discovery is the new cocaine - going beyond engagement
DESCRIPTION
[Questions? [email protected]] Web2 is about participation, but what comes after that? We think it is all about Discovery, the art of helping users serendipitously discover content and people that they did not know they wanted to know. Discovery is what makes people come back again and again, interact, and explore. This deck explains what Discovery is, the psychological reasons behind it, and presents a set of very very practical examples and guidelines on how it can be implemented. The inspiration for this deck was simple- We ourselves were frustrated by apparent random-ness at which we were implementing discovery for our own startup (discoverio), and were not able to find any resources that presented discovery in a holistic manner. So just like anyone of you would have done, we decided to come out with process, and share it around with the rest of the world! :) The most powerful piece is probably the very last slide, but we had not had time to expand on it yet. Here it is, and we will love feedback! Contact details at the end. ;) By Ming Yeow Ng, Yu-Shan Fung, Andreas WeigendTRANSCRIPT
Discovery is the new cocaineGoing beyond engagement
By: Ming Yeow Ng, Yu-shan Fung (Discoverio)
Note: Section on “Flow” was derived from “The Science Of Designing Interactions” (SXSW 2008)
by Andreas Weigend (people and data), and Ming Yeow Ng (Discoverio)
Why should you care about Discovery?
First off…
Source: WSJ, Why We're Powerless To Resist Grazing On Endless Web Data March 12, 2008
What is it about a Web site that might make it literally irresistible?
• We are programmed for scarcity and can't dial back even when information is abundant
• … (addictive sites) all presented new information that somehow needed to be interpreted…
• this triggers a chemical reaction that makes us feel good…
From Wall Street Journal:
Done right, Discovery can make a website irresistible!
In other words….
Desire by humans to be a live node in the network
We are always…
“Constantly scanning the peripheral, always motivated by the desire not to miss opportunities”
“Desire for other people recognizing us, make us feel important.”
“Services that win are those that help us protect, filter, create meaningful connections ”
Linda Stone
What drives Discovery?
Source: Etech 2006
What is Discovery?
Allowing users to:
1. Discover new, valuable information
2. Get Discovered by others
3. Discovering more about themselves
Discovery of Information
New and Richly interpretable information triggers chemical
reactions
Facilitate user towards:
Twitter, Friendfeed: Constant stream of new information
New information
Facebook Breakups“Who was she?”“Was his girlfriend pretty??”“You mean she is gay???”
Richly Interpretable
Get Discovered by Others
“Who is paying attention to me?”“Am I being recognized?”
Helping users to:
MyBlogLogWho is checking me out?
Who is paying attention to me?
TwitterWho is following me?
Discover More About Themselves
“Who am I to others?”“What do I like?”
Allowing users to:
Key here: People do not know what they want!
Tickle: What am I?(400 million personality tests taken)
The Old Personality Test The New Personality Test
What am I to others?
Amazon :Collective Recommendation
What do I like?
Stylefeeder:Analyzing attributes
Facilitate the Discovery Cycle for your users
Taking all 3 types together:
Engage and allow contribution of information, leaving of footprints, and giving of feedback
2) System to generate new
insights for user
1) Discovery of Content and Users
3) Other Users to discover him
Data becomes basis for:
Personalized Recommendations
Interactions that lead to reciprocity and
interactions
User learning more about himself
The Discovery Cycle for Your App
Continuous Learning, Contributing, Recognition
Throughout the process:
(Keeps him coming back!)Meaningful connections gets established
“Intermittent Variable Reinforcement “• “One of Skinner's most important discoveries was that
behavior that is reinforced intermittently is much more
difficult to extinguish than behavior that is reinforced continuously.“ – via Kathy Sierra
• "You are not sure you are going to get a reward every time or
how often you will, so you keep pulling that handle.“ - Patricia Wallace on slot machines
Done right, this leads to
Discovery is less about predicting precisely right about what the user
wants
It is more about the entire user flow of discovery, with all the hits and misses
In other words...
Think window shopping down the mall or walking through an expo hall
Discovering Activity by Social Graph
Based on live updates
My good friend
The guy with great events
The babe I check out
Based on collective behavior and attention data
Collective Judging Collective Behavior
No concept of individual Personalization
Crowdvine: Updated profiles, comments are on front page
Helping users get discovered Clear attention/intention data
Crowdvine: want-to-meet, fan
Apache Social Network: Open source projects worked on together
Connecting based on commonalities
Exploitation Exploration
Connecting based on mutual interest
26
Flickr: Interestingness
Etsy: Many ways to shop
Randomness that shows the new and richly interpretable
Etsy: 10 different fun ways to discover!(boring categories are at the end)
Make it fun to explore
Understanding the elements of “flow”
Feedback, Rewards, Lightweight, Reducing uncertainty
How to create the right user experience?
Inspired by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
Direct and immediate feedback
Successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed
Elements of flow (1)
Feedback can be by system or can be by other users
Feedback for users to guide their future behavior
30
Contribution to others
Achievements
Popularity
Metrics for:
Wrong-doings
Maslow Hierarchy
Yelp: popularity, achievement, and contribution
How am I doing?
Cash = powerValue = desirability
Points as indicators of power and desirability
32
Linkedin Profile Completeness Pointing out “deficiencies” to induce actions
Setting expected “norm”
Rewards
Intrinsically RewardingClarity of Reward
Recognition for contribution
Elements of flow (2)
Twitter: Self Expression is its own reward
Intrinsically Rewarding
Twitter: Validation, and Social Interaction are powerful rewards by themselves
Intrinsically Rewarding
Clear recognition for intended actions
Digg: Made popular by…
Crowdvine: Updated profiles, comments
are on front page
Best Match: Invite 10 to see “best matches”
Making Rewards Clear and Explicit
GetSatisfaction: I have this question too!
Suggest action and clarify reward
Lightweight Interactions
Make it easy for users to contribute
Elements of Flow (3)
Crowdvine:Fan : expression of confidence
Want-to-meet: initiate relationship
Lightweight, In the moment expressions
Yelp: Variety of lightweight
interactions directly on reviews
Lijit: Made the process entertaining and a little mysterious, with rewards at each step
Make user do as little as possible
Signup Time 15m -> 2m
Conversion 0.1% -> 4%
Source: Lijit, SXSW 2008
Automated retrieval of external data, all user needs to do is confirm
Woot: One Single Action
Do not make users think
Reducing fear and uncertainty
Uncertainty, even irrelevant uncertainty kills action
Elements of Flow (4)
Twitter: Communicating with little fear of incurring cost to recipient
Assurance that it is up to recipients’ “mode of receiving”
Zoosk: Flirt vs risk
Reducing Personal Commitment
HotorNot: No risk of “rejection”
Surfacing Improbable Matches
47
Crowdvine: Showing social behavior right on frontpage
Reducing uncertainty on “correct” behavior
Latest Comments
Day Trading
Elements of Addiction
MMORPG
1) Attractor: Things happening outside your control in the system, yet affecting your status
2) Motivator: You have a stake (self-esteem/emotional/financial) in changes happening to your status Source: "Ariadne - Understanding MMORPG Addiction" Nick Yee
Systematically Introducing Discovery Into Your App (uncompleted)
1. Know what data points you need (Individual / Collective / External)
2. Know what mode of discovery (Recommendations / Search / Browsing)
3. Create pathways of discovery (Filtering / Anchoring )
4. Maximize exploration / exploitation within the pathway (Intention / Attention)
5. Providing reasons/context for discovery ( Context/Persona/Content)
6. Facilitating mediums for connections (Currency / Reputation)
7. Understand what metrics you need (Diversity, Virality, Engagement)
Process by Ming Yeow Ng, Yu-shan Fung (Discoverio)
We LOVE Feedback!!!
• Discovery is a new, unexplored and very exciting area to be innovating in, and we love to hear from anyone who is just as excited about this as us!
• Touch base with us via any of these mechanisms– [email protected] | @mingyeow (twitter)– [email protected] | @ambivalence (twitter)