Two Ways to Create Richer Online Interactions?

Since my post on Monday, I’ve come across two different (technology) examples that illustrate my point about how we could alter the ways we interact with information on a (professional services) Web site.

A Visual Display of Information
First, checkout Timeline (part of an open-source project at MIT )

This is an amazing and easy-to-use widget for visualizing time-based events. Think of it as Google Maps for time-based information. We know most people are visual learners. So why present time-based events – like a company history – in straightforward text?

Browser-Based Instant Messaging
Second, while live chat on a web site is nothing new, the attention that MeeboMe and consequently Gabbly have garnered in the past week started me thinking: Now that it’s free and easy to drop in instant messaging on your site, how else could this be applied?

So… what about the ability to instant message an employee directly from an employee directory page? Sounds a bit scary, I know. But for the right-sized company (read: under the radar), and respecting each employee’s time or interest in being visible to joe public, this type of communication could be an effective means for prospective hires or interested sales leads to initiate a more honest conversation. Context would obviously be important, given the easy abuse – intentional or not—of such a feature. For example, I seriously doubt that Girish would want to be interrupted by someone asking how to achieve an “aqua style button effect” in photoshop.