Draft of my 2015 Online News Association Conference workshop on user experience thinking. (A number of links are included in the live presentation but do not translate into Slideshare - apologies.)
Beginners Guide to TikTok for Search - Rachel Pearson - We are Tilt __ Bright...
UX = User + Experience #ONA15
1. UX = User + Experience
Damon Kiesow, @dkiesow
Head of Mobile Initiatives
McClatchy Company
11:30am - 12:30am | #ONA15ux
2. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
tl;dr
Next comes ubiquitous computing, or the age of calm
technology, when technology recedes into the background
of our lives. - Mark Weiser
Take for example, a hammer: it is ready-to-hand; we use it
without theorizing… Only when it breaks or something goes
wrong might we see the hammer as present-at-hand, just
lying there. - Martin Heidegger
“
”
“
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5. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
What will save journalism?
(Go ahead and Google it)
iPad, Apple Watch, Tony Haile, Crowdfunding, Rich tech guys, Facebook, Cat
Videos, Bitcoin, Data, Niche Reporting, Marshawn Lynch, Rap Genius, Native
Advertising, Social Media…
10. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Ubiquitous computing
• Everything has a chip
• We stop noticing
Next comes ubiquitous computing, or the age of calm technology,
when technology recedes into the background of our lives.
Mark Weiser (1952- 1999)
Chief Scientist Xerox PARC
“
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11. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Opportunity Costs
We can’t do everything
We can barely count the new things to do
Emerging technologies lack a playbook
We need to be using/playing with the new tech
And we need to make money somehow long the way
12. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Readers First
Technology is not the center of readers’ focus
It can not be the focus of our strategies
Doing so sets us adrift
13. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Readers: Make it efficient
As the pace of information speeds up, readers want a filter
The fear of missing out v.s the reality of drowning in information
14. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Readers: Make it seamless
Not just how new technologies work, how they work together
Does your experience move with the user and adapt to their context?
Tablet Car Radio Phone Desktop
15. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Readers: Make it platform native
Reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the device
We tend to impose yesterday’s forms on tomorrow’s platforms.
17. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Don’t make me think
Satisficing vs Optimizing
Our brains have limited processing power
Working (transient) memory is required to learn new things
If overloaded, frustration and task failure results
Design must minimize load
18. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Cognitive Barriers
Number of
Steps
Length of
Steps
Difficulty of
Steps
Adapted from Jordan Julien in UXMag.com
UserPerceptions
19. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Cognitive Load
Number of
Choices
Thought
Required
Clarity of
Choice
Adapted from Jordan Julien in UXMag.com
21. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Conservation of complexity
Potential cognitive load in a system should be solved by
developers, not exposed to users
40 hours x 1 developer = 40 hours
0.5 second x 5,000,000 users = 700 hours
22. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
So, Heidegger…
Ready to Hand v.s. Present at Hand
When a technology is used intuitively and for a purpose, it
becomes an extension of your own body. You see only the
work, not the tool.
25. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Wired says
The malfunctioning mouse serves
to “increase the participants'
cognitive load, and lead(s) to
decreased performance in some of
the ongoing cognitive tasks.”
27. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Connected tools
• Extended Physiologic Proprioception
• Originated with the study of prosthetic limbs
• Popularization of the mouse a turning point
One must deduce that a control system which is very much
more efficient… is operating in the biological situation in
order to reduce the load down to an acceptable level where
the system can operate unconsciously.
- D.C. Simpson (1974)
“
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28. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Close your eyes
From an outstretched arm, touch your nose
The Field Sobriety Test is a test of proprioception
31. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
How it matters
Older technologies were accommodated by users
Now tech is more personal and must do the accommodating
Users experience and intuit this shift
Design / UX is now a differentiator and an expectation
33. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Don’t hit your users
As we remove mediating layers like the keyboard and mouse and
control software directly with gesture and touch - disruptions
become more painful
Punchcard Keyboard Mouse Touch Gesture Thought
34. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Forget the tech - worry about the audience
Heidegger again… Hermeneutic Circle
Users are not separate from their experiences
To understand one, you must understand the other
35. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
How the industry thinks
Revenue Goals
Circulation Goals
Editorial Goals
Product
}
36. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
How readers think
Surprise
me
Save me
money
Connect
me
Inform
me
Entertain
me
Save me
time
Make it
easy
News
Advertising
Subscription
37. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
We need to rethink how we think
Problems before solutions
Readers not products
Servant leadership
39. @dkiesow | #ONA15ux
Bottom line
Our technology is becoming increasingly ‘invisible’
Soon everything will have a chip and a screen
Audiences will expect information services everywhere
As the tech disappears it becomes an extension of ourselves
That creates huge demands on design to reduce cognitive load and disruption
There is no ‘fix’ except to listen to readers and build products to support them
And iterate - quickly
[twitter]Talking about UX, Heidegger and Product Management #ONA15 in a few minutes in Westwood. [/twitter]
[twitter]Minor tweet storm coming - deck for context here: XXX[/twitter]
[twitter]Journalism Tech is a cargo cult[/twitter]
[twitter]We are fighting technological battle with a hope but not a plan[/twitter]
Unsurprisingly the next big thing is often a new technology
[twitter]Google “save journalism” for an example of the ritual http://j.mp/save-journalism[/twitter]
One of our favorite rituals
[twitter]In the absence of a plan we resort to guessing. Good metaphor: http://j.mp/kill-cure[/twitter]
You can tell it is superstition not science because the same question results in wildly different answers each time.
[twitter]Without really understanding the audience or the tech - how do we what needs it might serve?[/twitter]
What are the right questions to ask? The problem in guessing is you lack a formal framework for actually understanding. Win/lose you won’t necessarily recognize the cause. How many years into Twitter and we still don’t have standard procedure for corrections
[twitter]And if we figure out wearables - do the same lessons apply to the car dashboard or bathroom mirror?[/twitter]
And, any lessons learned will not necessarily translate.
[twitter]What is next to get a chip and a display? We are selling a square foot of screen for every person on earth j.mp/evans-glass [/twitter]
http://www.slideshare.net/a16z/mobile-is-eating-the-world-40841467
(square foot of screen sold for every human on earth)
[twitter]Ubiquitous or pervasive computing is not the same as ‘mobile’ http://j.mp/ubi-comp [/twitter]
[twitter]We can’t randomly try everything, and we can’t afford to wait for the lessons to make it into textbooks.[/twitter]
[twitter]We can’t randomly try everything, and we can’t afford to wait for the lessons to make it into textbooks.[/twitter]
[twitter]News consumers want to balance the FOMO against the reality of information overload[/twitter]
[twitter]They want seamless experiences between devices, sessions and contexts[/twitter]
[twitter]They want apps/site that take advantage of context and device capabilities[/twitter]
[twitter]Reader’s expectations xxx [/twitter]
[twitter]Don’t Make Me Think: The Book http://j.mp/think-not [/twitter]
[twitter]Great explanation of Cognitive Barriers and Cognitive Load http://j.mp/cognitive-effort [/twitter]
[twitter]Products must be designed to minimize cognitive load http://j.mp/nielsen-cognition [/twitter]
[twitter]The Stroop Test is a simple example of cognitive load http://j.mp/stroop-effect [/twitter]
[twitter]Complexity in a system should be borne by the developer not the user. http://j.mp/save-complex [/twitter]
[twitter]Heidegger argued that tools (or tech) become invisible when used intuitively http://j.mp/being-time [/twitter]
Using a hammer, you don’t think about the interface - you think about the project.
[twitter]Heidgger used the hammer as an example of an invisible tool. We might consider the mouse. [/twitter]
Using a hammer, you don’t think about the interface - you think about the project.
[twitter]Your computer really is a part of you (Wired 2010) http://j.mp/wired-tools [/twitter]
[twitter]Original research proving the ‘ready-to-hand’ concept http://j.mp/tools-paper [/twitter]
[twitter]Original research for Extended Physiologic Proprioception http://j.mp/extended-touch [/twitter]
[twitter]Original research for Extended Physiologic Proprioception http://j.mp/extended-touch [/twitter]
[twitter]Developers used transistor radios to monitor the inner workings of some early computers http://j.mp/radio-mainframe [/twitter]
This is a concept that really only arose with the advent of the mouse. Most people are probably not good enough typists to work the keyboard unconsciously.
[twitter]Gesture interfaces are an awful lot of work to use http://j.mp/tested-gestures [/twitter]
[twitter]The shift to touch, gesture and voice control is changing how we view technology. [/twitter]
[twitter]As tech becomes invisible products must become more intuitive. Satisfaction = expectations / reality.[/twitter]
[twitter]If MSFT Windows locks-up it is an annoyance. If your smart contact lens does, it is an assault.[/twitter]
[twitter]Bonus term: hermeneutic circle [/twitter]
[twitter] We often put our business needs ahead of reader needs. [/twitter]
[twitter]xxx [/twitter]
[twitter]Design Thinking is a human centered design approach to product development http://j.mp/think-design [/twitter]
[twitter]Bottom line - chasing tech is a fool’s errand. We need to understand the audience and chase their needs. [/twitter]
[twitter] Thanks for tuning in, the deck is here for reference: xxx [/twitter]