musings of a social architect

Mobile Phone Ads taking off in Japan

Accordingly to this report, 54% of Japanese mobile phone users consume advertising on a mobile phone at least once per week. This is a heartening statistic; although Japan is a far more advanced mobile phone market than the US, it's also a harbinger of things to come. As advertising becomes a viable revenue model for mobile entertainment services, I think we'll see an explosion of interesting services emerge.

Right now, the US mobile industry's ability to launch compelling, profitable services is hampered by consumers' reluctance to pay for services up front. The Internet has taught us to expect free services; why should we pay for something on mobile that we can get for free on the Net? Furthermore, it's often difficult to cancel a subscription  you no longer want - and that makes people reluctant to sign up for subscriptions in the first place. I'm speaking from direct experience here - I've spent FAR too many hours on the phone with Cingular, trying to get them to remove subscriptions from my mobile bill that I couldn't get rid of. I  sometimes see services that I'd like to check out - such as Limlife's Daily Dose - but there's no way that I would subscribe (especially at $9.99 per month) because I have no confidence that I'll be able to cancel my subscription without a major hassle.

Google has done a great job integrating relevant, unobtrusive ads into their search products (less so with their site-based AdSense program).  I don't want my mobile services littered with intrusive, annoying ads - but I would welcome a free service that was monetized with integrated, relevant, perhaps even personalized ads (if the privacy issues can get worked out). If I decided to follow some of those ads, and found that I could actually buy stuff using my mobile phone... that would be super-convenient. For a busy working Mom like me, convenience, utility and trust are key factors in getting me to become loyal to any service, mobile or otherwise.

Top Fastest Growing Web Brands are User-Generated Content

Via Wonderland, a report from KenRadio showing that the fastest-growing Web brands are based around UGC (user-generated content). Finally, after so many years of almost-but-not-quite-getting-there, the long-cherished idea of the Web as a democratic medium that enables everyday people to entertain each other by expressing their creativity is happening, in a big way.

User-generated content sites, platforms for photo sharing, video sharing and blogging, comprised five out of the top 10 fastest growing Web brands according Nielsen//NetRatings. Image hosting site ImageShack ranked No. 4 among July’s fastest growing Web brands, increasing 233%, from a unique audience of 2.3 million to 7.7 million. Heavy.com, a video sharing site, took the No. 5 spot, increasing 213%, from 965,000 to 3.0 million unique visitors. Photo sharing site Flickr followed at No. 6, growing 201% from 2.1 million to 6.3 million unique visitors. Other user-generated content sites that made it into the top 10 fastest growing Web brands were MySpace, with a 183% year-over-year increase, and Wikipedia, with a 181 percent year-over-year increase.

LINK

First impressions matter... a LOT...

It's back-to-school time - and consequently, I'm seeing a lot of people (specifically, the kids and parents at my son's school) that I haven't seen much of all summer. I've been noticing how off-putting I find some of the people - and how drawn I am to others - even when we don't exchange any words. I'm sure that people feel the same way about me too (there's a scary thought, since I'm so often pre-occupied with work when I dropoff Gabe @ school). Here's a fascinating study that explains what this is all about.

LINK: You're judged by your facial expression

Princeton University psychologist Alex Todorov has found that people respond intuitively to faces and come up with a snap judgment about a person's trustworthiness, likeability and character in a few milliseconds, far faster than our reasoning minds can come to a conclusion.

Since 2005, Todorov has conducted a number of studies on first impressions and found that individuals draw conclusions about another person's character within milliseconds. In one study, Todorov found that a politician's winning margin in an election correlated to how competent they tended to look.

In a recent study, 200 individuals were asked to look at 66 different faces for one of three time durations--100 milliseconds, 500 milliseconds or a full second--and then asked to judge the person's character. The study found that people didn't change their mind if given more time to observe. Instead, the longer viewing period just reconfirmed the snap judgment. Granted, first impressions can be overcome, but it takes work.

Location-based Blogging in a Virtual World

One of the most interesting applications I've run across lately is BlogHud, a Second Life add-on that allows people to mark and comment on a particular location in Second Life, and then have that info (geo-location plus comments) sent to an RSS-enabled website. I've seen cellphone-based services that offer a similar functionality in the physical world, but this is the first time I've seen this done for a virtual world. Very cool!

Social Sim: Two thumbs up for the BlogHUD.

As the population of SL has exploded at a rate of 15% per month, so have the incredible number of things to see and do. I never got a handle on most of the places when I joined in 2005, and now a year on I feel like every time I go into the world I'm faced with the same paralysis I get when staring at the ridiculous number of shampoo products available on the pharmacy shelf. I just don't know where to start, so often I just give up and leave.

Enter BlogHUD. Doctoe Schnook recently gave me a copy. It is an inspired application.

Users wear it in the virtual world and when they come across something they think people might find interesting, they type /9 and a description. Each entry can be categorised into five channels (e.g., shop, event). This text goes to BlogHUD.com, where other people can browse without needing to enter the application. If they fancy something they see, they can click on the post and shazam, they're in the world, at the place...

LINK

In Japan, entertainment moves beyond games

Courtesty of Gamasutra, I recenty ran across a survey conducted in Japan showing that people are spending more time on the Internet,  less time playing games, and have an increased interest in mobile phones. Given that many people in Japan access the Internet primarily through their mobile phones (more so than in the US, certainly) this cluster of findings is not surprising.

What's striking to me is how the Internet has broadened our notion of what's considered "entertainment." More and more people are spending time on MySpace, Facebook, podcasts, youtube, videochats, picture messaging etc. All these services leverage user-generated content to entertain people -- without the support of "authored" games. Note that many of these services have game-like elements such as groups, leaderboards, and social rating systems. So are these social-networking, user-driven systems a new type of game? Hmmm...

Japanese Internet Users Gaming Less.

new cross-media survey of 1,176 Japanese internet users from the ages of 10 to 65 has been conducted by Japanese marketing research firm service Nikkei Research, and questioned participants regarding their usage of various media formats such as television, newspapers, magazines, free papers, radio, internet, mobile phones (excluding phone calls and e-mail) and gaming platforms.

The survey results, which were translated by consumer website GameSpot, found that of those surveyed, 42.4 percent indicated that they are spending more time using the internet, mostly at the expense of other media use. By comparison, a nearly equal amount – 42.6 percent – noted less time playing games. This is particularly interesting given recent news that found that the Nintendo DS has become the fastest console or handheld ever to sell 10 million units in Japan, taking just 20 months to reach the milestone.

In addition, those who reported a declining interest in gaming also indicated an increased interest in mobile phones, a move which the research firm noted was due mainly to the wide array of functionality that is built into modern mobile phones.

The report also found that other forms of media, including television, radio, and magazines saw a decline in usage of 20 percent or more, especially among those who reported increased use of the internet. Finally, survey participants were questioned what media they expect to use more of in the future, to which the top four answers were podcasts, the internet, portable digital audio devices, and digital TV broadcasts made available for portable devices.

Working Equalizer T-Shirt

Wow - I don't really have anywhere special to wear this shirt these days (perhaps to the local PTA meeting, or a working session with a client?) -- but I totally want one, nontheless.

The T-Qualizer is a T Shirt with a built in graphic equalizer panel that is sound sensitive. As the music beats, this special T Shirts equalizer lights up to the beat of the music. A bit like having a heart monitor on your chest really, except all you will have to worry about is partying! You will have to party in the T-Qualizer or its full dazzling appeal will not become known. What a great excuse, the T-Qualiser is great for concerts, raves, parties anywhere that music plays.

Link: T-Qualizer T Shirt

UPDATE: the Tshirt arrived - I tried it, and then sent it along to my music-loving brother as a birthday present. It definately works, although the different levels don't seem to respond to sound with much granularity. Overall, it's a great conversation-starter and kid-magnet :-)

My Prius is like a video game

When I first got my Prius 4 years ago, I was completely transfixed by the real-time MPG display. Multi-scale feedback! I could see my mileage per tank, in 5-minute increment, and moment-to-moment. I experimented with my driving style, trying to beat my "high score" each day.

I've mellowed out since those heady first days, but I still pay attention to my mileage - and I'm happy to see that others are noticeing the game-like quality of this kind of display. Games are great at motivating behavior - and if we had more MPG feedback, I'll bet that people would drive in a way that would reduce emissions.

Raise your Prius gaming score

In this era of sharp political and religious divides, we can surely agree on one thing. Constantly watching the mileage measurements on the Prius's little video screen is really a mobilized video game. It's NOT simply driving a car. How long can I coast and keep the mileage at "99.9?" If I use engine-braking down this slope, how much can I re-charge the battery? I did 48.9 MPG the last time I drove to Oregon, can I beat it this time?

Admittedly this is a bit of a cerebral game. No droids or monsters. No explosions or body count. And I have the advantage of living in San Francisco with its extreme topography. Perhaps this game would a little less exciting if I were in a flat place like Ottumwa. But it would be even more subtle and challenging. Prius is surely the most expensive, biggest gaming machine built...so far....

Link

Notes from FOO Camp 2006

(photo courtesy of D Richard Hipp).

This weekend, I was lucky enough to participate in FOO camp 2006, an OReilly-sponsored, self-organizing geek campout/party/gabfest in Sebastopol, California. It was  FABULOUS -- great food, stimulating conversations, thought-provoking presentations, and even a high-quality late-night jam session with kick-ass musicians. The uber-geeky crowd included grad students, maverick consultants, rock-star techies, hard-driving CEOs, and a sprinkling of venture capitalists. I re-connected with some old friends, and met some wonderful new people that I'm hoping to see again soon. Some random highlights:

• Driving up to camp with the lovely Doria Fan, a digital designer and recent graduate of the NYU ITP programn - and having an easy, fun, stimulating conversation - the first of many that weekend.
• Shortly after arriving, seeing many familiar, friendly, smiling faces - Philip Rosedale, Cory Ondrejka, danah boyd, Caterina Fake, Lili Cheng, Julian Bleeker, Jyri Engestrom, Kevin Kelly, Liz Lawley, Howard Rheingold, David Weekly... and being warmly greeted and welcomed to the event.
  
• Being introduced (by Cory) to Jane McGonigal, someone I've long admired and exchanged email with - but never met F2F. Jane and I had a great connection, and ended up running a session about Social Games together. I hope to see her again in the near future - we're definately kindred spirits, and I find her work and attitude very inspiring.
• Seeing danah and sharing a big, warm hug.
• Meeting Zaheda Bharat, an open-source community evangelist at Google who's also a massage therapist, a trans-atlantic traveller, and all-around wonderful human being - full of light and ideas and enthusiasm.
• Comparing notes about work/life balance with author, interaction designer and mom-to-be Jennifer Tidwell.
• Meeting Eric Freeman F2F - someone I've connected with via email and mutual friends, but never actually seen in the flesh.
  
• Meeting Dave Sifry and chatting about kids, literature, and religion over coffee - and then attending a great session that Dave and Bradley Horowitz ran called "Leadership Hacks" where we explored the difference between managament and leadership, and everyone shared their experiences and "hacks" providing leadership in technical organizations. The conversation was so stimulating that the group continued to discuss the topic over lunch, and on into the afternoon.
• Connecting with Larry Augustin, an intense, thoughtful, and articulate VC and entrepreneur who attended the Leadership Hacks session, and had some really interesting things to say about listening, learning and decision-making.
  
• Playing with cool little soccer-kicking robots using a hacked-up game controller -- while catching up with Kevin Kelly (one of my favorite people, and a fellow Coastside resident)
• Catching up with Lili Cheng -- a bubbly, high-energy, multi-talented Microsoftie who moves smoothly between doing research and building products -- and finding out that we have amazingly similar child-rearing philosophies. If we lived in the same city, our families would be getting together all the time...
  
• Meeting David Hornik, a VC blogger whom I've long admired - and discovering that he's an funny, quick-witted, good-natured guy with a devilish twinkle in his eye...
• Hanging out with Caterina Fake, Philip Rosedale, Tara Hunt, and a gaggle of other folks, singing old Beatle songs into the wee hours of the morning, playing guitar until my fingers were raw... then afterwards, chatting by the campfire with Philip about neural networks and brain science.
  
• Listening to Sara Winge (co-director of FOO camp) play  amazing jazz guitar riffs at the jam session... and wishing that she would keep playing for hours and hours, she was THAT good. What a multi-talented woman!
• Hearing Kathy Sierra talk about how to identify and motivate passionate users - it was the only session I attended that was actually a lecture, rather than a discussion - and WELL worth the hour invested. Great stuff - I want to get ahold of her slides, which were filled with useful, practical insights about UI design.
• Participating in Liz Lawley's session about digitizing your personal media library... and then happily chatting with Liz while packing up my camping gear - enjoying her stories about kids, education and travel. She's a warm, down-to-earth person who seems to have that rare ability to balance her worklife and homelife - something I aspire to, and am always striving to do better.
• Meeting Steven Levy, a longtime contact of my husband's, someone I've admired but never met... he participated in the session I did with Jane, and had some interesting observations about social games and game mechanics.
  
• Being invited by Rael Dornfest to give a tutorial at Etech 2007, based on my Etech 2006 talk (which is apparently what got me invited to FOOcamp). I was blown away by how many people I met at FOO had seen (or heard about) my talk, and had used those ideas in their work. I had NO IDEA. There's nothing like the feeling of knowing that your work has been useful to other people, and helped them achieve their dreams. This made me incredibly happy - and motivated to develop those ideas further.
• Eating delicious food at every meal that I didn't have to shop for, prepare, or clean up after. HEAVEN!

All in all, this was one of the best weekends that I've ever experienced - the perfect combination of intellectual stimulation, social engagement, and relaxed good times. I'm sending out a big THANK YOU to Tim, Sara, and the entire O'Reilly staff, who brought this fabulous group together, and worked tirelessly to make sure that everyone had what they needed, and everything kept running smoothly. What a great way to end the summer!

Flashbag: a USB drive with meaningful feedback

Feedback is a crucial part of good design - and finally, here's a USB drive that incorporates feedback! The drive inflates when it's "full" (i.e. lots of files are stored on it) and deflates when it's empty. So useful, so simple, so appealing. Gotta get me one of those.

Link: plusminus design: flashbag.

Whose vacation IS it, anyway?

Courtesy of picturephoning.com: here's a disposable camera that contains 27 undeveloped souvenir shots of Paris photographed by up-and-coming artists. Every camera contains a different set of pictures. What a great idea! It's like stumbling upon the vacation shots of a fabulous, creative photographer - a voyeuristic, slighty illicit thrill.