Task 10: Attention Economy
By Leilani
Hi Leilani! Thank you for your reflection, it really prompted me to think deeper about the relations between that website and our online browsing habits. I like that you concisely summarized your experience with the website as “counterintuitive”, and you specifically mentioned the ultimate aim of the site’s antics: to make it difficult for you to proceed to the next page. After this, I feel like us web users take the backwards and forwards buttons and other shortcuts on our browsers for granted. I also experienced the same frustrations as you and was irritated by the constant pop ups. I also have a habit of closing the site if it looks “sketchy” and has many pop ups – it’s like an alarm signalling that it’s a potential virus. I also realized how it really tested my patience and willingness to slow down. Like everyone else, I just wanted to get to the next page as fast as possible because I was getting irritated! I suppose all of our “default” actions that we made when we first approached the site may have been conditioned by the “standarized” websites that we are so used to. And this stimulation may have made us more aware of those habits.
You made an intriguing observation about the selection on the third page. I was also frustrated when I finally noticed the select/deselect all option at the bottom, and I was not sure why they would place it there. Although I unselected the boxes in random order, I still did not manage to see it until later. I thought that placement was very random until I read your analysis. Your point about English speakers being naturally inclined to start on the top left-hand corner as if they were reading text is a very interesting take on this component, and I can totally see the placement being meaningful. If there are linguistic implications to this task, I wonder if the results would be the same among speakers of different languages.
I’d also like to highlight two excellent points you made: “…much of the data collection has to be done behind the scenes so that consumers do not need to deal with the constant disruptions in using the platform” and, “If I enjoy the site, I will spend more time on it. If the site/platform has algorithms that work behind the scenes to capture my data, the better the design of the site, the more data they can collect.” These statements are really enlightening and captures the online user experience in relation to data collection very accurately. As you said, good user design is so crucial to data collection. To be honest, in regards to web design, I did not think much deeper than it being purely for aesthetic appeal and engagement. After reading your reflection, I am now more aware of the potential hidden data processes that come with my prolonged stay, which can be concerning. “The better design of the site, the more data they can collect.” Your statement really packs a punch and makes me think about how powerful data collection can be in the future (not to mention the deterioration).