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Home » Community Model » The model » User-centred design examples Example 1: Improving a use case
The following use case diagram and table illustrates the starting point before using the community model.
| Use Case Name | Create a travelbug |
| Iteration | Facade |
| Basic course of events | 1. GeoJoe chooses an item that symbolizes his idea (e.g. a specific toy)
2. Take one or more photos of the toy
3. Write a background story for the travelbug
4. Upload text and photos to the web |
| Author | Kalle Concept Designer |
| Date | July 2005 |
After: The enhanced use case
Next, this use case is improved with the help of the model, in this case by including some of the social world perspectives. This particular use case is thought to be one of several use cases that together are supposed to be parts of more abstract and more generic concept that in the next steps might be then developed further.
| Use Case Name | Create a travelbug |
| Iteration | Filled |
| Basic course of events | 1. GeoJoe chooses an item that symbolizes his idea (e.g. a specific toy).
The idea resembles both the main activity of the wider Geocaching social world and the more restricted interests of a subworld (e.g. the fans of Star Wars). The item should have a specific meaning referring to GeoJoe's message, but also a Star Wars related tone.
2. Take one or more photos of the toy
The photo should not reveal the real location (address etc.) of the place where the photo was taken, not to mention GeoJoe's private identity. Furthermore, the photo should be clear enough to present the item and its "leitmotif". Finally, the photo should be similar enough compared to the rest of the travelbugs, so that other Geocachers will understood it as a travelbug.
3. Write a background story for the travelbug
The background story should be interesting enough, and in some cases also linked to other travelbug stories or ideas (in the same sub-world), commenting them in some way, perhaps observing a fashion of the moment.
4. Upload text and photos to the web
Through the act of uploading and the uploaded travelbug, GeoJoe participates in an arena of the social world, first of all presenting/maintaining the part of him that is visible to the community, his community character. |
| Author | Kalle Concept Designer |
| Date | Aug 2005 |
Explanations
- Social worlds typically include subworlds (groups of users with their own site, more specific activities, organisations, etc.). On a general level, the travel bug's message refers to the main world’s primary activity, makes the message understandable to a wide audience, shows that this message belongs to this world, to this site. As we can note in the cross-comparison table, the social world subprocess segmentation is related to the contextual attribute 1.3 Member and reference groups. The bigger frame behind GeoJoe's motivation emphasises that his travelbug exists in the segmented scene of travelbugs. GeoJoe's interest – and the message of the travelbug – is that this travelbug would like to communicate with other Star Wars related travelbugs. These travelbugs are the reference group of GeoJoe's travelbug.
They are its reference group, i.e., the group it mostly would like to belong to. If we take the Star War fans as a sect in the subworld of sci-fi movie TBs, there are two main frames, or processes, in our scope: "Segmentation" and "Intersecting sects." Now, the contextual attribute under the intersecting process is "Presented identity" (=the ways user wants to present him or her self in front of others). We can see the issue "through" the eye-glasses having all these four lenses: mainframes of 1)segmentation and 2) intersecting, and more detailled views on 3) reference group and 4) presented identity. The result is then a TB that is presenting itself as an interesting and willing to communicate (perhaps a wannabe) figure in front of very segmented (perhaps an exclusive one) sect.
The language, or other links to the more specific subworld (in this case, the Star Wars subworld) makes the message interesting among the specific subworld. The mixture of general travelbug meaning and specific fan-language creates the “hook†that makes that particular travelbug what it is. The message needs to be common enough (referring also to more or less authentic content of that social world) to be understood, and new enough to be interesting, perhaps playing with some of the previous messages or suggesting slight changes to tradition.
- The possibility to manage one’s own personal anonymity is an essential feature in vague communities. When the mixture of “global†communication and private acts is the main idea of a community, as it in many vague communities is, personal photos are a core question. Is there possibly a person who would recognize me? Does it matter? For some one living other side of the globe it probably does not, but what about if some one from my office finds that I’m in this?
- One of the sub-world’s main functions is the communication with other sub-worlds: beside explicit learning and teaching, also more implicit inter-secting activities are possible: claiming authenticity, for example (insisting thus, say, that our way is the way how the whole social world is kept on the right course).
A temporary fashion, say, using a particular Star Wars (or Star Trek, for that matter) figure may be observed by providing a new version of it and even more clever background story related to it.
- What was said in paragraph 3, is relevant also on the individual level. The travel bug is a part of the participant's own “community character†– it shapes the way others see him or her as a member of that community. Is s/he thought to be clever, fun, critical, active, the one who begins new threads of ideas etc.
A community need/Contribution to concept design
Explicitly: --
Implicitly (seen with the help of the model): As contributing the hobby's collective main activities, Geocachers would also like to be located in certain subworlds. With the help of this knowledge (or, interpretation) community managers and designers can follow the discourses in the travel bug site and then decide, if needed, to create certain sub-classes for those tens of thousands travelbug pages.
By mikael at 2006-02-23 21:00
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