43. Open Platform One-Sheet UX User Exp. Dev. Exp. Data Model Open Source Open Infrastructure Open Architecture Open Standards Open Ontology Open Access Open Canvas Open Content Open Mic Open Forum Open Door Open Borders Open Identity
44.
Editor's Notes
3 quick caveats before I get started…
There are a number of reasons to open your platform.
Creating a platform for other products (including those products of peers in your company) is a complex task, and will involve you opening your experience, data, userbase, etc. to folks/ideas beyond your control. But with that word, open, comes a lot of baggage… one that that will influence how others (peers, co-workers, press, developers, etc.) interpret what you offer. My hope, with this talk, is that you walk away with a construct to evaluate your product when you consider “opening up” to the world.
13 facets of Open… span the spectrum of of technology-specifics to user experience Exh vs. Exh
Starting point for most folks when thinking open Captures the “spirit” of what many believe to be “open,” if not the specifics Example: PHP Linux + Hadoop
Example: Amazon, Google
Your product allows others to build plugins, extensions, assorted elements as an add-on to an existing (and overwhelming experience) Example: Firefox, AMD
Very common in discussion about “open” The foundation on which the modern Web exists Example: HTML, XML, JavaScript
Building on Open Standards, an Open Ontology uses common Web development practices to store descriptive information about objects Allows data to be understood by software Example: Microformats, RDF/a Example: Firefox Operator and IE Web Slices
Your product embedded inside another Example: Twitter, Delicious, Yahoo!, eBay, Microsoft
Outside of a systems-level integration of your product into someone else’s, Open Canvas allows your content (or their) to be user-installed into existing web pages. In essence, Web badges on steroids, as the App not only appears there, it takes advantages of hooks into your system (such as Profile, Addressbook, newsfeeds, etc.) Example: iGoogle, Facebook Apps, Yahoo!
Much lighter-weight integration, but the predecessor to Open Canvas, Open Content allows users to choose content from providers of their choice. Example: RSS on My Yahoo!, iGoogle, NetVibes
On the flip side of content, lies the idea of the Open Mic…. Where users provide your content for other users, rather than you as the supplier. Akin to comedy club Small number of users contribute massive amounts of content, with others making occasional posts Example: YouTube
Users as participants in your ecosystem. Amazon reviews, Netflix ratings, Digg voting, Buzz comments.
As users contribute more and more to the product’s success, as in Open Mic and Open Forum, their “ownership stake” goes up… and they expect to be heard by the product team. Example: Facebook redesign, Craigslist paid model, Get Satisfaction
Beyond ownership stake in company, users expect some level of ownership around their data… especially if they’ve invested a lot of work into your product. Example: OPML and Data Portability
The culmination of user empowerment… my identity, my data, my settings, all belong to me as a user, not you as a product. *I* choose when/how/and how much I share with you Example: Passport, OpenID + Attribute exchange, Facebook Connect
Recap: wide spectrum of open-ness: from technical (top-left) to experience (bottom-right) So… once you have a sense of how open you want to be, you need to start thinking about how these then apply the users of your product/platform…
2 primary questions regarding users: How do I support them… How I do embrace and engage them?
refer: Open Identity microID
refer: Open Borders, Open Access
refer: Open Door Policy
refer: Open Mic
refer: Open Forum
At Def Jam, we called them Street Teams Free, highly-motivated labor Refer: Open Forum, Open Mic, and Open Door
Recap: How do I embrace users of my product/platform? How do I embrace users and all they bring to my product/platform? Their ideas, their energy, their content, and their interaction. How can I make sure my existing models don’t clash with these types of experiences? Once you’ve answered this, you will need to look at how you shape your product/platform’s data.
refer: Open Ontology Example: SearchMonkey enhanced result + search query; Y! Local + Food
refer: Open Ontology, Open Identity Example: WordPress, Facebook
Example: YQL Open Tables Refer: Open Access, Open Content
Example: Y! Oauth screen Refer: open identity
Example: YAP, Facebook, OpenSocial Refer: open canvas
Example: Y! BOSS, Flickr Refer: open access
Example: Y! Contacts, Y! Invite, Y! User Card, YML Share
Example: Amazon Refer: open door
Takeaway: evaluate your product against this list
Recap: 13 facets of Openness, each which impact different areas of influence: Users, Developers, and Data Depending on your product, you’ll of course want to choose the appropriate facets for exposure and development