Digital Insanity Magazine by Bruno Amaral

UXLx17, a trip to the future

Mon, 19 Jun 2017 11:11:21 +0100

Foreword

What you are about to read is the translation of a blog post I wrote for ActiveMedia. They wanted me to share my perspective on UX Lx and what it means for marketing, and each one of us.

With the number of reads it got, it made sense to take the time to translate it and increase it's reach.

The original Portuguese post about UX Lx can be read at the ActiveMedia Blog.

A trip to the Future

It is true indeed: our world is digital and we are living in the future already. However, since we have yet to see cars driving themselves and speaking to usjust like Kitt used to do, we do not think that way.

The future is something that seems pretty distant, with all those things that are conceived in Silicon Valey. The place where horror stories are told, the ones that reveal how robots will take our jobs.

Fortunately, we have these events like UX Lx, right here in Lisbon, which gathers professionals who work with Design, User Experience (UX), as well as other fields of technology and marketing.

These are individuals who are not afraid of the future, as they are already busy outlining it.

I don’t know if this was intentional, but throughout the 4 days of workshop and conferences, two subjects stood out the most: The Human-centered design and the Super Human. An axis that as quickly as it pulls us towards the significance of emotions and communication – their more romantic and relational side, filled with shades of grey –, it is also capable of focusing its more analytical and rational way of thinking, one that is cold and made of black and white facts.

The super humans

We could brief this subject by saying that the robots have arrived and we are the robots.

The first presentation was the one of Jody Medich(@nothelga), focused precisely on this subject.

Among the explanations on how the brain works and the ways we can enhance our productivity by taking more advantage of the space around us, she showed some of the most recent applications of technology.

To these augmented reality systems, we also have to add the virtual reality application for physiotherapy, for the treatment of ocular diseases such as double vision (Diplopia) and even in the recovery from nervous system injuries. In situations where physiotherapy was backed up by a virtual reality system, a certain degree of recovery of the connection, between the nervous system and the muscles, was recorded.

Visualisation is a powerful element and applying technology allows us to carry out processes of logic with parts of our brain that are commissioned with spatial recognition.

This approach was followed by Richard Banfield’s presentation.

Sex, Drugs and The Infinite Scroll showed us that are still principles of biology which can guide our interaction with technology and also with these superpowers that Jody described.

One of the details of this presentation, which should be emphasised, is that we can only start drawing the future after having acknowledged the path that has taken us to this point in human history. Another one, equally significant, was the role that our emotions have when interacting with technology.

Therefore, we should conceive products, services, a system or even an Artificial Intelligent (AI) that are able to make us feel something relevant to that context. Something that makes us feel better, safer and even smarter.

At this point we can start questioning where the threshold is. If technology becomes too much effective in making us feel better, can we jeopardise our own motivation and the will to go as far as possible? And, if that’s the case, to what extent are we in control, or are we actually being controlled by technology or through it?

Shredding this yarn can easily prompt a web of fears.

Human-Centered design

Robots also give bad news and, when talking about Designing for Bad, Katy Mogal and Michael Winnick shared their research on how Apps should break bad news.

Katy worked as the Head of UX for Fitbit, a company that conceives fitness sensors. Part of the study that they presented covered much more ground than a mere analytical investigation would, as they featured real testimonials from users.

All our interaction with machines and technology will increase and it is already part of the daily lives of some of us. The Human-Centered approach has the goal to ensure that this interaction is not invasive but symbiotic.

It’s important to use this point as a pit stop, in order to reinforce that when we mention Design we are not talking about Graphic Design. In this specific context, Design refers to the process of solving a problem or building products and services. Design in the sense of design and development, the architecture and structure of a system. Under this broader view, it includes the fields of communication, psychology and sociology.

The human-centered design approach reinforces the notion that this process should always take into account the individual and his context, or several contexts of everyday life.

In an impossible-to-replicate presentation, we had Jeff Patton explaining how important it is to have the best possible return on our effort during the design process. This presentation’s highlight was the motto Looks good and is good is not the same thing!, which turned into a sort of war cry: Fight the suck!

Several other presentations and workshops also shed light on different aspects of this subject. The workshops of Content-First UX Design, Giving Voice to Your Voice Designs, and Storytelling in Design showed that they were influenced by this approach.

However, not a single fear on technology’s negative impact was heard.

From the prophets of doom to the technocrats

There are hundreds of examples available to talk about the impact of technology on society. The way we communicate has changed with Facebook and Twitter, and Uber shook the foundations of the taxi market, with public demonstrations happening because of it. Even the banking system is now witnessing is own realm changing with crowdfunding platforms and Bitcoin transactions.

The latest trends are now pointing in the direction of chatbots and Artificial Intelligence as constituents of the next wave of innovation.Last year, Gartner included in its hype cycle the Conversational User Interfaces, Virtual Personal Assistants and Smart robots.

A more conservative approach will pose the question whether more jobs will be lost to technology; the mechanisms to control the information that the Personal Assistants may have on us; and the whole dependence on technology.

I dare to say that if we happen to lose our job for a robot, it’s because we are actually doing something not that interesting. And there’s not much we can do to circumvent the impact of technology. It is not feasible to put restrictions for long periods of time on technology innovation, as our will to build and conceive is just too irresistible.

This is how the world ends.

Brenda Laurel, (@blaurel) took us on a journey through space and time in order to get to know several civilizations now lost.

We got acquainted with the Easter Island, which was devastated with the arrival of the Europeans, sources of unknown diseases, and by several episodes of civil war.

We visited Pompeii, obliterated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, a Europe that was reacting in panic to Black Death, the Anasazi (or Ancestral Pueblo) who were incapable of enduring the invasions of neighboring tribes.

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the Ozone layer and global warming were not left out of this dark outlook.

The final presentation, which is usually the highlight of UX Lx, led many people to a bewildered state of confusion and depression.

A disaster was prevented when Brenda established a connection between these calamities and the discipline of User Experience. Because, as professionals and builders of this world, we are adopting a set of values intrinsic to the profession. UX defends the user and, therefore, will have to strive to provide the best for the whole society into which it is inserted.

This positive message was also stressed by an array of ideas for science and society. Things like the importance of sharing information, of encouraging dazzle and research, of not sidelining failure as is quite common in Portugal. Failure happens and we learn from our mistakes.

One of the common traits shared by this long-gone civilizations was their isolation, and running away or trying to slow down the future’s pace is not a solution. (Aligning our way of thinking with the prophets of doom or the technocrats is not the way forward as well, as both sides have valid points.)

We can always make a choice, we can wait for the volcano to erupt, just like the inhabitants of Pompeii did as they were bearing witness to its warning signs, or we can look for solutions. And if we are not pleased with the path that the future is taking, and with what it can mean to us, we can always roll up our sleeves and build it.

What we cannot do is be afraid of learning curves or think that these subjects are only a matter of concern for Designers, Developers and Engineers.

Events such as UX Lx represent an opportunity for everyone who has a tiny spark of interest about the new ways to communicate, to live in society, to interact with brands and to conceive products and services.

Each one of these workshops and presentations would represent a good enough reason to write 1500 words more on the subject, and they all could end with the same war cry: The future is broken, and we can fix it!

This is the way the world ends

Thu, 25 May 2017 17:02:46 +0100

Pompei, when Vesuvius erupted.

People had time to flee, not everyone did for various reasons.

It was the boiling frog effect.

Rapa Nui, one of the most isolated islands.

Populated by Indonesian sailors. 15 000 people.

Population declined to 3000 and later 600 to 700 when james cook visited the island.

Civil wars and The diseases brought by the europeans caused the deaths

Invading species of rats also brought down the population of trees and birds.

The ancestral pueblo

They used pit-houses to live in.

They had a practice of sending out groups of people to teach others to farm. A form of defence to avoid them from stealing or invading.

Ruins showed the city was attacked several times. There was evidence of death by blunt trauma to the skull and of cannibalism.

Tribes of the Iroquois confederacy: The haudenosaunce

They faced dangers similar to the ones of the ancestral pueblo.

They managed to bring together the tribes and set up a good governance model.

They inspired benjamin franklin and other founding fathers.

they did some things right

unification
peace

The plague

There were three pandemics of plague around the world.

we are looking at the 2nd one.

Half the population of europe died in 4 years.

Jews were blamed of the plague, in fact they were hygienic and that kept them safe.

Some plague doctors were swindlers.

Extreme behaviour was linked to the plague.

Extreme parity
Dance macabre

Lisbon earthquake

it happened in 1755 in all saint’s day

Looters were hanged as an example to others.

Marquês de pombal directed the reconstruction and renovation. Estilo Pombalino.

it was the end of the world as they knew it. and knew it. and knew it. love @blaurel tales of apocalypse, reconstruction and grifters. #uxlx pic.twitter.com/zl3PbCVZDC
— alberta soranzo (@albertatrebla) May 25, 2017

Ozone layer

We discovered the cause and implemented cooperation policies to reduce the use of CFC’s. Montreal Protocol.

Yet we haven’t stopped the climate change.

What this means for ux

ux embodies values

general heuristics:

don’t ignore the boiling frog
avoid religion and prophecy
suspect grifters and don’t enable them
outreach beats isolation
model and visualize future outcomes
communicate those models and visualizations
inclusively enlist others in strategy and planning

ideas for science

encourage the flow of data and findings - enable sharing ideas
celebrate mystery but encourage further exploration
we need to honor interesting failures as well as success

social health

expand knowledge sources and domains
value common interest and common good over common opinion
resist divisiveness and those who promote it
practice and enable civility
accept responsibility for how we shape our world

Designing Our Future

Thu, 25 May 2017 16:30:57 +0100

part 1 - framing

Cargo Cult UX/Design

Tribe was acting out rituals to attract planes carrying goods and food.

We take 1000 breaths a day and don’t think about it.

Same holds for the design process and our day to day job.

Our happy memories don’t involve software, they involve other people.

It’s in its transparency that it fulfils it’s function. — James Balay

Focus on the experience and not the function.

design has become a box-checking exercise. time to take a deep breath and think. and then take it back to what design is – @eadahl #UXLX pic.twitter.com/R8wkUxZ9H4
— alberta soranzo (@albertatrebla) May 25, 2017

part 2 - culture

Pace Layers

Culture and nature evolve very slowly.

Stories are the constructors of culture. They are very close to what it means to be human.

(Harry Crews video)

who they were the world
their understanding of themselves
they believed the world worked

Stories are how we understand the world and how we shape the world.

"Culture is simply the ensemble of stories we tell ourselves about ourselves" #uxlx #erikdahl pic.twitter.com/KCZL0tBnMC
— Hollow Gram (@thehollowgram) May 25, 2017

Book : to sell is human Book : flow

students that were Problem finders produced better artwork and became successful artists.

Problem finding needs to come before problem solving.

Solve the communication problem before designing the solution. YES. Workshop on content-first UX design with @laurenlookayz #uxlx
— Piia Jalonen (@piiajalonen) May 24, 2017

Reference : Laban Movement Analysis framework

part 3 Vision

Have a vision for your future.

Identity before effort

And you have to make steps to make that vision a reality.

Great wrap up to the talk from @eadahl at #uxlx pic.twitter.com/wUcMS0oTWB
— Pedro Alves (@audaxux) May 25, 2017

Be mindful of what you are making and in the end make stuff that matters.

It's not failure you should be afraid of

Thu, 25 May 2017 15:53:02 +0100

Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos, but don't worry, you can download it and watch it with your video player! Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos, but don't worry, you can download it and watch it with your video player!

Look good and is good is not the same thing!

The problem with ideas is thay everyone has them & that most of them suck! #ux #uxlx #creativity #uxd pic.twitter.com/5vKzoSDJq6
— Sarah Doody (@sarahdoody) May 25, 2017

"Your company doesn't get what it wants until customers get what they want" @jeffpatton live preso-sketching at #uxlx pic.twitter.com/Kq6szbpSs9
— Jim Kalbach (@JimKalbach) May 25, 2017

How to fight the suck?

with a good design process

FASTEST way is to test and ship it.

@jeffpatton on why it's great to only being wrong 70% of the time. #uxlx pic.twitter.com/89WssopKpO
— Matthias Feit (@matthiasfeit) May 25, 2017

Sex, Drugs and Infinite Scroll

Thu, 25 May 2017 15:47:35 +0100

Biology is an exquisite designer

The problem

we are asked to design for a future we don’t know how it will be.

It’s difficult to look far ahead

1. Product inovation is evolutionary

It’s much more dramatic, sometimes nothing happens and then everything changes.

We are going to see new tech arrive on the scene, new competitors and other disruptors.

Adaptation happens in response to pressure

Our process needs to gather the negative feedback and use it to move forward.

We work in cycles of near wins that lead to more attempts.

We need to foster that adaptation environment.

Movement is important

if we don’t need to move, we don’t need a brain.

Think about the customer about what they are doing as human being and what you can give them in that state.

innovation feels like super powers

Even when disguised as a phone.

tech needs to feel comfortable and not weird, it needs to make you feel “safe”.

an interface is just another form of conversation.

We are always on but not on the same device.

Different contexts, different devices, but sometimes the same content.

We should question everything.

Shopping is not the same for all apps.

Humans are an emotional mess

And that’s a good thing.

serotonin and other brain functions reinforce our use of phones and apps.

We need to stop thinking as designers/scientist and start thinking like emotional people.

The best products make humans feel more _____ (loved, safe, etc.)

Don’t wait for a crisis to happen

Nothing interesting happens in the office

build for the human state

Allow humans to be human

Amplify human powers

technology has to fit our day to day and the way we act and feel.

Specialize for your niche

context is everything

Final thought

Make humans FEEL.

Our job is to make them connect, be recognized and accepted, loved.

Please try this at home: ask people about their feelings, do a ride along, don’t be the doctor that sits at the office.

Anticipatory design and invisible UI

Thu, 25 May 2017 15:21:31 +0100

If you don’t anticipate people’s need, you’re not doing UX.

All the attempts for anticipating the user’s needs, is actually causing stress and leading to the same decisions over and over again.

Decision fatigue

Digit interacts with your bank and pulls money out everyday. It saves money for you automatically.

Are we taking this too far?

Problems come up because system’s don’t know the context of the user. It needs to go beyond what it sees in the calendar and email inbox.

Can anticipatory design choreograph our day-to-day?

Sometimes it causes more pain than good.

Scenarios where we need to think if we should automate things

3 cautions to be aware

1. Accuracy

What happens when what we automate fails?

auto pilot consequeces

pilots only fly 3 minutes because of the auto pilot
this means they are losing their skills

2. Future Innovation

who becomes the observer?

Where will ideas come from?

People can do things better and connect the dots towards innovation.

3. Human experience

We find satisfaction in the struggle. We get in a zone of focus and seek to overcome challenges.

5 takeaways

Do Not Invade

anticipate the need but don’t invade the user’s space

Never take away full control

Always give people a way to take back control.

reduce complexity with curation

Focus on the quality, it feels too much like an algorithm.

earn trust over time

We need to build trust in every action of the system

Create a system of giving input and taking away a better experience.

you = decider in chief

know when to make decisions for your user and when to let them be the decider.

How will you balance the line between anticipation and automation in your product?

Slides

Hey #uxlx @uxlx my slides from my talk about anticipation & automation in design are available here: 👉 https://t.co/NHGf4kgltB
— Sarah Doody (@sarahdoody) May 25, 2017

https://www.slideshare.net/sarahdoody/the-balance-between-anticipation-automation-in-ux-design

Design for Bad

Thu, 25 May 2017 14:30:00 +0100

We design services and products for a happy outcome but bad news is part of day to day.

we don’t get the perfect match on dating apps

we don’t get results from 1 000 CVs

we don’t get fit just by using fitbit

How do we retain users in the system when this happens? When the interaction is not positive.

Dscout demo

Did research on how people react to bad news

Listed companies that do well and poorly.

bad news come from many angles

breaking down bad

the category is not what makes bad news, and you can get responses at many levels of disapointment.

these acumulate over time.

As bad news accumulate, people move from slightly disappointed to demoralized. You don’t want users in the demoralized zone. #uxlx
— Mariusz (@dotmariusz) May 25, 2017

very few services design for bad news.

people we are bad at delivering bad news.

The mum effect: we avoid delivering bad news and we try to mediate it or spin it.

examples:

Binder !
The compliment sandwich.

From edge cases we ignore or mess up to the critical #ux task of designing for bad: important stuff from Katy Mogal & Michael Winnick #uxlx
— david sloan (@sloandr) May 25, 2017

examples of companies that deliver bad news well and bad

Set the frame

explain what happened
tell the user how he can improve

carrot app AI is experimenting with humor to deliver news

1 minimize the footprint

plausible deniability (tinder)

better goals, progressive goal setting mapped to the user’s behaviour (fitbit)

well timed heads up (united airlines)

indiegogo helps the funders and gives them feedback to improve the business and appeal to investors.

2 Message effectively

empathy
explanation
early
effort
encouragement

3 make a whoop

4 signal investment

let users tell us when they really care

"Develop design principles for negative messages." @katymogal #UXLX pic.twitter.com/PykFWvem7P
— Jan Toman (@HonzaTmn) May 25, 2017

Practical jobs to be done

Thu, 25 May 2017 13:53:26 +0100

https://Mural.co

What is disruption for business

examples of disruption:

Wikipedia
Amazon
Mp3
…

GoToMeeting launched HD video calls, it justified the price point.

— Who doesn’t want a 10% better image quality?
— Everyone. Everyone doesn’t want it. #SiliconValleyHBO quoted at #uxlx 👌🏻
— Mariusz (@dotmariusz) May 25, 2017

The goals the customer has and what needs to be done.

Books:

The innovator’s dillema
The innovator’s solution

business loses focus on what the user is trying to do.

1 at the core of disruption is a relization that opportunity come from understanding the jobs people need to get done

there are competing approaches to this.

example, keyless locks.

We need to control access and feel safe: Function and emotion in the same context.

Maximize my ability to allow visitors in during the day.

Direction > Unit > Qualifier

Direction

Minimize
Reduce
lower
maximize
increase
higher

Disered outcomes survey

Unit

Qualifier

https://twitter.com/kristyokada/status/867684316872134656

2 Give designers a way of capturing insight that leverages our skills for finding real business opportunities

discover value
design value
deliver value
(re)define value

discover value

'go out and talk to people' to uncover desired outcomes and business opportunities. @JimKalbach talks serious sense at #UXLX. #JTBD pic.twitter.com/cTT8xiqob0
— alberta soranzo (@albertatrebla) May 25, 2017

design value

When ____ , I want to ______, so i can

"What are the jobs users wants to get done?" Use: When _____ I want to ______So I can _________ #jimkalbach #uxlx #jtbd
— Stina Janson (@stinajanson) May 25, 2017

situation	motivation	expected outcome

deliver value

shift language to JTBD

lose marketing jargon

redefine value

markets are boxes we put ourselves into.

don’t just develop a software, intuit competes with the pencil and not just other tax software solutions.

expand your market by adding new jobs to what you cover.

3 offers a practical ‘lens’ to view various aspects of your organisation and shift the view from inside-out to inside-in

people don’t want a drill, they want a hole in the wall. theodore levit

Look at Value from customer perspective, not business one #JTBD #uxlx @JimKalbach pic.twitter.com/BRkMxir8xJ
— Matteo Barbero (@teoseattle) May 25, 2017

Articulating Design Decisions

Thu, 25 May 2017 13:08:56 +0100

What makes a design GOOD?

Simplicity, a good use of space, when you can’t remove anything else?

We are terrible at talking about design.

It’s good when it solves a problem.

A great designer solves the problem and explains it to others in a way that makes sense.

solves a problem
easy for users
supported by everyone

A great designer is a great communicator.

WHY ?

UX has gone mainstream.

CEO Button = demands by the CEO that are

The CEO button happens all the time.

Homepage syndrome

Problems that we face as design is so mainstream: the CEO button and the homepage syndrome — via @tomgreever at @uxlx #uxlx pic.twitter.com/ZL02vcEKZ6
— Pedro MS (@PedroMScom) May 25, 2017

Approaching

what problem does this solve?
how does this affect the user?
why is it better than the alternative?

understanding

take time to think about the people that are in the project.

see their perspective (and tailor your presentation)
remove distractions from the conversation
anticipate reactions

listening

let them talk as much as they want without interruptions (gives them confidence that they were heard)
hear what they are not saying (what’s the elephant in the room? what are the office politics in play?)
uncover the real problem
convert “likes” into “works”
ask for examples

Responding

give up control (the first step is admitting you’re not in control)
Lead with a YES!

We're taught "please" is the magic word to get clients to listen. No. It's "yes" says @tomgreever at #uxlx - yes makes people feel heard.
— Sarah Doody (@sarahdoody) May 25, 2017

tactics

appeal to a nobler motive
show a comparison (you want a common space to discuss your work)
propose an alternative
give them a choice (something they will lose and something they will gain)
postpone the decision

Common explanations

facilitates a primary use case
follows a common design pattern
meets a particular goal
data supports it
complies with a standard
limited technology
draws the user’s attention
creates a flow for the user
establishes branding

going back to the 3 questions

what problem does this solve?
how does this affect the user?
why is it better than the alternative?

one more tactic: painting a duck

an element that we will remove later.

http://bitovi.com/ux

An opposite truth

Thu, 25 May 2017 10:02:06 +0100

There is ambiguity ineherent to architecture.

What does good mean?

There is no right way.

LATCH is our first five iterations to organize things.

Niels Bohr quote

Spending time in certain spaces helps people with certain disorders.

The nature of order

Snowfall

http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek

they had to break governance process and direct more resources to the project.

Slides

Slides from the talk I got to give at #UXLX todayhttps://t.co/gGDQh8NJ7J

All the words i said are in the speaker notes
— dan klyn (@danklyn) May 25, 2017

https://t.co/gGDQh8NJ7J

Becoming SuperHuman

Thu, 25 May 2017 10:01:50 +0100

We use cibernetic tools everyday, from the tutorial videos to the GPS on our car.

But The user is doing all of the work.

We have limited working memory.

Every interaction with an interface wipes the working memory and the user needs to go back to recall what the task was.

Computers are dumb, they don’t have notion of context.

"We train users how to push right buttons in the right order." @nothelga #uxlx
— Jan Toman (@HonzaTmn) May 25, 2017

you’re boring!

We can predict the daily behaviour of the user if we know the context.

Human > speaks > tech

That’s why our systems suggest apps we use often.

IoT and other tools are beginning to understand what the context is. It learns our particular patterns.

Technology can then reduce the number of interruptions and task-switching needs.

We can do better

Magic is skipping the right steps.

Our brain offloads stuff from the short term memory.

When tech speaks human, is when we start to gain super powers.

Spatial memory is free.

When we use space as a tool, laying out objects and items, we are using a bigger part of our brain.

bruno amaral

Adding space improves productivity by 40% — and we know this since 1993

Beyond UI white space... #uxlx pic.twitter.com/Hr2zLc0hIM
— Pedro Alves (@audaxux) May 25, 2017

Synthetic reality adds space to computing.

Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos, but don't worry, you can download it and watch it with your video player!

putting the task in the context helps avoid the task switching

Augmented Spatial Memory

Building things using a spatial interface

Reduces the cognitive burden of interacting with the UI.

Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos, but don't worry, you can download it and watch it with your video player!

super human healing factor

Diplopia by James Blaha

VR used to retrain the sinapses of the brain and help people with lazy eye.

mental rehearsal & visualization

the kids that did visualization did better than kids practicing basketball in shooting hoops

paraplegia

exo suits to help the person do physical therapy … assisted with VR.

the brain was able to move muscles again.

burn victims

playing computer games associated with cold helped to endure the pain of treatment.

examples:

google translate
kernel
stivvr
augmenta
GM + nasa: robo-glove
braingate2

How tech can make us all superhumans? And what are we going to do with those superpowers? #uxlx @nothelga pic.twitter.com/r7MKbkeHoZ
— Matteo Barbero (@teoseattle) May 25, 2017

Who am I?

I help brands solve problems and make sense or their digital communication. Do reach out if I can help. mail@brunoamaral.eu | Contact