Cullmann Design Blog

A recent study from Nielsen shows that more than half of television viewers are engaged in another media consumption activity while taking in their favorite programming. Nielsen’s study, The Three Screens Report, was created specifically to capture data about usage behavior in our living rooms. The report is a painting of how media is changing and how the adoption of our phones, computers and hybrid devices is changing the way that we interact with one another and media. Nielsen’s Three Screens Report goes back to 2009 and even this small period of time, it’s easy to see a shift in behavior.

Surprising is that the multi-channel consumption is not limited, or even led, by a particular demographic. Mobile video consumption for instance, is led by 25-34 year-olds. and that consumption drops 10-15% for users not-yet 20 years old. Also surprising is that although younger audiences consume more media (in time spent), a more mature demographic (24-35 year-olds) spend their time using many channels simulatiously. The Nielsen study does not go into specific details regarding the content of what is consumed, but should still be taken seriously by those who create content for prime-time viewing as well as content on-demand and web media.

From a media-professional perspective, understanding that your messaging and imagery is competing with several different stimuli at a given time. The tactics that you must employ are becoming more and more fragmented as well. Web content should be scannable, clean and broken out into digestible portions. Apps should be designed to keep your place within content and preserve the last “state” if the device goes dormant or is exited. Television content, especially commercials, should be fast and attention getting. Also, branding should not be visual alone as users may be looking away from the screen (especially during commercial breaks).

The Nielsen report is a fantastic benchmark for media producers. Not only does it provide support for what we all know-all-to-well to be typical behavior, but it also shows demographic information that is surprising. The report covers the first quarter of 2010 and the data, when compared with the previous year’s reflects the emergence of new devices and mobile network capabilities. The survey period ends before the release of the Apple’s iPad, which may further tilt the statistic towards multi-channel and mobile media consumption. The iPad, Google Android and several other consumer oriented mobile media devices are creating a new category of info-tainment that makes every minute, every commercial break and every morsel of downtime an opportunity to see a short-format video or catch a quick-laugh on YouTube. The trick is to become THAT content that captures user’s attention.

The release of the iPad and its settling into the market point to a distinction between the devices and software we use to “consume” media and create it. The digital workstation is long overdue for an overhaul and Microsoft Research is developing a solution. In recent demonstrations, Microsoft is leveraging their Surface technology to create a naturally manipulated user interface to draw, write, cut, copy and paste digital data. The demonstration presented shows how you can marry user input devices, in this case a pen, with touch to treat the screen as if it is a true “art-board”.

Surface, as demonstrated here, goes beyond previous generations of tablet and touch interfaces like those currently offered from Wacom and Adesso. Although these input devices make use of naturalistic behavior, they offer a limited surface area for manipulation and lack the utility of multi-touch demonstrated on the Surface technology. Both Microsoft and Apple have incorporated mutli-touch into their native operating systems, the keyboard and mouse software is still the primary paradigm for operation. This is partially due to software developers not yet taking advantage of the new native APIs available in the operating systems, but also a lack of clear indication as to how users will use these technologies. The introduction and evolution of “consumption” dedicated devices like the iPad may yield an answer.

Having used Wacom tablets for year and recently being able to spend time with the Surface, both offer an add a freedom beyond the mouse. Both pressure sensitivity and a natural movement allows fast and quick almost gesture-like actions. This is a benefit and attraction because of the nature of my work in design. I’m unsure how much wide-market appeal it will have or if, beyond page-turning and “flicking”, it can offer with today’s content structure. The iPad, the publishing industry and how developers begin to use this technology will help shape the next generation of user interface. I believe that this is why so many people are excited about the iPad and what it brings to the marketplace.

Interface design like the one presented by Microsoft Surface is creating a completely new arena for content creation and will also influence the aesthetics of design to come. Both print and new media designers may completely change their approach with the freedom presented by these new tools. It may seem strange, but there is an entire generation of designers who may not know what it is like to sit at a drafting table or balance a bottle of India Ink in their hands while burning the midnight oil.

Thanks to John Nosta for the Microsoft Research clip inspiring this post.

Roger Black has an excellent post on the Society for News Design Blog. The dialogue is an overview, but there was one point that I think was missed: From the perspective of Art Direction, it is becoming increasingly important that Content Creators and Designers construct their presentation is such a way that it translates, with its impact, across multiple platforms and media. This post (and the snd website) is an excellent example. The post, a standards based layout, features a full transcript.

Roger Black: the decade in design from The Society for News Design on Vimeo.