ETech '05 Merlin's notes

From 43FoldersWiki

Danny and I spoke in 4 alternating quadrants. Not all of this made it into my talk and much of it will not make sense out of context, but you're free to excavate.

And yes, I promise to have a slide deck next time! :-)

--Merlin 19:09, 21 Mar 2005 (EST)

- Quadrant 2 
    - Who's Here: Contrasting 43F & LH
        - Danny finds it a little unmanly when I talk about how much I
          loved Life Hacks
            - And when I admit how much I stole outright from him
        - Since 43F was inspired by DOB's LH research, it's not
          surprising that it attracts a pretty geeky crowd.
        - While our visitors aren't the alpha geeks that DOB
          interviewed, many are at least what you might call power
          users--
        - "Aspirational Geeks" who want to learn about their computers
          and moving to the next level
            - apprentice geeks attracted to cool techie stuff
    - Popular subjects (4)
        - Getting Things Done
            - people gobble it up and clamor for more
            - what is GTD?
                - Book by David Allen
                - Action-based framework for making progress on
                  projects that are important to you
            - Why are people attracted to GTD?
                - simplicity of the system
                - notion that chaos can be munged into sensibility by
                  making smart decisions
            - Looking for implementation tips
                - as well as talmudic discussions
        - Lo-fi hacks & paper
            - such as
                - Index cards & the Hipster PDA
                - Moleskine posts
                - General office supply porn
            - hipster pda biggest fans are not only technology fans and
              computer users-- many still use a PDA for a variety things
            - KEY is they're looking for the simplest possible tool for
              the job--in this case, fast data capture
        - Tips and Hints
            - almost all are variations on clipping your mittens to
              your sleeves
            - such as
                - shortcuts
                - rules of thumb
                - Hints from Heloise
            - forehead ticket trick
            - people love little tricks and hacks--very satisfying
            - low-threshold to apply
            - there's something satisfying about making it really hard
              to fail at something
        - Nerdy apps
            - Quicksilver
                - QS is nominally an application launcher
                - In practice, it's way to reach and to functionally
                  connect virtually everything on your mac through a
                  common keyboard-based
                - Great for power users, but useful for everyone
                - Some use it to replace the Finder
                - using it for a while, you find you can use it to
                  route much of your work through it
                - (get your flow on)
            - Remind
    - Spotlight on Remind
        - app
            - 15 year-old UNIX app
            - reads structured text from a text file to show you
              upcoming appts. and todos
            - very simple in every way (once you get the hang of it)
        - the interest from users
            - the raw simplicity really appealed to people
            - Saw people who had never installed a unix app
            - wizards helping out
        - why was this intriguing?
            - Nearly everyone already has *some* kind of calendar app
              that they use for work
            - this is the equivalent of a very sharp paring knife
                - It does one thing very well
        - as much as you are learning a new tool, it's in the service
          of creating a very simplified object
    - What’s the Pattern
        - General interest in improving technical skills, feeling more
          productive and less stressed out
        - people getting more ambitious about what they're willing to
          try
        - Looking for the simplest tool that will work
        - starting to eliminate the unnecessary pieces from their
          machinery
- Quadrant 4
    - We're looking for tools that encourage good habits and behaviors
    - 2 classic bad habits to lose 
        - Attractive nuisances and things that break flow
            - email autocheck every minute
            - reloading stats pages
            - reloading metafilter & slashdot
        - Tools that discourage action and stall decision-making
            - living in your email inbox
            - deeply nested folders
            - cluttered desktop
    - Some people have an itch that's hard to scratch
        - Attention is constantly diverted
        - managed by their own inbox
        - too much stuff!
            - They know they've got way more work than they could ever
              do 
            - more mail than they can respond to
            - more magazines than they can read
        - and they know some some kind of tools are out there
        - no idea where to begin; too busy to think about it
    - Most people don't have “the engineering mind”
        - most people in this room aren't afraid to try new things or
          iterate improvements
        - The engineering mind is trained to look constantly for ways
          to improve
        - Many people's experience of computers and work is highly
          mediated and heavily institutionalized
        - important to understand that many people's experience of
          computers has been heavily mediated and institutionalized
            - They try the little tricks and hacks
            - May not have the permission to try some of the cooler
              stuff
    - Framework for helping choose tools and processes
        - Interesting hacks are coming from everywhere if you learn to
          watch for the patterns
        - Example: Aging people & disabled have no choice but to adapt
          to challenges cognitive and physical challenges
            - Where's my glasses?
            - Notebook in the shirt pocket
            - Daily pill holder
        - As observers of these things, we're fascinated to see where
          the next mass of fascinating hacks will come from
        - Encourage people to share ideas and help the non-nerds in
          their life think about ways