User Experience vs. Living Experience

It seems to me that there is a growing emphasis on user experience for online communities and IT projects. People are being more vocal about their discontent on the deliverables of a project rather than just accepting something because they think that is their only choice.

There’s another growing trend in personal development and self awareness and creating a valuable experience in one’s own life. I think it’s another one of those trends that is part of a larger changing picture. User experience is increasing in importance in programs and projects, as well as in a person’s own life.

It’s kinda neat to see a link like this in two seemingly unrelated areas. Where else is the ‘user experience’ becoming more of a focal point?

Companies will pay

My attitude used to be ‘Why would anyone pay for services on the web when there are so many free services out there?’

My attitude now is ‘If I were running a company account, and my reputation and brand depended on using services that are currently free, I’d be willing to pay for an account that guarantees me security’.

By security I mean that I have the comfort that some hacker will not hijack my Twitter account, that the private cli.gs I am creating are not replaced with some bogus blog post, etc.  So really, I don’t want to pay for your service, but I do want to pay for a guarantee that my information, brand, messaging, everything I am choosing to place on your service is safe with you.  That’s one way I can see Twitter, or any other social media platform currently struggling with a model, making money.  And that’s what I see as one less barrier to the adoption of social media tools by larger corporations.  Yes, it’s fantastic to want to engage and converse and build relationships with peers and customers alike, but I’m sorry, it’s still too much of a risk.

Show me a Twitter platform or a private link tracking system that I can trust 100% and I’d love to jump on board, use the tools… and even pay you for your service.

What else will drive more online content?

A greater rate of adoption of Macs.

I received an email today from one of my friend’s with a .wmv file in it.  Surprise, surprise, .wmv files don’t open on Mac computers… at least not in Quicktime without an extra plugin installed or without download Windows Media Player for Mac.  Creating the content so it is available streamed online, I believe, would eliminate the need for me to continue to download plugins for programs on my computer that will allow me to view/listen to this content.

There’s more to it I’m sure.  But bigger picture… online content will eliminate the need for many plugins and cross-compatibility issues.  Not to mention more space in my inbox.