Design for Community: The Art of Connecting Real People in Virtual Places

by Derek M. Powazek

Communities are part of all successful web sites in one way or another. It looks at the different stages that must be understood: Philosophy: Why does your site need community? What are your measures of success?Architecture: How do you set up a site to createpositive experience? How do you coax people out of their shells and get them to share their experiences online?Design: From color choice to HTML, how do you design the look of a community area?Maintenance: This section will contain stories of failed web communities, and what they could have done to stay on track, as well as general maintenance tips andtricks for keeping your community garden growing.

Genres: Design, Technology, Nonfiction, Business, Reference, Website Design

305 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 2001

About the author

Derek Powazek has worked the web since 1995 at pioneering sites like HotWired, Blogger, and Technorati. He is the author of “Design for Community: The Art of Connecting Real People in Virtual Places” (New Riders, 2001). He is the cofounder of JPG, the photography magazine that’s made by its community. He has also been Chief of Design for HP’s MagCloud, advisor to a handful of startup companies, and creator of Fray, the quarterly book of true stories and original art. Derek is now Founder and CEO of Cute-Fight, the online game for real-life pets and the people who love them. Derek lives in San Francisco with his wife, two nutty Chihuahuas, and a house full of plants named Fred.

Reviews

[Rick]

The Fray web site was/is amazing. I don't know why I'm so slow to admit that it takes some skill and strategy to create a world that people want to enter. But I was happy to find this book by the Fray's creator. It's a book I dip into from time to time, and often find things that I wasn't ready to learn earlier.

[Jos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book still has a lot of relevant insight about humans and communities.