Effortless Experiences… aahhhhhh, doesn’t that sound nice? But what does it mean?
It simply means being able to do things very easily. And we, as creatives, have the opportunity to create these experiences everyday. But rather than get into the weeds of the daily ad grind, let’s take a look at some of the technologies enabling the next generation of ever-more effortless experiences.
The Semantic Web
Tim Berners-Lee, father of the World Wide Web, is known for predicting that Web 3.0 will be centered around the “semantic web.” The semantic web is a difficult concept to understand, but essentially it is when the internet understands naturally-phrased questions and answers them in the simplest ways possible. For example, I can ask how many people visit the Burger King near my house. The semantic web will find out where I live, where the nearest Burger King is and will then search through Burger King franchise reports to deliver the most relevant information to my question.
The semantic web is still theoretical, but we do see elements of this slowly coming to fruition. Remember that Wolfram Alpha website? Yeah, that was kinda semantic web, but its uses were pretty limited. But take Google for example, their search algorithm is so sophisticated that you can type in questions in normal human-speak, as opposed to keywords and advanced operators, and Google delivers a set of pertinent results. This has especially improved with the addition of local results and info from our personal social network connections. Many of these Google upgrades were included as a response to Bing’s debut already containing these features.
However, is there such a thing as effortless experiences outside the murky waters of the semantic web?
Yes! And this is where things get really fun!
Touchscreens and Applications
Take for example, the iPad and iPhone. These devices appear to have an interface intuitive enough for toddlers and the elderly alike to be able to pick up and use without any training or instructions. Many of the current iPhone features are not new to the mobile category, but those features never really gained much traction on pre-iPhone smartphones for one BIG reason: Interface Usability. This is where Apple excels. To see what I mean, watch this 2.5 year old figure out how to use the iPad:
And here’s another clip of a 99 year old rediscovering that she can read and write again, thanks to the iPad:
Motion Controllers
Yes, interface, the great equalizer. Computers in the past were for data processors, hackers and people who understood CLI… until the first Mac with a graphical user interface (GUI). Video games have also experienced an interface revolution with the advent of the motion-sensing WiiMote, opening up gaming to an untapped audience. The video below shows seniors at a nursing home trying their hands at some Wii Bowling:
Speech Recognition
Another interface area we see building momentum behind effortless experiences is the realm of speech recognition, dictation or speech-to-text. This is where you can speak into a microphone and software translates what you say into text. Taking it a step further, you can say, “Open my documents,” and the computer completes the task. This has been around for a while, but is only now becoming reliable enough to be useful beyond early adopters. One of the early pioneers of this technology and current leaders is Nuance, maker of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. The software works surprisingly well and if you haven’t tried it yet I suggest you download their free mobile application.
So, what does “Effortless Experiences” mean for advertisers?
The central idea behind this entire trend is “simplicity.” More importantly it is taking complex tasks or information and allowing people to experience them with the least amount of effort. No matter what you are doing, people appreciate when complex things are made simple.
If you aren’t a user experience expert, but are more of a content developer, consider infographics as the type of effortless experience you can provide. Check out Fast Company’s Infographic of the Day website if you want to see some expert examples.
And if you work more on the business end of the agency, consider the vast amount of mind-numbing presentations you give or receive on a daily basis. Wouldn’t it be nice if the key points, conclusions and recommendations were presented in ways that were effortless to identify, understand and implement? That is what we are looking for – Effortless Experiences.
And if you’ve made it this far, thank you! Your reward is this video of a cat playing with an iPad:
