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A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

minimizedistraction.com

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Re: A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

#141

Post by dang »

azinman2 wrote: post #42

I don't see how calling out the demographics of the designers making the decisions has anything to do with the larger implications of societal impact. There are terrible things done by people of every demographic to millions of people, as well as great things. It's also less and less true (tho probably more so in 2013 when this was created), yet the problems still exist because the incentives are there (the real issu…

"Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

#143

Post by Stratoscope »

Zelphyr wrote: post #90

All I've heard for the past 12+ years is "engagement". The singular focus on that one word to the exclusion of everything else is astounding to me. As if it is some magic incantation on the part of BizDev (or whatever they're called these days) that instantly transmogrifies users into profits. At one company I worked at, we had a digital product that was part of a suite of services our company provided. It was useful…

I hate "engagement".

I am a weird person. When I used to go to a movie theater, I stayed and watched the credits at the end. There would be some closing music, and maybe a few outtakes. It was always interesting to see how many people it took to make a movie and what they all did. A nice way to unwind and acknowledge everyone who created the movie.

Lately I've been watching The Sopranos on Amazon. As soon as the end credits roll, a "Next Episode" box pops up in the corner and I am in a race against time to click the teeny Cancel button. I think they give me five whole seconds before auto-starting the next episode.

It pisses me off every time! If I were Tony Soprano, I'd be tempted to hit that corner of the screen with a pointed heavy object just to make it stop haunting me: "You really want to watch the next episode right now. You do NOT want to sit quietly and enjoy the end credits and the cool music the showrunner chose."

But then I would have to buy a new monitor, so I restrain myself.

This "engagement" makes me want to see a shrink.

Re: A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

#144

Post by musicale »

jeffkeen wrote: post #129

A friend of mine worked at a company that at one point was searching for "that red light feature"— meaning, a feature in their app that would get users to check their phones while they're stopped at a red light. Thanks, I hate it. I wish everyone would embrace the Humane Tech ethos ( https://www.humanetech.com/ ), but it turns out there's a lot of money in being an asshole.

"Red light feature" is an astonishing term that I'd never heard before.

It could also be called a "Traffic death feature" - what's a feature that is so compelling that it will increase traffic deaths when users can't help but check their phones while driving?

Re: A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

#145

Post by tchalla »

Stratoscope wrote: post #143
Zelphyr wrote: post #90

All I've heard for the past 12+ years is "engagement". The singular focus on that one word to the exclusion of everything else is astounding to me. As if it is some magic incantation on the part of BizDev (or whatever they're called these days) that instantly transmogrifies users into profits. At one company I worked at, we had a digital product that was part of a suite of services our company provided. It was useful…

I hate "engagement". I am a weird person. When I used to go to a movie theater, I stayed and watched the credits at the end. There would be some closing music, and maybe a few outtakes. It was always interesting to see how many people it took to make a movie and what they all did. A nice way to unwind and acknowledge everyone who created the movie. Lately I've been watching The Sopranos on Amazon. As soon as the end…

> Lately I've been watching The Sopranos on Amazon. As soon as the end credits roll, a "Next Episode" box pops up in the corner and I am in a race against time to click the teeny Cancel button. I think they give me five whole seconds before auto-starting the next episode.

There should be a global setting to switch Autoplay Off in your settings.

Re: A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

#146

Post by [deleted] »

Stratoscope wrote: post #143
Zelphyr wrote: post #90

All I've heard for the past 12+ years is "engagement". The singular focus on that one word to the exclusion of everything else is astounding to me. As if it is some magic incantation on the part of BizDev (or whatever they're called these days) that instantly transmogrifies users into profits. At one company I worked at, we had a digital product that was part of a suite of services our company provided. It was useful…

I hate "engagement". I am a weird person. When I used to go to a movie theater, I stayed and watched the credits at the end. There would be some closing music, and maybe a few outtakes. It was always interesting to see how many people it took to make a movie and what they all did. A nice way to unwind and acknowledge everyone who created the movie. Lately I've been watching The Sopranos on Amazon. As soon as the end…

[deleted]

Re: A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

#147

Post by dredmorbius »

tchalla wrote: post #145
Stratoscope wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate "engagement". I am a weird person. When I used to go to a movie theater, I stayed and watched the credits at the end. There would be some closing music, and maybe a few outtakes. It was always interesting to see how many people it took to make a movie and what they all did. A nice way to unwind and acknowledge everyone who created the movie. Lately I've been watching The Sopranos on Amazon. As soon as the end…

> Lately I've been watching The Sopranos on Amazon. As soon as the end credits roll, a "Next Episode" box pops up in the corner and I am in a race against time to click the teeny Cancel button. I think they give me five whole seconds before auto-starting the next episode. There should be a global setting to switch Autoplay Off in your settings.

mpv will often allow that.

This of course is predicated on a site supporting MPV, often meaning the content is independently downloadable, even if not officially.

Industry's track record with user-specified anti-dark-pattern preferences (DNT, prefers-reduced-motion, etc.) is not encouraging.

Re: A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

#148

Post by dredmorbius »

KhoomeiK wrote: post #91
Zelphyr wrote: post #90

All I've heard for the past 12+ years is "engagement". The singular focus on that one word to the exclusion of everything else is astounding to me. As if it is some magic incantation on the part of BizDev (or whatever they're called these days) that instantly transmogrifies users into profits. At one company I worked at, we had a digital product that was part of a suite of services our company provided. It was useful…

> So I never could figure out why our marketing team was all about engagement other than they kept hearing that word said about other digital products and, so, naturally it applies to ours as well and we must do what everyone else is doing! "Cargo cult marketing"?

Fads are a sociological information-theoretic emergent dynamic.

https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/62uroa/clothin...

Re: A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

#149

Post by Stratoscope »

tchalla wrote: post #145
Stratoscope wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate "engagement". I am a weird person. When I used to go to a movie theater, I stayed and watched the credits at the end. There would be some closing music, and maybe a few outtakes. It was always interesting to see how many people it took to make a movie and what they all did. A nice way to unwind and acknowledge everyone who created the movie. Lately I've been watching The Sopranos on Amazon. As soon as the end…

> Lately I've been watching The Sopranos on Amazon. As soon as the end credits roll, a "Next Episode" box pops up in the corner and I am in a race against time to click the teeny Cancel button. I think they give me five whole seconds before auto-starting the next episode. There should be a global setting to switch Autoplay Off in your settings.

You are my hero of the day!

I did find that setting for YouTube, but I didn't realize that Amazon had it too.

To change it, go to Prime Video, click the gear icon in the top right, select Settings, then the Player tab to turn off Auto Play.

Bada Bing!

Now I won't have to feel like I should whack someone after each episode.

Re: A call to minimize distraction and respect users’ attention (2013)

#150

Post by kmstout »

Stratoscope wrote: post #143
Zelphyr wrote: post #90

All I've heard for the past 12+ years is "engagement". The singular focus on that one word to the exclusion of everything else is astounding to me. As if it is some magic incantation on the part of BizDev (or whatever they're called these days) that instantly transmogrifies users into profits. At one company I worked at, we had a digital product that was part of a suite of services our company provided. It was useful…

I hate "engagement". I am a weird person. When I used to go to a movie theater, I stayed and watched the credits at the end. There would be some closing music, and maybe a few outtakes. It was always interesting to see how many people it took to make a movie and what they all did. A nice way to unwind and acknowledge everyone who created the movie. Lately I've been watching The Sopranos on Amazon. As soon as the end…

Likewise radio stations' playing songs back to back without a gap. "Stairway to Heaven" deserves a second or two of silence after finishing.
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