Avoiding the Trap of Clicky-Clicky Bling-Bling #devlearn

OK – so I can’t live blog my own session, but I can share my slides: presented Thursday, Nov 3 2011 at DevLearn in Las Vegas.

It was a great session – lots of conversation with the group which you won’t see on the slides, a few side bars and tangents, and some free t-shirts at the end!  Thanks to everyone who joined in.

And for the record -- I designed my slides to match the t-shirt I was wearing ;)

Avoiding the Trap of Clicky-Clicky Bling-Bling

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Tom Crawford: Design for Mobile The Ups and Downs of the Small Screen #devlearn @vizchef

My live blogged notes from Tom Crawford, @vizchef, @viznetwork session at DevLearn November 3, 2011 in Las Vegas.  Forgive the typos and omissions. And also forgive the delay – forgot to publish these right after the session on Thursday!

The mobile market:

Smart phones are growing; but not-smart-phones are still significant part of the market. So you could still do SMS and text and do good stuff with mobile learning. Today we’ll talk about smart phones.

Androids are growing.

PC/laptop use is down 20%; mobile is 30% up.

The better numbers are about actual users – Yelp has 45 million users. right now only 7% of them are mobile, but 35% of searches are done on mobile.

Facebook – mobile users are 2x as active as desktop users (they post more, read more, are online longer)

Eight unique affordances of mobile:

1. personal – the phone knows a lot about you – where you walked. it knows things you didn’t tell it.
2. always carried (in the room EVERYONE has their phone, but most of them don’t have their laptop)
3. always on
4. built-in payments
5. available when inspired (you have an idea or thought, you do it right then)
6. accurate audience measures (incredible data – everything is tracked – when, where you sent that text; when you went online. That kind of tracking data is not available anywhere else.)
7. captures context (you know where they are)
8. allows augmented reality

Native Apps vs. Web Apps

native is written for a specific device.

You have to make this decision.

native apps run faster, more interesting, access more controls on the phone. However, then you have to develop for iphone, ipod, android, etc…takes a lot of time and money.

Web app runs on everything that has a web browser. Develop once and run everywhere. But doesn’t run well always and not fully featured.

Cross platform tools – unity mobile, unity, appcelerator…publish to one place and deliver to multiple devices.

Go to The Boston Globe website – the website resizes; images resizes or disappear depending on the device used.  Program once and run on all devices. (they’re using a new design style – html5 and css with some javascript; also some intelligence behind it). If you’re thinking about doing mobile web apps – check out that site.

Getting started: benchmark

Look at best in class apps out there – what affordances? Flight Track Pro, SoundHound, Angry Birds, NetFlix,

Getting started: know your audience

No different from any other design. “You are not your audience”

Mobile Context – where are people using their devices? What environment are they in? Context is really important…

Are they using this on a sales call, at their desk, in a line, in a car? 

If they’ll need it fast – one big button.

Design

Prepare for lots of tips..

use basic design

• no design is perfect – you can always tweak it
• every design has compromises, trade-offs and constraints – we have to make choices
• criteria for “good” design depends (LukeW calls this sharks climbing trees – in the water sharks are amazing)
• no one right answer
• no just about look, but about FEEL (does it feel responsive, like you’re learning?)

steal like an artist nothing is original – find good stuff and use it…

Content first (don’t make me login first – foodspotting – you can go find stuff immediately, you only login when you want to ask questions or upload photos, etc. get me what i need now – if i’m standing in line, get me my content otherwise by the time i’m done logging in i’m done with my line)

only ask for data/info WHEN you need it

Disappearing UI As a % of space – use it for content – minimize navigation, etc. Put content upfront and center. You can hide nav until you need it.

Edit, edit, edit cut the content to the essentials

Minimize the steps

Billboard/glance test can you look at it and get it? (period tracker app, compass app – tells you where your partner is)  Billboard test – you’re going down the higway and you have 3 seconds to get it…

Clarity trumps density too much info on a screen? wasted space?

The rule of 44 your fingertip takes up about 44 x 44 pixels – buttons should fit that space (or the tap area needs to be that space). Or make it even bigger so they don’t have to think – make a giant button.

Design to a grid every object on the screen should be aligned to another object on the screen

Follow reading order in US we follow z reading order – prioritize your content

Tasteful, understated not garish

Avoid metaphor you’ve got small space, don’t waste it with interface that is bling. Content first.

Balance brands & standards follow apple standards for ios apps.

Don’t just say “Back” don’t know where i’m going back to.  instead have the back arrow with text -- “full title” or “title” or “full ti…” Tell them where they’re going back to.

Follow title bar zones for apple apps follow standards. have your logo on the front page, but don’t put it on every page (netflix wastes space with their title on every page)

Don’t be too clever he shows some bathroom signs that are clever but who knows which is men’s or women’s…

Use clear standard icons

Use a consistent light source for graphics etc – you won’t know why you won’t like an app that does this, but you will

1-2 Fonts; 4 sizes nothing more and use them consistently to mean the same thing

Use visual cues like grouping

Tap zones if you’re holding your phone in your left hand there’s a zone you can reach with one hand…you can’t reach the top corner…

Use the right keyboard number, letters, etc…

Use the right capitalization make no caps

Make the form disappear  TripIt is a good example. Get your flight info from delta and forward it to tripit and it pulls it all out for you. Type nothing.

Avoid scrolling where possible If you’re going to scroll, make it obvious

 

Beyond touch

lots of sensors now – voice, gestures, proximity, bluetooth, gps, compass, cameras, accelerometer, shake…

Augmented reality

overlay of data knowledge on an image…new employee orientation…

What was there (an app) – see what was there 100 years ago…

Word lens – live translation – while you point your camera at a sign it translates it…

Prototype & Test

Balsamiq – great prototyping tool which you can actually run on the phone. super simple way to test

“A good UI without a good UX is meaningless (and vice versa)”  -- if beautiful design doesn’t work or if it works and it’s ugly…

Resources

• Tapworthy
• Desigining the iphone User Experience
• Designing Mobile Interfaces
• Designing for Emotion
• Mobile First

Ethan Edwards: 5 Most Important Analysis Questions You’ll Ever Ask #devlearn

My live blogged notes with session with Ethan Edwards of Allen Interactions (www.alleninteractions.com).

Same issues we’re dealing with in elearning today that we were dealing with 30 years ago.

Better elearning, better processes!

ADDIE…we’ve heard of it, is it iterative? etc.

Regardless of what you do – you need analysis/backgrounding.

Challenges of design for elearning:

• instruction must stand on its own
• can’t be adjusted or fixed on the fly (when we teach classroom…”let’s skip these pages.” if we make mistakes in analysis, then the learner is stuck…)
• must account for all things instructor might do

Does your org think elearning is formatting text, decorating screens and test? (so much elearning is like scrapbooking)

We want to create experiences that will create lasting and beneficial change in the performance environment

Where does analysis go awry?

• Often it’s skipped altogether. many authoring systems don’t support design – they provide formatting options.
• Or it’s perceived that analysis is already done by SMEs. SMES view analysis as a content dump and not a dialog. documentation of content does not equal design.
• Course already exists – conversion doesn’t require analysis, right?

These are failures. We shouldn’t accept them. Often trainers are too nice! Need to tell people when it’s a bad idea.

The Five Questions

1. what do learners expect to do after completing the course that they can’t do now? The purpose of elearning can’t be to create expertise. Expertise takes years to develop. Instead we should be aiming to create minimal competence.

Ask why is this important? Create a table: on the left list content “requirements”. along the top list the performance outcomes.  then put checks across the grid to identify what you really need to include.  There will be rows with no checks at all.

Push back on this is “well it doesn’t hurt to put in there.” But for every page that the learner says, ah I’ll just skip this, the more likely they’ll skip everything. Don’t overstuff the elearning with unnecessary stuff! If the SME still wants it, put it in resources.

You’ll find outcomes that are desired that have no content to go with them.

Most compliance training actually does have value to your org (don’t just do it cuz you have to)

Because elearning is $ to create, there’s no reason to create it unless there’s an outcome.

Even if your main goal is knowledge (don’t think it’s possible to have knowledge objectives)

The chance of learner mastering a performance objective when there is no opportunity to practice are slim.

So how do we translate moving your cursor into something with meaning (you can point, click, type)

If what you have people do is click a, b or c – that doesn’t translate into installing a router. There’s little opp for transfer.

I have never been asked a mult choice question in my daily life. Training prepares people to answer MCQs.

2. What are consequences to the learner if they fail to master the intended outcomes?

Often the learner’s highest level goal is to get through this course quickly!

Need to provide meaningful consequences.

Artificial consequences in elearning: a failing score, a jeopardy game where you lose money (that’s not a meaningful consequence).

Risk and consequences strongest tools to create motivation and buy-in. (Remember consequences to YOU or the ORG are often different than the cons. to the LEARNER).

Understand what the learner is motivated by. Relate those consequences to the real-world environment.

If I learn through the exercise that you’re going to tell me the answer, then I don’t do the work to figure out the answer. Make the learner figure it out.

3. Can you show me an active demo, a detailed sim, or provide an opportunity to directly observe the desired performance?

The expert assumes they know – they don’t always know what’s changed, or haven’t done it in years.

Include recent learners in your analysis. They remember what they didn’t know. They are now minimally competent (our target!)

4. What specific performance mistakes do new learners usually make?

The content is often not the challenge.

5. What tools, resources, or job aids, or help do successful performers (or even experts) use to do their tasks?

Often you want to help the learner use those tools.

Interactivity shouldn’t be designed to get correctness – instead encourage lots of mistakes! We add to our knowledge when we make mistakes.

So you might need a final test to “assess” – but don’t do that throughout – the learner feels too observed. Let the learner mess around.

You want the right things to be hard. In the real world, there’s no penalty for using the employee manual. Let the learners use their manuals in the elearning!

______________________

Time now for some demos on the Allen Interactions site: http://www.alleninteractions.com/content/case-studies-and-demos 

Showing an example where the exercise is to fill out a field notes 9for a copy interviewing gang members) – there’s no right or wrong, but the learner can compare their text input with an expert’s input.

Mastery is a better model – keep people working until they can prove they can do it without error.

Steve Rosenbaum – Curation Nation - #devlearn keynote

These are my live notes from DevLearn November 4, 2011 in Las Vegas.

Steve Rosenbaum (@magnify) author of Curation Nation (www.magnify.net, http://curationnation.org/)

The world is changing fast. Curation is a good news/bad news thing.

The cloud – sounds so fluffy and nice. It’s being presented as an awesome, good thing. But clouds are often gray and scary – storm clouds!

Look at what we’re trying to managing in our personal lives – it’s similar with our data lives!

30% of respondents to a survey check their email in the middle of night.

The is too much signal. There is too much noise.

We start tuning out; plugging our ears. This becomes a road block.

Between the dawn of time and 2003 we created 5 exabytes of info – we now create that much info every two days. This is a big change.

Twitter is on the path to 10 billion tweets.

It would take you 8 years to watch all of the video that was uploaded to YouTube yesterday.

The world we now live in: walking in to the library of congress and someone’s erased all the dewey decimals and moved the books around.

This just happened.

Facebook now stores 140 billion photographs.  Way more than the library of congress.

The deal is – we all need to become curators.

July 2010 – the US time spent online – when it changed to open architecture where everyone is a publisher – that’s where Facebook usage starting far outstripping all the other sites.

US is only #6 on the list of countries and numbers of internet users.  Nigeria is #3. Iran is #5.

We used to talk about surfing the web.

This is a problem that we collectively get to solve. Information is knowledge and learning. Unless it’s just in a big pile – then it looks like junk.

Need to make information digestible for people when and where they need it.

Say goodbye to search.

Google yourself. Look at the images and see how much of that is NOT you. (Steve says he often goes to Facebook now first to find people.)

In the last 6 months it’s just gotten harder to find things. Google is based on static links to static web pages. But that’s changed – we’re tweeting now.

Say hello to curation.

Content is king. Needs to become Curation is king.

When your network clues you into something important – thank them – they’re your curator.  Don’t feel bad that you missed something.

Who in the room identifies themselves as a publisher.  Publishers – when you retweet something you’re broadcasting, you’re publishing.

The #1 food magazine (Taste of Home) is published by Reader’s Digest and it’s all content submitted by readers.

In the world going forward, where there’s too much information, people need to dial stuff down. Are they dialing you down or are they dialing you in? Help them find information that matters. We live in a world where everyone need’s filters.

Humans replace algorithms.

Ideas replace data.

Human beings are not replaceable.

3 powerful ideas about curation

1. Choose your digital clothing.  We make conscious choices about the clothes we put on in the morning. We need to make conscious choices about our digital.  Rosenbaum reads 450 tweets a day – and RTs about 3-5 of those.  He filters his subject so we don’t need to read those 450.

On Foursquare you check in and tell people you’re going to a cool movie but not that you’re at the dry cleaner. Be conscious.

2. Listening. Listening is more powerful than speaking. I can scan faster and pull out the important info more quickly than a computer.

3. Tools. Try a tool – you can’t use them all – try something for a while and see what works.  Feel obliged to experiment with something (storify, scoop it, paper.li, etc.) Find the tool that speaks to you.

Use whatever you want. Learning to play with this stuff is important.

In a noisy world, your customers require clarity.

Best Curation Practices

You define quality for your audience. Leverage your natural expertise. Don’t be afraid to scare people away but have an internal voice about quality.

Context is key. Always publish things contextually – clarify sources, update headlines. Your readers need to know why contextually it matters to them, not just the link.

Well-curated site tells a story.  What things get your attention on a daily basis? TechCrunch has a story – it has an edge, voice, perspective.

Have a theme and embrace it. Once you have a curated voice, pov, tone, make sure you build on it. People come to  your for you POV.

In today’s world “brand me” is bigger than the company brand.  Organizations have to trust your people.

The volume of information we’re putting out there is not going to slow down. Your job is to deliver the best of the best in the verticals you define. 

Today we’re all curators.

The web becomes a human network.

It’s not Facebook.  It’s not Google.  It’s not Amazon.

It’s US.

Have a theme and embrace it.

Rick Raymer: Applying Game Design Principles to elearning #devlearn

My live blogged notes from Rick Raymer’s (@trickylearning) session at DevLearn November 2, 2011 in Las Vegas. I arrived a bit late…my apologies!

Rewards need to evoke emotion.

wanting + liking = rewarding

Rick heard Medina speak at Learning Solutions – where in our brains do we learn? Got him wondering, do wanting and liking occur in two separate places in the brain?  Turns out they do live in separate places, which could help explain addiction.  Wanting and liking are NOT the same thing.

Gamification = use of game mechanics in non-game applications:

• points
• levels
• challenges
• virtual goods
• leaderboards
• gifting and charity

Set Goals & Objectives

Games often use a Hub System to structure things (wish I’d taken a picture!): in the center of the hub is the module/game.  Branching off the central hub like spokes are the topics/levels of the program.  Coming off each topic/level are specific objectives.

This creates a non-linear program which is “more engaging”.  In his words, “self-determination equals engaging”

In games we get into our FLOW CHANNEL.

In learning we want to set up learner with new skills, let them practice, then assess, then move on to build new skills (level up!)

Goals & Objectives

Give the learners choices (but not too many!)

Create time sensitive objectives

Rick says “Your job as a designer is to make your learners feel clever and smart.”  (Cammy comment: I disagree with this – I think there’s value in stumping our learners and showing them what they don’t know…) 

Measure Progress

On the interface have stars that fill-in as learner completes sections – so they know what they need to do.

(He’s a big fan of codebaby – uses lots of virtual coaches)

As learner goes through content increase the graphics of the interfaces – give a reward for progress.

Reward effort.  Give the learner a cookie. “100 small rewards is better than one big reward.”

Share the rewards so others can see them.

Is the reward appropriate for what you’re asking the learner to do?

Types of rewards:

• Some rewards may be interval (based on time – fixed or variable) – like the sunflowers? in plants vs. zombies
• or ratio – based on completing actions

Reward effort:

• incremental rewards
• reward schedules
• probability and danger
• adaptive systems (negative feedback loops – if the learner already knows something, don’t make them sit through it; if they show they don’t know something, then help them there)

“We learner all over the brain…down the dark alleys”

Provide the element of chance – like a slot machine – he says that’s element of chance makes it more engaging (Cammy: but aren’t slot machines addictive – I’m not sure how that maps to learning…)

Provide surprises and delights (like fireworks)

Peer motivation

Social games and the rule of obligation – if a friend asks you to join then you just might.

If you have a leaderboard, just list the top 5 – don’t show everyone or you’ll make the losers feel like…losers…(and a call to LMS companies to add leaderboards)

Know your audience and what they like.

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Cammy’s comments:  I’ve just started reading Dan Pink’s Drive and I’ve been thinking a lot about extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation.  I feel like all of these rewards that Raymer talked about are inherently carrots and sticks – sometimes verging on the edge of clicky-clicky bling-bling – seductive details that may ultimately distract more from the learning rather than add to.  I know that sometimes these extrinsic motivators can perhaps help increase intrinsic motivation.  Karl Kapp has written a few meaty posts on gamification and learning (be sure to read the comment threads).

Something to reflect on more for sure!

 

Perhaps if these are applied within the context of more experiential learning programs…there was a lot here that I need to think about and sift through as I’m not sure I agree with some of this.  If you use gamification elements – use them wisely!

Michio Kaku #devlearn opening keynote

These are my live notes from today’s devlearn keynote.  Forgive typos and omissions!

Michio Kaku: author of Physics of the Future. http://mkaku.org/ (co-founder of string theory, a physicist)

Today – a guided tour on the future of the elearning process.  An authoritative look into the future (he says, while making making jokes about our abilities to predict the future).

Education hasn’t changed much in 2000 years.

Automation has reduced everything in price – except education.

Moore’s Law – computers double in power every 18 months. Your cell phone today has more power than all of NASA in 1969 when they guided Neil Armstrong to the moon!

In 2020, computer chips will cost a penny.  The computer will disappear.  It will be everywhere and nowhere. (Like electricity – which is everywhere and nowhere). Computer power will be in the ground, the walls.  How do we pay for electricity? We meter it? And that’s how we’ll pay for computer – metering through the cloud.

Glasses with facial recognition and can tell you the person’s biography. Glasses will be able to translate languages for you. We’ll be wired to the internet through our glasses. Your home office will be in your glasses! Your glasses ring and it’s your boss.

And if you don’t like glasses – we’ll put the internet in your contact lenses.  You will blink and go online.

Tourists walking through Rome – seeing the history of Rome resurrected as you walk through Rome!  No need for teleprompters! College students will wear these while studying for and taking their tests!

“In the future…!”

This is augmented reality. Virtual reality is for children.  Augmented reality – everything you look at is annotated. Just like in the Terminator. That’s how we will learn in the future.

In the future – information will appear in all shapes and sizes. Your wrist watch to a wall screen. You will choose how you want to ineract.

Cell phones with flexible intelligent screens – even paper will become intelligent (we have plastic transistors)

This is the future of wallpaper! Even the wallpaper will be intelligent.

Our walls will be intelligent -- “mirror mirror on the wall!”

People say the Internet is cold.  The Internet was created to fight the cold war.  Today the Internet is female. Today it connects us.

Learning will change: learning in the Holodeck (the Matrix) – we will be immersed in 360 degrees by wall screens.

Disposable computers that can be discarded like paper. You scribble on a computer in one room and the scribble will follow you (the cloud) – everywhere you go.

Hardware will become dirt cheap, but software will be valuable.

The future of TV – 3D without glasses using Lenticular Lenses.

In the future, cars will drive by themselves. So, instead of driving, you can sit back and read and learn. The car becomes a classroom.

Doctors will change -- “robo docs” animated TV images that can answer 99% of your questions!

Smart chips in a pill – shrink a tv camera and put it in a pill – no more colonoscopies! In the future, intel will always be inside.

Your toilet will be a computer – it will analyze and discover long before the tumor even grows.

In the future, an MRI will be the size of a cell phone.

In the future, you will have more computer capabilities in your home then a current hospital.

30 years in the future – we will have direct brain interface.

All of us will have a CD with all of our genes on it – an owner’s manual of our body! And only $100.

With this genome we can grow new organs from our own cells…

Today we can grow skin, bladders, blood…

Learning will be everywhere – in your car, in your living room, in your bathroom…

In the year 2020, when computer chips cost a penny – we can grow organs, we can revolutionize learning itself!

New technology like this can cause fear –

• phase 1: “I’m too old for this!”
• phase 2: “wait a minute, I can use this at my work, to socialize…”
• phase 3: “ha! I invented it!”

What was the reaction to electricity or to the telephone? It shocked the world! There were editorials denouncing Edison as a madman.

The Internet, Facebook and Twitter – spread democracy.

But will machines get so intelligent that they won’t need humans anymore?

When Watson beat Jeopardy – people said we wouldn’t need people anymore – but Watson is so stupid, that he didn’t even know that he won. They lack creativity, talent, leadership, the ability to engage people.  They are adding machines. They take the drudgery out. It’s not about replacing humans; it’s about expanding the range of our capabilities.

Morning Buzz with Charles Jennings #DevLearn

Charles Jennings leading a morning buzz session at #devlearn – talking about learning management.

Also in the house: Harold Jarche and Jay Cross.

Don’t start with a training needs analysis (TNA) – start with performance analysis.

Ask:

• what are they doing now?
• what do you expect them to do?
• what’s the impact if they do this?
• what’s the impact if there’s no change?

Training people need to start acting like performance consultants.

Many banks are replacing people with technology.

How do you know what should be spent across an organization for training?

“It’s really a dark art” – says Charles.

A lot of the data out there is meaningless. Because it’s really around the business need.

The org that’s spending less per person is maybe just hiring really smart people…there’s lots of variables.

Most orgs have a budget that they just roll over every year for T&D.

Question about how to deal in orgs where regulatory compliance side has lots of training checkboxes but non-regulated side doesn’t.

Governance boards that are prepared to make senior level decisions help when making L&D transformations

Charles will post some slides up on slideshare about governance…http://www.slideshare.net/charlesjennings

Conference Attendees: What Three Things Did You Bring Home?

In my recent round-up post on ASTD TK11, Shelley left a comment that I’m not sure I can answer as I’m mostly working conferences these days rather than attending (but I will do my best!).

Here’s Shelley’s question:

“What things have you started doing as a direct result of attending the ASTD conference?”

And I open this question up to any training or elearning conference (Training, TK, DevLearn, Learning Solutions, etc….) as she goes on…

“Sometimes, it can be challenging to justify the cost of conference attendance. We all know that we learn new things, think up ideas, and feel inspired...but how does that translate into concrete benefits weeks later?”

So what about you? Care to share what you’ve brought home from a recent conference and actually put to work?

Feel free to share in the comments or post to your own blog and then share the link here.