved and help in decision making.