Usability consulting in Second Life

[Karen Bachmann]

I recently became a Second Life resident. To learn as much as possible about this massive world, I turn to online forums, wikis, and blogs to accelerate my learning curve. One of my favorite writers so far is Torley Linden, a product manager for Second Life (all Linden Lab employees are Lindens). If you aren't familiar with Second Life and what it offers, be aware that many residents make real money by creating objects to sell to other residents. Some of those objects are more usable than others. Torley makes a case for usability consulting in Second Life in a recent blog post, "Usability consultants have golden opportunities in Second Life".

While I've seen lots of shops for objects, I'm not sure how to go about marketing a service within this immense and growing virtual world (well, if you aren't a big company, such as Reuters or IBM, with your own island). However, I will definitely share anything I learn and would love to hear your thoughts, especially if you are a SL resident.