Kathy Sierra gave a session at [OsCon] on [Creating Passionate Users] (PassIon), essentially encouraging a Virtual Community/Eco System. There are interesting summaries by [Geoff Broadwell] and [Sean Mountcastle]. To form a rich, vibrant community, the product has to have a long term richness and depth, so that a progression forms from newbie to master. As in various programming communities, a rich ecosystem of knowledge will form around this progression. Some users will spend all of their energy climbing the ladder of mastery; others will act as mentors, or evangelists, or trivia collectors, or what have you. The more depth a subject shows, the richer the community can be. The ladder of skill (Learning Curve) is itself important; as Computer Game designers know, many users just want to be able to reach the next level to be able to say that they have.

In a recent blog post, she also compares this journey to the "belt" system of Martial Art-s. In a slightly older post she notes The more we analyze and reverse-engineer passion, the more we see learning and growth as a key component. No, not a key--the key... Why are so many companies and causes doing virtually nothing to help users get better?... It's not what you sell, it's what you teach that matters. Which smells similar to z2004-11-24- Macleod Expressive Capital.

Sept'2005 update pulls together lots of her past bits. I'll say it again - if you're marketing-through-teaching, and helping your users kick ass, and in the process teaching them to appreciate your higher-end products or services, this is not a bad thing.

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