lane says:

i don't know, i see the designers of those projects working very hard to implement ways to effectively manage individual privacy without having to sacrifice the obvious benefits that come from these advances in communication tools, particularly from geo-locative technologies.

it's true that's its very easy for the use of those technologies to go awry, but that doesn't have to be the case. done right, tools like these can help us understand and manage our privacy *better* than we might otherwise, simply by exposing us to those times when it might actually be at risk. what coates and jones (fireeagle and dopplr, respectively) often refer to as "beautiful seams" -- exposing the edges, those areas where something is uncertain, and instead of glossing over that moment, explicitly designing it into the narrative and presenting it as a choice rather than a fait accompli.

for example: fireeagle has a "dead man's switch" for confirmation emails in fire eagle -- the default for no response to the message is to turn off a service, inverting the traditional messsaging model. fireeagle also has much finer-grained controls for managing your geolocative relationship to individuals and services; you can choose different levels of location to expose to different services (city, neighborhood, street, street address, etc.) and it does it all with a very light touch, so it doesn't feel as much like time spent managing.

as is always the case, tools like these can be used to solve problems as well as create them. i always worry when i see publications use the easy cultural narrative about technology destroying privacy when the truth is much more measured and much more in our control than that narrative implies.

April 25, 2008 7:51 AM

Julie Addicott says:

can I get a copy of Erika's presentation from web 2.0? I sat in the session for Copy As Interface and it was great. I would like to share that with my co-workers.

Thanks,
Julie

April 28, 2008 11:51 AM

James F says:

I'd like a copy of the presentation as well if it's available - I only took a few notes because I was banking on the presentation being available.

April 29, 2008 11:32 AM

John L says:

I really enjoyed Erika's conference as well. I hope she had something to do with the 'Submit' button here reading 'Holla'.

In case Mule doesn't post the presentation, here are the notes I took (assuming you can bear with my stream of thought):

..........
Copy as Interface
Erika Hall

nabaztag - look up later

Jakob Nielsen - people don't read on the web
- leads to icons
-leads to mystery meat

wiki, facebook, google, craigslist, etc. all use TEXT

data = info, transactions, meaning = language is device independent

clarity, intellegence, conversational = speaking using text = web 2.0; conversational and immediate

[simple, conversational, specific, direct]

orality knits persons together into community - Walter Ong (cultural literature)

oral culture -> literacy -> secondary orality

flowers and flow -> formality -> friends (language mediated through technology) lol, etc.

interface = manage the relationship to data

words = easy technically, easy for users to tolerate
----------
Copy in interface
[salutation]
dopplr.com; reuters; muxtape
clear and succinct
immediacy
barebones simplicity
hook, hook, hook!

contrast with clearforest = book or brochure (bad)
no human nature, no hooks, etc.

[orientation and navigation]
email as interaction (do we address this at all?)
see phishing emils = messing up language = destroys confidence; typo and mispelling = ends all confidence = dumb and not commited

accurate and simple = invisible (last.fm)
KISS

[action]
(last.fm) see change color feature and the way it is labelled. text is fun nd cheesy which fits the site

flickr uses text to make multistep process ultra simple and easy. Interface is seemless, and almost transparent.
"Take me to the kittens!" (for avoiding naughty content)

Friendfeed (stalker.com lol) calls "imaginary frends", "spice up your feed" v. eharmony which is very old and dated as far as language is concerned... dead brochure copy does not engage user directly (see Submit button v. Find love or Get Started" (submit is just bad in general)

[service (situations requiring)]

mint.com is good for text and form design
form doesn't wait for user to send form; informs users
of errors as soon as they are made

keep text personal, treat users and concerns as real and in coversational tool. admit errors and path of change in own voice.

incorporate into canned responses

unique 404s - simple, conversational, educational
provide options

compare contrast apple v. ms 404 pages

evolution of security... OMG a TSA blog that is REALLY good... see the delete-o-meter

[TONE]
be authentic let voice come to the surface (direct and conversational)
human connection.... be sincere!!!

be engaging have fun; shows humans thinking;

be specific difficult for words and complex ideas,
even harded for icons
use both! icon is visual hook, text makes icon specific

be appropriate stay true to "role" of organization
consider relationship with user

be polite common sense (we hope!)

[Pitfalls]
vague
too clever (but always friendly!)
unnatural
don't be rude (myspace)
oblivious - think about content mashups and
don't be inconsistent (my is old fashioned) ownership when site was a place=destroys ownership

don't assume

good words + good design

April 29, 2008 3:18 PM

Layla says:

Nice notes John L!

May 1, 2008 8:47 AM

Noel says:

Merci John L...

On top of that you can download the presentation by clicking on the slideshare icon, the same presentation will be displayed on the Slideshare web site but a "download file" link will appear on the right of the presentation and on the bottom right...

Salut,

Noel

May 6, 2008 5:40 AM