Web Directions Year round learning for product, design and engineering professionals

• Everyone’s talking about the internet, what’s working, not working for them.
• Different cultural implications of technology – very different whilst very ‘the same’
• “two years ahead, ten steps ahead” – what will we have to work with in 2 years from now?
• Designing for lifestyle is where we really are – dive deeply into immersive experience

Demo of Second Life

• ppl using to network, business meetings in second life
• virtual conferences are the next step
• Approx 740,000 ppl in second life at the moment
• important for sense of comfort, sense of home, even in VR world
• use it integrate life currently and network individuals around the world. Introduce avatars of self
• Global Avatar should follow – flcikr, second life, etc. All one ID.

Innovation

• Business looking at innovation – cultural change in big business.
  manifesting a culture that embraces innovation
  “we listen to what customers didn’t say, and observed what they did” – Jock Troung, VP of 3M Supply Division
• Ethanography – about hanging out w/ ppl, waiting for that “AHA!” moment.
  Example: “CHECK ENGINE” light – we’ve been trained to ignore some signs. Check Engine = where we are currently.
• Human – Human communication and Machine to Machine communication is smooth and easy. We have that down.
  Human to machine and Machine to Human are where the troubles remain
• Web2.0’s interaction revolution – “Trying to get our machines to be more human, every single day”
• Demo Eliza; discuss turing test.
  Chat bots etc, often used for live help.
  Changing back to natural language; machines speaking ‘human’
• Lifestyle focused companies – TiVo, Google, jetBlue, Apple :: big, friendly, people love the interfaces. Excelled by creating friendly, human interfaces and interaction processes
• “Friendly 2.0” Machines should talk to us like they’re real; make us more comfortable. Causes spread of word through positive experience.
• “Google Just Works”
• Google develop a culture around innovation. Pride themselves on brilliant ppl, allowed freedom to “do what they want to do” – 1 day per week innovation time has become legendary in the industry.
• IPOD: personality lifestyle driven – not just a mobile device
• Fluid user experience. Ubiquitus control over the devices in our daily lives.
• Practical vs. Emotional – how can you design an appro. Exp.
• some mobile devices are expensive and hard to use, but because aesthetically pleasing, we use it every day; develop Emotional attachment to it
• Emotional connections cause dedication; potentially addiction

• getting information off internet like trying to sip from firehose
• Practical – convenient, learnable, cost effective. Functional; meets needs; trustworthy.
• Emotional – intuitive, customized, unique,, aesthetic, Meets desires, Compelling – leads to addictive behaviour. Kelly trying to understand what leads to addictive behaviour? myspace, flickr, second life… all proven addictive.
• Companies in silicon valley trying to create addictive behaviour. Ritual != addiction
  Ritual most important thing you can create for cutomers, employees etc.
  Can’t create addiction, can create ritual

Mobile (r)evolution

• 116billion US per year mobile devices 88% goes to carrier, rest into data/content providers
• nterviews revealed no longer only early adopters watching mobile TV.
• opportunities for billions of dollars from mobile market; mobile infiltration quit high approx 70-80% US
• Lifestyle design is important – huge open window; coming quickly
  – most popular phones in Europe very different from most popular in US – different UI’s etc.
• “2.0 is cute” – 2.0 is about not freaking us out with the technology – friendly
• More servies integrated into our lives, our pref’s – exciting when it works, keep trying when it doesn’t
• Transfer great online exp to mobile
• Content – create an experience out of your content; not just pile it on and hope for the best
• location based services ie dodgeball.com – not everyone wants that level of info available about them
• lots of interest in location based services; GMaps being a posterchild of the web2.0 experience
• “mobile phones are the new cool”
• south korea is largest mobile device market.

When machines talk, will we listen?