As designers, we like to pride ourselves on our ability to be empathetic to our users true needs, but in consumer product design we increasingly default to a single aim. Optimizing for convenience, comfort and efficiency. Smart objects, personalized algorithms and the convenience economy are in the process of changing almost every corner of our lives. Their promise, of delivering just the right thing at the right time is intoxicating. But in a world where algorithms start to shape more and more of our daily experience, how do we design human values into the things we create instead of purely optimizing for convenience and comfort? And how are shifting notions of convenience effecting society, from energy usage to happiness?

2. what you want
when you want it

6. what you need

7. what you need
before you know you need it

8. We’re attracted to
magic like magpies
— JASON MESUT

9. THIS TALK
Origins
Design trends
Why should we care?
How can we tackle?

10. Origins
Design trends
Why should we care?
How can we tackle?
THIS TALK

11. 1/2
A story of convenience

15. convenience pays

16. 1/2
A story of psychology

17. lizard
puritan

19. lizard
puritan

22. lizard
puritan
make me comfortable
save me time

23. make me
comfortable save me time

24. good design

25. what you want
when you want it

31. Functional Humane

32. My great-grandparents never
drove themselves anywhere,
had all their shopping
delivered and communicated
in short snippets of text.
— BENEDICT EVANS

33. personal + individual
inpersonal + mass
personal + mass

34. what you want
when you want it

35. Origins
Design trends
Why should we care?
How can we tackle?
THIS TALK

36. 1/2/3/4
We tend towards a
narrow model of needs

37. Essentially, all models are
wrong, but some are useful.
— GEORGE E. P. BOX

38. make me
comfortable save me time

39. Pain Relief

40. functional emotional
gain creators
pain relievers
Alex Osterwalder

41. make me look smart
save my relationship
stop eating badly
get me out of debt
keep me company

42. inefficiency is human

43. an audience
of everybody

44. …even when the data seems
correct, it only explains what is
happening, not the why
— Cemre Güngör, Facebook

45. A broader model of needs

46. 1/2/3/4
We tend to ignore context
beyond the individual

47. USER
A B
—

48. USER
—
WORLD
environment
situation
culture
social
task
jobs
emotional
needs
goals

50. meaning > function

51. — IBM, 1980
customers didn’t like the
solution, not because of flaws in
the recognition but because of
a host of hitherto-unseen
environmental challenges

52. Speaking taxed the subject’s throat
There was concern for privacy
Awkward in a communal setting

53. Beyond the individual

54. 1/2/3/4
We tend towards passivity

55. consumer/creator

56. what you want
when you want it

57. consumer/creator

58. master/slave
consumer/creator

59. master/slave
consumer/creator

60. An alternative to
passive consumption?

62. 1/2/3/4
Data is our new medium

63. measurevisualize experience

64. what you want
when you want it

65. Algorithm = Experience

66. historical
contextual
action
what
you
want
A

67. black box

69. A

70. A

72. How do we engage
with something we
can’t see or shape?

73. The origins
Design trends
Why should we care?
How can we tackle?
THIS TALK

74. Expand
our focus to
consider wider
needs, culture
and context
Engage
with the
algorithm as
a medium
Empower
people by
designing active
environments

75. 1/2/3
Expand our focus to
consider wider needs,
culture and context

76. Why?

77. if only humans were
predictable, we could give
them exactly what they want
and make them happy
— DESIGNERS

78. ELI PARISER

80. normalization

81. — ALEXIS MADRIGAL
People who live in the comfortable
temperature range of California get
cold when it gets down to 60 degrees.

82. Why?

83. People reject
the inhumane

84. meaning > function

85. How?

86. a new mindset

87. design isn’t just about problem
solving; it’s about creating a
more humane future.
— DAN SAFFER

88. vocabulary

99. cultural affordances

101. social experiments

103. 1/2/3
Engage with the
algorithm as a medium

104. Why?

105. we’re in a great place

106. tech is lapping design
—

107. magic

110. — ERIC A. MEYER
To call a person “thoughtless” is
usually considered a slight, or an
outright insult; and yet, we
unleash so many literally
thoughtless processes on our
users, on our lives, on ourselves.

111. it’s a human problem
it’s our problem

112. quietly shaping society

113. How?

114. real data

120. code needs to
get closer to us

121. manipulate
+
perceive

124. digital jig

125. D E S I G N F O R
C O M M U N I C AT I O N
W I T H O U T
W O R D S
# t a l k t o m e

126. # t a l k t o m e
Method
DUMB OBJECTS

127. # t a l k t o m e
Method
DUMB OBJECTS
BECOMING SMART

138. Creators need an
immediate connection
— BRET VICTOR

140. read the vocabulary
follow the flow
create by reacting

143. —

145. ?

146. 1/2/3
Empower people
by designing active
environments

147. Why?

149. the drivers continued about a
mile through a gate, past
warning lights, numerous signs
and painted concrete markings
saying not to proceed.
— FOX NEWS

150. morality vs control

151. understanding + mastery

152. We can only trust something if we think
we know how it works… When we don’t
know how a thing works we make it up.
— LOUISE DOWNE

153. How?

154. People understand
what they see
— Bret Victor

155. be transparent

157. invite control

159. invite understanding

161. seamful
—

162. knopen
—

164. active environments

174. A bicycle for the mind
not a sedative

175. Expand
our focus to
consider wider
needs, culture
and context
Engage
with the
algorithm as
a medium
Empower
people by
designing active
environments

176. In Conclusion

178. — MARK ROLSTON, WIRED
The time has come for a new design
discipline: one that specializes in data as
the medium, with a humanistic sense of
purpose.

179. MATURITY
1900 2015
INDUSTRIAL
DESIGN
USER INTERFACE
DESIGN
DATA EXPERIENCE
DESIGN

180. algorithms
humans
culture

181. mindset
tools

182. what you want
when you want it

183. Thankyou
@ianbach // hi@ianbach.co.uk