StrikeAwe

Great Design: StackOverflow.com

Posted May 31, 2009 by Gabriel Hurley

I've known about stackoverflow.com for a while... anybody that uses Google as their reference for coding lands on solutions there pretty regularly.

I signed up as a user two days ago after learning more about them at Google I/O and I have to say, there are are some excellent design features at work on their site.

1. They support an extremely streamlined OpenID login, so you can just click the icon of Google or Myspace or any other provider and be up and running on stackoverflow in a matter of seconds.
2. The entire site is community-driven; part wiki, part forum, part code repository. The social aspect is built in from the start.
3. There's an entire system of "reputation points" that work a lot like points in a video game. You earn more priveleges and get "badges" for achievements  by participating on the site. Posting good questions or helpful answers get you points. What's considered good and helpful is at the whim of all the other users.
4. When new events occur (like your question being answered or new badges being earned) a very clean notification bar fades in at the top of the window. It makes the site feel much more alive when you get information in real time like that.

There's lots more to it beyond that, but those are a few of the notable items that stand out on their site. Things to be aware of and to emulate in future designs.