The [In]Attention Economy: Is this what we really need?
INTRODUCTION:
According to the United Nations Economist Network, the concept of an “attention economy” was first coined in the late 1960s by Herbert A. Simon, characterizing the problem of information overload as an economic one.
“What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.”
Despite numerous searches I failed to find anything describing how Herbert A. Simon envisaged the attention economy being addressed, was it purely a new commodity or did he envisage ways to help reduce information load too? One thing he didn't envisage is how information-richness would explode in the subsequent 60 years, or how his concept would be subverted.
TODAY
Since the 1990s “the concept has become increasingly popular with the rise of the internet making content (supply) increasingly abundant and immediately available, and attention becoming the limiting factor in the consumption of information.” If attention is the engine, then the content supply chain is the fuel.
Knowing that human brains were already under strain in the 1960’s, the internet population grew by a staggering 3,356% since 1995 and the growth in data generated will be substantially bigger again than that figure. Across Southeast Asia, people spend 8.5 hours daily consuming digital media, which is a touch higher than the global average.
Cognitive load in the attention economy is ostensibly being a sinking ship and selectively plugging holes to slow down the flooding. Even the attention economy must vie for attention with other buzzworthy new economies – experience, circular, network, integrated and so on.
ATTENTION-SEEKING IN PEOPLE
A key problem is that the attention economy was first considered as an economics problem - how scarce resources are allocated and how best to capture them for profit - instead of a human and societal problem.
“Human transactions always seem to have an attention factor. Attention seeking and giving is present in nearly all interpersonal interactions and is a key factor in human behaviour. Desire for attention begins in infancy and is linked to feeding, comfort and protection. It usually remains a primitive desire throughout life and can go beyond mere satisfaction.” (source: Psychology Today)
With deep psychological roots, attention-seeking may stem from jealousy, low self-esteem, loneliness, or because of a personality disorder, examples include:
Fishing for compliments
Exaggerating a story
Purposefully being argumentative
Seeking empathy
Pretending they can’t do something
Pretending to have special skills
Constantly taking over the conversation
Being opportunistic at the expense of others. (source: choosing therapy)
Recognise any of those whilst checking your device on the commute to work?
ATTENTION-SEEKING IN DESIGN
Inspired by this keynote presentation by Tristan Harris, an ex-Google ethics leader who subsequently set-up the Center for Humane Technology, which I’m a huge advocate of. He much more articulately describes the far-reaching consequences of the attention economy than I ever could. Invest some mental resources here:
I'm not afraid. You're afraid | Tristan Harris | Nobel Prize Summit 2023
The fundamental problem is how to translate moderate or reasoned perspectives into widespread action. Since reasoning is not bite-size, nor convenient, nor anecdotal or post-fact. I don’t think we have an answer to that, yet, other than to draw attention (argh!) to the inherent problems within the system and bring them back to what we have always known in humans as a sign of a deep-rooted problem to help with – as parents, as teachers, as friends, peers and institutions - otherwise creating a monster as it were, not of #livingmybestlife.
ATTENTION-SEEKING IN BRANDS
In humans, attention-seeking can be an ugly behaviour. In the attention economy, we see pretty clear signs that ugliness is still on trend (see above).
Gigantic grilles on cars, meme fashion and luxury “am I in on the joke, or am I the joke?” Streaming shows that use deep analytics to deploy tactics that hoodwink us into watching disposable entertainment. Ugly UI to drive scrolling, rapid interactions, gamification and rampant monetisation. Failed mega (vanity)-projects. Weird collectibles. The growing usage of Performance Enhancing Drugs in teenagers capitalised on by unscrupulous fitness brands. We see this attention-seeking all around us. The silver lining, I suppose, is that everything is a phase and I for one, hope this phase ends sooner rather than later (idealist me!)
SIMPLICITY IN DESIGN
There are many businesses that still get it - Simplicity sells. Simple brands typically outperform stock market indexes; LIDL, Google, Amazon, ALDI, Samsung, 7-Eleven and UNIQLO to name but a few. Humans can also be manipulated by convenience, but that is a different story, for now the focus is on reducing information overload. Product design, UI and design systems still play a pivotal role in creating simplicity. A worthwhile read remains “The Paradox of Choice” from 2002. The 2015 paper “Choice overload: A conceptual review and meta-analysis” was able to isolate factors that reflect reducing choices for your customers in a way most likely to boost sales.
When Are Consumers Most Likely to Feel Overwhelmed by Their Options?
All are quite academic so they don’t compete well against the immediacy of attention, they can still be widely applied into all avenues of strategic design.
REDUCING ATTENTION-SEEKING
If attention is a commodity and everyone is trying to win it, then that's more cost than profit. Instead of seeking attention as an opportunity for short-term profit, seek connection as an opportunity for longer-term growth. Instead of capturing more attention, ask how do we create better focus? Solve the human problem first before the economic one.
Shift from attention seeking to connection seeking
Avoid giving positive reinforcement to attention seekers
Set boundaries and expectations on time and availability
Provide honest, authentic communication
Encourage a calm mind.
I’ll sign off with “Nothing worth having comes easy”.