I tried Snap's Spectacles and here's what I learned

Upside: They look great and are tons of fun!

Downside: You still have to use your phone to take a selfie

I recently got the chance to try out Snap's hot new Spectacles for a weekend - a wearable device that is essentially a camera resting on your face - and I had a blast! I also learned a ton about a promising future of lightweight wearables and Snap, Inc., the company. Here's what I learned.

1. Snap's Spectacles look like fashion, not tech

The second I put the Spectacles on and looked in the mirror I instantly felt a sense of surprise. I was wearing fashion not tech! The design and look of these glasses is impressive. Not only do they look great on but they feel very solid and maybe even a little bit cool, as though you have a little piece of sunny LA resting on your face.

The little yellow rings over each lens indicating where the cameras are located can look like a sporty style or branding detail, which is to be expected with most designer sunglasses these days and didn't come off to me as particularly shocking or remarkable. 

Once I put the Spectacles on I stopped thinking of them as a techie device and more as a pair of sunglasses with 'extra'. They look and feel exactly like sunglasses. I looked all over the packaging but didn't see it listed anywhere whether they include actual UVA protection, so it's not clear if you can replace your current sunglasses with the Spectacles, which would be ideal. And as with regular sunglasses, glasses wearers will have to use contacts to use the Spectacles. 

Overall, a good look. My initial impression was that Silicon Beach is finally showing Silicon Valley how to make consumer electronics people will want to wear.

2. They're quick and easy to use, but no selfies

Getting started with the Spectacles was quick and relatively painless. 

First you pair glasses to your Snapchat app by following the OOBE instructions listed in the booklet inside the charging case (which doubles as a hard glasses case - nifty). The instructions in my booklet weren't exactly inline with the app, but after poking around in the app I eventually found the Snapcode ghost to stare at with the glasses on in order pair the Spectacles.  

Next I saw the new user tutorial screens which showed me that there is only one interaction with the glasses - take a 10 second video Snap - and one hard button on the glasses you use to do this. This simplified interaction was a relief. The Spectacles were feeling more like a high-end toy than a high-tech gadget.

I instantly tried capturing my first Spectacles video Snap and noticed the 10-second blinking 'recording lights' from behind the glasses. Once the lights were done flashing I opened Snapchat to confirm that the video automatically uploaded to the app, and I was ready to go. 

Immediately I wondered how people would use the glasses to take selfies. Then I realized the only way to do this using the Spectacles would be to take the video Snap in front of a mirror, or have your friend wear the Spectacles and take your video Snap selfie. Naturally I tried both, and the camera angle is too wide for good selfies - with no ability to zoom.

3. They didn't appear to make anyone angry or uncomfortable (so far)

Next I encountered my first big challenge: To venture outside and walk around San Francisco with my Spectacles on.  

Given the history and reputation of previous Google Glass wearers (a.k.a 'Glassholes'), I was nervous at first to wear the Spectacles in public. Would people notice them, think I am potentially recording them, and feel violated? As a female and urban pedestrian the last thing want to do is put myself at risk by advertising something valuable or create unnecessary social tension!

But I was brave and went for it. Fortunately, I received only two comments all weekend, expressing general interest and asking me how the glasses work. Each time I made sure to share right away that I was not recording them (when Spectacles are recording they display a noticeable flashing light, but folks new to the glasses would not know that).

 

4. They allow you to enjoy the moment

TOTAL UNINTERRUPTED PRESENCE. This was the biggest revelation of all.

This is what a video Snap from made from Spectacles looks like. When you share it in Snapchat, the image takes rectangular shape, not circular.

Because you only tap the tactile button once on the side of the glasses take the video Snap, I never had to look down or away, find or read a menu, open my phone, swipe around or get otherwise distracted in order to capture a Snap. All I did was tap on my glasses while walking, the same level of interaction as if I was simply adjusting them.

After a day of using the Spectacles their real magic became became clear. They enabled me to capture a moment while never moving my eyes away from what I was looking at.

I could capture any moment while maintaining total presence and immersion in that moment and with full attention to the people around me.

The Spectacles product team consciously chose to not weight down the glasses experience with editing, stickering, annotating, and sharing of the Snaps - all of this you can easily do later when you want to get back on your phone app. Instead you can can just go about your life wearing the Spectacles and with one button tap capture lots of quick spontaneous video which will look a whole lot more real life - dare I say, reality - and not a bunch of posed and perfected images (unless of course you want to add that in later).

5. Snap Inc is suggesting A future In Augmented Reality 

As I used the glasses more and more, it became clear that Spectacles aren't just a lightweight way of capturing video, hidden in a form factor that is light-years more fashionable and accessible than we've seen before.

Suddenly, Snap, Inc. became a camera company - one that has its eyes on AR. The Spectacles are demonstrating how users can leverage the benefits of technology in a way that is safely, fully integrated to their reality and actually makes sense on their bodies and in a social context.

These glasses are just starting to break down the technology wall separating our physically lived lives from our documented, curated digital lives. Snap's Spectacles are clearly suggesting a future towards the intersection of good user experience and enhanced, even augmented, reality. So far, in a much cooler looking head-mounted display. 

This is NOT a sponsored post. These words reflect the researcher's own experiences and humble opinion.

Making the Case for Gendered Interactions

Which associations are you designing for?

It’s 2017. Today we know that gender is not simply a binary category (male or female), so easily and often confused with one’s biological sex.

We now know that gender is actually a much more fluid, sociologically-defined trait or identity that is based on a spectrum and is an entangled part our everyday lives, experiences, and expectations.

But did you know that objects and interactions can be gendered, too?

In fact, people who create products and experiences actually architect gender into their designs, most of the time without knowledge of doing so.

It's true. Due to our highly gendered society, pretty much everything that involves an action, interaction, script, or interface - that is, anything that exists to interact within our society and is created by people - can be seen as 'gendered', by design.

Fourteen years ago in my doctoral program I created a simple, subjective tool that enables people to assess the gender of objects and interactions.

It looked something like this:

At first glance this tool appears to be a standard subjective rating scale — and in a way, it is. But there are two key differences:

1) The subject selects the images that anchor each end of the scale (from a library of images depicting figures interacting with various everyday objects)

2) The subject indicates a point on the scale where they believe an interaction falls, effectively evaluating the gender of an interaction

This metric represents the transformative idea of subjectively yet quantitatively measuring elusive, social constructs like gender to understand exactly how much these qualities are integrated into the tools and products we create. And it can easily be applied to other demographics such as age, culture, and ethnicity.

As proud as I am of this tool, I am even prouder of the fact that I defended it when it was wholly unpopular to do so. My advisors and colleagues believed that the concept felt ‘forced’ and unnecessary, and told me to scrap it and start over. Back in 2003 the soft, squishy idea of gender seemed to play no role in the hard, boxy, tangible Palm Pilots we held in our hands. But today we know that when viewed in the context of design and use, our devices and tools are intrinsically linked to our lived experiences and all of its meaningful complexity.

We now understand that constructs like gender, age, and ethnicity are complex and meaningful influences in our lives. But the tools to measure this are antiquated. We know that for many people checking a single, binary box to a demographic question about race or gender is no longer applicable. And we know that age, just a number, is no indicator of openness to technological solutions that can enhance one’s quality of life.

This metric matters because as consumer technologies become more and more ubiquitous, we have no choice but to try using research tools that can help us better understand the complex richness of our users’ lived experiences. Richness that extends beyond our products but surely includes them — from the computers in our pockets, to the cars we drive, the clothes we buy, the entertainment we enjoy, and especially the conversational agents in our home attempting to create a single, personable thread through all of it. Where would Amazon’s Alexa, for example, fall for you on the gender spectrum?

“Where would Amazon’s Alexa, for example, fall for you on the gender spectrum?”

Rating scales are an established and reliable way to collect evaluative data about an experience. But this particular tool changes the conversation and establishes new understanding. It prompts a richer, more nuanced (i.e. user-centered) discussion that gives us actionable insight into the gendered connections and associations users make with their tools and how they are designed.

Perhaps most importantly, subjective rating scales gauging gender can tell us if we are failing to build experiences that consider and speak to all of our possible users and customers.

5 Ways You Can Practice Inclusive Technology Design

Over the past few years progress towards increasing diversity in the tech industry has been painfully slow - especially for women of color - despite increased awareness, corporate commitment, and accountability.

Gender demographics for all US workers. Visualization: Brittany Schell/Gizmodo. Sources: Airbnb, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Yahoo

This situation reflects more than just an egregious lack of equal opportunity. The entire future of human-centered technology and access is at stake. The lack of diverse representation in the industry impacts out ability to create technologies that serve and are usable by all people regardless of age, ethnicity, socio-economic perspective, gender, physical ability, or any combination thereof (also known as intersectionality).

The effects of this inequality on technology design are painfully obvious. All you have to do is look at the experience of racial discrimination when using Airbnb, Uber de-prioritizing service for disabled riders, and Twitter’s lack of crackdown on misogyny and harassment.

It’s really frustrating to work in tech and see this situation continue. So lately I’ve been focusing on impactful ways I can work to better understand and serve the needs of folks who are underrepresented in tech, especially when designing and building our products. So here are five ways which I have found to help me work towards more inclusive design in our current environment of disparity.

1. First and foremost, let people speak for themselves

Sometimes all it takes is to recognize when you are attempting to speak for other people and simply stop and move out of the way.

Voices are powerful. So pass the mic, as they say. As individuals and product designers we can create platforms and opportunities for our users to represent themselves first hand, make their individual voices heard, create community, and increase visibility.

Remember that each and every lived experience is unique, and it is neither fair nor appropriate to expect one member of an underrepresented group to ‘speak for’ or represent an entire group of people.

If you have a question about the needs of an underserved group of people, do your research and find a way ask them directly. Always seek ways to learn from individuals first-hand about their experience, and why.

2. Support the development of a diverse new wave of technologists

There is no form of data or proxy that can (or should) replace an actual person in the room, having agency, taking part in and contributing equally to the future of innovation.

So while the massive gap in industry still exists, each of us can choose help build a stronger, more diverse pipeline for the incoming tech workforce. You can support efforts that are underway to educate and train new coders across the country such as groups like Black Girls Code and Girls Who Code. You can contribute by simply attending events, spreading the word, volunteering and mentoring, donating equipment, or by participating in hackathon activities, inviting job shadowing, or offering press, partnership, or financial support.

A happy camper at GirlPowered! Game Developer Camp at Indiana University Bloomington. Image: The Media School at Indiana University

And anyone can share their passion for design thinking and coding skills by creating free, accessible tutorials online using websites like Udemy or YouTube. Or you can volunteer an hour or two at your local library, especially if you are located in a more rural area. Or you can help and encourage others to try out free coding programs like Hour of Code on Code.org or Swift Playgrounds.

Apple’s Swift Playgrounds, a free learn-to-code app. It gets hard but it’s also fun so you’ll want to stick with it!

3. Recognize unconscious bias

Educational efforts underway now may still take up to another 5–10 years to yield a new and prepared, diverse tech workforce. In the meantime we can take a look at ourselves. Each of us can examine how our own personal perspectives and experiences impact the technologies that we design and build.

The world-views and values that people use when making decisions, including when we design and build technologies, is bias. And bias isn’t always a bad thing; on its own it simply refers to a personally held attitude or belief towards a thing, person, or people.

But then you add context. We all have unique beliefs, needs, hopes, dreams, and fears that equate to our lived experiences. We manifest these feelings in the form of biases, and use these biases to make decisions, fulfill our passions, feel safe, and navigate the world.

This is where our biases can also be destructive. Implicit or unconscious bias is where a person is unaware that his or her perspective and values are excluding and/or can have a negative affect on other people or groups.

An example of unconscious bias in action showed up in some recent viral postings of people ‘redesigning’ TV remotes for grandmas. Sadly, this kind of insult-in-disguise occurs rather regularly when it comes to consumer electronics.

Anyone working in technology can fight the negative effects of unconscious bias. Start by making an effort to be conscious about your biases. Make a checklist and reflect upon what you believe to be your truth. What do you value most? What are your biggest concerns, or fears? When do you feel empowered, or excluded? What makes you feel safe? How do you feel about technology? And most importantly, how do you feel about various groups of people who are not like you? What do you believe is their relationship to technology? Reflect upon why other groups may or may not feel or see the world the same way you do. Try to recognize when your biases enter your work and decisions when building products.

4. Do the extra work to design & test products with everyone, not just your ‘core market’

All people independent of age, ethnicity, gender, and physical ability depend on the folks in the meeting rooms building technology to represent and defend their needs and interests, so they aren’t excluded from access to the tools that drive our technology-centered world.

We can seek to serve the needs of all technology users by using inclusive design practices and including people of various ethnicity, age, gender, and abilities in our design activities like:

· Ethnographic research

· Participatory design exercises

· Concept, usability, and beta testing

Let’s say you are asked by your team to focus on a narrower market-driven customer base, or a specific group of early adopters. That shouldn’t conflict with your ability to practice inclusive design. You can take one additional step and be bold. Dedicate a little extra time and effort to simply expand your user research to include a few folks from the otherwise non-represented consumer groups to make sure you are not excluding their needs. I promise you - your team will be intrigued by the additional results, including the possibility of addressing even MORE markets and customers.

Virtual Reality Aimed At The Elderly Finds New Fans Kara Platoni/KQED. Images: Kara Platoni/KQED One Caring Team

Let’s hope Pew starts to include ethnic intersectionality in their polls! Image: Pew Research Center

You’ll need to reach a wide audience in order to include a highly diverse set of people in your research. Luckily there are many ways to find prospective research participants. Helpful online methods include using paneling tools such as Ethn.io and Usertesting.com, and posting screener surveys on social media and web message boards. Try to reach out offline to an even broader range of people through church and veterans groups and library, grocery, community college, and coffee shop posting boards.

You’ll also want to closely examine any screening tools you use. Because the job of screeners is to actually screen out people, it is by nature exclusive, not inclusive. So it’s important to question hard why and how you screen out certain users for testing. Look carefully at your biases and assumptions.

An easy update is to ensure that people can report about themselves using gender non-binary, multi-race, and intersectional demographic selections (examples: using ‘Select All’ and an ‘I prefer’ text field).

Instead of leaning on stereotypes to guide the development of your screener (such as ‘tech bro’, ‘midwesterner’, or ‘soccer mom’) focus on seeking various combinations of demographics, current tools/technologies in use, and actual behaviors to capture a truly diverse set of people and needs.

Example of a brief intercept research participation tool from Ethn.io Image: Ethn.io

Including remote research activities (research via webcam or web conference) can also help you connect with even more people such as caregivers, people with limited mobility, and people who live in more rural areas.

Once you recruit these hard-to-find folks be sure to keep a list of these participants so you can refer back to them for ongoing product testing and feedback.

Lastly, if you identify as one of the folks who are underrepresented in the tech industry, you can provide input on your needs by volunteering to participate in user research yourself. Or, if you have friends or family who identify with any of these groups you can tell them about the importance of their contribution to the tech industry through product testing. There are many ways to volunteer to give input. Reach out to friends who work in technology and tell them you’d like to help them test their product (they’re probably looking for you and will be happy for your help). Go to the websites or social media sites of your favorite tech companies and sign up for usability testing. You can also reach out to a marketing research firm and tell them you would like to participate in technology product research, or respond to reputable calls for usability participation on Facebook or Craigslist.

5. Sample Diverse Data Sets

Technologists who work with sets of user data know that these data are often used to make critical decisions about product features and experiences. Good examples of this are when product teams to A/B testing to compare website use and determine which site is more effective or frequently used, and when Netflix uses large sets of user data to predict whether you will like a certain movie.

But note that humans determine from whom data is paneled and collected (known as sampling), which sets are used for analysis, and determine the algorithms used to make conclusions - which are all opportunities for introducing bias. Scientists and researchers construct the systems for data collection modeling. Therefore, the output and inferences these systems make will ultimately be based on these peoples’ values, decisions, and priorities - in a word, these data are also biased. And the process of machine learning can amplify the effect of bias, in both good and bad ways.

Image: Wikipedia Sample (statistics)

Cases which exemplify more troubling possibilities of biased sampling and algorithms include the instance of racial bias in Google Images associations and Microsoft’s experiment with its conversational bot ‘Tay’.

Just like how designers make decisions about which product features get edited out (or in), data scientists can develop systems which reflect the activities of a diverse population of users by seeking to understand and use innovative measures of diversity to guide their data sampling and algorithms.

Each of us can take action

It has been helpful for me to identify these activities I can do right now - on both an individual and collaborative level - to help the industry design products to be more inclusive of the incredible variety of people we serve. I hope you’ll share your ideas and experiences with the design community too.