SharePoint 2007 and Facebook – Applications – ‘Causes’

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In the last post I discussed the recent trends in the software industry. In this and future posts we will analyse several of the more popular Facebook applications to see how you should be designing your next successful SharePoint application.

‘Causes’

Causes is a wonderful application that sits 3rd in the Facebook Application Directory for most active  users. It allows users to show their support for their favourite causes worldwide. By somewhat preying on people’s morals (who can choose to “ignore” a cancer cause, for example), the application has spread like wildfire. Today the application builds upon the core Facebook functionality to allow for donations, campaigns and gift giving.

Causes encompasses several design features that aid in its success:

• Custom widgets akin to WebParts
• Effective use of the social network to influence new users to join the application. Users join “Causes” by subscribing to a specific cause referred to by a friend.
• Implicit personalization – content on the ‘Causes’ site is delivered by the system to meet the user’s needs based on user attributes, activity and behavior
• Metrics that capture how the user has contributed to their subscribed causes
• Consistent look and feel with Facebook
• Integrated Search
• Ability for users and organizations to start up their own Cause

Strategically, ‘Causes’ appeals to the masses in two very distinct yet conflicting ways:

1. Through credibility – by acquiring key stakeholder buy-in from many large aid organisations such as OxFam, Red Cross and Greenpeace; and
2. Through entertainment value – by allowing users to create bogus causes such as “The First Church of Chuck Norris”.

‘Causes’ clearly defines itself as a a complete application that sits on top of the Facebook platform. Its success is no fluke and as such we can learn how to replicate this success in our SharePoint applications by analyzing several aspects of its design.

Below I have drawn upon two key points that I feel you should, nay must, apply when designing your next SharePoint application.

KEY POINT #1: One Web Part does NOT constitute an application!

WebParts are an excellent plugable means of providing functionality in SharePoint. They may form part of an application but in no way should they contain entire applications.

‘Causes’ delivers information to many areas of Facebook (home page highlights, Widgets, ‘Cause’ group sites and information alerts) by taking full advantage of great functionality provided in the Facebook API. Nothing would have prevented the ‘Causes’ developers from driving the application from a Widget contained on the user’s profile page. Thankfully, the developers built a traditional home for the application – an application site (see image above). This site elegantly drives the application, making it a real winner.

For those of you who have been developing web applications for some years, application delivery via a web site may sound standard if not obligatory. Unfortunately there is a growing trend to deliver applications entirely in Widgets and WebParts within web sites. Some may state their case saying that simple applications should use this delivery method, to which I, for the most part, would not object. My gripe lies with bigger applications that use such delivery methods (e.g. LearningPoint*).

When thinking about your next application, think on a ‘Site’ level. Ask yourself “How can I deliver functionality (web parts, events, workflows, custom actions, etc) that is tied back to an appropriately configured Site that, in its entirety, provides an application that meets a business need?”. SharePoint 2007’s Records Centre is a great out-of-the-box example of what I mean.

KEY POINT #2: A social application is as good as dead if it appears dead.

In social networks, people will only begin to use your application given one of two circumstances:

1. Usage of the application is mandated by the consumer. This applies to more commercial SharePoint applications.  A company would be silly to purchase an application that addresses a specific business need and then not mandate its usage (what would be the point of buying the product?); or
2. A user sees or knows of other users using the application. A more common scenario seen when developing in-house bespoke or open source applications.

In both cases your next SharePoint application should be ‘advertising’ its usage, giving it life! This achieves a few key things:

• Increases user adoption - In an enterprise context, inquisitive users want to know what tools other employees are using to deliver certain outcomes. Generally speaking they want to know what they are missing out on!
• Increases subsequent usage – If usage is being advertised, users feel they need to be seen to be contributing by using the application
• Provides a business case for further funding – An application that appears to be heavily utilized in an organisation has a greater chance of getting repeat funding for more licenses (commercial applications) or further development (in-house applications)
• Increases an organization’s reliance on SharePoint itself – A popular SharePoint application only makes the consumer’s SharePoint portal a more popular location to collaborate. Without SharePoint in the organisation, your application is useless!

As previously mentioned, ‘Causes’ delivers information to many areas of Facebook (home page highlights, Widgets, ‘Cause’ group sites and information alerts) by taking full advantage of great functionality provided in the Facebook API.

Out of the box SharePoint provides some web parts around social networking and implicit personalisation to ‘advertise’ usage (e.g. My Recent Documents). NewsGator Social Sites* looks to better these and bring the social networking capabilities to the forefront of the portal.  How can your next application take advantage of SharePoint’s social networking and implicit personalisation functionality to give the appearence that people within your organisation are utilizing your application?

What other key points can you draw from the ‘Causes’ application example that can be utilised in common SharePoint application development? Have you seen, purchased or developed a SharePoint application that addresses these key points? I’ve very interested to hear your comments and thoughts.

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* Scott Samuels is by no way affiliated with NewsGator or LearningPoint.

Tags: Applications, Design Tips, Facebook