Speaker: Kathy Sierra (synopsis). Read her blog on Creating Passionate Users and watch out for her soon-to-be-released book of the same title (O'Reilly Press).
Again, another full house. Things are looking good.
The talk's started. Sierra got each row to turn around and introduce ourselves, and talk about one thing we’re passionate about.
She asked how many people had iPods. Almost the whole hall put up their hands. (myself included). How many have more than one? Some stuck their hands up again! [Score: Steve Jobs 300, Sim Wong Hoo, 0]
This quote brought up some chuckles: “Where there is passion… there is a user kicking ass.”
Sierra continued, “And where there is NO passion … there is a user sucking ….” (we laughed)
Passion requires continuous improvement.
Learning increases resolution (eg. To have ‘red or white wine’ or to have ‘Chateau Mouton-Rothschild for its --- aroma etc’)
What do you want to be an expert in?
It’s not about the tools. It’s what you do with them.
People don’t want to kick ass at your tool. They want to kick ass at what they want to do!
Eg, it’s not about snowboards. It’s about snowboarding.
Sierra gave the example of her daughter who’s a Coldplay fan. Lead singer Chris Martin’s a Free Trade exponent. His concert had free trade materials. The next morning her daughter had put up a poster lecturing Sierra on her inappropriate coffee choices.
“The Brain is not your friend.” What you feel is important (eg studying 72hours in a row) is not what your brain feels is important (get some sleep!)
How do we get past this filter?
Novelty is used to get attention. Anything that stands out.
You don’t remember what you do as habit. (Eg dropping the car keys on the table after coming home)
The brain pays attention to:
- Scary things (the slide displays man with a frightened expression)
- Sexy
- Beauty
- Care (baby, puppy)
- Joy
- Happiness
- Humour
From this, you can tell that the human being has a high ‘play’ drive.
Refer to recreational neuroscience. The brain has an area dedicated just to processing faces.
One technique is to attach an expression to something, to make humans associate the more boring element with the exciting element.
The brain cares about conversational language more than formal language.
If you took a formal document but changed the reference term to ‘You’, the brain’s recognition goes up.
The brain could be thinking it’s having a real conversation. It pays attention in anticipation that it needs to respond later.
Here, she shows an exponential curve going upwards on an axis (x=passion y=ability).
People need a certain momentum of passion in order to sustain their involvement in a product, or take it to a more advanced level.
“Why does anyone snowboard twice?” Rhetorical question that made the point.
However there has to be steps to get there.
Eg for skiing – you look at the map. You tell yourself, if you get better you can cover more difficult slopes. That’s motivation. It looks unobtainable but then a path’s laid out, that makes sense.
Question to take home and ponder:
- What does expertise look like?
- What’s the path for getting there?
The main problem with tech products is that they’re providing all the facts and data, BUT not good knowledge and understanding. We look at documents from companies who have trouble getting their users to be passionate, and they’re so skewed towards technical references and very little to get the user actually started!
If you make your users look at the same material over and over again, they probably won’t remember it. You have to do something new, that causes a chemical reaction in your brain.
Y=motion, x=time and repetition
Top left to bottom right line
Ie, you either remember by repetition or by emotion.
But we also have to keep users engaged over a period of time.
Refer to book called ‘Flow’. Recommended for understanding what makes people stay engaged. You are in Flow when you’ve lost all sense of time. Programmers stay up all night because they believe they’re only one compile away. Another example – Sudoku!
Users believe they have the knowledge and skills to complete the challenge. But they must also perceive that the challenge also keeps growing. Passion will top out if there’s no further challenge.
Think:
- What could your users do in Flow?
- Is there a continuing challenge?
- Can you help them meet the challenge?
Look at what the game designers are doing.
Experience spiral. Get their attention --> Build interest --> Challenging activity --> Payoff --> back to getting their attention.
Most games don’t have ‘start to finish’ goals, but levels.
It’s better to have smaller treats than one big payoff at the end.
E.g. Martial arts – earning different colour belts.
Also, it’s easier to adjust levels. If people have problems clearing level 1, you can make it easier.
Web design levels can be:
- HTML
- CSS
- AJAX
How do you make the user a hero?
Read this book: Gaping Void [Note: I checked Amazon.com and couldn't find such a title. Maybe I misheard it].
“The market for something to believe in is infinite.”
– Hugh Macleod.
Owning a Macintosh isn’t about equipment – it’s about a part of who you are.
Do you have paraphernalia to allow your fans to show their passion for you?
Fans start their own trivia / conspiracy sites, eg. Pink Floyd’s allusion to Dark Side of the Moon.
Back to Coldplay. Chris Martin now displays two black rectangles on his hands, and lets the fan forums discuss what it means.
You may find yourself in extremes. Some love you, some hate you. That’s OK. Just don’t get stuck in the lukewarm middle.
When you move from startup to corporate, you lose more than you gain.
Listening to what users say is not necessarily what they actually want.
Book reference: Blink [I’ve read it.]
They’re making us do the ranking game in Gladwell’s book. Coloured blobs this time.
The danger is in crossing the peak (going downhill, losing users’ passion).
The user must have an “I RULE” experience. How can you help them kick ass?
Never forget that your users are real people.
They were babies once. They have real feelings.
Help them come up with the flow. You’re helping them have a happier life.
My rating: 4.5/5.