From [[http://cpsquare.org CPsquare]], the community of practice on communities of practice.

Definition

A highly usable, appealing look that makes it a pleasant place to come to. Some systems focus on making their appearance highly customizable and others on having something appealing right out of the box. Templates are a compromise.

Uses in communities of practice

Many communities periodically gather feedback from their members to ensure their technology design choices are usable and meet the functional needs of the community. Usability is the meature of hte quality of a community member's experience when interacting with a community based-tool, whether this be a website, chat application, etc. Among the ways communities apply this are:

1. Formative usability studies during the actual technology design phase
2. Summative usability tests after development to compare a new design with the previous one
3. Heuristic evaluations by usability experts
4. Online surveys that gauge how well the technology met the community member's needs.

What aspects of the user-interface serve the experience of individuals in belonging to, interacting with, and/or leading a community

1. What is "high quality" -- is that important? Or is it a look that well represents the community? Or is functional? Some assumptions to discuss= What do you mean by compromise? In some cases, it may be the ideal thing? What are we talking about when we say "systems" - language consistency. What we mean by access and site manager control?=

Polarities

• Together/apart, Synch/Asynch:
• Interaction/publication:
• Individual/group:

Key features

1. Recognizable look and feel

• User interface design quality
• Site templates A menu of alternative color schemes, layouts, navigation facilities. -- distinctive from personal templates
  • In some cases, the visual aspect is very important to convey something about the community. For other communities, this is of no import.

2. Usable interface that meets the needs of the user population

• Ease of learning How fast can a new community member who has never seen the user interface learn it well enough to perform all the expected tasks (e.g., finding information, using the search, posting content, participating in discussion, etc.)
• Efficiency of useOnce a community member has become familiar with the system to the point that the are considered an "experienced" user, how fast can s/he perform the possible tasks?
• Recognition rather than recallHow much information does the community member need to remember in order to perform? For tasks that are only periodically performed, are they memorable enough to use?
• Minimalist design philosophy Has the screen been cluttered with unused functionality or is only the essential features highlighted?
• Consistency and Standards Are the styles on the pages consistent, including fonts, actions, labels? Have regularly accepted standards for usability been adhered to?
• Help and Documentation To the extent that the system requires help (self evident systems designed to not require help are better), is the help and documentation visible?
• Accessibility?
  • Is the platform accessible to people with various disabilities, e.g., is it text-readable. Little attention has been paid to this issue, but it will increase in importance as community technology becomes more widespread.

3. Site manager control

Related tools

See also:

Resources