Design principles for civic social media

Design guidelines for the development of civic social media

Civic social media are digital platforms on which members of communities can communicate, collaborate and exchange information safely and securely. These platforms are developed responsibly, based on public values. They are sovereignly managed by organisations and initiatives with a social objective.

During the development of civic social media, software developers and supporting organisations make choices in the areas of technology, algorithms, governance, required functionalities, user experience (UX design), visual style (UI design), moderation and editing. In order to arrive at well-considered choices, design principles can provide support in the development of civic social media platforms.

We have developed several design principles to help you guide the design of civic social media platforms. These design principles can be traced back to a number of core values ​​and can be translated into a number of design dimensions. The design principles describe the underlying values, in the design dimensions these are translated into a number of concrete tasks for designers.

Here we present five design principles and seven design dimensions for the design process of civic social media. They can be applied throughout the entire process – from ambitious concept to the smallest UI details – to provide direction for design choices.

The five design principles apply to all civic social media, regardless of the type of community being designed for. In addition, different communities have different needs, which can lead to tensions between the design principles and the public values ​​on which they are based. For example, it may be essential for one community that conversations take place in public space, while another community benefits from a familiar, private environment. It is therefore important to make this trade-off, primarily for the benefit of the type of community.

We made the design principles available in a slidedeck format, so you can use the principles not only when working on a civic social media project yourself, but you can also easily present it to others, to convince them to join forces!