A UI to Increase Social Network Connections

by June 12, 2007

A while back I noticed an increasing number of LinkedIn invitations in my email Inbox, which made me curious. Did the company introduce any product design changes that led to this recent surge of connections? Turns out -yes they did.

Upon accepting or sending an invitation to join LinkedIn, users are now presented with one of the following pages: a list of work colleagues, an invitation to easily import Web mail contacts, or a split screen with access to colleagues, classmates, and Web mail contacts. All these pages are designed to encourage additional connections.

These changes seem to be working. In April 2007, LinkedIn reached 10 million registered users and was adding 130,000 new members per week. According to the official press release: “While anyone can sign up for LinkedIn, most users join upon receiving an invitation from a friend or colleague.”