1. Authenticity and trust
on the Internet
Chris Heathcote
@antimega
anti-mega.com
I realised after submitting it that this sounds like the most boring talk ever from this title
20. this is how Google started in 1998, reminds me of what Altavista - then the #1 - looked like
21. ESTA
does this inspire confidence? It looks like it was designed on paper rather than being of the
web
22. and this is one way of filing your tax return in the US - it smells wrong, like it’s a downloaded
template. Even the security certificate is attributed to the generic-sounding Free File Alliance.
24. gov.uk
It’s a solid, modern design and at least you’ll get a consistent experience with any interaction
with the Government online - trust gets built through re-use
28. Facebook apps
Facebook apps just don’t give enough information to judge - who made it, what will it do,
what does it let me do
29. Yes Men
on the flip side, it’s attention to detail and craft that lets people like the Yes Men dupe others
- there’s a facebook widget, Twitter, written in corporatese...
35. And they’re all still built in West London. they did look at Chinese manufacture, but it ended
up being about the same price, and they’d lose all of their sales in China & Asia if they didn’t
have this story and authenticity.
36. we love a good story
people love stories, and love products and services with a story
37. Moleskine started production in 1994. It’s not an old brand. But they use a bit of slightly
weaselly copy to associate themselves with being 200 years old (fwiw, moleskine was the
generic term used by artists to describe similar notebooks).
39. you only have a
heritage if one day you
start making something
new
but I want to be clear: you can only have a heritage if one day you make something new
40. the romance of history
many stories of authenticity are a romantic view - of a product’s history
41. physical products have
the romance of making
or the romance of making and craft: which many makers don’t realise - because it’s their day
job and there’s little romance in the actual grind of making things day after day
45. Historytag - the provenance of your individual object - they take photos of your jeans as
they’re being made. They also embed the story directly in the product.
46. Nokia always wanted to be American, or Japanese. It just couldn’t understand why it could or
should be proud of a long Finnish history.
47. and now, all physical products now have to be completely clear about their provenance, and
their suppliers’ provenance
49. Internet companies shy
away from being from
somewhere
or actually, generally try to pretend to be American, or at least from somewhere in the mid-
Atlantic
50. it doesn’t have to be complicated... an address you can look up in Google Maps
60. some systems give you little to work on - Ebay added seller ratings were introduced to add
elements of trust - taken together with the amount of feedback and what people have written
61. Kickstarter gives you the same design and format for every project... It’s hard to discern who
will be good at making and producing. It’s pretty easy to find someone to make you a
convincing video, harder to make products.
62. People have really lost their sense of smell as to whether the people behind a project will be
able to keep their promise.
64. When I first saw pebble is sounded great but I knew how hard it would be to make.
65. ...so to see they’d got a prototype, and that they’ve done it before, that’s when I pledged my
money.
88. The whole campaign is just a small group of people given the freedom to create and make a
personality that tells you more about the country than glossy brochureware.
94. And they’ve had all kinds of people - Internet entrepreneurs, lesbian truckdrivers... [since
this, there’s been some controversy as the chosen curators has spoken their opinions - but
instead of shutting them down, it’s been a case of the Internet engaging in conversation (and
criticism)]
95. Twitter can be a
different way to talk
with customerspeople
96. FGW Twitter
This started as just one customer support representative. People started having conversations
with her.
100. It’s a lot harder to be
an arsehole when you
can picture the person
you’re talking to
101. Don’t depersonalise as
it grows
Response times to large customer support twitter feeds is slowing to days - the same as
email or web support. People like that Twitter support feels different to standard support
channels.
103. “Well, are you proud of
what’s going on inside
your company? Are you
proud enough to pull up
the shades and let
people see inside?”
Douglas Rushkoff
http://cheath.co/rushkoffquote
104. gov.uk github?
Again a disclaimer that I’m not talking on behalf of gov.uk... but most of our code is available
on github for people to see and even help develop.
105. But I want to talk about an even bigger project - Ford nearly got it right in 2000, maybe just a
bit too early. Ford wanted to give all employees a computer & internet connection - so they
could listen to real customers and even support them. If you have a brake problem, you want
to talk to the person who design the brakes, not a CS agent.
106. happy employees
And the only way you can open up like that is to have truly happy, engaged employees.
107. that won’t be sacked
for making mistakes
- that won’t be told of for talking to customers
108. “Every company has a
social media strategy
whether they know it
or not.”
Douglas Rushkoff
http://cheath.co/rushkoffquote
“You can have your dedicated social media person chasing down consumer complaints, but
your real social media strategy is how are the people who work at your company and the
people who buy from your company and people who supply to your company, how are they
talking about you?”
109. radical, personal
authenticity
This is a radical, personal authenticity: the same authenticity and openness that start-ups can
have, scaled massively to the largest of companies. Hard to do but offers a genuine
advantage over your competition.