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I’ve always had an appreciation for aesthetics and function, but still, I used to be hesitant about advocating for design and usability when in the company of my developers and engineers. There was something not quite serious enough about design to insist on it as a strategic priority. But after leading several companies and advising dozens of startups, I’ve come to believe the exact opposite- that design is not only “nontrivial”, but the essence of strategy and customer adoption.
For entrepreneurs or those launching new products into the market, design should be a fundamental concern and a foundational element of the business plan. It guides and frames the user experience and therefore drives what actions users will take (hopefully ones tied to your business model). In the case of branding and marketing communication, good visual design communicates at a glance what you want to user to know about your organization. And design decisions also determine an array of go-to-market and support costs.
Thanks to Tom Foremski and Oliver Starr for inviting me to share my thoughts on curation at last night’s salon, and to the group for a lively discussion. This article is an expansion on the bullet points in my remarks. There is a prior post- What is Curation?- that attempts to professionalize and put some limits around the use of the word, which may be needed- lest I seriously think that I’m curating my garage next time I clean it out.- CMM
Does all curation have a viewpoint? “The Curator Bias”
Yes, all curation has opinion and intention- this can be conscious or unconscious. When a professional curator sets about to create an event, an exhibit or a collection, they are also bringing about a state change or highlighting a new way of seeing something for the viewer. This intent may be subtly driven by what the curator’s experiences and exposure, and the worldview they have adopted or, ideally, be formed from a more aware and examined consideration of their purpose in framing this event or collection in the way they have chosen.
Two different curators can create vastly different views on a topic by how they frame it. Take, for example, conferences on sustainability: northern California’s Harmony Festival has dozens of speakers address sustainability in a very different way than Sustainable Brands does- similar topics, some overlap in content, but a very different underlying political and economic philosophy shapes each experience.
In any curation, what is omitted is as if not more important than what is included. I’ll use a personal, easily accessible example. On a recent trip to New Mexico, we took two sets of pictures. One showing the incredible beauty of the land and the richness of its history, and the other focusing on the shameful third world poverty (aside: NM is the 5th poorest state in the US- 156 of 234 US census places live on less than $15K per capita per year, 60 of those are under $10K per year. Outdoor plumbing, vast stretches of dilapidated homes, limited fresh food.) The lens a curator chooses to apply directs the viewers seeing, like any artist- creating pause, creating a new way of seeing.
How is curation different than a mere filter or editorial slant?
This is splitting hairs at some level. Editorial slant, like curation, is a branding of a sort, right? Fox and News Hour are both selecting the stories and the angle they want to show, and the material that supports that position.
Yet, the word curation has a higher bar: it implies a sense of care over the longterm, of preserving and assembling a special group of items or content or speakers. Merely by their selection and setting aside, by their juxtaposition to each other in a complementary set, the curator creates a group of reference objects. (Read a prior post on what is curation) A great digital curator would never list all the articles on the same topic- they would cherry pick the best to create ease for the reader, to cut through the jungle of information for the reader. (more…)
SXSW, the annual festival/conference for all things interactive, film and music, is a carnival. It’s got a pretty loosely organized conference structure- dozens of concurrent panels and plenary sessions- and parties and receptions and launches round the clock. With all the general noise, it was hard to tell if people were working, creating connection, having shared experience, or simply enjoying the spectacle.
The community drives a lot of the content, and it has pretty uneven quality. That it to say, some mainstage sessions are fantastic, some are yawns. We found one panel stuck in a back hallway with a 100 people in attendance that was absolutely brilliant (Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard’s Center for Internet and the Law, and the Founders of Crowdflower and Kickstarter talking about crowdsourcing and the new way of working), but many of the content and social media panels were just a snore- a rehashing of very well known factoids, and usually poorly facilitated with a lot of selling from the stage. So it made for a lot of potential downtime in between planned meetings and parties.
Our advice:
Plan ahead: Have some idea of who you want to talk to in advance, schedule some set meetings if you can (we found breakfast worked best, because after that, its very hard to stay on track). Print out a schedule of the things in your bullseye, attend, tweet/comment, and in general show up. Go to as many things as you can get to. One party alone, which we almost bailed on due to Day 4 fatigue, thrown by Second Market, was only founders and investors- really interesting people working on exciting concepts.
Be present wherever you are: If a panel or talk is just not doing it, leave. Even if you’re not naturally an extrovert, this is the place to just be one anyway. Hang out in the lobby spaces, proactively introduce yourself to everyone, and be genuinely curi0us about what they do, and you will discover amazing intersection points (not to mention tips on hot startups and great parties).
Serendipity and wonder: You will see people you know. You will be surprised that in this vast sea of people from all over the world, at the bottom of the escalator,or at a picnic table in the front, there’s the exact person you were wanting to talk to. Nothing is firm, stay on #Hashable or Twitter, Keep your PDA handy, and roll with the day. You will also see things you never expected to see- take that in.
Wear the walking shoes: You may be surprised at the distances between things, so don’t sweat it if you can’t get somewhere. And if you are moving between points, share cabs, cars, a walk. Skip the pedicabs, they cost a fortune.
Check your bags: even if you booked late and are therefore staying in the hinterlands, around 5 pm each day, check your bag with any near-the-conference-center bellman. They are waiting, and you’re not lugging things from place to place. After 5, its a handsfree event.
Exercise anyway: Do your yoga (there are some great studios), swim, take your vitamins. I know it may seem ridiculous to say, but you really need your energy high and clear and clean to do this thing- don’t blow it by drinking and bingeing- the culture (spoken and unspoken) is drive hard (we went to a panel where a presenter awarded prizes to those who were out latest, and to the most hungover. That really doesn’t have to be you.
Followup: We met fantastic people, and the stack of cards and contacts was 100+ thick for each of us. Plan ahead for followup- a cushion of a day or two when you get back and its fresh in your mind.
For us, SXSW was a visual and sensory treat, we recruited new alpha users, tempted digital agencies, met analysts and press- and we’ll definitely be going back. Prepared and ready to do business.
Here’s the list of TED 2011 Ads worth sharing, with links to YouTube.
Chris Anderson reflected on how the internet changes the conversation between brands and people, not constrained by media buys- you can invest in these beautiful miniature stories without the limitations or mandates to deliver on a 30 second or 60 second media buy.
Most of these selections had been widely consumed in social media prior to receiving the TED curatorial stamp, but some are new discoveries.
The Chase!
Target’s Light Show Spectacular at The Standard in NY
DOT. Camera phone creates world’s smallest movie- 9mm tall character interacts with pins and insects. Nokia.
Article on why this matters: http://bit.ly/fhafkX
Dulux Personally, I found this one just WONDERFUL- the power of color, care and effort.
On November 16th, the San Francisco TED community will explore the Edge of What We Know in many dimensions- the physical and the conceptual, the artistic and the unconscious. Our hope is that people leave inspired and curious, asking the questions: What do I know? How do I know this? What don’t I know? And maybe even leave more comfortable in saying I don’t know…. with all the humility that brings, and inquiry it invites.
From deepest space to the forest floor, from governance to money, from our internal “edges” to communal outreach, join these phenomenal speakers for an inspiring afternoon and evening.
Join us online at www.TEDxSF.org, starting at 4 pm Pacific Time, for the free web simulcast:
Jason Johnson/Welcome
4:00
Christine McCaull/The Edge of What We Know
4:02
Juan Enriquez/Strange Tales of Chiapas
4:05
Dr. Alex Filippenko/Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe
Note: Those of you who know me may also know that for a long time my family complained about my Blackberry use, that I had this PDA holstered at all times, that I love social media and that I had been known to compulsively text while driving. This makes me busy & productive, but also diffused- not Conscious or On Purpose. About a year ago, it came to me that I wanted a different quality of work and creation, restful and easy, so I started to unplug- first a little bit each day, then around bedtime, then increasing blocks of time this year: 2 days, then 4, then almost completely for 10 days on a vacation. The result: incredibly fecund creativity, deeper connections and relationships, a doubling of my income, and I’m 10 pounds lighter. I started listening in to the most productive, highest level people I know, and they all, to a one, have the habit of disciplined unplugging. This piece is the result of that inquiry.
We love the internet but…..
The Pew Center for Internet Research says the web has made information “abundant, cheap, personal & participatory”. It has given us information we need, when and where we need it. We now have the ability to keep connected despite being such a mobile world- with tighter ties with far flung friends and family (free Skype calls to Europe, anybody?). Some have even called the web an external hard drive for humanity, a sort of intermediate stage collective consciousness.
However, from an attention standpoint, we’ve all been hit with a one-two punch: first, there’s been a huge shift in the sheer volume of information consumed (a 2009 UC study claimed an increase of 350% in the amount of information consumed daily between 1980 and 2008), and second, there’s been a shift to pervasive interface (cell phones, smart phones, remote working, social networks, 1 minute news cycle, status updates). This always-connected living has changed our collective habits (from CrackBerry use in meetings to texting while driving), the depth of our interactions and the structure of our brains.
The shift in the pace and method of information exchange is shifting the quality of our relationships and changing the quality of our outputs. Moreover, the rapid news and ‘status’ cycles causes us to pay attention to stuff that often doesn’t relate to our goals.
To create defensible mental space, and do your best work, you have to block out the external noise and the distractions for a long enough period of time to get centered and to flow. (more…)
Somewhere between brand advertising (difficult to measure) and direct marketing or SEM (super easy to measure), lies social media. The measurement used in traditional marketing (response rate, cost to acquire a customer, cost per thousand) doesn’t necessarily apply here, and the qualitative or indirect benefits are much higher. Both the Nature of Engagement and the Impact Horizon change the picture significantly, and shift what , when and how we measure results and returns. A bit on the differences we see here: The Nature of Engagement Differs
Just Showing Up: Unlike search advertising, where you are in response to the almost telepathic inquiry or keyword query, communities and social media encourage and reward those with a steady Ongoing Presence (excluding promotional activity). Listening: Rather than one directional taking AT a group of people, the nature of community is Interactive. Give, give and give again: The contextual tone for social networks is helpful, building and encouraging and supporting other members of the community, and not explicitly self promoting, as in advertising (Chip reminded us of the scene in Miracle on 34th street, where the Macy’s Santa is telling people that they can find things at Gimbel’s, and how that comes back in a virtuous circle- nice example). Share of mind: Finally, the Cognitive Framework of Social Nets is collaborative, respectful, not emphasizing immediate shop and buy, it’s not the place for hardsell- that’s not the mindset people are in when they are participating. You increase your share of mind, not necessarily your immediate click through.
The Impact Horizon Differs
Now and Later: Social media is a great example of “long tail” content economics. The impact or investment is not necessarily immediate- it is the result of longterm relationship and connection, of interactivity and discovery. Rather than a storm, it’s a lot of steady rain. A single post may continue to get pick ups and click throughs for months after it goes up. The Gift That Keeps on Giving: Moreover, investing in building community, rather than one off hits, means that you are able to continue a dialogue for a longer time. Rather than one big hit, new community members or followers stay in your circle of concern and attention for a long time. Starting point: Picking up Steam: Conversely, the timeline of building a social media base is more extended than buying keywords. How effective you will be at building your community or followers depends in large part on whether you are you starting with a natural market, or from scratch, and the overall pool you are swimming in- and whether what you have to say means something. We allow anywhere between 6 weeks and 6 months to really build community.
What constitutes a real conversation, and can you have one online?
I’ve been thinking about that little “Twitter in Plain English” video on the Twitter home page. You know- real life happens between blog posts and emails, and that’s why you should tweet?? When does “real life” happen? More to the point for this post, what conversations matter? And why would you engage in conversation on a social network instead of in person, and on what kind of social network, and why?
A real conversation is surely some function of focus, time and attention (that formula is credited to the wonderful Dev Pathik, in his upcoming book.) Probably should have some amount of interactivity.
Here are some types of conversations I’ve had recently:
Deep and Meaningful: 3 hours of uninterrupted dinner talk with Anne Mai, or with John on the etiquette of dojos and why it matters to his culture
Group Casual: Sitting at table withKristin Klostermann, Hossein Farmani and Allegra Wilde- a little too loud, but still long and inclusive of some depth.
Exploratory and Brainstorming: working with Chip on our business plan.
Receiving a message: Muata Rasuli talked for 45 minutes about choosing your thoughts.
Teaching: Email instructions on how and why to use Social Media
Conversations with Paper: I’m reading Spinoza and that takes concentration- it’s like having a conversation with a dead man- he’s not talking back- but it’s still an interaction between his thoughts and mine.
Engaging and healing: Our son’s best conversation in recent memory was 55 minutes long, in person, and on a meaningful subject where he was helping someone out.
Conversations with Spirit: Meditating and Listening
There are more, of course.
But in the online world, where so much is telegraphic, snapshots- can you have a real conversation at all?
Or does the form exclude big swathes of content?
“Conversations can’t be had via smoke signals”
I like Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan’s observations, and have been thinking about how they apply to Social Media.
From Wikipedia, here’s a good summary on Postman:
“Postman describe how oral, literate, and televisual cultures radically differ in how information is processed and prioritized. He also argues that different media are appropriate for different kinds of knowledge. The faculties necessary to sustain rational inquiry simply are not normally encouraged by televised viewing. Reading, a prime example cited by Postman, is a subject of intense intellectual involvement, at once interactive and dialectical, unlike television which limits involvement to passivity. Moreover, as television is programmed for maximum ratings, its content is determined by commercial feasibility, not critical acumen. Television in its present state, he says, cannot sustain any of the conditions needed for honest intellectual involvement and rational argument.
He also repeatedly states that the eighteenth century was the pinnacle for rational argument, truly being the Age of Reason. Only in the printed word, he states, could complicated truths be rationally conveyed. A striking example Postman gives: that the first fifteen U.S. presidents could probably have walked down the street without being recognized by the average citizen, yet all these men would have been quickly known by their written words. However, the reverse is true today. The names of presidents or even famous preachers, lawyers, and scientists call up visual images, typically television images, but few, if any, words come to mind. The few that do almost exclusively consist of carefully-chosen soundbites.”
Marshall McLuhan used the following 4 questions to understand the impact of any emerging Medium.
What does the medium enhance?
What does the medium make obsolete?
What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier?
What does the medium flip into when pushed to extremes?
How can you frame current hot media, eg microblogs like twitter, to mass networks like Facebook, to niche or hyper focused networks, using these questions?
