5.7. Reflection Activities: Actions on Social Media Designs#

5.7.1. Comparing social media actions#

Open two social media sites and choose equivalent views on each (e.g., a list of posts, an individual post, an author page etc.).

List what actions are immediately available.

Then explore and see what actions are available after one additional action (e.g., opening a menu), then what actions are two steps away.

  • What do you notice about the similarities and differences in these sites?

5.7.2. Design a social media site#

Now it’s your turn to try designing a social media site.

Decide a type of social media site (e.g., a video site like youtube or tiktok, or a dating site, etc.), and a particular view of that site (e.g., profile picture, post, comment, etc.).

Draw a rough sketch of the view of the site, and then make a list of:

  • What actions would you want available immediately

  • What actions would you want one or two steps away?

  • What actions would you not allow users to do (e.g., there is no button anywhere that will let you delete someone else’s account)?