@nozurbina
The Internet is Everywhere—So What’s Changed?
Noz Urbina, Consultant
@nozurbina
@nozurbina
Noz Urbina @nozurbina
~ Consultant/Trainer for Mekon Ltd.– Content strategy, Technical
Communications– 12+ years in structure & mark-up– Chairperson for Congility Events
~ Jun 18-20, UK ~ Call for speakers / pre-reg open now!
– Author / retrospective futurist
congility.com/2014
@nozurbina
This is relevant to you
~ Social media~ Gesture control~ Augmented reality~ Widespread tablet use~ All started/starting commercialisation in
B2C and moved/moving into B2B~ Curmudgeon at your peril
@nozurbina
In the next 45 minutes…
~The Internet as a technology~How we struggle with technologies~The impact of communication
technologies~Recommended approach to coping:
–Become participatory and proactive
@nozurbina
THE INTERNETThe world’s technology
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Over 70 percent of U.S. adults keep their smartphone within five feet of themselves at all times.— Jumio Consumer Habbits Report
Image: Moyan Brenn report here
Why are we here?
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Our pockets have become connections to hardware and software all over the world. Our (technology) control-panel for our lives. The Net is everywhere.
Image: Moyan Brenn report here
Why are we here?
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Samsung
Smartwatch
Smart TVs
The Challenge
Google Glass
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http://cnnmon.ie/PE6CC1
http://bit.ly/OLb7cM
http://bit.ly/T1yYRE
Internet of Things
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Who is on YouTube
http://bit.ly/anthroyoutube
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HOW WE STRUGGLE
“Media are not just means of communication [they] mediate human relationships” — Michael Wesch, assoc. Prof, cultural anthropology, Kansas State
@nozurbina
We need to be able to reflect before we could write. Socrates thought writing would make us mentally lazy and stop our use of memory.
Socrates was a writing sceptic
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The telegraph changed prose
Within a few years of mass adoption, writers were noting how pay-by-the-word
comms were eroding politeness, depth and discourse.
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The telegraph changed prose
The telegraph was instrumental in the growth of USA money markets vs. Europe
(who took up slower).
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We used to think point-to-point was a good
enough. It solved a problem and created new
ones
Image: Jan-Hendrik Caspers
Phones were first sold in pairs
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The company who invited the phone isn’t the
company who invented the switchboard (years
later).
Image: Jan-Hendrik Caspers
Phones were first sold in pairs
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Manhattan skyscrapers were enabled by the
telephone. This enabled the apartment
buildings, changing our cities.
Image: Jan-Hendrik Caspers
Phones were first sold in pairs
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Image: Jan-Hendrik Caspers
TV rearranged our furniture
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THE IMPACTHow the internet changes our relationship with technology
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Technology is…
~ Losing its fear factor~ Creating a participatory, collaborative
multichannel culture~ Reworking a generation’s understanding of
content~ Going from pull to push
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NOT SCARY
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Fear factor
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Jawbone “UP”
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PARTICIPATORY
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Participatory culture
~ Michael Wesch’s class studied “Context collapse”–Speaking to everyone and no one at once–Highly self-reflexive, and time is collapsed
~ You are your viewers
~ “The most public space in the world, from the privacy of our own homes”
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@nozurbina
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NEW SENSE OF CONTENT
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The public now touches metadata every day
Today’s content
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"Aggregated
metadata can be
more revealing
than content.“
– J. Kirk Wiebe &
Bill Binney
"Not looking at
content... sifting
through
metadata“
– Barak Obama
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The net is measurable
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PULL TO PUSH
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Google Cards
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Kindle
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Kindle
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SO NOW WHAT?Change format, go proactive and personal
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Tony Self, HyperwriteAuthor of the DITA styleguide
~“PDF [as a primary delivery format] is a failed technology. The fax machine of the content word”
@nozurbina
Some disappointing thoughts
~ Most dita projects lack an understanding of DITA's reuse features beyond topics and conref
~ Less still are doing anything besides making cheaper pdfs
~ Even less are taking advantage of cross departmental reuse
But it's starting…~ We must learn to be empathetic to users who are
unfamiliar and or unlike us and design content for them
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Simplify My Life
~ Only show me what I need when I need it
http://bit.ly/noz_droid
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Info
Vie
w
1
2
Help
View
Embedded help
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Embedded Proactive assistance
~ Timed appropriately for my skills and context– UI item descriptions– Field validation guidance (number or date formats;
where the user can find the data; banned characters)– Concept short descriptions
~ Can be stats-driven, profile-based, personal~ Many can be replace/reused to/from the
traditional help/manuals.
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Enchant Me
~ Let me make it mine / Get to know me
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Statistical, collaborative content
Comments
In-line discussion
Page discussion
Community
and
Personal
data
Bookmark/Download
Let users build and
share their own
deliverables, for
any format
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Simplify My Life
~ Keep it brief
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Simplify My Life
~ Pictures are faster than words
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Ifixit.com
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BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Content strategy
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Tech
nic
al
Docu
men
tati
on
Different Perspectives
Customer Needs
Product Development
Mark
eti
ng
Train
ing
Su
pp
ort
/Serv
ice
Pro
du
ct
Mg
mt
The customer doesn’t care about your org chart!
@nozurbina
Content Strategy
Development efficiency &
significant cost avoidance
Unified Framework for Content
Delivery, Measurement and Improvement
Brand Equity, regional markets
& revenue channels
Content
Strategy
Org & User
Goals
Enabling,
Product data &
Technical Content
Persuasive,
Sales &
Marketing Content
More than words, more than tech
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If a CCO was a CMO, they’d be called
CMO
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In summary
~ Social media~ Gesture control~ Augmented reality~ Tablets
~ Personal ~ Proactive/measured~ Integrated~ “Friendlier”
~ DITA is an ideal platform, if we used it for more than cost
cutting our old outputs
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THANK YOU! (FEEDBACK FORMS )
Noz, don’t forget to give them some stuff…
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Free stuff!
@thecsbookthecontentstrategybook.com
Congility 2014
Jun 18-20, UK
Call for speakers & pre-
registration open nowcongility.com/2014