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Created by @rachelmercer
Gamechanging: Turn Your App into a Cooperative
Game
Thor Muller | @tempo | Get SatisfactionBuster Benson | @busterbenson | Health Month
What's the deal with Cooperative Games?
• They solve a different kind of problem• As we enter an era of social gaming, games as a result have
to become more and more cooperative
Competitive vs. Cooperative Gaming
• In an era of gamification, we have a lot of tools that are available off the shelf
leaderboards points badges
• The problem with these is that they can often have the unintended consequence of exclusion
When do we use Cooperative games?
• First, note that cooperative games feel different• Use cooperative gaming when you want to create change,
you can create a new kind of motivation• This can keep the game together over a period of time• Board game example: Pandemic >> Gives people "special
powers"
For Developers to note:
• Kickstarter is like a cooperative game Share achievements Levels are based on willingness to contribute, then you
get more difficult levels Has a badge aspect
• Gamestorming Cooperative Brainstorming Exercises Rapid Prototyping in the office environment
How this works @ Health Month
• What is Health Month? A system which helps individuals live healthier for fun It's a game that you play every month Play is based on different rules that you set every
month• We realized the problem with health is motivation
Health stuff is all moving online Framing the change makes it easier Prevent the 'long tail' where you're slowing getting
bored and eventually give up By sharing stories and doing it together, you can be
more successful
Social health is good health
• Most health solutions aren't medical, they're social• "The Catholic Church created one of the earliest social
games, Lent" - Jay Parkinson• "If you want to make lasting change, your friends need to
change with you"• Teams allow the collaborative/cooperative games to develop
a different game culture (an alternative to you're playing it wrong vs. you're playing it right)
HealthMonth is a platform to play with some of these ideas
1. Sponsoring people who need some motivation from others (every paying user can sponsor one non-paying user per month)
2. You can plea for help if you mess up, you don't die, the game isn't over
3. Team points make your game about more than just yourself (just be careful, points can be awesome, or sucky)
Should agencies behave more like software
companies?
#agileagency
Ben Malbon | @malbonnington | Google Creative LabsRick Webb | @rickwebb | Barbarian Group
Allison Mooney | @allimooney | GoogleRob Rasmussen | @robras | Tribal DDB
Mike Galligan | @mg | SimpleGeo
Do agencies need to think like tech companies?
In an initial survey, there's an overwhelming YES.
78% of respondents replied Yes.22% No.
"Digital Experimentation is more than a fad, it's a business strategy"
What do marketers need to learn from software companies?
• Have a translator in the company who can talk about technology, and who can be there from ideation point to build point
• When you reach crunch time, make sure to keep them in the conversation
• @ Barbarian - Everyone in the company should understand tech
• Agencies need to be honest about how tech savvy they really are, find people to work for you who "get it"
The role of a Creative Technologist in an agency setting
• Currently, the job title is predicated on that they're going to be with the creative department, but sometimes it's different / more than that
• Can be UX / Designers / Interactive Art Directors• Maybe we need a Strategic Technologist too.
Notable Quotable
"I don't write code, I just come up with shit." - Mike Galligan
"We share our technology with people we want to play with it."- Ben Malbon
"Agencies fetishize what they don't know rather than familiarizing themselves with existing technology."- Ben Malbon
"The concept of technology is ever changing, like fashion."- Rick Webb
Agile is now a Philosophy
• Have fewer people do work than you would in an agency (ideal sizes: 4 person teams)
• Practice prototyping - this is thinking by making iterate as you make.
"Tech companies know the technology, but they don't have the marketing solution"
- Mike Galligan
Software companies can learn from agencies• Agencies (at their best) can capture and distill culture• We can help you understand who you're designing for --
agencies do this at the cultural level, whereas tech companies do it at the user level
• Access to untethered creatives• Tech companies suffer because there's so many of them
doing the same thing
Offline America: Why we have a Digital Divide
#digdiv
Jessamyn West | Fiona MorganJustin Grimes
22% of Americans Live without Internet Access• 35% of Americans are living without Broadband• There is only a 1% change in this statistic from year to year• Of that 22% only 1 in 10 plan on using the internet
in the future
Digital Dirt Roads & Information Cul De SacsIt's a question of Access (Will I get it?) versus Adoption (Will I buy it?)
An issue of access:
• Less than 1 hour away from America's "most wired city" people still have dialup
• E-mail is painful, attachments don't work, YouTube is out of the question
• Individuals with small businesses find that they can't compete online
• Kid's can't keep up in school, or have the freedom to be kids online
• Satellite Broadband is prohibitively expensive (+data caps!)
Why is the last mile the hardest mile?
• Too much land and not enough people, this is a difficult justification to service providers for a return on investment
• This causes broadband access to become a local political issue
• This creates a culture of digital inclusion
Availability vs. Adoption
• Availability is expensive to fix, and politically fraught• Adoption is easier to fix, and politically a win-win
Why Policy is Failing:Fundamental Disagreement
There's two sides here• Side A: It's a severe, serious issue that's not being resolved
by market culture• Side B: Doesn't believe the digital divide is a problem (like
any other inequality - ie social, economic divide)
Why Policy is Failing:Improper Framing of the Problem
• It's not a technical problem, it's a social problem• Existing Terminology is unagreeable (digital divide is circa
1998)• It's about access -- literacy / education / price are all parts of
the issue
Why Policy is Failing:Data
• There is bad data / a lack of data / no data• Telecommunications act of 1994 requires that service
providers also provide data, but they still debate on what that "data" should be
• It's only through data that we can gain understanding• In 2008 it was still a question of "what does broadband
even mean?"
Designing stuff kids will use & love
#designingforkids
Chris Bishop | PBS Kids InteractiveRick Panchera | WGBH Educational Foundation
Dan Willis | SapientSilvia Lovato | PBS
The basics - from Chris Bishop
• "Don't ever assume that parents will be there"• Kids can't read, make it so they know what's going on• Consider a scope of complexity so that it's friendly for the
youngest users (and the oldest ones)• Place stuff for grown ups at the top of the screen (kids are
short, so that's their last consideration, not their first)
Usability Testing
• If you have the time or budget - absolutely do usability testing, it gives great insights (ie kid's don't understand the difference between full screen and full length)
• Find a really good moderator for UX testing, they must be able to put the kids at ease (kids really want to be right, and please adults)
• Kids are not used to thinking aloud• Listen to what kids want, the user base has opinions too
Lessons from 20 Years of Designing for Kids
• Don't make anything that scrolls, ever.• Make user accounts / login, they always want
personalization, or screennames• Let Parents be able to log in separately after the fact in order
to track progress• Early readers look for things to read, consider self-leveling
content
People as Peripherals:The Future of Gesture
Interface
#sxswnui
Lee Shupp | Cheskin Added Value
Futurism• There's a gap between what technology can do and what
we're ready for• Our job as designers is to create acceptable change• " The problem with computers is that there's not enough
Africa in them." - Brian Eno (Wired, 2004) What he means is that there's not enough intuitive movement, understanding
Interface EvolutionEvolution of Computer Interfaces
Gesture EvolutionEvolution of Computer / Human Gesture
NUI Deep Dive• We've mastered Mouse Clicks• We're mastering Touch• We will soon master Gesture• In the far future we will be reliant on BioSynth technology
Why is it so hard to move away from the mouse?
Advantages:• Accurate• Fast / Flexible• Subtle Movement• Ubiquitous
Disadvantages:• Forces us to sit down• Takes up space• Extra Peripheral to manage• Takes away from keyboard
Wii = mobile mouse, which is okay, but not great.
Technology is moving away from desktop computing, leaving the mouse behind.
Moving towards touch
Advantages:• Works for lots of things• More Natural• Good for Mobile• Small Devices
Disadvantages:• Smudging / Fingerprints• Hand Covers Screen• Inaccurate• Hands vary in size
"The more challenging & complicated the gesture, the fewer people will be able to do it."
What about Gesture?
Advantages:• Natural• Allows Distance• Allows Kinetic Activity
Disadvantages:• Inaccurate / Clumsy• Delayed Computer reaction• Small Window of Space• Physical Exertion
We're not at the Minority Report level of complexity yet, but we've got a good start with the Kinect
How can we reduce "Gorilla Arms"? -- Integrate voice, eye movements, facial expression, body language, proximity awareness, multimodal interaction
Advances in Thought Computing
X Wave Headseto Works in tandem with iPhone/iPado Detects excitement versus calmo HARD at first, but people will adapt
Thought Helmeto Technology for voiceless communicationo Being Developed by the US Army
Intel Brain Implantso Estimated to be Ubiquitous by 2020o 80,000 People already have them
BrainGate (Biosignals/Cyberkinetics, neuroscience @ Brown University)
Obstacles to Thought Computing• Brain is too complex• Requires focused concentration• Humans are currently used to multitasking, this doesn't allow
for that• The Brain does not have an innate connection to machines• If people can't read people, how will computers?
Man vs. Machines• Ray Kurzweil predicts the Singularity (between 2040 and
2050)• What happens when computers can process more and faster
than humans? Well, it depends on your assumptions around intelligence:o Humans are "smarter" because computers are only "book
smarto Computers will be able to come up with solutions faster
than humanso We will become a super-species (computer-human hybrid
-- see: Extropian Movement, Transhumanism)
The Future of Touch User Interface Design
#futureoftouch
Amish Patel | @amishpatel | MicrosoftKay Hofmester | @kayhof | Microsoft
Evolution of User Interfaces
• Text Commands, Pointing Devices
• Computer communicates back in multiple ways
• Designed for a single user
• Multiple points of interaction
• Can imply multiple users
If you take a new input method and apply the old method of communication (interface). It won't work
Input languages develop in stages
3 Stages of Media
For example: Film
Then there was the Mouse
Touch is still in Stage 2, WTF?Why is this?• Touch is still emulating the mouse (Reliant on X, Y Coords)• Touch is still emulating the hardware keyboard (which is an
emulation of a typewriter on our computer• Touch is still using scrolling / scollbars
What are some alternative options?• Combine Gestures with the Keyboard (swipe?)• Use Real Life Metaphors (ie Page Flip) -- be careful though
because this can limit new input methods
Our Path to Stage 3
1. Body-Aware• Before we were communicating through just a mouse - the
human element was very much removed and reduced• Posture is very important• Consider the actual rotation of the arm, natural finger swipe
path• Targeting doesn't work if it doesn't understand what your
hand is, it's shape, etc (occlusion)• Computers don't understand social manners (it doesn't
address you first, you must always interact with it for it to respond)
2. Multi-Touch• Focus is all gone - too many fingers will get ignored (4 hands
= 20 input systems)• How does a system work with Multi Touch?• See: Vision Video - Microsoft Labs Office of the Future
3. Multi-Modal• Hands should move things whereas pens should write• "Every input method is best for something and worst for
something else" -Bill Buxton• Should consider combining input methods - such as:
Touch + Pen Touch + Speech Touch + Air (Gesture/Space)
• Consider proximity - computers are kind of rude, they don't realize that you're there. The closer you get to an object, the information that it displays should change.