A buzz is going around in social circles about Google +1 feature. It seems that engineers at Google, like always, decided to use mathematics as a tool to quantify social interactions. Although, Facebook's "Like" does quantify the number of likes on a post or a picture, the term "Like" itself has been historically a part of our day-to-day conversations - unlike +1 from Google. The notion of "Like" has been so deep-rooted in our psyche that we automatically associate ourselves without thinking twice about it.
Steve Krug, the author of the book "
Don't Make Me Think," advocates design with minimal cognitive strain. Google's +1 on the other hand, makes you think twice about its usage and intended notion.
If I liked a car, I never say, "I +1 this car." +1 is a mathematical concept; and, is so far away from vernacular.
A successful website sticks with the existing users mental model.
If you are given an option to rename Google's +1 feature to make it more "humane," what would it be?
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