Computer-Aided Interaction

Gentry Underwood delves into the importance of web functionality and aesthetics in an Internet-savvy world in his social web design keynote.

Explaining that computers are now at the hub of the majority of all human-to-human interaction, Underwood argues that the way that the social networking sites function is as of vital significance to users as their appearance.

He says that even though it is important to use a web-based application which is intuitive and straight-forward to operate, it is more important for that application to facilitate appropriate social interaction.

Facebook is used as the main example as to how a dynamically created interface does not mean that the functions of the site are appropriate in real-life social settings.

In this social web design keynote, Underwood asserts the fact that until social networks can more closely mimic real-life interaction, no amount of creative aesthetics will be enough.