Platform Matrix for UX/UI

An Interactive Product's UI and UX will be greatly determined by where a product falls within this matrix. Interactive Products range from General Platforms to Cultural Platforms and from Input to Output Platforms.

Generally speaking properties such as CNN.com are General Platforms that Output/deliver content to an audience, whereas MTV.com is a Culture specific platform that Outputs/delivers content to a targeted audience. Though twitter is a cultural phenomenon, it is still considered a General platform, yet it allows for user generated content (UGC) via its simple Input system – note: I placed it higher on the Output/delivery scale due to its strong emphasis on delivering more Outputs to the users than the Inputs of the user.

Sites such as Wufoo.com are designed as a General platform for an audience to create forms - it is an Input only platform, whereas a system such as Facebook is General with a strong Input system and moderate Output/delivery system due to its controlled friendship circles. Linkedin has strong Input systems and over the past few years has increased their transaction capabilities. Note: they push further towards a Culture platform since they cater to business professionals.

Vimeo and Myspace both have strong Input systems, yet also have strong Output that delivers content, which is more culturally targeted as opposed to YouTube, which has a broad user base. Hulu is a General platform while MTV is Cultural platform with both having a limited user Input UI.