[MUSIC] And welcome back to a particularly interesting part of the MOOC. A topic which really effects all of us, interactivity and gamification. Everything we know now, everything coming, certainly fits under this umbrella if you 're thinking about great content and content strategy. My guest is Professor Emily Withrow, a friend and a colleague at Northwestern University's Medill School, and a real expert on this topic. So, Emily, welcome. >> Thank you. >> And let's begin at the beginning. >> Let's do it. >> Let's, let's talk about interactivity. It's a term that's bantered about, and I suspect the definition is as wide as the number of people saying the word. >> Absolutely, and, you know, when a word becomes this common place, I think it's nice to sort of step back and say okay, what do mean when we're talking about interactivity? I really think of interactivity as some kind of back and forth. So this conversation that we're having can be back and forth conversation I hope, but when we're talking about online we expect that same level of give and take. Right, so I, as a user, might request a piece of information from your website, from the brand. And I would expect something in return for my participation. And so, I would call it a back and forth between you and a device, you and a person, or you and a brand. That can be a great conversation, it can be a terrible conversation depending on how you implement the interactivity. But, when you're talking about adding interactivity to a site or to an app you're talking about introducing elements that are going to react in some way, to introduce some sort of channel, some sort of back and forth between you and the person using that website or app. So, if I'm sitting at a screen at my desk. >> Mm-hm. >> And I have a mouse, and I click on the site to get some information, that's interactivity? >> Absolutely. >> I pick up a smart phone or a tablet and I touch the screen and make things happen, that's interactive. >> Absolutely. >> Anything, any of that is interactive. >> Yes, and you know, I think you've hit the nail on the head there because we really are moving to a space where people are increasingly using mobile devices to initiate that content with a site or with a brand. And so we really need to start thinking about designing for mobile first, and then thinking about that desktop experience. And making sure that we're not introducing clicks or hovers which really are a little bit more difficult when you're talking about a mobile site. >> So that would say your first sort of Emily's rule- >> Yeah. [LAUGH] >> Is if you're going to do something new, design for mobile first? >> Absolutely. >> If you're going to update your desktop, fixed screen software, think about starting over and doing it for mobile first. >> Absolutely. It's much easier to start with mobile and then scale up, or backward to the desktop than it is to work the other way around. >> And talk about touch screens. I mean, are they as prevalent as kind of the trade press talks about? Are they coming fast or slow? What's happening with them? >> Absolutely. We're seeing huge growth rates for both the smartphones and feature phones depending on where you are in the world. And those adoption rates are growing, absolutely. A little slower on tablets, but we do know that 90% of our daily media interactions are screen-based interactions, and that's from Google's research. >> And of those enormous percentages of smartphones, what percentage of them, as a guess, have touchscreens versus some other way to navigate them, or do they all have touchscreens? >> Well, you know, it depends on what you're talking about because I think, you know, if you're talking about a smartphone then you absolutely are talking about a touchscreen. But as we move into different types of devices and we start thinking about designing for watches, that's a very, very small touch screen, but it also maybe has a little wheel or some other piece that you can use to interact with it. >> Talk to me then about how I engage with the material on a smart something. >> Sure, so anytime we sit down in front of a device we are primed for interaction. We're very used to engaging with the material, to initiating that conversation, and to being an active participant. And whe, you know, whether that's a touch or whether that's a mouse click, people are ready to interact. However, we have arrived at a place where really people are increasingly used to these interactions. We are carrying these devices with us everywhere we go, and we expect them to anticipate our needs and desires and to respond appropriately. So, you have to be careful when you're introducing interactivity that you're not putting up too many barriers, or making pe, making people work too hard to get the information that they're looking for. >> Give me an example of that. >> Sure, so, you know, I, I was shopping for sheets the other, the other day, I want some new sheets for my bed. And I was looking at an online sheet maker [LAUGH] because, you know, they've cut out the middle man, there are no stores. So I wanted to know everything I could about these sheets without actually being able to feel them. And their website was designed beautifully, but they had put a lot of information into these rollover graphics. And so there was a beautiful illustration of the way that they were making these sheets, but in order to see what the sheets actually were comprised of, I had to sit and click on every different piece and part of this so that I could get the essential information I was looking for. And that's frustrating for me as a user, because you could just put it on the screen and I wouldn't have to work to find it. If it's essential information that you know people are going to be interested in, don't hide it. Just put it right there, don't make people- >> So all details, here. >> Exactly. >> Click here. >> Oh, not even click, just put it right- >> Right up there. >> There on the page. Yeah. >> It could have popped up right on top of the sheet. >> Every click, every hover, any piece of interactivity you introduce, you want to be sure that there's some kind of payoff for the user. >> The two rules that we just added to the first one is number one, put all the stuff that really matters, up front. >> Yes. >> And the third one now is, and if you do ask someone to click, boy it better be a high payoff. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. And what's next in terms of interactivity and barriers and cautions? Anything or, that we haven't covered? >> Absolutely, there's, I mean there's lots to cover [LAUGH] here I think. >> Okay. >> And part of it is just to know your audience really well, and to meet them where they are. So I highly recommend, in as much as you can, doing that important audience research. Know how they're connecting, when they're connecting, what they're looking for when they're connecting. So that you can meet them ready to provide that experience for them. >> And if you're really going to do that, do you actually follow them along and look at what they do, let alone do quantitative research? Is it qualitative as well? >> It, it's both, yes. And I know Rich is going to talk about this later. Part of that comes from analytics so you can smartly see what devices people are connecting from. But the other would be, it would be qualitative, it would be surveying saying you know, when are you connecting, how are you connecting, and what are you looking for when you are connecting? >> So Emily, I assume there's different degrees of connectedness, of interactivity with different kinds of screens. Talk to me about that. Explain how that really plays out in the real world. >> Absolutely. And this, again, speaks to that importance audience research that you need to do. Some people are ready for that lean forward experience, and some are ready for a lean back experience. >> Well what do those terms mean? >> Sure, so a lean forward experience would kind of be what you expect, very, very engaged in the material. Poynter did a great tablet study where they showed that 61% of tablet users are what they called intimate users. Which means they are so engaged and involved with the content that their fingers almost never leave the device. That they're really keeping their fingers there, kind of playing with the content back and forth. And that's the type of user that is ready to interact. They want to be a participant, they want to call up content. Your other type of user might be looking- >> Well wait, but- >> Yes. >> Then, just to give the, those that are with us a, a fill-in, Poynter is the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, yes? >> Yes. >> Okay. And they do all kinds of studies like this. >> Yes. >> Okay, and so if that's lean forward, what's lean back? >> So your lean back experience is going to be a little more passive. It doesn't mean that they're not engaged with your content. But it means that they want you to be in the driver seat. They want you to guide the experience. They want to hit play and watch a video or have that experience sort of unroll in front of them. The lean forward users are going to be a little more involved, they want to be participating. And so it's about striking the right balance and providing the type of experience that those users are looking for. >> Last but not least, if I'm in the audience, what do I want to get from this? What's the sort of, yes we've talked about ease, but there must be more that you want to build in. >> Absolutely. And a lot is having and experience that is tailored very specifically to you, which can be very powerful. It's an immediate demonstration of relevance if it's squarely centered on the individual who's connecting, right? And so, I'll give you another example. I was, I was shopping for eyeglasses, and there's a great online company, Warby Parker. They have huge, they do huge business in the United States. But it's all online. And so you might be asking yourself, well how can I try on glasses if I'm doing that online? And one of the things that allow you to do is a virtual try-on. So you can click and enable the website to access your webcam. It turns it on, uses software that recognizes your face within the field, and then applies the glasses to your face. And you can turn your head, and you can do all this great stuff and see the glasses from different angles, and essentially try the glasses on without having to go into a store. >> Wow. So, I know many of the companies are selling glasses, many that are selling glasses are elsewhere in the world. >> Sure. >> And some of them are enormous and they have great variety. Is this webcam enabled, much more personalized experience, is that the only company that has it? Or is that simply one of the first? >> I think it's one of the first. And they also have a, you know, we'll send it to you and you can physically try on the eyeglasses if you would like to. So they have both options- >> Mm-hm. >> That are available. And that's a great demonstration of how a brand can be flexible. So that if whoever's connecting has that technical capability and they're ready to have that virtual experience, they can. But then they have very person-to-person sort of tactile interaction built in as well. >> Wow, what a, what a advance. Now, if we can only do it for shoes that might hurt, or other things, that would be wonderful. But clearly we're going down that road in terms of much more interactivity. >> Yes. >> Thanks. Very helpful. Interactivity is alive and growing. >> It is. [MUSIC]
