class: centrale3 # The calm information architecture Stefano Bussolon --- class: backCosmic ## About me PhD in Cognitive Sciences Freelance UX designer: Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Usability Adjunct Professor in Human Computer Interaction at the Università degli Studi di Trento - Italy @sweetdreamerit --- class: centrale # User experience: why is it important? ??? I wish to start my presentation with a rethorical question. What is the importance of the user experience? --- class: centrale ## UXD is about being choosed ??? There are a number of reasons. But, at the end of the day, ux is about being choosed. The ux becomes central when the person has the opportunity to decide if to use your product or not. --- class: centrale3 ## Being choosed is about utility ??? And - from an economical perspective - being choosed is about the utility of the experience. If the utility of what you are offering is greather thant those of the competitors, it will be easier that the consumers will use it. --- class: backCosmic ## Utility Nicolaus and Daniel Bernoulli, 1738 The measurement of **usefulness** that a consumer obtains from any good - [Wikibooks](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Principles_of_Economics/Utility) Ability of a good or service to **satisfy one or more needs** or wants of a consumer - [BusinessDictionary](http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/economic-utility.html) A measure of **preferences** over some set of goods - [Utility - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility) The total **satisfaction** received from consuming a good or service [Investopedia](http://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/utility.asp) ??? The concept of utility is three centuries old. I've listed some definitions of utility (usefulness, needs satisfaction, preferences), and you could recognize a strong assonance with one of the most accepted definitions of ux: to **meet the exact needs** of the customer. --- class: backCosmic ## The experiential utility - the instrumental, extrinsic, **functional** value - the **intrinsic** value: basic needs, personal values, or interests - the ability to become an **habit** - the economic costs (**money** or economic resources) - the **cognitive** effort - the **physical** effort - the **emotional** component - the psychological **time** S. Bussolon, 2017 ??? The neoclassical economists assume that people rationally calculate the utility of a choice, but that have been disproved by the behavioural economics. What I proposed in a recent paper is the *experiential utility*; the idea that the evaluation is based on a wide number of psychological dimensions. - the functional value; - the intrinsic value: its ability to fulfill one or more human basic needs, personal values, or interests; - the ability to form an habit, or to become part of an existing one; - the economic costs, in terms of money or the use of other valuable resources; - the cognitive costs; - the physical effort; - the emotional component; - the psychological time --- class: backCosmic ## The experiential utility - .trasparente[the instrumental, extrinsic, **functional** value] - .trasparente[the **intrinsic** value: basic needs, personal values, or interests] - .trasparente[the ability to become an **habit**] - .trasparente[the economic costs (**money** or economic resources)] - the **cognitive** effort - .trasparente[the **physical** effort] - .trasparente[the **emotional** component] - the psychological **time** .trasparente[S. Bussolon, 2017] ??? In this talk, I will focus on the cognitive and the temporal dimensions of the experience. --- exclude: true  ??? The aim of the calm information architecture is to reduce the cognitive and temporal costs. --- class: backAllports ## Ubiquitous computing > Ubiquitous computing is roughly the opposite of virtual reality. Where virtual reality puts people inside a computer-generated world, ubiquitous computing forces the computer to live out here in the world with people. > > Mark Weiser ??? The temporal dimension has ever been important, but in recent times it's importance increased, given the advent of ubiquitous devices. The concept of ubiquitous technology have been introduced by Mark Weiser, the same guy who invented the term calm technology. I like to show you this quotation ... Thanks to smartphones, computers are ubiquitous, now. But smartphones - when used - catch our whole attention. Calm technology is ubiquitous and hardly noticed, and get our attention only when it is required. ---  ??? The problem of the ubiquitous technology is that - if not correctly designed - it can be intrusive (that is: causing disruption or annoyance through being unwelcome or uninvited). Accordingly to this survey, annoying notifications are the main reason people uninstall mobile applications. This result is not surprising: probably everyone using a smartphone got irritated by some undesired notification. Somebody of you uninstalled an application because of intrusive notifications? --- class: centrale3 ## A notification takes only 5 seconds to be read ## So, why do we get that annoyed? ??? But a notification takes only 5 seconds to be read. So, why do we get that annoyed? --- class: centrale3 ## The problem with notifications is that they grab our attention. ## Interruptions interfere with the working memory. --- exclude: true class: backCosmic ## Attention and interference Attention ≈ Working memory Working memory ⇒ decision making, planning and monitoring Working memory can be disrupted by **interference** Interference ⇒ **high experiential cost** ??? Attention usually requires working memory, and working memory can be seen as a form of attention Working memory is at the basis of decision making, planning and monitoring Working memory can be disrupted by **interference** Therefore, anything that ask for attention and / or interfere with the task at hand, has a **high experiential cost**. --- class: center ## Attention ≈ Working memory  ??? The working memory is required for almost every step of an activity: deciding, planning, executing, monitoring. --- class: center ## Interference  ??? If some unrelated information requires our working memory, this can disrupt the cognitive representation of our activity. --- class: center ## Semantic memory  ??? To explain it, let's assume this is a model of our semantic memory. --- class: center ## Attention  ??? Working memory works as a beam that turns on one concept and turns off everything else. --- class: center ## Interference  ??? But if a different concept is activated (for example, by our infamous notification), this tend to interfere with the activation and representation of the first. --- class: center ## Disruption  ??? The second concept can turn off the first, disrupting the previous representation. --- class: center ## Encodings and networks  ??? Actually, our mind has different networks for different encoding representations, and the interference is more limited if two task use different encodings. --- class: backCosmic ## Levels of encoding ### Perceptual visual, auditory ### Cognitive spatial, subsimbolic, semantic, verbal, episodic, rule based ### Motor ??? Here, we distinguish distinct encodings at different levels: perceptual, cognitive (spatial, subsimbolic, semantic, verbal, epsiodic, rule based encodings), and motor. We can even perform two tasks, if they use different cognitive networks. --- class: center ## Driving a car  ??? Immagine you are driving your car and listening to the news at the radio. This is a typical double task scenario - without interference. Driving requires the sight and the spatial and motor representation. Listen to the news requires the hearing and the verbal representation. No interference here. --- class: center ## Driving and texting  ??? Now immagine that you get a notification on your smartphone, and you wish to read it. Reading, however, interferes with driving: both require the sight. That's the reason why it is forbidden to text while driving. --- class: center ## Driving and *dancing*  ??? A less typical scenario is the following: at the radio, the news are over, and the dj plays Michael Jackson. I don't know you, but I love to dance, and I can't avoid to move at the rythm of the music. Sometimes, I get so involved that I begin to immagine a sort of choreography. This is not science, it is just my experience, but I realized that this mental choreography interfere with driving. --- class: centrale3 # Calm IA ## Avoid cognitive overloading and interference ??? The concept of interference helps me to explain the idea of calm information architecture Calm information architecture is focused on avoiding to interfere with what the user considers - in that moment - her most important task. Now, the question is: how can we do it? I will present some suggestions, a sort of guidelines for the calm information architecture. --- exclude: true class: centrale3 # Avoiding overloading and interference ??? Now, the question is: how can we avoid (or at least decrease the risk) to have overloading or interference? --- class: backAllports ## Attention: handle with care Attention is **expensive** * be careful * ask for permission * allow to personalize the frequency or the theresold of the notifications * learn from the interactions Give back value Avoid boredom (low level cognitive engagement) ??? First suggestion: be aware that attention, in the economics of experience, is expensive. --- class: backAllports, middle ## Modulate cognitive load Try to identify what is the main task for the user Modulate how you present the information based on what is important for that step of the task --- class: backAllports, middle ## Filter Hide the information that, for that particular task, is useless. ??? This is very important if the cognitive load is high. Be aware that humans evaluate the mean value of things, not the sum, so low level data decrease the utility of the information. --- class: backAllports, middle ## Stage it Put the most important information at the center, and de-emphasize the peripheral data --- class: backAllports, middle ## Transcode When possible, use different types of coding for the main and the secondary information Since usually the main data is semantic, use visual and spatial encoding to represent the peripheral data --- class: backAllports, middle ## Cognitive fluency Ensure good **perceptual**, **spatial**, **linguistic**, **semantic** and **decisional** fluency ??? Cognitive fluency is the estimated effort of a task, and can be affected by the perceptual, spatial, linguistic, semantic and decisional encoding. Try to ensure a good fluency to decrease the cognitive effort and to improve the experience. --- class: middle, center ## Cognitive offload  ??? Let the system take charge of computing, storing, remember, remind --- class: backAllports, middle, center ## Technology should simplify our lives. ## Design it calm --- class: keepcalm  --- class: backCosmic ## Let's keep in contact Feel free to contact me stefano@bussolon.it @sweetdreamerit www.linkedin.com/in/bussolon