Souls & Machines: Designing the Future of Content

Less than a decade ago, big data and collaborative filtering were going to solve our desires for discovery and inspiration. Words like “editorial”, “content” or “curation” were unspoken. Computers were unbiased; computers could scale millions.

Since then, humans vs. computers has become a tired debate, and what’s emerged for the future is that these are both valuable tools in a large, varied toolkit.

Today, content companies are moving into digital products, tech companies are learning how to make content, and new models that combine both are popping up. The same product design questions of democracy and scale apply, but the future of content and technology is much more nuanced. Learn how to approach designing for content through case studies, experiments, and of course – stories. Lots of stories :)

Transcript

1. Hannah Donovan, 4 June 2015
   SOULS & 

   MACHINES
   Designing the Future of Content
   

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2. HI! I’M @HAN
   I design products.
   I love making things that
   foster self expression
   and create culture.
   

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3. HI! I’M @HAN
   I design products.
   I love making things that
   foster self expression
   and create culture.
   

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4. HI! I’M @HAN
   I design products.
   I love making things that
   foster self expression
   and create culture.
   

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5. HI! I’M @HAN
   I design products.
   I love making things that
   foster self expression
   and create culture.
   

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6. HI! I’M @HAN
   I design products.
   I love making things that
   foster self expression
   and create culture.
   

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7. HI! I’M @HAN
   I design products.
   I love making things that
   foster self expression
   and create culture.
   

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8. HI! I’M @HAN
   I design products.
   I love making things that
   foster self expression
   and create culture.
   

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9. HI! I’M @HAN
   I design products.
   I love making things that
   foster self expression
   and create culture.
   

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10. HI! I’M @HAN
    I design products.
    I love making things that
    foster self expression
    and create culture.
    

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11. HI! I’M @HAN
    I design products.
    I love making things that
    foster self expression
    and create culture.
    

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12. HI! I’M @HAN
    I design products.
    I love making things that
    foster self expression
    and create culture.
    

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13. HI! I’M @HAN
    I design products.
    I love making things that
    foster self expression
    and create culture.
    

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14. HI! I’M @HAN
    I design products.
    I love making things that
    foster self expression
    and create culture.
    5 SISTERS
    TIGER
    MONSTERS INC
    CELLIST
    HIP HOP
    POWER CLASHING
    

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15. HI! I’M @HAN
    I design products.
    I love making things that
    foster self expression
    and create culture.
    5 SISTERS
    TIGER
    MONSTERS INC
    CELLIST
    HIP HOP
    POWER CLASHING
    Photo by Kerstin Joensson
    

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16. My background is in designing
    digital platforms for music.
    

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17. Recommendations
    based on the wisdom of
    the crowds.
    

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19. THE BEST MUSIC
    RECOMMENDATIONS
    COME FROM FRIENDS
    

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20. But, there’s a limit to this.
    It’s usually about 3 – 5 friends.
    And if they move away, or get busy,
    you’re out of luck.
    

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21. But, there’s a limit to this.
    It’s usually about 3 – 5 friends.
    And if they move away, or get busy,
    you’re out of luck.
    2012
    

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22. But, there’s a limit to this.
    It’s usually about 3 – 5 friends.
    And if they move away, or get busy,
    you’re out of luck.
    2012
    2013
    

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23. But, there’s a limit to this.
    It’s usually about 3 – 5 friends.
    And if they move away, or get busy,
    you’re out of luck.
    2012
    2013
    2014
    

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27. HUMANS CONNECT US IN
    WAYS COMPUTERS CAN’T.
    COMPUTERS CONNECT US
    IN WAYS HUMANS CAN’T.
    

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28. I hope we’re all pretty familiar with what
    computers can do.
    So let’s talk about designing for content.
    (Audio, video, pictures, words).
    

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29. Product designers are the connective tissue
    between this ‘art’ and its ‘vessel’
    

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30. PERSPECTIVE
    

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31. Humans are human because
    they have a perspective: they
    care about things. One might
    call it our ability to give a
    damn. And it is this quality
    that allows us to determine
    what matters and where we
    stand. A computer can’t do
    that.
    The Moment of Clarity
    Christian Madsbjerg & Mikkel B. Rasmussen
    

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32. COMPUTERS CAN’T
    GIVE A DAMN.
    

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36. So, if…humans connect us in ways
    computers can’t, and computers connect us
    in ways humans can’t.
    The future of desining for content is
    understanding both.
    

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37. Products that value, contextualize,
    surface and serve up content that’s
    adaptive and platform agnostic.
    And do it all with perspective.
    

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38. 1 ALL CONTENT
    IS CONTENT
    

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43. You need to think like
    a publisher

    – Kristina Halvorson
    

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44. 2 IT’S EVERYONE’S
    PROBLEM
    

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45. Yeah, they’re not great quality, but that’s what the API
    returns for this image size…
    I’m not sure what copy goes there yet, so that’s some
    lorem ipsum for now…
    You’re not going to like this, but that naming convention
    is actually hard-coded in the back end…
    

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46. Han
    

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47. Tech companies are hiring content and
    editorial staff.
    Content companies are reinventing
    themselves to become competent in tech.
    

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48. Tech companies are hiring content and
    editorial staff.
    Content companies are reinventing
    themselves to become competent in tech.
    CRAFT BALANCED
    TEAMS
    

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49. GIVE IT A HOME,
    SEND IT OFF
    3
    

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53. CONTEXT IS
    EVERYTHING
    4
    

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54. 3.5min and some headphones/speakers
    

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55. May 2014
    Tuesday, 1am
    May 2015
    Tuesday, 1am
    

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58. MAKE IT
    ADAPTIVE
    5
    

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62. On it’s own, [content] is pretty
    dumb, until some smart design
    system grabs it and displays it in
    the right context

    

    – Mark Boulton
    

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70. MUSIC IS MESSY
    

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71. Original
    

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72. Original 1. Corrected levels
    

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73. Original 1. Corrected levels 2. Film grain added
    

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74. Original 1. Corrected levels 2. Film grain added
    

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75. Original 1. Corrected levels 2. Film grain added
    

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76. Original 1. Corrected levels 2. Film grain added
    

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77. HUMANS
    COMPUTERS
    

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78. CONTENT
    DIGITAL PRODUCTS
    

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79. A designer is a planner with
    an aesthetic sense.

    

    – Bruno Munari
    

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80. Photo by Timo Arnall
    Some people (they are wrong)
    say design is about solving
    problems. Obviously designers
    do solve problems, but then so
    do dentists. Design is about
    cultural invention. 

    

    – Jack Schulze
    

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81. At a minimum, the job of a designer is
    to solve problems beautifully.
    At their best, designers create culture
    too.
    

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82. Culture represents a synthesis, a putting
    together of things, putting them together
    so completely that the combination has
    an individuality of its own. It may be only
    an amalgam; it is better if it be a chemical
    combination. Culture does not exist in the
    form of powder, a mere mass of
    incoherent particles.

    – Owen D Young
    

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85. WITH EVERYTHING
    WE MAKE,
    WE HAVE AN
    OPPORTUNITY FOR
    THAT REACTION.
    

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86. Content Strategy for Mobile
    Karen McGrane
    Content Strategy for the Web
    Kristina Halvorson
    Design As Art
    Bruno Munari
    Internet Trends 2015
    Mary Meeker
    kpcb.com/internet-trends
    Six Questions from Kicker
    Jack Schulze
    j.mp/6QsJackSchulze
    The Elements of Content Strategy
    Erin Kissane
    The Moment of Clarity: Using the Human Sciences to Solve Your
    Toughest Business Problems
    by Christian Madsbjerg & Mikkel B. Rasmussen
    REFERENCES
    & READING
    

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