+ Follow

Understanding anyone's social network in 60 minutes

by Paul Adams

A research method for understanding why people choose one communication tool over another.

File a copyright complaint

http://bagtheweb.com	21
http://www.linkedin.com	13
http://www.slideshare.net	4
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	2
http://www.bagtheweb.com	2
http://wayneong.blogbus.com	1

I’m going to talk about a research methodology we recently started experimenting with at Google. It’s called a Social Map. Social Maps have taught us things like: - People’s groups are almost always separate. - Many people don’t use I.M. in many contexts as they think it inefficient and time consuming. - Many people use SMS when they want to avoid an awkward conversation.

Eric Lee, Product Manager at PE.VC 1 year ago
Missgusan at Shanda Innovations 1 year ago
Jure KLEPIC, Speaker, Social Media Innovator, Partner at Lucule Consulting 1 year ago
Krishna Shetty 1 year ago
Andre Alforque, Lead Consultant at CLICC 1 year ago
Kathleen Reed, Assessment and Data Librarian at Vancouver Island University 1 year ago
penchan Tags social network 1 year ago
Ricardo Del Rio, CEO/Founder AUGURIUS at AUGURIUS 1 year ago
David Freitas, Research And Development at Local is lekker 1 year ago
Dong Kyun Kang 2 years ago

Social Map
Ultimate yet impossible research goal To understand how humans communicate.
Communication products need to understand ‘human communication’
Need: to think beyond Gmail
Need: to think about broad communication
How, why, when, where people choose different communication tools
Why the need for two phones?
Meanwhile… Meanwhile…
Stopping self-referential design
Early vs. later research vs.
Need: user insight fast We need to start designing next week…
Field research not feasible
Only time to pick some people
60 minutes to understand communication behaviour 60 minutes
Social Map
Social Maps in our offices
Social Maps on the street
Required materials: paper + post-its
Building layers of understanding over time
Layer 1: People + Groups
Layer 2: Communication Tools
Layer 3: Recent Events
Layer 4: Sharing Content
Layer 5: Mapping Actual Behaviour
Layer 6: Sticky dots
Social Maps in China
Meanwhile… Meanwhile…
Development team observing research Research Participant Researcher Product Manager
Early trumps later research vs.
Social Map
Strong buy-in from the development team
Research finding: People’s groups are almost always separate
To understand how humans communicate. in 60 minutes some