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My hunch is yes, there are successful patterns in Facebook that will propagate to many other software categories, both because they are beneficial and users hav

by gojomo 14y ago

My hunch is yes, there are successful patterns in Facebook that will propagate to many other software categories, both because they are beneficial and users have een trained to expect them... but then no, those patterns won't dominate completely, because certain countervailing needs will change/moderate/negate them. For example, the 'news feed' is super compelling and attention-grabbing, but at least partially in attention-abusive ways. By intermixing updates of wildly different importance, provenance, and topic, a heightened sense of novelty is created. By the use of reverse-chronological order, a false urgency is created -- "I must read/reply before it scrolls out of view!" -- even when the topics aren't really urgent. So this pattern is a sugar/steroid/stimulant for engagements... against which the mentally-healthy will eventually have to disengage and replace with something more respectful of their attention, with truer cues about novelty and importance. So I expect the 'feed' pattern to be copied everywhere it might offer a quick bit of 'sizzle' to interactions... but also for new ameliorative antipatterns to be developed, and modify or displace the 'feed', as well. Especially in productive contexts where entertainment/diversion/distraction is not the highest value, it will be tried but then modified or discarded.

sigsergv 14y ago
And I expect that simple feed will evolve into something more complex than just plain list of entries. The obvious option: feed is sorted by some other item propety, not time but importance+time.
eyevariety 14y ago
It is ADD for sure, but there is a measured dopamine response to this type of interaction. The easiest way to understand the history of any object is through a timeline, so when appropriate I do think you are going to see a lot more of it. From my vantage all of the modern social networks feel like the newest incarnation of the blog model, which has always had that timeline model. Nir Eyal has some nice thoughts on it: http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/08/the-webs-slot-machine.html http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/08/the-webs-slot-machine.html
- gojomo 14y ago
  If you want a summary history for a unified object, the revchron presentation is natural and minimally abusive. (Though, we may yet find better standard presentations for hiding info that is attention-grabbing but lower-value.) Mixing unrelated things, and making this mixed-history the default view, and optimizing it relentlessly for impressions/engagement -- those are all thiings that trend towards abusing people's attention. People will become more aware and less tolerant of such 'false excitement' UX over time, presenting more opportunities for designs and businesses that respect rather than squander our mental cycles.
  - eyevariety 14y ago
    Good perspective!

by gojomo 14y ago

sigsergv 14y ago

And I expect that simple feed will evolve into something more complex than just plain list of entries. The obvious option: feed is sorted by some other item propety, not time but importance+time.

eyevariety 14y ago

It is ADD for sure, but there is a measured dopamine response to this type of interaction. The easiest way to understand the history of any object is through a timeline, so when appropriate I do think you are going to see a lot more of it. From my vantage all of the modern social networks feel like the newest incarnation of the blog model, which has always had that timeline model. Nir Eyal has some nice thoughts on it: http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/08/the-webs-slot-machine.html http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/08/the-webs-slot-machine.html

gojomo 14y ago
If you want a summary history for a unified object, the revchron presentation is natural and minimally abusive. (Though, we may yet find better standard presentations for hiding info that is attention-grabbing but lower-value.) Mixing unrelated things, and making this mixed-history the default view, and optimizing it relentlessly for impressions/engagement -- those are all thiings that trend towards abusing people's attention. People will become more aware and less tolerant of such 'false excitement' UX over time, presenting more opportunities for designs and businesses that respect rather than squander our mental cycles.
- eyevariety 14y ago
  Good perspective!