What not to do:
-
Set up a pretty icon and let
hoards of people in (then say "it doesn’t work, they’re talking rubbish)
or
-
Create a very complex structure
of conferences and sub conferences and subs and subs and lose most of your
participants in the maze (and say " people don’t use First Class")
-
Be careful about your use of
permissions – it’s the worst possible practice to have icons within conferences
that participants cannot access- despair sets in instantly (then say…"they
don’t like it you know")
What to do:
-
Decide on your purpose, timing,
recruit and brief trained moderators
-
Consult the techniques matrix
-
Creating all the Conferences
and sub conferences you’ll need for the length of time the conference activity
is to run or
-
Creating a basic structure that
will allow you to create and roll out additional sub conferences as interest
emerges and conference activity hots up. If you do this, archive or move
out dead areas regularly. With this method, you need to put a simple message
into the Lobby to alert participants to the creation of new sub conferences
(those using off line readers will otherwise not know about these)
Either way, allow space for
regular archiving folders to keep your top-level conferences clear and
welcoming.
-
Think very carefully about choice
of icons and the names of the conference and the sub conferences. There
is some evidence that using concepts of virtuality (i.e. familiar names
and pictures indicate purpose and behaviour expected) will help to structure
how participants use the conferences. E.g. if you want them to "chat" if
fine to have a light weight icon such as a coffee cup, however, if you
want them to discuss financial data, a graph icon is more suitable. With
the wide range of choices of icons on First Class, this is worth carefully
consideration
-
Use the concept of a "Lobby"
– i.e. when a participant clicks on the conference they receive a basic
welcoming message, giving a clear idea of what this conference is about
and what is expected of participants and showing the basic structure. Make
the lobby "read-only" so that participants don’t inadvertently put messages
in there and discussion rolls on ….
-
Always have a "Read Me first"
message (which can auto open) clearly indicating what’s available, purposes
and timings and keep this up to date. Its also important in this message,
lets people know who the moderator(s) is and exactly what other groups
have access.
-
Create not more than around
5 sub conferences (absolute rule is 7 + or – 2) to be visible at any one
time at any one level – each should also have a clear message that indicates
the purpose of that sub conference, what participants are expected to do,
how long the discussion or activity will last.
-
Avoid having more than 3 levels
down from the Lobby at any one time
-
Constantly provide "signposts"
around the conference(s) so that participants can find what they want and
choose what they participate in.
-
Keep the key conferences live
and focussed and immediately obvious and at top levels- post notices for
routes where participants can find older discussions and activities if
they want them
-
Summarise, summarise, summarise,
summarise (this is known as mindweaving in CMC jargon if it helps you feel
friendlier about it) Archive and remove messages often- more than around
20 unread messages is off-putting to participants. Note though that few
people go back and read archives.
Gilly Salmon with thanks to
CMC focus groups
OUBS Director of Presentation
December 1997 |
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