Design of a social interaction environment for electronic marketplaces

This paper presents the design of an interaction environment for fostering social interactions in electronic marketplaces. The enviðronment incorporates a novel, spatially-organized, and interactive site map. The map provides visibility of people, activities, and social interactions and incorporates mechanisms for social interacðtions. Four design constraints abstracted from prior findings in CSCW guided the development of the map: sociality, scalability, spatiality, and imageability. The design evolved through a process consisting of several phases and iterations. We used HCI techðniques, where appropriate, to analyze and study the design probðlem, to enumerate, explore, and reconcile a design space, and to informally evaluate a design solution.