60. a user interface that has been
carefully crafted to trick users into
doing things, such as buying
insurance with their purchase or
signing up for recurring bills
darkpatterns.org
This smart device is capable of DIS-TRACTING us <click>
And let me tell you why <click>
Because, we are the so called USERS <click>
Users? REALLY? ----- that DEFINATION itself sounds to me A BIT emotionLESS and QUITE mechanical <click>
How about the word HUMANS instead? Once you replace the term USERS with HUMANS……. WE can FEEL a Natural empathy from Within, ….. A feeling of CONNECTEDness towards THIS HOLISTIC creation, we are all part of...... HUMANITY <click>
STRIKE OUT the users and Adapt a more Human centric approach <click>
Perhaps – lets have the humans at the CORE of our UX Thought. Well thats…. <click>
Pretty Simply – take a step back from letter U… <click>
..to the letter H – will always existed in that word <click>
So Human Experience – not just User Experience <click>
How do we measure product success these days? What is our contemporary yardstick? <click>
Revenue made, <click>
No of Users, <click>
Media attention <click>
Downloads or active users <click>
Reviews & ratings define truly if a product is successful or not <click>
So in a way users are more or less like commodity. Our natural tendency to commodify everything that we do sadly, is nature to us. <click>
If only we empathize with the user <click>
and recognize the human instead, you might want to agree Humans does NOT equal commodity. Talking about empathy <click>
Which is nothing but putting yourselves in someone else’s shoe and realize that the user we are designing for is after all human - its that simple. <click>
So lets us talk about it a bit – the human needs <click>
I would like to use the Maslow’s theory of Human needs, they are <click>Physiological, (Food, water, sleep, oxygen) <click>Security, (your health, safety, job, future) <click>Love – belonging, (your community)<click>Self Esteem (reputation, achievements, social status etc) & <click>Self Actualization (creativity, innovation, sense of purpose, good moral being etc.) <click>
Understanding these Human Needs could helps us fill the Empathy Gap <click>
The empathy gap For humans, Now to truly understand this let us get a little bit into the headquarters of these needs <click>
The Human Brain. This is where it all happens. We are born with billions of neurons, <click>
with very few connections in our childhood. And as we grow, <click>
every object we see, hear & feel gets saved in our brain’s neural pathways, each as a unique connection. And as we fill these trillions of connections, Our brain recognizes and tags when we will like or feel good about something. These produces the brain chemicals which scientists call <click>
The happy brain chemicals, I will talk about just two of them: <click>
Dopamine & Serotonin <click>
Dopamine (a neurotransmitter) is produced when your brain senses a good PAST experience. Think about the curiosity you have after making that Facebook Post and wondering who is the first person to like, total likes or comments, what makes you keep checking out those notifications – that craving for information is Dopamine? Dopamine is produced: When you Win a Video Game, When an Alcoholic sees a bar. When you work towards a well sought out goal. So every time you seek reward, its Dopamine<click>
Serotonin on the other hand (is also a neurotransmitter) & is all about seeking social dominance, Personal importance, and really feeling great about one-self. You may call this as Narcissism <click>
At face value, a little bit of dopamine may seem harmless. After all, dopamine and serotonin are naturally occurring brain chemicals that make us happy. The difference is that dopamine can have both positive and negative effects on an individual. When we receive the anticipated reward, we feel good. When we don’t receive the reward, we feel terrible until we get what we want – the reward. <click>
What holds you back from changing that Television Channel or even taking your eyes from your phones for a few seconds even while driving?
They are known as Jolts. Which is essentially holding your attention <click>
Forcefully indeed with the use of special techniques like rapid audio, visual or content changes. Here is tiny example of it <click>
But let me warn you that this is an intentional jolt using audio and video content. <click>
Let me start it,
that was the Rock Band of 2002 the entire 6 min video can be found in you tube. That song was about peace by the way<click>
Jolts are typically measured in a span of minute. So back in early days 1950s if someone was trying to teach you how to paint in television, you need about 15 Jolts to stay connected and not fall asleep. <click>
Over time, Satellite TV and internet based contents like social media have contributed in the excessive usage of jolts. to the amount according to experts as high as the effects of drug addition. <click>
the long term negative consequences of this is <click>
Shorter attention span. How long are you able to focus on reading, how easy is it to get distracted? <click>
Brilliant young, minds are strayed are perhaps wasted, A whole generation is at stake <click>
Online videos & game addiction is so common among children that once my visit to a pediatric ophthalmologist was so shocking the overwhelming no. of cases the doctor was dealing with. <click>
What about we adults? talking to spouse while simultaneously busy with friends on IMs and some times its exactly the opposite, we are with friends right when your spouse wants to chat. <click>
This one is interesting – How many Pokemon Go fans & players here?-- thank you. -> again in our Contemporary measurement, <click>
The revenue made was between 4-5 million on day 1, <click>26mn active users <click>Got a great media attention <click>The 10million app install mark happened in just first 13hrs. <click>That was an extremely successful product. <click>But wait a second – look at this. <click>
Lets compare the human needs vs this situation:
He is so Hooked that he wont even remember if he had food, look at his safety, you can tell his community has been switched to Pokemon Go, people think he is out of his mind (that’s his esteem). Where do you think all his creative power is being spent ? just on catching another Pokemon monster.
This human value is quite destructive in nature and has a big long term negative impact. <click>
Well making money is always good but, <click>
but irresponsible design is NOT <click>
Here is another one. the dark patterns <click>
Dark patterns essentially is a user interface carefully designed to trick you into doing things, such as buying insurance with their purchase or signing up for recurring bills
and as we say, to err is human – Anti patterns can also be dangerous
How many ladies here? aah there are some – good. So you might remember the famous crowning moment of miss universe last year.
Steve Harvy – a famous host was given the task to announce Miss Universe 2015, Look at the winner’s announcement card design, it hardly used 5% of its entire real estate to display the vital information of that night. He first wrongly announced Ms. Columbia as the winner (look at how he is holding the card) – he later had to apologize to that large audience and live telecast to announce the correct Miss Universe as Ms. Philippines.
Not to forget the emotional impact of this design error – again a Human error.
Now lets talk about you The Designers
designers are very powerful
And what comes with great power? A much greater responsibility
we influence human life by the various products we make. We design those clicks, taps and interface that people use in their daily life.
So Use your great power responsibly and design for the well being of us - HUMANS
So what can WE do now? <click>
companies like Apple use terms as Human Interface Guidelines & not user.
companies like Apple use terms as Human Interface Guidelines not UI
people queue in streets to purchase the products <click>
http://obamapacman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/March-25-London-Regent-Street-Apple-Store-iPad-2-line.jpg
Keep the approach entirely ethical – well its quite subjective to what is ethical to each of us, but if you are thinking about it – I am sure you will be a little cautious.
Sometimes someone else pays the price for bad designs or a dark patterns
can avoid embarrassing situations
let us think what do we want our future generations to deal with?
truly empathize with Humans
Again let us think about the Humans instead of users.
so go ahead and Impact
by Good Design
While designing for humans – design Responsibly.
Thank you