Amy Jo Kim wrote one of the classics on Web community design. AJ and Scott her puzzlemaster husband and their vivacious 7-year old son were in town for AJ’s consulting work, and the four of us had delicious breakfast at Scandic. I like AJ’s take on community. She has a background in psychology and it shows. These are her nine timeless design strategies:

1. Define and articulate your PURPOSE
2. Build flexible, extensible gathering PLACES
3. Create meaningful and evolving member PROFILES
4. Design for a range of ROLES
5. Develop a strong LEADERSHIP program
6. Encourage appropriate ETIQUETTE
7. Promote cyclic EVENTS
8. Integrate the RITUALS of community life
9. Facilitate member-run SUBGROUPS

More excerpts here.