Damon Kiesow – Head of Mobile Initiatives, The McClatchy Company Do you need to read Martin Heidegger’s “Introduction to Metaphysics” to build a great mobile user experience? No, but understanding what makes a tool “present-at-hand” is an underlying principle for the field of human computer interaction. We will look at what Heiddegger thinks about hammers, what Mark Weiser says about “effectively invisible” tools and how, as our technology becomes ever closer to us (keyboards> mice> smartphones > wearables), bad UX can become a physical assault on the senses. Find out why UX is more important than ever and how learning a bit of philosophical hermeneutics can help you design the next big thing.

1. UX = User + Experience
Damon Kiesow, @dkiesow
Head of Mobile Initiatives
McClatchy Company
11:30am - 12:30am | #ONA15ux

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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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Journalism Tech is a cargo cult
Ritual not innovation

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We are chasing technology
Print Radio TV Internet Phone ?? ??

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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…

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Cause or Cure Cancer?
https://kill-or-cure.herokuapp.com/

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Do you have a Watch plan?
• audience
• content
• revenue
• tempo
• voice
• publishing
• editing
• error correction

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• car dashboard?
• refrigerator
• front door
• contact lens
• jewelry
• microwave
• smoke detector
• bathroom mirror
What about
@dkiesow | #ONA15ux

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Glass is eating the world*
*Source: Benedict Evans & Corning

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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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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

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Readers First
Technology is not the center of readers’ focus
It can not be the focus of our strategies
Doing so sets us adrift

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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

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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

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Readers: Make it platform native
Reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the device
We tend to impose yesterday’s forms on tomorrow’s platforms.

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OK, what is it with people anyway?
They seem kind of high maintenance

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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

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Cognitive Barriers
Number of
Steps
Length of
Steps
Difficulty of
Steps
Adapted from Jordan Julien in UXMag.com
UserPerceptions

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Cognitive Load
Number of
Choices
Thought
Required
Clarity of
Choice
Adapted from Jordan Julien in UXMag.com

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Red
Say the color of the text
BlueGreenRedBlueGreenBlack
Stroop Effect

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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

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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.

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The hammer
The canonical example

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The mouse

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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.”

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Wired says
“…(It) could thusly be viewed as a
discontinuity in our selves.”

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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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Close your eyes
From an outstretched arm, touch your nose
The Field Sobriety Test is a test of proprioception

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Mainframes
Gestures
Voice
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Gestures
Gestures
Voice
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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

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Delight readers
EXPECTATIONS
REALITY
Satisfaction =

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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

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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

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How the industry thinks
Revenue Goals
Circulation Goals
Editorial Goals
Product
}

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How readers think
Surprise
me
Save me
money
Connect
me
Inform
me
Entertain
me
Save me
time
Make it
easy
News
Advertising
Subscription

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We need to rethink how we think
Problems before solutions
Readers not products
Servant leadership

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Empathy is required
Research
Listen
Validate
Build
Test
Iterate

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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

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Thanks
Damon Kiesow
Head of Mobile Initiatives
McClatchy Co
dkiesow@mcclatchy.com
@dkiesow