Data Consumerism and the Attention Economy
We consume a LOT! Everyday, we’re devouring as much as we can get our hands on; most of us more than 3 times a day. We’re at it constantly: in the privacy of our own home, some of us in the bedroom, a lot of us socially too - at the pub, whilst on a walk with our families or more likely in my case whilst cycling with friends.
I’m talking about data, you understand? Data consumption to be more precise? Lets face facts, we’re consuming too much!
Data Consumerism
I’ll take a step back for a moment. What’s consumerism?
“Consumerism” is the selfish and frivolous collecting of products, or economic materialism. In protest to this some people promote anti-consumerism and advocacy for simple living.
Consumerism to me is about more than just purchasing the newest iPad or the latest road bike - it’s a general concept. I understand consumerism to generally mean over indulgence or generally taking more than we need. Today’s definition (the one above), strictly speaking doesn’t encompass data within it’s boundaries, but it could and very easily.
Riding Out The Waves
In 2003 i started a 4 year course at university during which i used a computer (and mobile phones and iPods) a lot. Once i graduated, i immediately set to work on the web and have been in this industry for 8 years now. During all of this time, i feel there have been a number of waves of data consumerism that have occurred and within a relatively short period of time.
When i started at university, it was all my friends and i could do to get our hands on as much hard drive space as possible; for music collections, games, film downloads and dare i say it, university work. We all had well spec’d computers, external hard drives and enough pen drives to fill a pencil case. And now? Now i have an 11” Macbook Air with a paltry 100gb of disc space. Space that’s not even fully occupied.
When i started working on the web in 2007, i spent a lot of time trawling the blogs and websites of developers and designers who inspired me. There was a common trait between those designs at the time: the number of content snippets, ‘meta’ and general context that was presented in as many columns and navigation bars, as could feasibly be fit. Flickr streams, Twitter streams, Facebook comments, blogrolls, calendars, mailing list signups and so-forth-etcetera. Designs were busy and over complicated due to our excitement at being able to pull in content from ‘all’ the sources. And now? Now we idolise minimalist designs such as those over at Medium or The Great Discontent. No clutter, simply great content.
Since around 2008/2009 i’ve owned an iPhone, a device with seemingly limitless capabilities. Ever since Apple launched it’s App store in 2008, the variety of apps has grown to encompass just about anything you could imagine. The creativity and skill thats gone into producing some of the app stores content is staggering. I can pretty much fill any minute void in my data consumption habits with a trip to the app store followed by a 30 second download - problem solved.
Wearable Tech
Wearable tech is aiding the data consumerism movement. Only today i was speaking to my sister on Facebook Chat. With every reply i received, my Google Chrome window ‘pinged’, my iPhone vibrated and as if like a well drilled orchestra, my Pebble quickly followed. Three separate alerts, notifications, updates, interruptions, distractions or even annoyances if you will! Creativity and innovation surrounding consumer focused wearable tech at present seems to be consumption orientated. Take this weeks recent iWatch designs for example. Expertly conceptualised and executed but like the Pebble it’s aim is to keep us better connected. It’s a manufacturers race to see who can maintain our attention the longest.
But it’s fine, of course, because all this is supported by ‘all-you-can-eat’ data plans provided by mobile carriers such as 3, here in the UK. With as much data as we need at our disposal, why shouldn’t we be greedy? Why shouldn’t we keep consuming, shunning our present friends with those that are in more disparate geographic locations? Or maybe we should just slow down a little…
Simplicity Rules
Physical disc space is cheap enough these days that it’s essentially limitless. However i choose not to fill every nook and cranny of my flat with as many hard drives as possible.
What about web design? The web is a awash with amazingly accessible API’s. API’s that provide us with anything from our entire social graphs (Facebook), right through to what links i’ve shared with my colleagues that day. But still, we don’t swamp our designs in as much information as we can get our hands on.
Simplicity has prevailed in both cases and data consumption is surely to follow.
How? Through less ‘noise’. Fewer notifications and alerts. Less ‘needy’ applications that demand our attention in order to interact with them.
The Attention Economy & Ubiquitous Computing
The attention economy is something we need to be more aware of. Human attention is a scarce commodity, but we’re easily strayed and abuse it’s capacity on a daily basis. However, by demanding less from this priceless asset, we can achieve far greater results in all aspects of our lives.
However i can’t blame these apps for their attention seeking habits. We’re part of an industry that measures it’s success on the age old (in Internet terms) yard stick of page views and interactions; measurements that require eyeballs.
If we truly are moving towards the age of ubiquitous computing then we’re going to need to intelligently manage the amount of data we’re exposed to. This doesn’t mean i think we’ll consume less. Much like our tendencies to acquire as much hard drive space as possible through the mid-2000’s; the desire will not simply vanish but instead be nourished by simpler more advanced technology - cloud storage, in this example. We all have as many digital assets (if not more) but they’re instead of being stored on our own personal hardware, they’re stored on the hardware of the companies that provide the services in the first place. Our photo’s are with Facebook, Flickr and Dropbox, our spreadsheets are with Google and our music is provided by Spotify.
Think Smarter
Smarter software that better manages our tendencies to over consume are just around the corner. However, we will only be able to navigate these corners if we change they way we measure success, focusing less on page views and more on the quality of life our users experience as a result of using our products.
As per my previous post ‘Passive Apps to accelerate serendipity and create incredible experiences’, there a requirement to better use the data available to us. We need to implement intelligence that quietly digests and compares the endless data we produce on a daily basis (accelerated by the wearable tech movement) in order to generate truly meaningful experiences and opportunities that surprise and excite us. No neediness, fewer notifications and interruptions only when something interesting deserves our attention.
It is only when these apps exist that we’ll move away from data consumerism to a more sustainable level of consumption. A level that results in a simpler way of life, not hindered by technology but enhanced. A level of consumption that assists in a many more life experiences with friends and family, that may have otherwise not have happened.