The Web-active end user

This chapter explores the population of Web-active users who have not only identified useful types of information they encounter daily but also described situations where having the ability to build mashups would be useful in fulfilling their information needs. However, they lack the programming expertise to be able to integrate such technologies. It seems that they have a general understanding of HTML but not much beyond. It would be practical to direct these users to the resources they need by focusing on their common activities as a way to entice them to take up new technologies. Here the key challenge is to identify situations in which the user will find the benefits of working with a new tool to be greater than the cost of learning how to do it. In this case, Web-active end users are an exemplary population to study in this context. These users are born into the age of the Internet and have been actively consuming and contributing content online for most of their lives. They already rely on the Internet for everyday problem solving and are enthusiastically engaged in blogging and social networking activities. By appealing to these interests, designers can engage users and encourage them to explore new tools.