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MIT researchers: morphing Web sites could bring riches

22 points by blogimus 18y ago

bouncingsoul 18y ago
The paper [pdf]: http://web.mit.edu/hauser/www/Papers/Hauser_Urban_Liberali_Braun_Website_Morphing_May_2008.pdf http://web.mit.edu/hauser/www/Papers/Hauser_Urban_Liberali_B...
maxniederhofer 18y ago
any link to the open source software package?
- mhartl 18y ago
  I second your request. I couldn't find one in the paper, and the one in the article is useless.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
- snewe 18y ago
  http://mitsloan.mit.edu/vc/do-main.php http://mitsloan.mit.edu/vc/do-main.php
  - sebastian 18y ago
    Is this the actual code of the software used in the tests?
bouncingsoul 18y ago
The problem I see is in needing a few clicks before you can guess the user's cognitive style. I would assume users visit the most important pages first, so by the time you can guess at their cognitive style they've probably gone as far as they'll go. (And I think it'd disruptive to change the content of pages they've already visited.) Maybe browsers themselves could determine users' cognitive style over time and send that info when you visit a site.
- redorb 18y ago
  I agree with your problem, Changing the site after a few clicks means the user will wonder if they are on the same site... - alternatively they could only make the changes for returning users based on their previous visit..
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
sosuke 18y ago
I am frustrated because I have typed up 6 comments that I promptly erased because I don't know if I would be violating an NDA I signed. Great article though! Thinking on this I will probably think twice before ever signing another NDA, it is extremely frustrating not to be able to talk on such and interesting subject.
- sebastian 18y ago
  You can always post anonymously :)
  - Leon 18y ago
    Unfortunately he has already posted his comment about signing an NDA, and you've responded about posting anonymously. Any anonymous post that breaks private NDA information would cast a long shadow of suspicion towards the original poster.
mosburger 18y ago
Too bad networkworld.com couldn't deduce that I hate splash ads, and breaking a story up into three pages. :)
Leon 18y ago
Does anyone see one of the problems with this approach? What if a user visits a site multiple times, and searches the website, looking for new/different information that they have not found previously - would they have a different experience? Would this lead to people being lost in multiple forms of the same site? Even if you tried to track a user, unless you force people to sign in w/ an account, most likely it will be impossible to tell if the same user has returned. What about link sharing? This site, yc, is all about sharing links and information. Would this break existing link sharing sites? Wouldn't there at least be a cognitive difference between people in discussions of a site using this software? And still yet, would an approach such as this give users the feeling of personallization and a better user experience or disenfranchisement of a constantly changing layout/experience? Although something like this combined w/ socialhistory.js would be really nice; that way you could ensure one form over another with greater accuracy and no need for a click history on the site - the information would already be available.

22 points by blogimus 18y ago

The paper [pdf]: http://web.mit.edu/hauser/www/Papers/Hauser_Urban_Liberali_Braun_Website_Morphing_May_2008.pdf http://web.mit.edu/hauser/www/Papers/Hauser_Urban_Liberali_B...

maxniederhofer 18y ago

any link to the open source software package?

mhartl 18y ago
I second your request. I couldn't find one in the paper, and the one in the article is useless.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
snewe 18y ago
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/vc/do-main.php http://mitsloan.mit.edu/vc/do-main.php
- sebastian 18y ago
  Is this the actual code of the software used in the tests?

bouncingsoul 18y ago

The problem I see is in needing a few clicks before you can guess the user's cognitive style. I would assume users visit the most important pages first, so by the time you can guess at their cognitive style they've probably gone as far as they'll go. (And I think it'd disruptive to change the content of pages they've already visited.) Maybe browsers themselves could determine users' cognitive style over time and send that info when you visit a site.

redorb 18y ago
I agree with your problem, Changing the site after a few clicks means the user will wonder if they are on the same site... - alternatively they could only make the changes for returning users based on their previous visit..

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

sosuke 18y ago

I am frustrated because I have typed up 6 comments that I promptly erased because I don't know if I would be violating an NDA I signed. Great article though! Thinking on this I will probably think twice before ever signing another NDA, it is extremely frustrating not to be able to talk on such and interesting subject.

sebastian 18y ago
You can always post anonymously :)
- Leon 18y ago
  Unfortunately he has already posted his comment about signing an NDA, and you've responded about posting anonymously. Any anonymous post that breaks private NDA information would cast a long shadow of suspicion towards the original poster.

mosburger 18y ago

Too bad networkworld.com couldn't deduce that I hate splash ads, and breaking a story up into three pages. :)

Leon 18y ago

Does anyone see one of the problems with this approach? What if a user visits a site multiple times, and searches the website, looking for new/different information that they have not found previously - would they have a different experience? Would this lead to people being lost in multiple forms of the same site? Even if you tried to track a user, unless you force people to sign in w/ an account, most likely it will be impossible to tell if the same user has returned. What about link sharing? This site, yc, is all about sharing links and information. Would this break existing link sharing sites? Wouldn't there at least be a cognitive difference between people in discussions of a site using this software? And still yet, would an approach such as this give users the feeling of personallization and a better user experience or disenfranchisement of a constantly changing layout/experience? Although something like this combined w/ socialhistory.js would be really nice; that way you could ensure one form over another with greater accuracy and no need for a click history on the site - the information would already be available.