Sometimes the right answer to a question is a discussion - a mosaic of answers. Enter Fluther, a great little project I found over at Cameron Moll’s Authentic Jobs. In redesigning their site, Co-owners Andrew McClain and Ben Finkel wanted an identity and user experience that would set them apart from sites like Metafilter, and Yahoo Answers. It was an rewarding collaboration.

Being Different.
One thing competitors in the social search space had in common were very plain, very generic “Web 2.0” looking interfaces. Just being something specific can sometimes be a powerful brand differentiator. After building an identity spectrum, we were quickly able to agree specifically on how the identity should “feel”. And the name Fluther (meaning a pod of jellyfish) gave me the perfect starting point to visualize these attributes.

Interaction.
The idea? You ask a question. Fluther connects you to people with a wide range of experience on your topic. Ya’ll chat about the answer. Your profile develops, and soon you get questions from your areas of expertise.

The easiest way to understand Fluther was to use it - to ask a question. Before any wireframing, we invested some time in determining how to make understanding Fluther an easier user experience.

Interface.
Trust was central to the success of this project. iChat AV helped blur the line nicely between client and contractor (in a way email and instant messaging can’t), making our relationship feel much more like a unified development team. Decisions could be made, problems solved, in a real-time collaborative manner. Definitely a tool I plan on using more with clients.

Check it out.
So… Go. Now. Ask. Let me know what you think?

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