Research and design for personal identity on The Economist web site (with help from a Drupal-based survey tool)

Since The Economist was founded in 1843 by Scottish hat maker James Wilson to promote free trade, internationalism and market independence, all of the content on The Economist reflected the voice of its editors… until early 2008 when the web site opened up to reader comments. The voices and opinions of our readers now appear alongside the words of our editors.

This change led to major growth in site traffic. It also raised a number of questions for us about how people might want to see and be seen by others, in association with their contributions to articles, blogs and debates. The Economist wants to encourage the emerging online community to express itself with boldness, intelligence and thoughtful civility – all cherished values for this brand.

Research data has gathered for some time to suggest that the quality of online discussion improves when people use their real names. A few online communities currently encourage this practice. We wanted to know how encouraging our readers to use their ‘real names’ might affect the quality of discussion on The Economist web site. How would this be perceived? What might be gained or lost?

In addition to exploring the issue of how people may name themselves, we also wanted to have some fun, and to provide an outlet for the kind of wit that is sometimes found in the print issue.

This case study will discuss three themes:

• The Drupal-based survey tool that has become part of our growing user research and testing program, including a set of practices we believe are needed for these surveys to remain viable
• What we learned from a survey that we conducted with our readers on their use of ‘real names’ vs. pseudonyms, for their pen name (aka user name)
• Design explorations and plans for a series of Economist-branded avatars