Commentary on web design and other topics by Guy Leech, web fanatic.
In recent days I’ve been thinking about this topic, and it’s really struck me: I want more passive applications, not form fields.
I think that somewhere in the 2.0 landscape, web designers / developers have lost track of their forms. I don’t want to spend time tagging my photos or finding friends, I want to spend time using the site. That seems a pretty hard ask.
So here’s to you, designers or developers of web applications: if you don’t really need that form field, don’t put it in.
Now, that’s a good starting point. But to go one better: if you can find that information passively, don’t ask the user for it.
Passive software gathers information about the user without the user inputting data. It could estimate it from the users actions, gather it through APIs to other sites, and so on and so forth.
These kinds of applications are great for a user for one primary reason: they will spend less time on tedious manual tasks. The user will then have more time to actually use to the site, which is why they’re there in the first place.
This benefit cannot be overstated. The more time someone spends using your site, the more profit you make (be it via page views, ad revenue, etc). And, the more likely they are to recommend your site to others—especially if you have a painless sign-up process.
Passive software works like this: whatever you were going to ask the user for, guess it instead. And make it very easy (and obvious) for a user to change your best guess.
The flickr Uploadr is, to me, an application that could greatly benefit from being passive. In its current form, it allows you to upload pictures from your computer to flickr: functionality-wise, it’s identical to uploading photos straight to the flickr website.
However, if the Uploadr was given some passive functionality, it would really stand out. For instance, it could watch directories, and auto-upload new photos in those directories. It could tag those photos using the directory name, and maybe the words of the file name; yhe title would be nicely formatted from the file name.
That functionality right there would convert me to an active flickr user; it takes away the boring side (manually uploading), and allows me to focus on what I enjoy: browsing other pictures, and leaving comments. An instant success.
The one major issue I see with passive software is invasion of privacy—if you’re creating data about the user from whatever you can find, there’s a chance you may index something that should have been kept private.
Now, there’s a few things that can be done about that:
This approach does not work as well for more personal applications, where birthdays, friends names, and so on are required. However, the user was probably going to give you those details anyway (if you did not have a passive application), so, with the right privacy options, it seems acceptable to me.
In the end, it’s a toss-up between saving time and saving privacy: personal preference there.