Web 2.0: The Fall and Rise of User Experience

6/18/07—-Great software design, whether we know it or not, is on everyone’s mind
thanks to the iPod and the successes of Web 2.0. Now, more than ever, it's clear that
design sells. And sells and sells and leads to giddy IPOs. Now of course both the iPod
and many Web 2.0 companies have other perceived value. The iPod really did put
1000 songs in your pocket. And sites enabled by Web 2.0 technologies do enable Web
2.0 behaviors ranging from keeping track of friends (or "presence"), generating digital
content and sharing it, communicating with strangers about topics of common interest,
and other participatory networking. But these sites' respective designs and the user experience they offer, that’s what created the wave of usage and participation. Not
just what the users could do but how they could do it.
So the question for those of us in the industry is, is this easy? Is it impossible? Can we
also create products which offer a user experience so compelling as to dominate a marketplace or two? In particular, do we all have to be Steve Jobs?
If so, might as well move on. Jobs is either a genius at coming up with technically
innovative products that we all covet or he is wildly lucky. It doesn’t really matter for the
sake of this discussion, since there is nothing any of us can do to become more of a
genius or luckier than we already are. I suppose you can try various nutritional supplements, or participate in various mysterious rites, but that’s a little further afield than I plan to take us here.
A better question is, do you have to be Google to create a Google Maps? No. I don’t think so. Because Web 2.0 is different than Steve Jobs. Web 2.0 gives us hope. Hope that we too will become millionaires. Web 2.0 technologies have enabled business models and URLs that have driven a lot of dollars into people’s pockets and should, with some help from the humans, continue to do so.
But we’ve got to answer three key questions and answer them honestly. First, will Web 2.0 technologies provide the rest of us with the magic answer? Second, if not, what prevents the rest of us from creating Google Maps or applications of its ilk? And third, are there
other technologies out there on the horizon with even more to offer?
First things first however. What is Web 2.0? Like other things, I know it when I see it. But that’s a lazy way out. The term Web 2.0 as originally defined in detail by Tim O’Reilly involved:
1. The Web as Platform    互联网作为平台
2. Harnessing Collective Intelligence  利用集体智慧
3. Data is the Next Intel Inside  数据是下一个英特尔内部(内芯)
4. End of the Software Release Cycle  年底的软件发布周期
5. Lightweight Programming Models  轻量级编程模式
6. Software Above the Level of a Single Device  软件以上级别的单一装置
7. Rich User Experiences  丰富的用户体验