Honouring individual control in online communities

Paul Boutin, analysing MySpace’s huge growth, writes on Slate:

The secret to success is to make everything one-button easy, then get out of the way.

MySpace may be easy, but don’t forget the recent research and analysis which showed that MySpace could lose at least two thirds of its page impressions if it improved the site’s design and usability. Boutin continues:

MySpace isn’t that much easier to use than Friendster, or than other shared-user-content sites like Flickr (photo sharing), del.icio.us (bookmarks), or Digg (tech news). But it mixes multiple publishing models—blogs, photos, music, videos, friend networks—into one personal space. Most important, it doesn’t presume to know what your goals are.

If you’re trying to do all of the thinking and exploring for your online customers, you’re probably removing some of the fun for them - and the urge to return to your site. Give them something valuable, that they can use, and let them go to town. Enhanced features can come later, but should not come at the expense of what got people hooked in the first place.

Link via John Battelle