Social Media for the Anti-social

Ahhh social media... thou art a sneaky nemesis. Hester Prynne had her scarlet "A" for Adultress... while social media over the years has stamped me with a scarlet "H" for 'hypocrite'.

I have always held a general dislike (or outright disdain) for the companies/sites/programs that are typically associated with social media. I've ridiculed MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and company, along with their users pretty much since they've come into existence. Yet...at various times, into today, I have used MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and company.

I don't mind ridiculing myself. If you can't laugh at yourself then I feel that you're missing out on a key experience in life that allows you to maintain perspective. To that end, I'm a blond who tells blond jokes, a fat guy that tells fat jokes, and a Facebook user that mocks Facebook users. In the grand scheme of things, none of those things define who I am as a person, so I see no issue in making fun of them.

I view social media as a 'not entirely necessary necessary evil'. It's not particularly complicated, just a little confusing because I easily see the value of social media, particularly when it comes to the world of business:

1. You connect with a larger audience, almost instantly
2. With constant updates it's possible to control/maintain/change your image much more quickly than it used to be
3. You have the benefit of networking globally rather than just locally
4. From an HR management position, the pool of potential employees is virtually infinite
5. Feedback, from a wide range of sources, to adapt your product/style

Social Media allows you to market on a massive scale, and there are HUGE benefits to that, all across the board.

But I still don't like it. Mostly, it's a "few rotten apples ruining the bunch" kind of thing as the advent and explosion of social media has pushed out culture in almost as many negative ways as it has positive ones. 

From an information design standpoint, it opens up a wide range of possibilities. As mentioned above, it has turned the entire economy into a global one. With the use of services like Facebook and Twitter, even the mom and pop store in Middle of Nowhere, USA can reach consumers in far off places. This has changed how information must be presented as people now have a much broader audience to consider and design for.

As for my blog, I've included buttons for instant sharing of any of my blog posts on the various social media sites and email. How did I do this? Simple, I signed up for a blog. It's an automatic feature for many sites, and if it's not automatic, it's a few simple clicks to include it. This allows you to share your information with a huge audience across multiple platforms, in mere moments. If you're smart, you'll design exclusive information  for each medium because as a consumer, there are few things more annoying than following a person or company on Facebook, Twitter, and so on, and seeing the same exact post touted (not to be confused with: Tout, a social media service itself now) in all of those places. Not everyone uses all the services out there, but for those that do, it's nice not to get inundated with the same information all the time. 

If I were to use social media to its full extent, I would have this blog, with exclusive content, and I would share it across all the platforms. I'd also create links to my various pages and profiles so that people who find my blog first can find my other pages, and vice-versa. The logo icons for each service have become the widely used and accepted means of creating those links and though it may be tempting to be more creative in your presentation, to me it's one of those 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' type of situations. People are familiar with the line of buttons for this use, and people like what is familiar. 

The Gorilla in the Room... hey, where'd he go?

In my recent wanderings through a bookstore, I came across a table of bargain books, on which sat one with a rather intriguing title:

The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us

I scanned the back and was interested enough to purchase the book, and thus far, I'm glad that I did. It's an interesting read that explores the idea of the "illusion of attention" among other things. The premise (and title) of the book is based on an experiment conducted by the authors in which they show people a video of people playing basketball. One team is dressed in white, the other in black, and they ask the people to count the number of passes made by one team or the other, ignoring the passes from the other team.

What they do not tell people is that halfway through the video, a person in a gorilla suit will walk across the screen, pause, look directly at the camera and beat its chest, and then walk off the other side of the screen. They've conducted this experiment numerous times over the years, and the results are fairly consistent. About half of the people viewing the video don't even see the gorilla. An excerpt (p. 6) from an interview with a test subject shows a disbelieving reaction:

Q: Did you notice anything unusual while you were doing the counting task?
A: No.

Q: Did you notice anything other than the players?
A: Well, there were some elevators, and S's painted on the wall. I don't know what the S's were for?

Q: Did you notice anyone other than the players?
A: No.

Q: Did you notice a gorilla?
A: A what?!

It seems ridiculous, on the surface at least, that someone would miss something that intellectually appears to be so obvious. In fact, the first chapter is entitled: "I think I would have seen that" in homage to the common reaction people have when questioned about what they did or didn't see. 

It really is a fascinating read that explores the fact that just because we "look" doesn't mean we actually "see", even though common perception tends to be "You HAD to see that! You were looking right at it!". I haven't finished the book yet, so can't make a final recommendation, but what I've read so far has got me thinking about how exactly these theories would apply to the world of Information Design.

We talk about the need for clarity and effectiveness, but how can we be clear and effective when people are capable of missing what is right in front of their face? Consider the number of logos which are so popular and recognizable in today's world. We know who these company's are, and what they represent, just based on a simple image. Yet, there are many logos with hidden images that we've been staring at almost our entire lives yet may not have ever seen.

The Fed Ex logo is one of the more popular examples of this:

(Img source: http://images.fedex.com/images/c/t1/gh/logo-header-fedex.png)

The colors may change depending on incarnation, but this is the basic design. I have to admit that I was one of the many people who never realized that there was an arrow created by the negative space between the Ex. How many times had I stared at that logo and not once did I see it? It seemed so obvious once I did, and you can never "un-see" it once you've seen it, but it's the same basic premise of the illusion of attention discussed in this book. I looked at it so many times that I feel like I should have seen it. Like the gorilla standing amongst basketball players.

Information Designers really need to consider this. Ultimately it boils down to "the obvious might not actually be so obvious". It's something that should be included in the process of figuring out your audience and your intent behind the message. Do you want "hidden" messages in your design? Doing so will appeal to some, insult others (the book mentions people who accused the authors of doctoring the tape because there was 'no way' they could have missed the gorilla themselves), and completely go over the head of others. It goes back to the critical foundation of knowing your audience, and knowing further that as simple as your design may be, it still might not be simple enough.

The Steps of Information Design: Simply Complex

The steps in the process of Information Design can be condensed down into 4 basic steps, that can be understood by all, but don't necessarily capture the essence of the complexities found in individual scenarios.

Image ©The Write Design

Depending on the situation, you are likely to spend more time on one of these steps than others. Which one will depend on a number of factors, like what kind of information you're designing, who you're designing for, what your goals are, etc. For example, a new design company working with a client for the very first time will likely spend a considerable amount of time gathering information and learning about the client. Much more so than an established company working with a long term client as they will already possess much of that information. In that case, they may place more importance on the planning steps as they determine which members of the team will do what jobs.

One can easily argue for any one of these steps to be the most important. In reality though, none of them work without the others. You can't implement an effective design plan without knowing your client, your audience, or the plan of attack. You can't learn about the audience without knowing about your client. You can't learn about your client without knowing who is going to gather that information. And any combination therein. Take one of those away and it's like cutting the circuit: your light bulb won't brighten.

So while situations dictate which step gets the most focus, every Information Design situation will include these in some manner. One has to understand that each of these steps have their own steps to success, but as an overview of the entire process, I think these 4 steps are pretty good at encompassing everything one would need to know. I do have one addition to make though. It's not necessarily a step #5 per se, but more a step 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a.

ADJUST.

Adjust, adjust, adjust as you go along this process. If you fail to adjust as you go, then odds are you're going to come up short of your goal. You cannot lock yourself in and be inflexible within the process. You have to be aware of as much as you can, and react accordingly. The Information Design Workbook mentions how "Content can be a moving target" (41), and I find this description to be quite apt. You're hunting, you're not shooting at stationery targets. Hitting a deer in mid-leap is a completely different task that hitting the bullseye at 50 yards.

Think you know your client? - What happens if they have an unexpected stock market hit? What does that do to the information you have in your possession?

You know who is going to do what on this project? - What happens when your project manager is fired for sexual harassment?

You know everything there is to know about your audience? - What happens when a newspaper article gets published denouncing similar products and parents are no longer interested in what you're selling?

About to implement your design plan? - What happens when the client changes their mind about wanting print ads instead of digital?

This is one of those rules that just SEEMS like a 'common-sense' approach on the surface, but ends up boggling the mind at how many people and businesses don't seem to possess common sense. It shouldn't have to be a "rule" but that seems to be the only way to get people to pay attention.

I think effective blogging is a perfect example of this process, including adjusting, at work.

1. Learn about the client - in this case the client is usually yourself, but you really need to put extensive thought into the image and information you wish to project.

2. Plan - How are you going to blog? Web? Mobile? Video? All of them? How often? How do you handle comments and feedback? These are all questions (among many many others) that you ask yourself before you even begin. And then constantly again and again as you go.

3. Learn about your audience - who are you targeting? What else is out there that targets the same people?

4. Implement your design - Blog, blog, blog so hopefully people will read, read, read.

Along the way you analyze what's working and what's not and shift your thought processes.

On a personal level, I find myself putting much more thought into this blog as time progresses. Since this started as an assignment rather than a personal project, I approached the steps out of order, in that I started by implementing my design before having a concrete plan. The more I learn, the more I adjust my way of thinking, and it'll be interesting to see where it ends up by the end of this course.