This is your brain on content

@nozurbina#lavacon

urbinaconsulting.com/about-you

Cognitive Science lessons for content strategy

@nozurbina #LavaCon

This is your brain on content:

Cognitive Science lessons for content

strategy

Noz Urbina

Founder and Content Strategist

Urbina Consulting

urbinaconsulting.com/about-you

@nozurbinaMe (Noz Urbina)

Content strategist & modeller

Consultant/trainer

Author

Futurist

H2H (Human-Human/B2B/B2C)

urbinaconsulting.com/events

89 3929 31 x88

24g

UC.com 2015

thecontentstrategybook.com

The problem

4

@nozurbinaEmpathy

5

Go from reactive to proactive

@nozurbinaSources and reviewers

@nozurbina - 6

MIT & Stanford Lectures

Slides, models & drafts reviewed by Clinical Psychologist Alberto Soler & Kontchín Soler, PhD in Psychobiology

To influence behaviour…

…we must understand behaviour

Behaviour starts and ends in the mind

http://bit.ly/brainneb

We need to (constantly) redefine

@nozurbina - 8

http://bit.ly/1cqjUbv

Communication and the mind

http://bit.ly/brainneb

The topic

Intelligent Content supports our biological, mental processes better than traditional content

http://bit.ly/brainneb

The thesis

WE ARE SENSE MAKING MACHINESWe’ll make it up if we have to

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@nozurbinaBABY

12

Semantic models

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/

Semantic models are semi-conscious mental storage units.

Do you want to make me cry?

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Prevent me from building my semantic models.

QUALITY CHECK

How good are our models?

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Our models and processing clearly aren’t perfect

Thinking Systems 2 and 1

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Brain economics and the cost/benefit of cognition

@nozurbinaThinking System 2

• Plays poker and chess (unless

you’re a master, and can use System 1)

• Contains our conscious

experience

• Analyses, reflects on and digests

content

• Taxed when learning new skills

• Delegates to System 1

whenever possible 18

S l o o o w

“Expensive”

Tiring

@nozurbinaThinking System 1

• “The zone”, “the gut”, “the heart”,

“lateral thinking” and inspiration

• Drives, plays violin (any embedded skill)

• Picks up on body language, style,

mood, metaphor, symbolism, etc. (using associative memory)

• Uses compression & semantic models

• Skims content (using keywords, colour,

shapes and other fast cues)

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Fast!

“Cheap”

(Nearly)

Effortless

FEEL THE DIFFERENCE

Answer these questions (in your head)

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FEEL THE DIFFERENCE

What’s your first name?

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FEEL THE DIFFERENCE

What month were you born?

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FEEL THE DIFFERENCE

Now, remember these two number sets:

5876 2117

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FEEL THE DIFFERENCE

Increment each digit of each set UP by one

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FEEL THE DIFFERENCE

Did you get this?

6987 3228

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(5876 2117)

WATCH THEM FIGHT

A different kind of illusion

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@nozurbina3,141 Counties

All the

counties with

lowest

incidence of

kidney cancer

are:

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1. Mostly rural

2. Sparsely populated

3. Traditionally Republican

4. Located in Midwest, South and West

@nozurbina3,141 Counties - Fact 2

All the

counties with

highest

incidence of

kidney cancer

are:

28

1. Mostly rural

2. Sparsely populated

3. Traditionally Republican

4. Located in Midwest, South and West

@nozurbina

WTF?29

@nozurbina1 = cancer

01010001100101001010101111010101

01010110000100001000111110111101

00100101010101110010100101010101

01010100001010101110010100101010

10101010100001000010001111101111

01001001010101011100101001010101

01010101000010100011001010010101

01111010101010101010101011100101

00101010101010101010101010111110

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Even professional statisticians screw

this up! We want to.

Small samples are always more extreme

and less accurate

Bill Gates Foundation and US Government blew millions on this

28%

60%

71%

0%

42%

100%

57%

60%

@nozurbina

Funny is the brain’s reward for debugging

• We are rewarded for finding patterns

• We get stressed when patterns are not present

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Matthew Hurley, Reginald Adams, Jr., Dan Dennett

@nozurbina

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System 1 can:

Read and understand large-print and/or familiar words

Complete the phrase “bread and…”

Drive a car on an empty road

Get which country is referred to by: “Stars and stripes, Apple pie, and optimism”

Find the “submit” button on a form

System 2 can:

Try to reason out the meaning of new words (if System 1 doesn’t offer up a satisfying definition)

Drive in heavy traffic or adverse weather conditions

Search for an address on a row of houses

Compare two products to establish their overall value

@nozurbina

System 1 says these are the same. System 2 can realise they really aren’t.

@nozurbina

System 1 uses compression to take the fundamentals from the right and match it

to the model on the left.

@nozurbina

http://wtface.com/

WTFace.com

Compression creates errors. We see what is not really there (Look up pareidolia and apophenia)

COMPRESSION ERROR ILLUSIONS

Experience vs. Memory

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@nozurbinaWho suffered more?

Time in minutes

Pain

0 10 20

2

4

6

8

10

Patient A

Time in minutesPain

0 10 20

2

4

6

8

10

Patient B

@nozurbinaWho suffered more?

Time in minutes

Pain

0 10 20

2

4

6

8

10

Patient A

Time in minutesPain

0 10 20

2

4

6

8

10

Patient B

Memory trumps experience

…what we get to keep from our experiences is a story.

What defines a story are changes, significant moments and endings.

Endings are very, very important.

The remembering self is a storyteller

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THE EXPERIENCE TO IDENTITY PYRAMIDThe semantic ladder for anything with interactivity

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I.D.(identity)

Model

Category

Pattern

Memory (story)

Experience

Easi

er

acc

ess

Com

pre

ssio

n

Rew

ard

s

Inert

ia

@nozurbina

Brain GPSQuanta Magazine

simonsfoundation.org/quanta/20141007-brains-positioning-system-linked-to-memory/

@nozurbina

Brain GPSQuanta Magazine

It’s the most efficient way to compress data”

Marianne Hafting Fyhn,

Neuroscientist, University of Oslo in Norway

simonsfoundation.org/quanta/20141007-brains-positioning-system-linked-to-memory/

Our brains reward the creation of new models

and IDs

But it’s always “cheaper” to relate new

ones to old ones

http://bit.ly/brainneb

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dopamineseratonin.png

Dopamine is the brain’s “reward” chemical.If activated, it will cause the hippocampus to create a more

potent “write” to long term memory.

I.D.

Models

Categories

Patterns

Memories

Experiences

Easi

er

acc

ess

Com

pre

ssio

n

Rew

ard

s

Inert

ia

49

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dopamineseratonin.png

Memories created in the presence of dopamine are recalled and pushed up the Experience-I.D. Pyramid more easily.

I.D.

Models

Categories

Patterns

Memories

Experiences

Easi

er

acc

ess

Com

pre

ssio

n

Rew

ard

s

Inert

ia

@nozurbina

50

Today’s web uses these same constructs. E.g. Hashtag searches on G+ pull associated concepts, just like in the mind’s associative, semantic model-based storage.

HOW WILL YOUR BRAND STAND UP TO COMPRESSION?

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@nozurbina

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http://3rdbillion.net/2014/01/apple-logo-2/

INTELLIGENT CONTENT

Intelligent content enables agility from experience to identity

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@nozurbina

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Intelligent Content The Mind

Free from format, i.e., takesmessages and meaning across devices, styles.

Compresses out details, retains only the key content memory.

Rich in metadata – uses tagging to make associations.

Associative by nature.

Uses structured content models. Builds models and uses them frequently and easily.

Machine-validation-ready and reusable to make diverse yet consistent stories.

“Likes” finding patterns and consistency using System 1. Gets tired out by needing to parse inconsistency, which needs System 2.

@nozurbina

55

Intelligent Content The Mind

Free from format, i.e., takesmessages and meaning across devices, styles.

Compresses out details, retains only the key content memory.

Rich in metadata – uses tagging to make associations.

Associative by nature.

Uses structured content models. Builds models and uses them frequently and easily.

Machine-validation-ready and reusable to make diverse yet consistent stories.

“Likes” finding patterns and consistency using System 1. Gets tired out by needing to parse inconsistency, which needs System 2.

@nozurbina

56

Intelligent Content The Mind

Free from format, i.e., takesmessages and meaning across devices, styles.

Compresses out details, retains only the key content memory.

Rich in metadata – uses tagging to make associations.

Associative by nature.

Uses structured content models. Builds models and uses them frequently and easily.

Machine-validation-ready and reusable to make diverse yet consistent stories.

“Likes” finding patterns and consistency using System 1. Gets tired out by needing to parse inconsistency, which needs System 2.

@nozurbina

57

Intelligent Content The Mind

Free from format, i.e., takesmessages and meaning across devices, styles.

Compresses out details, retains only the key content memory.

Rich in metadata – uses tagging to make associations.

Associative by nature.

Uses structured content models. Builds models and uses them frequently and easily.

Machine-validation-ready and reusable to make diverse yet consistent stories.

“Likes” finding patterns and consistency using System 1. Gets tired out by needing to parse inconsistency, which needs System 2.

Your creatorsand customerswill internalise

your models

Your creatorsand customerswill internalise

your models

@nozurbina

Simplified model…

60

of complex reality

@nozurbina

Intelligent content supports tailored delivery

Manage Serve &

Transform

Create components

Pro

file

A

Pro

file

B

Pro

file

C

Pro

file

D

Same content

Everyone

…with WPT/

processing

tools

…in CCMS

(Structure

-aware)

…in structured

Authoring

Tool(s)

???

Your System 1 does everything it can to restore the status quo.

SO NOW WHAT?

SOME PARTING THOUGHTS

@nozurbinaAttitude shift

Stop framing the user in the

window of the medium.

Assumptions and analytics

aren’t enough.

Find out who they really are.

@nozurbinaEmbrace structure

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Check out bit.ly/artofgridfor great designer quotes about “ the grid system”

HOMEWORK

Specific lessons and terms to take home

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(some of which are in

our book. Nudge

nudge, wink wink)

@nozurbinaEmbrace Intelligent Content

• Write for system 1 and system 2

• Explicitly define the semantic models implicit in your content

– Map out the different perspectives and contexts in which content will be used

• Give creators clear tools to create and visualisetheir work across contexts

• Store semantic content so machines validate it and can help you deliver tailored experiences

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@nozurbinaEmbrace Intelligent Content

• Measure user memory of whole journeys

– UX is just a means to an end

– Digital alone CANNOT SHOW a customer’s full journey

• Set up your team properly

– “Chief content officer” and “chief experience officers” are becoming real things

– Get content creators, strategists, engineers (and the rest) who understand the value-add of each other’s work

• Start bashing your boss’s System 1 and 2

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