Content consumption patterns have dramatically changed over the last decade. The maximum selective sustained attention span of a human being is about 20 minutes. The length of this talk. Latest research shows that the transient attention span of human beings has even gone down from 12 to 8 seconds over the last decade – even a goldfish has a longer attention span. To communicate technical content in the future successfully, we need to move from drops to drips, deliver smaller content chunks, improve findability and searchability and tailor content to the content consumer’s role and context automatically.

1. LAVACON 2017
NOVEMBER 6, PORTLAND, USA

3. HELLO!

4. #LavaCon

5. @stefangentz

7. ONCE UPON IN A TIME

8. IN THE YEAR 2000 …

9. MICROSOFT CONDUCTED
A STUDY.

10. IT TOOK …

11. 1

12. 2

13. 3

14. 4

15. 5

16. 6

17. 7

18. 8

19. 9

20. 10

21. 11

22. 12

23. 12 SECONDS.

24. BEFORE THE PARTICIPANT'S
TRANSIENT ATTENTION SPAN
WAS OVER.

25. (12 SECONDS DID FEEL QUITE
LONG, DIDN'T THEY?)

27. FAST FORWARD

28. 2001

29. 2002
LinkedIn

30. 2003
Skype, WordPress

31. 2004
Facebook

32. 2005
YouTube

33. 2006
Twitter

34. 2007
iPhone

35. 2008
AirBnb

36. 2009
WhatsApp

37. 2010
Instagram, iPad

38. 2011
WeChat

39. 2012

40. 2013

41. THINGS HAVE CHANGED
DRAMATICALLY.

42. THE INTERNET HAS CHANGED
THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE,
CONSUME & SHARE CONTENT,
TRAVEL, BUY.

43. …

44. SO MICROSOFT CONDUCTED
THE SAME STUDY AGAIN.

45. AND THE RESULTS WERE NOT
WHAT YOU MIGHT EXPECT …

47. LET'S PLAY:

48. THE FOLLOWING TEXT HAS
EXACTLY 140 CHARACTERS.
THE AMOUNT OF TEXT THAT
FITS INTO A TWEET.

49. YOU HAVE 12 SECONDS.
TRY TO READ AND REMEMBER
THE CONTENT.

50. READY?

52. 採用 12.3 吋顯示器，具備 3:2 外觀
比例和 2736 × 1824 解析度，可觀
賞 HD 電影、瀏覽網頁以及使用您
喜愛的應用程式。

53. UPS! SORRY …

54. USE THE 12.3" DISPLAY, WITH
ITS 3:2 ASPECT RATIO AND
2736 × 1824 RESOLUTION, TO
WATCH HD MOVIES, BROWSE
THE WEB, AND USE YOUR
FAVORITE APPS.

56. {
"SOURCE": ­MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO 4,
TYPE: USER GUIDE,
RELEASE: 09/2016
}

58. HAVE YOU MANAGED TO READ
AND REMEMBER IT IN
12 SECONDS?

59. OKAY. IT WAS UNFAIR.

60. IT WAS ONLY …

61. 8 SECONDS!

62. SO, WHAT WERE THOSE
140 CHARACTERS YOU READ IN
8 SECONDS ABOUT?

63. WHAT DID YOU REMEMBER?

64. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

65. 1. 12.3 DISPLAY
2. 3:2 ASPECT RATIO
3. 2736 × 1824 RESOLUTION
4. WATCH HD MOVIES
5. BROWSE THE WEB
6. USE YOUR FAVORITE APPS

66. THE MICROSOFT STUDY
NOTICED THAT THE TRANSIENT
ATTENTION SPAN WENT DOWN
FROM 12 TO 8 SECONDS IN
JUST 10 YEARS.

67. ATTENTION IMPACT FACTORS:
• Media consumption
• Social media usage
• Technology adoption rate
• Multi-screening behaviour

68. 8 SECONDS!

69. ATTENTION SPAN OF A
GOLDFISH:

70. 9 SECONDS

72. “Millenials have an attention
span shorter than a goldfish.”

73. “Millenials have an attention
span shorter than a goldfish.”
— @stefangentz
#LavaCon #TechComm

75. 2000 2013
12 SEC 9 SEC 8 SEC

76. WE'RE DOOMED.

77. BUT IT'S NOTHING NEW.

78. “A WEALTH OF INFORMATION
CREATES A POVERTY OF
ATTENTION.”
— HERBERT SIMON, NOBEL WINNER, ECONOMICS (1978)

79. ADHD

80. ADHD
(ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER)

81. 5.5
4.0
2.6
PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN AGES 3–17 WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT-
HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD), BY GENDER, 1997–2013
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
5
10
FEMALE
SOURCE: ANALYSIS BY CHILD TRENDS OF NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY DATA 1997–2013
15

82. 5.5
4.0
2.6
8.3
10.3
13.5
12.0
PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN AGES 3–17 WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT-
HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD), BY GENDER, 1997–2013
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
5
10
MALE
FEMALE
SOURCE: ANALYSIS BY CHILD TRENDS OF NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY DATA 1997–2013
15

83. BUT:

84. MANY CHILDREN WITH ADHD
HAVE A GOOD ATTENTION
SPAN FOR TASKS THEY FIND
INTERESTING.

85. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR
MARKETING AND TECHNICAL
COMMUNICATION?

86. WE'RE MOVING
FROM DROPS …

87. TO CONTENT CHUNKS.

88. TO CONTENT SNIPPETS.

89. TO CONTENT DRIPS.

90. WE'RE MOVING
FROM DROPS TO DRIPS.

91. AND WE HAVE NO CHOICE:

92. THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO
“INTELLIGENT INFORMATION”
IN INFORMATION 4.0

93. XML-BASED

94. STRUCTURED

95. SEMANTIC

96. ATTRIBUTED

97. AUTARKIC

98. MAKE SURE YOUR CONTENT
CAN BE CONSUMED BY BOTH
BOTS AND HUMANS.

99. BE CLEAR, PERSONAL,
RELEVANT AND (QUICKLY) GET
TO THE POINT.

100. LEVERAGE RICH MEDIA:
VIDEO, AUDIO, 3D

101. START BUILDING COHESIVE,
IMMERSIVE CONTENT
EXPERIENCES ACROSS ALL
CHANNELS.

102. START BUILDING TAILORED,
PERSONALIZED, DYNAMIC
CONTENT.

104. “THE TRUE SCARCE
COMMODITY IS INCREASINGLY
HUMAN ATTENTION.”
— SATYA NADELLA

106. “BE PASSIONATE AND BOLD.
ALWAYS KEEP LEARNING.YOU
STOP DOING USEFUL THINGS IF
YOU DON'T LEARN.”
— SHANTANU NARAYEN

107. THE END

108. THE END

110. © 2017 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Adobe Tech Comm
invites you to be our guest for a book signing and discussion
with Matt Sullivan, author of :
FrameMaker – Working with Content
FrameMaker – Structured Authoring
FrameMaker Structured EDD Development
on Monday from 6 P.M. onwards @ the Adobe booth