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Bhopu / Tags /
Web 2.0 tools
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Posted On
Dec 05, 2007
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 To a lot of people Web 2.0 might just suggest a new version of the World Wide Web, but to me it refers to changes in the way software developers and end-users use the web as a platform. It is nothing but a two-way communication between the users using the web as a platform. We can call it as exchange of information and network among the web users through some web based communities.
The main key characteristic of Web 2.0 is ‘Participation’, Participation, in this context, means the enrichment of a website by user generated content. In past websites use to serve a very basic information display mediums and the communication was just one sided. Options to edit, comment or add more to the existing content were almost non-existent. Web 2.0 has empowered the users to take part in the process of content generation.
Another very interesting feature in Web 2.0 is that it allows users to interact with like-minded users to exchange information or to discuss various issues using the web as a platform. That makes the whole process as much interesting as it can be while interacting verbally. Web 2.0 involves some emerging technologies, such as Web 2.0 AJAX, that allow developers and businesses to move, "beyond the page metaphor to deliver rich user experiences. And technologies like Web 2.0 APIs and RSS mean that users will no longer have their experiences dictated to them, but will instead have as much power to define their own experiences, as they are comfortable exercising it.
Designer should identify with the term Web 2.0
Having surrounded by web designers almost the entire day and I think it make a lot easier for them to differentiate the Web 2.0 sites. And the reason for this is that they try and describe that users perspective and their experience.
Web 2.0 crossing points as cutting edge 
We all are aware that RSS aggregators, search engines, portals, APIs and Web services, Google Maps offers the same functions as some other competitive services and tools on web. One of my favorites are the Flickr’s interface that is liked by all, Amazon also offers makes an attempt reaching further than its own site. All these new interfaces on web are changing the way we access and share information.
Are you submitting best Web Service for your users
Provide the best content to your users. Don’t just give them services but make them come back for more. One of the best examples for this are Amazon.com and eBay. The amount of commercial data that they provide to their developers is commendable and the best part is it is accessible to any developer who wants it.
Your Web 2.0 website should feature the following techniques:
- Rich Internet application techniques (Ajax, Adobe Flash, etc.).
- CSS
- Semantically valid HTML/XHTML markup.
- Syndication and aggregation of data in RSS/Atom.
- Clean and meaningful URLs.
- Extensive use of folksonomies (in the form of tags or Tagclouds, for example)
- Use of WIKI either totally or in part.
- Use of Open source software
- XACML over SOAP for access control between organizations and domains.
- Blog publishing.
- Mashups.
- REST or XML Web service APIs.
- Use of user-friendly content management systems (CMS) that are often open source, providing extensive website functionality at very low cost and reducing learning curves.
- Optimized search engine capability for balanced and largely used keywords.
Summary
Of course, designers are progressing the use of these Web 2.0 tools in many enterprises. But it remains to be seen whether these designers can sufficiently rein them in to serve their most strategic user objectives. And can these disparate technologies work in concert to achieve broader corporate goals?
Even with this simple design, the layout and Visual Studio is usually different. When you are developing Web sites this is probably okay, but when designing a Web site it is not acceptable.
This is where an expression Web 2.0 designer steps in. The focus of Web 2.0 Designer should be to provide their users with a clean, clear and complete view of how their Web page would look like. I feel that every company can make a smart move by creating these various Web 2.0 tools. Not everyone is a designer and not everyone is a developer. Sharing tools in one big huge product can be overwhelming. As it is, if the designers and developers working together and adapt the new Web 2.0 trends they can create the best Web 2.0 user experience.
Some Related Articles:
Web 2.0 for designers
What is Web 2.0?
Delivering Rich Web 2.0 Experiences
Better E-learning for designers
Rich Web 2.0 Applications
Web 2.0 Design Centre
Web 2.0 Ajax pioneer emphasizes user experience
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Posted On
Nov 28, 2007
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 During the early years of Web, it was all about feeding content and syndicating content. But today, instead of applications being fixed in a single URL or in your desktop, they live in a cloud, are portable and embeddable. People are actually taking this a step further, putting things on top of each other, inside each other, etc. Given this, there are many roles you can play in this new ecosystem.
This is one of the reasons that widgets are so important. Users can now receive information on a need-to-know basis in spoonfuls from various sources, which forces the sources to think collectively.
So what is this Widget?
A widget (also known as a gadget) is a small program that runs on your desktop all the time, which replaces the need to  constantly visit a website in order to get common information. A Gmail widget on someone's desktop that shows "10 unread messages" will make that user click and go back to the Gmail website. Microsoft (Charts), AOL (Charts), Yahoo (Charts), and even Nokia (Charts) also are some famous brands that offer widgets.
If we look back the Age of Widgets actually began with an app called Konfabulator. Designed for Mac users, it would pull information from across the Web - weather, stock quotes, headlines - and place them on the desktop as tiny floating windows. The idea was so successful that Apple decided to build widget support right into its operating system. Yahoo bought Konfabulator's creator, Pixoria, in July 2005 for an undisclosed amount that was rumored to be decent - big enough, anyway, to get a lot of developer attention. And suddenly everyone was going mad for widgets. 
Of course, the main reason widgets are hot is that users love them. The reason for the same is because it makes the Web user-programmable. If My Yahoo spread it all over, Netvibes took this idea even further by offering the users more than 250 widgets to build a wholly personalized homepage.
I don’t see it ending either. As companies like Salesforce.com (Charts) and Google (Charts) are pushing the use of widgets inside businesses. We can see the opportunities and business models around widgets are emerging and will go a long way.
How can Widgets help expand your Online Business?
Today’s Internet web space is extremely competitive, as vendors and users demand efficient use of desktop. With websites being more proactive in nature, they want to drive more targeted traffic and develop more incoming links. Widgets seem to be the answer to assist in doing this. These Internet “widgets or gadgets” are an excellent way to market your product or service and make it easily stand out. If you place a widget on your blog or webpage, visitors will instantly be able to download your specialized widget onto their desktop or add them on their blog via small html codes. One of the biggest advantages of using widgets is that they are viral in nature. They allow anyone who has your widget on their website to to share and download your widget directly through their site.
FaceBook, the gigantic social networking site for example, revolutionized their interactivity and popularity by recently introducing and adding the FaceBook Platform in May/07. Now FaceBook widgets are the rage. You will find everything from entertainment and sporting campaigns to different political groups based all on widgets. Because of the popularization of widgets, FaceBook has managed to exponentially attract millions of new members and a lot more advertisers. Other sites that have used widgets to promote and viralize themselves include: MySpace, Revver, PhotoBucket and Blogrush. Savvy internet marketer are increasingly jumping on the widget bandwagon and using it for their benefit.
After a lot of buzz about OpenSocial, Netvibes decided to include all their existing Social APIs as plugins for UWA, their Universal Widget API. They intend to share 2 cool videos demonstrating some of the social features in their next release called "Ginger". The videos provide examples of how Netvibes allows users to follow content and widgets that their friends want to share with them. One can also see some examples of social widgets created using the Social APIs.
Honda's Acura RDX uses the Yahoo! Widgets application to deliver real-time traffic updates directly to drivers' desktops in more than 30 cities. Honda promoted the feature to users who checked traffic on Yahoo! Maps and Yahoo! Widgets (where users can download existing widgets or create their own.) A key benefit was the traffic widget tying into RDX's navigation system, which includes traffic data. The widget has been downloaded more than 30,000 times in three months.
These mini Web appl downloaded onto a desktop or transported into personal Web pages, blogs or social-network profiles  are a source of constantly updated information, from weather and sports scores to personal photos, which can eliminate the need to visit multiple Web sites.
So as long as you keep your widget informative, useful and simple to understand, they will virally drive traffic to your sites and work as a secret ninja to promote your products or services. Widgets are inexpensive and is an extremely effective way to promote your site through direct response marketing and social networking sites.
Widgets are certainly making a rise from desktop to webpages, blogs and social networks giving them a platform. They are now much, much more, and it seems every company has one. The hope is to embed their widget on the millions of blogs, MySpace and Facebook pages, and thus create cheap marketing while giving the users some value.
It's a great strategy, at least when the widget is cool and people adopt it. The only question is, is your marketing firm aware of it. Do they know how to add value to the users and build an army of brand evangelists in promoting your product. Do they make effective use of Widgets?
Some Related Articles:
Facebook Appl or Faceboook Widgets
The Wonderful World of Widgets
Inverstors take a stroll with Widgets
Widgets, WordPress.com and limits
Yahoo Widgets
Amazon Widgets
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