Collapsing Experience Layers.

Using a personal computer is, in a way, akin to having intercourse in a hazmat suit.

For nearly a year after I bought my iPad, I essentially ignored my (now 4.5 year old) macbook.

When I needed to write, or assemble a .ppt, etc, I reached for the laptop, but passive consumption was generally handled with the iPad, or iPhone. Having thought about it at length, there where three main reasons this happened:

• I stopped having a desk at home
• I was spending less time at home
• The experience of media and information consumption is just BETTER on an iOS device

The last point is the only contentious one, but it’s still worth discussing. A laptop is a browser dominated consumption experience. Nearly all consumption done on an iOS device is application based.

And applications pay more attention to the formatting, controls and ‘feel’ of information you consume.

Individual websites have a wide range of UX quality. but when you consume media from within a browser, we’re talking about three layers between the user and the information. It goes:

Physical interface (keyboard, mouse / touchpad, etc)
Browser (with its own UX and visual design)
Website (again, with its own UX and visual design)

The big step forward that iOS has taken, and that has expanded to other touchscreen devices, is the removal of these separations. The interface is the software is the content.

The fewer layers separating your input, and the feedback it generates, the more immediate and intense an experience feels. The mistake made by many, is the assumption that the flexibility and power of a tool, somehow outranks the immediacy of the experience.

When you make a decision regarding what tool to use, emotional connection plays as much of a factor as functional specifications.

Attention Triage.

I’m an unrepentant information addict.  And in general, I find when someone complains about information addicts, or the downsides of constant connectivity, they’re focusing on the wrong problem.  Most people suffer from an inability to prioritize, rather than an overflow of information.

I’m a big believer in attention triage: I keep a constant flow of curated information available for me to explore, but I do my best to keep in control of how my attention is divided, and what elements of my informational flow are getting due consideration.

Major benefits of information addiction?

• Connectivity: I’m available, responsive, and aware of what is going on in the lives of people I care about, topics I care about, and facts I benefit from knowing.
• Decision Making: A constant flow of information, and the ability to access more when desired, means I make decisions based on what I know, as often as possible, rather than guessing or assuming.
• Denying Limitations: I learn, connect, and communicate when and where I can, regardless of the location, time zone, or accessibility of any of the participants.
• Mental Agility: This likely doesn’t apply to everyone, but I think better when I can take short breaks, and switch topics periodically.  I crave (and benefit from) being introduced to new information, and new ideas when working on an unrelated task.
• Prioritizing: Mentioned above, but I feel my ability to prioritize tasks and demands is improved by constantly exercising this capacity, in regards to deciding what gets my attention when, and for how long.

Less direct are other benefits - I adore the fact that I’m creating a searchable, sharable record of some of my conversations and actions.  Doing this turns existing into an act of creation, in a way.  I’m aware that people think of this as self-indulgent, but I doubt they’d feel the same if I was scribbling in a journal, rather than posting on a blog, or twitter, or facebook.

I suppose my big point is that there’s a difference between being aware and obsessed.  I consider myself an information addict, in the sense that I am addicted to staying aware of relevant information.  But that awareness doesn’t need to distract me from other things happening in front of my face.  Beyond that, I consider online interaction ‘real’.  It doesn’t have the immediacy of speaking face to face, or participating in group activity, but denying the ‘reality’ of a genuine interaction of two people, even two people who will never meet, is counter-intuitive for me.

Finally, I think we all set our own limits and expectations.  A side effect of being an information addict is that the people around you will notice.  There are times when something more immediately important keeps me away from email, twitter or text messages for a few hours.  An extended wait to hear back from me is unusual to the point where a delayed response can send an unspoken message, intentional or not.

[The subject matter of this post was heavily inspired by this post: “Stop Clicking & Start Living”.]