1. The document discusses how ecological psychology can help designers create experiences that feel natural to users.
2. Ecological psychology shows that human behavior relies on perceiving information in the environment as affordances and engaging with those affordances to control physical actions.
3. For experiences to feel natural, the information provided to users needs to be dense, persistent, lawful, and perceptual - like the properties of affordances that humans naturally engage with in the real world. Language alone does not provide these properties.
What we mean by meaning: new structural properties of information architectur...Marsha Haverty
Conference session: What we mean by meaning: new structural properties of information architecture. Presented at The Information Architecture Summit 2015, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 24 April 2015 and 25 April 2015 by Marsha Haverty
Acting Naturally with Information - IA Summit 2017Marsha Haverty
Presented at 2017 Information Architecture Summit.
As humans, we are good at engaging different kinds of designs with different kinds of actions. Flexibility is in our nature. Yet, there’s something fundamental about us that makes our experience with a design feel natural, or…distinctly off. This talk draws on ecological psychology to see that natural human behavior is about two things: using information for selecting action, and relying on information for controlling action unfolding over time. Information architecture historically supported selecting, creating an actor-as-conductor of information dynamic. But, IA is increasingly relied on to help control the way action unfolds over time, an actor-as-sculptor of information dynamic. We’ll follow the thread of meaning for both to uncover factors leading to natural vs. unnatural behavior, and what we can do about it. Design examples will come from information environments that vary in how information manifests (from holograms and simulations in mixed reality to smart materials), how the actor engages it (gesture, voice, touch, among other methods), how much agency the system brings (autonomy, to machine learning and shades of intelligence), and how the system manifests to actors (text and visualization).
Context Design (beta2) World IA Day 2013Andrew Hinton
My talk for World IA Day 2013, based on a book I'm writing. This is another permutation, somewhat different from the first "beta" talk I did in the fall. More about book: http://inkblurt.com/contextbook/
What we mean by meaning: new structural properties of information architectur...Marsha Haverty
Conference session: What we mean by meaning: new structural properties of information architecture. Presented at The Information Architecture Summit 2015, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 24 April 2015 and 25 April 2015 by Marsha Haverty
Acting Naturally with Information - IA Summit 2017Marsha Haverty
Presented at 2017 Information Architecture Summit.
As humans, we are good at engaging different kinds of designs with different kinds of actions. Flexibility is in our nature. Yet, there’s something fundamental about us that makes our experience with a design feel natural, or…distinctly off. This talk draws on ecological psychology to see that natural human behavior is about two things: using information for selecting action, and relying on information for controlling action unfolding over time. Information architecture historically supported selecting, creating an actor-as-conductor of information dynamic. But, IA is increasingly relied on to help control the way action unfolds over time, an actor-as-sculptor of information dynamic. We’ll follow the thread of meaning for both to uncover factors leading to natural vs. unnatural behavior, and what we can do about it. Design examples will come from information environments that vary in how information manifests (from holograms and simulations in mixed reality to smart materials), how the actor engages it (gesture, voice, touch, among other methods), how much agency the system brings (autonomy, to machine learning and shades of intelligence), and how the system manifests to actors (text and visualization).
Context Design (beta2) World IA Day 2013Andrew Hinton
My talk for World IA Day 2013, based on a book I'm writing. This is another permutation, somewhat different from the first "beta" talk I did in the fall. More about book: http://inkblurt.com/contextbook/
Language is Infrastructure for InteractConf London 2014Andrew Hinton
I had the pleasure of speaking at Interact London in October 2014. I presented an updated version of this talk, which I originally gave at IA Summit earlier in the spring. The talk is based on content from my book, Understanding Context. You can read more about it at http://contextbook.com.
In this version, I have updated the way I'm talking about how language works as environment: instead of 'semantic affordance' I'm now calling it 'semantic function.' (Which is in keeping with how it's now being described in the book.)
Much of the discussion about user experience design is focused on use, but there are additional issues to consider. In particular, issues of meaning. John will present the concept of Cultural Affordances—qualities of objects that help people to understand through the frame of their own past experience—and discuss the ways that we as designers can use cultural affordances to more effectively design for our audience.
Presentation from June 21, 2015 to researchers and PhD students at the Center for Biological Cybernetics at the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen (Germany).
Teleology in Evolution - A Presentation for the New Orleans C G Jung SocietyIlya Dubovoy
My talk on the evidence for agency and consciousness in biological evolution: replacing the Neo-Darwinian paradigm with a "deep" Neo-Lamarkism. Featuring Carl Jung, Neitzche, de Chardin, and a touch of Jordan Peterson
Humans communicate on many levels: spoken language, tone, body language, style and personality. The fact that we have complex cultural identities and a host of differing past experiences increases the probability of cross-cultural miscommunications. This workshop presents major cross-cultural communication theories, ways that cultural values, power, privilege and differences affect the way we communicate, tools for questioning assumptions, and ways to improve cross-cultural communications skills.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Navigation (IA Conf 2019)Andrew Hinton
Much of what information architecture practice is expected to figure out is “the navigation.” But what if we’ve been oversimplifying the way we discuss, design, and deliver navigation — and what if that’s been the source of later pain for users and organizations for a really long time? This short talk makes the case that we’ve been conflating too many things into the rubric of “navigation”, explains how this bad habit has come to pass, and the challenges that have resulted. But fear not! We’ll also look at practical ways to overcome the problem in our own day to day work, as well as with stakeholders and team members.
Humans communicate on many levels: spoken language, tone, body language, style and personality. The fact that we have complex cultural identities and a host of differing past experiences increases the probability of cross-cultural miscommunications. This workshop presents major cross-cultural communication theories, ways that cultural values, power, privilege and differences affect the way we communicate, tools for questioning assumptions, and ways to improve cross-cultural communications skills.
Users, experience, and beyond (EuroIA 2011, Prague)Eric Reiss
For several years, my company has used a simple model for defining, aligning, choreographing, measuring and enhancing UX by analysing a range of touchpoints across both online and offline experiences. Each of these represents an interaction between the “user” and the “brand/company/service/whatever”. We have also defined an “ergonomics of need” which consists of five key points: Attitude, Expectation, Schedule, Environment, Origin. All of these points ultimately influence the importance and user perception of individual interactions and tasks. Taken in its entirety: model, ergonomics, and measurement tools, our framework makes it easy to put something as abstract as “user experience” into more practical, hands-on terms.
Why Design Thinking is Important for Innovation? - Favarin Vitillo - ViewConf...Simone Favarin
Design is a way of thinking, of determining people's true, underlying needs, and then delivering products and services that help them. This is the starting about Design. The meaning of the concept.
VR is a new technology that is entering in many industrial and creative processes: nowadays many company and people are experimenting with VR, because it opens new possibilities and it allows costs and time reduction. It is important to understand what is the current status of the technology, the future projections and especially its applications.
Language is Infrastructure for InteractConf London 2014Andrew Hinton
I had the pleasure of speaking at Interact London in October 2014. I presented an updated version of this talk, which I originally gave at IA Summit earlier in the spring. The talk is based on content from my book, Understanding Context. You can read more about it at http://contextbook.com.
In this version, I have updated the way I'm talking about how language works as environment: instead of 'semantic affordance' I'm now calling it 'semantic function.' (Which is in keeping with how it's now being described in the book.)
Much of the discussion about user experience design is focused on use, but there are additional issues to consider. In particular, issues of meaning. John will present the concept of Cultural Affordances—qualities of objects that help people to understand through the frame of their own past experience—and discuss the ways that we as designers can use cultural affordances to more effectively design for our audience.
Presentation from June 21, 2015 to researchers and PhD students at the Center for Biological Cybernetics at the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen (Germany).
Teleology in Evolution - A Presentation for the New Orleans C G Jung SocietyIlya Dubovoy
My talk on the evidence for agency and consciousness in biological evolution: replacing the Neo-Darwinian paradigm with a "deep" Neo-Lamarkism. Featuring Carl Jung, Neitzche, de Chardin, and a touch of Jordan Peterson
Humans communicate on many levels: spoken language, tone, body language, style and personality. The fact that we have complex cultural identities and a host of differing past experiences increases the probability of cross-cultural miscommunications. This workshop presents major cross-cultural communication theories, ways that cultural values, power, privilege and differences affect the way we communicate, tools for questioning assumptions, and ways to improve cross-cultural communications skills.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Navigation (IA Conf 2019)Andrew Hinton
Much of what information architecture practice is expected to figure out is “the navigation.” But what if we’ve been oversimplifying the way we discuss, design, and deliver navigation — and what if that’s been the source of later pain for users and organizations for a really long time? This short talk makes the case that we’ve been conflating too many things into the rubric of “navigation”, explains how this bad habit has come to pass, and the challenges that have resulted. But fear not! We’ll also look at practical ways to overcome the problem in our own day to day work, as well as with stakeholders and team members.
Humans communicate on many levels: spoken language, tone, body language, style and personality. The fact that we have complex cultural identities and a host of differing past experiences increases the probability of cross-cultural miscommunications. This workshop presents major cross-cultural communication theories, ways that cultural values, power, privilege and differences affect the way we communicate, tools for questioning assumptions, and ways to improve cross-cultural communications skills.
Users, experience, and beyond (EuroIA 2011, Prague)Eric Reiss
For several years, my company has used a simple model for defining, aligning, choreographing, measuring and enhancing UX by analysing a range of touchpoints across both online and offline experiences. Each of these represents an interaction between the “user” and the “brand/company/service/whatever”. We have also defined an “ergonomics of need” which consists of five key points: Attitude, Expectation, Schedule, Environment, Origin. All of these points ultimately influence the importance and user perception of individual interactions and tasks. Taken in its entirety: model, ergonomics, and measurement tools, our framework makes it easy to put something as abstract as “user experience” into more practical, hands-on terms.
Why Design Thinking is Important for Innovation? - Favarin Vitillo - ViewConf...Simone Favarin
Design is a way of thinking, of determining people's true, underlying needs, and then delivering products and services that help them. This is the starting about Design. The meaning of the concept.
VR is a new technology that is entering in many industrial and creative processes: nowadays many company and people are experimenting with VR, because it opens new possibilities and it allows costs and time reduction. It is important to understand what is the current status of the technology, the future projections and especially its applications.
Understanding people comes in a lot of flavors. An uncommon flavor is understanding people deeper than explanations and opinions. It's getting inside people’s minds to see how they achieve their larger human intentions and purposes without reference to your organization. The goal is to allow for later inspiration that represents the complicated inner world of people's approaches, rather than being constrained by existing systems and conventions.
After re-framing the problem as if your organization does not exist, you come back to reality with deeper understanding that influences your solutions.
Indi will define this deeper understanding, outline how collect the data, and show how to curate the knowledge in a depiction of the reasoning-patterns (mental model diagrams) and the thinking-styles (behavioral audience segments).
The Amazing New Future of Storytelling for New TechnologiesAugmentedWorldExpo
A talk from the Design Track at AWE USA 2018 - the World's #1 XR Conference & Expo in Santa Clara, California May 30- June 1, 2018.
The Amazing New Future of Storytelling for New Technologies with
Jonathan Josephson (Quantum Interface, LLC)
Angel Adams (Catchwind Innovations)
This presentation will explore an entirely new way of interacting in XR - predictive and dynamic motion - which causes everything around us to have new capabilities, have intelligence based on user intent, and to respond to us in amazing new ways. Along with a demonstration of the use of this technology.
http://AugmentedWorldExpo.com
Webinar presentation by Ayelet Batist, on the sense of immersion in virtual reality, or "Virtual Reality Presence". The slides share research studies done on participants using VR equipment and discusses some worries regarding the psychological impact of VR experiences.
The Architecture of Understanding (World IA Day Chicago Keynote)Stephen Anderson
Keynote for World IA Day, answering the question "When, Where and How does Understanding occur?" Specifically, this talk discussed (1) interactions (and embodiement) (2) how new technology is changing the "information environments" we design for, and (3) a bit about perceptions and cognition.
Studies, research papers, & other interesting tid bitsBrian Russell
Over the past 2 years I've done a considerable amount of research in the realms of behavioral, cognitive, and social, psychology, as well as product psychology and the psychology of music, and cognitive neuroscience. Many of the studies and research papers I've aggregated have profound business and consumer implications.
Design for Physical Thinking by Jody Medich of Kicker Studiojmedich
Talk by Jody Medich, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Kicker Studio, on designing for physical thinking: the importance of Physical Interface given at IDSA 2012 in Boston.
Connect Conference 2022: Passive House - Economic and Environmental Solution...TE Studio
Passive House: The Economic and Environmental Solution for Sustainable Real Estate. Lecture by Tim Eian of TE Studio Passive House Design in November 2022 in Minneapolis.
- The Built Environment
- Let's imagine the perfect building
- The Passive House standard
- Why Passive House targets
- Clean Energy Plans?!
- How does Passive House compare and fit in?
- The business case for Passive House real estate
- Tools to quantify the value of Passive House
- What can I do?
- Resources
Can AI do good? at 'offtheCanvas' India HCI preludeAlan Dix
Invited talk at 'offtheCanvas' IndiaHCI prelude, 29th June 2024.
https://www.alandix.com/academic/talks/offtheCanvas-IndiaHCI2024/
The world is being changed fundamentally by AI and we are constantly faced with newspaper headlines about its harmful effects. However, there is also the potential to both ameliorate theses harms and use the new abilities of AI to transform society for the good. Can you make the difference?
Technoblade The Legacy of a Minecraft Legend.Techno Merch
Technoblade, born Alex on June 1, 1999, was a legendary Minecraft YouTuber known for his sharp wit and exceptional PvP skills. Starting his channel in 2013, he gained nearly 11 million subscribers. His private battle with metastatic sarcoma ended in June 2022, but his enduring legacy continues to inspire millions.
ARENA - Young adults in the workplace (Knight Moves).pdfKnight Moves
Presentations of Bavo Raeymaekers (Project lead youth unemployment at the City of Antwerp), Suzan Martens (Service designer at Knight Moves) and Adriaan De Keersmaeker (Community manager at Talk to C)
during the 'Arena • Young adults in the workplace' conference hosted by Knight Moves.
3. VARIETY
Haptic hologram model image: ykaradayi via Instructables
How information manifests
e have more variety in how the information manifests. n addition to more traditional mixes of text
and images, we have data visuali ations, holograms that occupy our physical surroundings, alerts to
state changes in the form of mechanical vibrations and sounds.
11. New vs. Familiar
Simulated vs. Physical
Intelligent vs. Mundane
Photo by permission: Hugh Hochman
hat do we mean by an experience that feels natural t doesn t depend on whether the interaction is
new or familiar, it doesn t matter whether the information is physically present or simulated, it doesn t
matter whether the design has some agency and intelligence, or is mundane. As humans, we re really
good at assembling our actions in new ways. here s something deeper still that ma es an experience
feel natural or distinctly off.
13. Human brain connections image: Barcroft Media via Daily Mail
And that has to do with the way we thin about these beautiful brains that we wal around with.
17. Embodied
cognition
suggests that meaning emerges as we engage the information in our surroundings
directly. nformation is not an input, but a vital participant in human behavior. e depend on
it in order to behave.
25. Photo Sverker Runeson
ibson captured his concept of affordances in the boo , An ecological approach to
visual perception. he core of affordances to ibson is the ob ect offers what it does
because of what it is.
32. Photo Cornell University
ames ibson would tell us that s not really about presence or immersion. t s about this
fundamental way that we as humans rely on information to behave. e humans are attuned as
sitters. And sitters are gonna sit.
39. Straighten
the glass!
Turn down
the water!
Free use image
e can micromanage a toddler trying to fill a glass without spilling all we li e, but the toddler can t
rely on our words to control her action unfolding over time. he has to become attuned to perceptual
information the alignment of the edges of the glass to the edges of the water flow, the width of the
water flow related to the surface rising in the glass. And once she becomes attuned to these
perceptual relationships, they will serve as affordances for her filling a glass without spilling
41. Perceive invariant structure?
Control physical action over time?
o what about our button oes this ob ect offer what it does because of what it is an our
actors perceive this invariant structure Yes utton, clic able, got it an actors rely on this
information to control their physical actions over time in the act of engaging the button
42. Image by Steelcase
hen an actor is clic ing or tapping a button, she can physically be doing any number of things sitting, lounging,
wal ing, etc. f course some physical action on her part is needed to get that cursor or her finger over that button
to clic it. he angle and tra ectory of her arm, the position of her wrist and fingers can ta e on a whole range of
tra ectories to do the meaningful action of engaging the button. he s relying on the visual information in the button
to now it s clic able, but she s not relying on that information to control her physical actions over time as she
clic s the button. he way she is physically orienting is not where the meaning lies.
43. Orienting
physically *is*
the meaning
of the activity
Tilt Brush example by Google on https://www.tiltbrush.com/
go watch this animation online to get the idea here. iltbrush.com
ompare that to this this woman is s etching in a . he particular way she is orienting her hand, her wrist, her
arm, her whole body the meaning of the activity of s etching directly in her surroundings. he first bit of light she
creates then becomes affordances she relies on continuously to orient herself physically in order to continuously
create her curves of light. hat s what a s etch is. very curve is with respect to the existing curves. he is relying
on this information to control her particular action unfolding over time.
55. Industrial design of a car supports both
he industrial design of a car supports both, actor as conductor, and actor as sculptor. he visual information streaming through the
windshield becomes affordances for actor as sculptor to eep the car on the road, and in the lane, and moving around other cars. he
driver is pic ing up on invariant structure in the surfaces and edges of the road and the lane, and the angle relationships of the her car
to the other cars. f a car grows symmetrically, she becomes attuned to that meaning the car is coming right at her she ad usts her
actions to create asymmetric angle growth the car going off to her side . As drivers, we become highly attuned to this perceptual
relationships and rely on that to drive the car. he speedometer supports actor as conductor a glance at her speed and she can use
this information to select to slow down.
56. ACTOR AS CONDUCTOR
Woman hailing drone: Mercedez-Benz ; Girl with Amazon Echo: Android Central
his woman is gesturing to control a drone. he gesture is a particular physical motion, but the meaning
of the gesture is not in the exact way the actor executes it. As long as she gets the gist of the gesture,
the meaning is engaged.
his girl is tal ing aloud to find something or as for something or buy something or answer a question.
he is selecting actions. Also actor as conductor, ust with voice.
57. Image via Autodesk Pier 9 Residency Program
ACTOR AS SCULPTOR
his actor is sculpting in physical space with a hologram. he wand he is using is wired up to
give haptic information that he can rely on to now where the surfaces of his design is in place.
e can rely on that to continuously control the position of the wand in order to sculpt in .
59. Image: Google Soli project
ACTOR AS SCULPTOR
his is an experiment using radar to very precisely trac an actors fingers. he actor can mime
turning a dial, pressing a button, moving a slider. his forms a little micro bit of actor as sculptor
because the actors fingers become perceptual information for each other to rely on to control
action unfolding continuously over time.
62. Haptic Information
Dense (enough)
Persistent (enough)
Lawful
Surfaces
Edges
his woman has low vision ability, and this vest is designed to generate haptic information on the
surface of the vest to replace visual information about obstacles in her path as she approaches them.
his haptic information is not nearly as dense as visual information. nly for ob ects close to her. t s
not as persistent as constant visual information. ut it s dense enough, persistent enough and certainly
lawful and she can rely on it to control her action of avoiding obstacles continuously over time.
sitters. And sitters are gonna sit.
69. Natural Human Conversation
Anticipating Improvising
Speaking
Listening
Aligning Entraining
Listening
Aligning Entraining
Anticipating Improvising
Speaking
Cultural
Possibilities
Cultural
Possibilities
Thibald Paul J. (2011). First-Order Languaging Dynamics and Second-Order Language: The Distributed Language View. Ecological Psychology 23(3): 210-245.Hodges, Bert (2014). Righting language: the view from ecological psychology. Language SciencesReferences:
Ecological psychology suggests that when someone in a conversation speaks, they are
anticipating what’s possible in the conversation by improvising wordings. The listener is
aligning and entraining with the speaker. As the dialogue progresses, the participants in
the conversation engage in creative tensions. They are both anticipating and aligning with
the possibilities of the conversation. This points to their shared values as part of culture.
91. Perception flows easily
Tacit
Reflexive
Awareness
Linearity
Requires attention
VISCOSITY
EASE OF FLOW OF CONCEPTS
Picked up
Language is viscous
erceptual mappings flow easily because perceptual information is tacit and reflexive, we don t have to activity
thin about it to pic it up. o, we can thin about the viscosity, or ease of flow of meaning in our designs, when
we select to deliberately use language and or infuse some of our concepts with perceptual mappings.
here is much more to be said about this lease see https www.slideshare.net m ane h what we mean by meaning new structural properties of
information architecture ias qid c b b f c fded ef d v b from search and https www.slideshare.net m ane h meaning modes in design
fluxible qid cca dd de b b ab a ced v b from search for details and design examples.
93. Selecting Action
for a good continuation
HUMAN BEHAVIOR* Controlling Action
physical relationship with surroundings
Actor-as-Conductor WITH DESIGN Actor-as-Sculptor
Natural User Experience
Affordances Perceptual InformationConcepts
Language
Perceptual Mappings INFORMATION
Dense (enough)
Persistent (enough)
Lawful
Coherent
PROPERTIES
Viscosity
Imprecision Tolerance
Possibility Space Dynamics
PERFORMANCE
Aligning
Anticipating
Entraining
Improvising
Conceptual
Performance
Aligning
Anticipating
Acting
Perceiving
Physical
Performance
* Reference: Golonka, Sabrina (2015): Laws and conventions in language-related behaviors, Ecological Psychology 27(3) p. 236-250
et s capture all of this in one slide about natural user experience design. hen the human behavior is about selecting action for a good continuation, when that is done with designed
information, we call that actor as conductor. he performance of actor as conductor is a conceptual performance, maintaining creative tensions between anticipating and aligning with
the possibilities of the performance, and entraining with the system with some improvising possible lately . he information to support actor as conductor is made of concepts both
language and perceptual mappings concepts infused with perceptual qualities . e have several design dials to set for actor as conductor viscosity determine the ind and quality of
attention that suits the situation , imprecision tolerance for entraining with the system, and set the possibility space dynamics to suit the situation. or the other human behavior,
controlling action unfolding over time to maintain a physical relationship with our surroundings, when done with design that is actor as sculptor. his is a physical performance engaged
by a tension between acting and perceiving, and a continuous tension between anticipating what can be done and aligning with what is done as the actor acts. his ta es place by
affordances which are made only of perceptual information. n this case, design properties are laws that must be in place in order to support this behavior the information ma ing up
the affordances must be dense enough , persistent enough , lawful, and coherent with the other inds of information participating in the activity.
96. Conducting-Sculpting handoffs
An architect with a building in A software actor as conductor , brings a simplified version of the building into
virtual reality so he can wal around it relying on the way the building ta es up placetime, as he controls his
actions to s etch new towers actor as sculptor , then bring the s etch bac into software to detail and
rationali e it as actor as conductor. hat do we need to do as designers to flow this handoff between
conducting and sculpting and bac again esigned by amuel Arsenault rassard
esigned by amuel Arsenault rassard
97. Conducting-Sculpting handoffs
Fusion 360 loft animated gif by SolidSmack
ven within the same environment, we need to thin about this handoff. n A software, mostly supporting actor as conductor, we
are providing some opportunities to sculpt. n this case, the actor is pulling on the geometry of her design in order to form it with
respect to the rest of the design. his is a very different action than conducting with a property panel and commands that are applied
by selecting. oes it ma e sense to have the same physical mouse supporting this sculpting as conducting o we need to organi e
different interaction modes for conducting vs. sculpting in the same environments