Streaming change

Isn't it always technology that channels change? At any point in time some enabling technology brings about shifts in mass behaviour.

I see video as one such breakthrough technology. Sure the moving camera's been around since Lumière, and we've loved images in motion ever since.. but it’s the new level of access and exposure to video content that is incredibly game changing. Just like the printing press brought about a great leap in the amounts of information distributed, web video is making it possible to exchange huge quantities of information. But what's great with video is everything beyond 'information' that gets communicated. The facial expressions, the mood, the pace and the inherent engaging nature of the medium makes it so impactful.

Web video didn't just become a social phenomena overnight. Camera’s got cheaper and smaller and internet bandwidth got wider, redefining content consumption.

5 years since its launch, YouTube now has 24 hours of video uploaded every minute. With over 2 million viewers every day, this medium is massive. And I see patterns that arise from the culture of web video as something we need to aggregate into our designs.

Opening up:

Great things were always happening, but now everybody can know. Experts and enthusiasts are sharing their best, and happy to do so for free. It’s making sense to have an inclusive approach, sharing and learning from each other.

Speed:

Form follows content now. It’s not as important that the concept or story looks beautiful or ‘finished’, than it is to just make sure that it’s shared immediately. An age of hyper-connectivity and easy content creation means that if your story isn’t out there now, it’s probably too late.

Designing for individuals:

The reach of the medium is incredible, but ironically, most of the content is viewed by individuals most of the time; not in groups. It’s not like the television where the family sits together on a sofa or like the movie theatre where the behaviour is interestingly different. Information is being consumed individually on phones and computers. This has implications beyond designing for video consumption. We need to start designing interactions for individuals, allowing exploration based on their personal traits, finding relevant influencers and allowing convenient access. This also poses a challenge for content creators and designers to drive real world physical and digital collaboration between individuals.

Designing for multiple devices:

The phone, the computer, the gamestation, the music player, the television are not so quite different from each other anymore. More and more devices are going beyond single functions that their form inherently supports. Designs that don’t allow content to be accessed on multiple channels lose out on reach and the value that users are seeking.