Sherry Turkle "Alone Together"

Simone told me it would be useful to watch a TED Talk by Sherry Turkle about the relationship people in the Western world now have with technology.   This is not directly related to the work of Csikszentmihalyi, but in some ways it links in though Turkle's belief that we need to look for happiness (therefore related to flow) in ways other than our smartphones and computer screens.  Most of it is interesting but quite general, however there are some little pearls she mentions that could be worth going into a bit more.  One I found to be relevant was when she states: "Technology appeals to us most when we are most vulnerable." As people who would seek out a mindfulness practice could be seen as vulnerable as they are likely stressed anxious etc and looking for something to relieve that, this idea could further justify my choice to create an app.  If people are in the mindset to get some relief, they are likely to turn to their devices.  Does this contradict most of Turkle's argument?  Maybe, but I wonder if this line of thinking could be a useful thing to write about in my dissertation, even over a few sentences.

What Turkle does have to say on the matter is striking, and whether or not it directly links to my project is certainly worth noting.  One of her opening examples is that "People talk to me of the important new skill of making eye contact while texting." This could arguably sum up the whole point of her talk, titled Alone Together, as it demonstrates the lengths we go to to keep in the loop through our phones and other devices.  Turkle says: "We're getting used to a new way of being Alone Together.  People want to be with each other, but also elsewhere, connected to all the different places they want to be…they want to go in and out of all the places that they are, because the thing that matters most to them is control, over where they put their attention."  (Thinking aloud here, this idea of control over where we put our attention is very linked to mindfulness practice, as that is exactly what the core of the practice is.    Perhaps this talk is not so removed from my own stuff as I thought).

One of Turkle's core points is about the way we conduct conversations, and why we choose to do so over text and instant messenger rather than face to face.  The latter kind of communication takes place in real time and you can't edit, refine and control what you're going to say to the other person in the way that you can when using a device.  "We get to edit, and that means we get to delete, and that means we get to retouch.  Human relationships are messy: We clean them up with technology"says Turkle.

Following on from this, Turkle notes that the styles of conversation that feels comfortable for an adolescent is very different to what feels right for a 50 year old.  The two generations rely on communication differently, so while the 50 year old might yearn to go back to face-to-face chat, the 16 year old might feel the same but have not yet experienced it properly.  Both, however, have become accustomed to connecting in what Turkle describes as "sips"rather than gulps of conversation.  "People get so used to getting by with less conversation that they now want to get by without talking to others.  People even want Siri to advance to become a friend!" According to Turkle, the reason for this is because "The feeling that no-one is listening to me makes us want to spend more time with machines" which has led to the next wave of developers "designing technology which gives us the illusion of companionship."

"If we don't have connections, we don't feel like ourselves." This feeling has stopped us developing the ability to be okay with solitude, which creates a cycle -  the capacity for solitude stops us turning to others to make us feel better.  People in the Western world are stuck in a rut, and as Turkle says:
"We're smitten with technology, and we're afraid that like two young lovers, too much talking will spoil the romance." This is making me think about possibly incorporating another little section into the build which covers how to switch off from technology as a little aside to helping mindfulness meditations, (although I'm not sure about having that message presented in an app that is viewed on a tablet…!)

Turkle finishes her talk with a statement about the direction we need to take next in order to undo this problem technology has helped us create.  "Now we need to focus on the many, many ways  technology can lead us back to our real lives, our own bodies, our own communities, our own bodies, our own planet."  This too sort of fits with mindfulness, as it is about bodily awareness, but I may be stretching the metaphor a bit there! Turkle's talk definitely throws up a few things to consider content wise, the issue now is how to apply them in a way that will not be at odds with the technology based way the information is presented on.

References:

Turkle, Sherry. 2012.  Connected, but alone? [online] Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together?language=en
[Accessed 04 March 2015]

Superviser meeting Week 8 notes

Today I met with Simone for our weekly meeting, where I showed her my draft dissertation plan and we briefly discussed the topic of flow and the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.   I am in the process of writing a blog post on flow based on some of Csikszentmihalyi's work so that will lend more context to the conversation! 

Much of Csikszentmihalyi's writings centres around states of flow and attention while using technology, which ties in with the other topic which was the question of using technology to communicate a subject that is typically associated with the opposite technology.   Simone suggested looking at a TED Talk by Sherry Turkle which I will write about later today.   We also discussed what ways I could create stickiness in the app  - Simone suggested using something like a link to a meditation playlist on Spotify.  The how-to sections of the app would be the primary points of stickiness which would get users to keep coming back to the app.  

One of the things I brought up in my presentation was how I would make the icons, especially on the splash screen of the app, look so that their function was immediately apparent.  Simone said that she felt a good way around that would be to use modal windows, as I showed in the presentation, which the user could tap on and see what counter linked to what section of the app.

Draft dissertation structure

Contents Table

Abstract

Introduction

Contextual Review:

Theoreticals

• Semiotic Theory
• Gestalt Theory
• Flow 
• Technology relationships (Sherry Turkle etc)

Content

• Mindfulness and associated visuals
• Designing for the target audience
• How to create a state of stickiness in using the app

Design

• Relationships between illustration and typography
• The visual system and learning
• Print/screen relationships
• Aesthetic themes of the artwork in the app

Methodology

• Practice based research
• Case studies
• Survey - what & questions

Results

Results of the survey, what do they mean 

Style guide

Outcomes 

• Web prototypes
• Print posters

Analysis of evaluation

• What went well, what didn't

Conclusions

• Results
• Further discussion
• Further reading

References

Any necessary appendices

I plan to at least have much of the methodology section of the dissertation drafted by next week in order to get feedback, and hopefully have made a good crack at the literature review too (although that remains to be seen).