3 ms·

Fair point. Photos definitely are (IMHO) more engaging than plaintext or even Google Maps of where someone is. But this post compared photo posts on either plat

Fair point. Photos definitely are (IMHO) more engaging than plaintext or even Google Maps of where someone is. But this post compared photo posts on either platform, so to be fair, the medium was the same -- but you're still right in that Foursquare doesn't have as much of a focus on photos as Path does. Really interesting counter-question you posed. It appears to then be a decision about Path's conviction to how things SHOULD be designed vs. immediate conversion lifts (and how significant those lifts were/what future engagement was like/other conversion and engagement metrics). For example, I imagine Facebook has tested designs that increased user engagement but didn't fit with a bigger picture strategy or violated some core tenets. They probably scrapped it and stuck to their conviction in a lot of cases when there were alluring potential upticks in conversions with alternate designs.

ctide 15y ago
It doesn't matter that Foursquare added photos later, people have been seeing boring foursquare links on Twitter / Facebook for years now. I don't even notice the [pic] tag because I've been trained to mentally filter out those links because they're boring. Path is inherently about the photo first, I'm never clicking through to Path to figure out where the person is, only to look at the photo.
- jason_shah 15y ago
  This underscores how important it is for companies to get as close to right early on, no matter how MVP. Arguably if 4sq. started including photos sooner, or had a less boring UX on those UGC landing pages in the first place even if they lacked photos for a while, they could have counteracted this sort of apathy towards their links and avoided, or altered, the mental filter you mentioned.
  - ctide 15y ago
    Yes, without a doubt. Look at how few people use their lists feature. It was months before I even realized it existed, and I check in constantly. People have a very clear picture of what Foursquare is and what it provides, and that makes it incredibly difficult for them to break out of that mold.

ctide 15y ago

It doesn't matter that Foursquare added photos later, people have been seeing boring foursquare links on Twitter / Facebook for years now. I don't even notice the [pic] tag because I've been trained to mentally filter out those links because they're boring. Path is inherently about the photo first, I'm never clicking through to Path to figure out where the person is, only to look at the photo.

jason_shah 15y ago
This underscores how important it is for companies to get as close to right early on, no matter how MVP. Arguably if 4sq. started including photos sooner, or had a less boring UX on those UGC landing pages in the first place even if they lacked photos for a while, they could have counteracted this sort of apathy towards their links and avoided, or altered, the mental filter you mentioned.
- ctide 15y ago
  Yes, without a doubt. Look at how few people use their lists feature. It was months before I even realized it existed, and I check in constantly. People have a very clear picture of what Foursquare is and what it provides, and that makes it incredibly difficult for them to break out of that mold.