maturation of the Twitter ecosystemkevinmakice (@kmakice)wednesday, july 22, 2009

this is me

this is me10 tweets5 tweetsmy wife

this is also meKevin Makiceblog: http://www.blogschmog.netemail: kevin@makice.nettwitter: kmakice

this is what i doThe Explanation for Design Ex-plan-ationsEli Blevis and Martin A. Siegel (2004)

conceptual designThe Explanation for Design Ex-plan-ationsEli Blevis and Martin A. Siegel (2004)

It is no longer sufficient to simply master the technical. More and more, successful design requires a grounded understanding of why you are designing in the first place.

the maturing ecosystema history lesson insights from the ecosystem iterating the developer mindset

history of the ecosystemwhat is past is prologuematuration of the Twitter ecosystem

growingNovember (2008) ~1,000 applications with the API February (2009) ~2,000 applications with the APIApril ~5,000 applications with the APIMay ~10,000 applications with the API

growingNovember (2008) ~1,000 applications with the API February (2009) ~2,000 applications with the APIApril ~5,000 applications with the APIMay ~10,000 applications with the APIMost ideas are not unique. Design is about improving upon the existing foundation of ideas.

growingNovember (2008) ~1,000 applications with the API February (2009) ~2,000 applications with the APIApril ~5,000 applications with the APIMay ~10,000 applications with the APIMost ideas are not unique. Design is about improving upon the existing foundation of ideas.Twitter Ecosystem Twinehttp://bit.ly/16Q7LP

the pioneersearly applications of the APImaturation of the Twitter ecosystemhistory of the ecosystem

the innovatorsapplications that found a nichematuration of the Twitter ecosystemhistory of the ecosystem

the futureareas of current interestmaturation of the Twitter ecosystemhistory of the ecosystem

insights from the ecosystemwe know what we are, but know not what we may bematuration of the Twitter ecosystem

interaction cyclefollow networkmestreamtweetprofileaggregate

interaction cyclefollow networkmestreamtweetprofileaggregate

propertiesCodeActionScript/FlashC++C#/.NETJava Objective-C/CocoaPerlPHPPL/SQLPythonRubyScalaJavaScriptEiffelSystemsGoogleMapsFlickrYouTubeAmazonTwitterVirtualEartheBayYahooMapsdeliciousGoogleDomainArtisans BusinessClergy ConstructionDesign EducationEngineeringFarmingGovernmentJournalismLegal Manufacturer MedicalMerchant StudentsUnskilled Workers PlatformBrowserDesktopMashupMobileWebWidgetMost popular APIs

propertiesCodeActionScript/FlashC++C#/.NETJava Objective-C/CocoaPerlPHPPL/SQLPythonRubyScalaJavaScriptEiffelSystemsGoogleMapsFlickrYouTubeAmazonTwitterVirtualEartheBayYahooMapsdeliciousGoogleDomainArtisans BusinessClergy ConstructionDesign EducationEngineeringFarmingGovernmentJournalismLegal Manufacturer MedicalMerchant StudentsUnskilled Workers PlatformBrowserDesktopMashupMobileWebWidgetThe ecosystem is a multiverse.Most popular APIs

valueless questionsHow much does the application need context?How quickly is the outcome from the interaction enjoyed?Is value created individually or through contributions of a user community?How open is the access to the interface (public vs. private)?How much does the application focus on Network, Content, or Profile?Is the intended use of the application Casual or Professional?Is value created from a single tweet or an aggregation of posts?Is the valued information reflected or calculated?

valueless questionsDoes the application maintain a historical context?How much does this tool support anonymity?Are users inherently part of other groups, such as by industry or geography?How visible is the process?Does the application service developers, authors, or consumers?What are the metrics needed to determine the value of use?How do those metrics influence use of Twitter and suggest behavior?

local twittersphereapplications helping to highlight local usematuration of the Twitter ecosysteminsights from the ecosystem

discovering opportunityusing valueless factors to identify gapsmaturation of the Twitter ecosysteminsights from the ecosystem

n-factor diagramsGoodEvilRedGreen

n-factor diagramsGoodEvilRedGreenSmallBig

n-factor diagramsGoodEvilRedGreenSmallBigValueless terms do not judge the properties of the design.

contentWhere is the content focus of the tool?ProfileStream

contentTwellowhoodLocal ChirpsTwitterLocalHappn.inchirpcityNearbyTweetsProfileStream

datasetWhat is the range of the data set needed to create value?SingleAggregate

datasetTwellowhoodLocal ChirpsTwitterLocalHappn.inchirpcityNearbyTweetsSingleAggregate

content-datasetAggregateStreamProfileSingle

content-datasetTwellowhoodAggregateLocal ChirpsTwitterLocalHappn.inchirpcityNearbyTweetsStreamProfileSingle

content-datasetTwellowhoodAggregateLocal ChirpsTwitterLocalHappn.inchirpcityNearbyTweetsStreamProfileSingle

concept: city mosaicBloomington, Indiana57 followers | following 94Indiana professor technology student business marketing fun single happy cow Hoosier basketball

the developer’s mindsetin the heart of in the headmaturation of the Twitter ecosystem

1) be secureexpect the unexpectedmaturation of the Twitter ecosystemthe developer’s mindset

best practicesdon't store passwords (use OAuth)validate incoming data / FIEO (Filter Input, Escape Output)make requests over SSLlet your users talk to you (security@yourapp.com)consider use of random tokens to prevent forgery (CSRF)cap repetitious interactions (i.e. logins)make use of activity logs

best practicesdon't store passwords (use OAuth)validate incoming data / FIEO (Filter Input, Escape Output)make requests over SSLlet your users talk to you (security@yourapp.com)consider use of random tokens to prevent forgery (CSRF)cap repetitious interactions (i.e. logins)make use of activity logsTwitter Security Best Practiceshttp://apiwiki.twitter.com/Security-Best-Practices

2) know your impactyour use is not their usematuration of the Twitter ecosystemthe developer’s mindset

developer demographicsmay 200918-50ChildrenMarriedMale

developer demographicsmay 200918-50√Children√Marriedhttp://bit.ly/tHork√Male√

Developers are rarely an example of a typical user.

one man’s treasure…

3) shareif you create new data, create an APImaturation of the Twitter ecosystemthe developer’s mindset

pay it forwardpeople invest heavily in APIs (learning)you have one chance to make a good API and many opportunities to make bad (inheritance)easy to learneasy to use / hard to misusesufficiently powerful must be able to evolveappropriate to audienceJoshua Bloch’s talk, “How to Design a Good API”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAb7hSCtvGwhttp://www.webresourcesdepot.com/how-to-create-an-api-10-tutorials/

easy to learn

easy to use / hard to misuse

sufficiently powerful

must be able to evolve

appropriate to audience

4) iteratedesigns are never finishedmaturation of the Twitter ecosystemthe developer’s mindset

people change

5) ask & answerbe a part of the communitymaturation of the Twitter ecosystemthe developer’s mindset

resourcesTwitter API Wikihttp://apiwiki.twitter.comhttp://apiwiki.twitter.com/REST+API+Changelog (55 fixes & changes)Twitter Fan Wikihttp://twitter.pbworks.comTwitter Blogs:http://blog.twitter.com, http://apiblog.twitter.comTwitter Developer Communityhttp://groups.google.com/group/twitter-development-talkhttp://groups.google.com/group/twitter-api-announceFollow: @twitterapi, @tweetreport, @Twitter_Tips, and @the_api_book

summaryfinal thoughts on the ecosystemfinding design opportunities in the Twitter ecosystem

understand the past

look for opportunityTwellowhoodAggregateLocal ChirpsTwitterLocalHappn.inchirpcityNearbyTweetsStreamProfileSingle

change your mind(set)

justify design decisions

We need food and Legos. Please give our dad a job.We need food and Legos. Please hire dad to do research.I’m new.

questions?Thanks!Kevin Makiceblog: http://www.blogschmog.netemail: kevin@makice.nettwitter: kmakice

10,000 appsTwitter Fan Wikihttp://twitter.pbworks.com/AppsTwitdomhttp://twitdom.com/Go2Webhttp://www.go2web20.net/#tag:twitterTwitter Little Starhttp://twitterlittlestar.com/140 Characters Conferencehttp://www.140conf.com/application-directoryTwapplicationshttp://www.twapplications.net/