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Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Creative youth and digital publishing
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Introductions
Evangeline HaughneySenior User Researcher, Adobe Systems
Evangeline Haughney has a Master's of Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University. For the past 4 years at Adobe, she has worked on the experience design of various products and services including Acrobat and the Creative Suite. In her previous career as a technical writer, she was a Documentation Manager for Kaiser Permanente, where she led the development efforts for an online knowledge base to support the use of Kaiser's electronic medical record systems.
Bill WestermanPrincipal, Create with Context
Bill is co-founder of Create with Context, a strategic design and research firm focused on web, mobile, consumer electronics, and desktop applications. Create with Context combines primary research, idea generation, concept development, and user-centered design to link customer needs through to digital design. Bill’s recent clients include Accenture, Adobe, Panasonic, and Yahoo!, as well as a variety of early-stage startups.
Previously, Bill was Director of Development at Accenture Technology Labs’ Silicon Valley R&D think-tank, helping define and commercialize business applications for emerging technologies such as mobile and pen computing, RFID, and wireless sensor networks. Prior to that, Bill was a Director of Integrated Strategy for Sapient as well as an executive in enterprise technology at Accenture.
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Creative youth and digital publishing
Why study youth?What we know about
today’s youth -3rd-party research
Meet the youth -vignettes from our
field research
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Why study youth?
• Creative youth represent the next generation of publishersand users of creative tools
• Their unique “MySpace generation” perspective must beconsidered in publishing and in the tools that support it
• Youth bring a shifting perspective• Publishing is no longer a discrete activity
• Rather, it is part of an ongoing stream• A byproduct of social interaction and community
• A digital output from everyday activities• A means of self-expression through creativity
• Publishing software and creative tools are no longer seenas a monolithic ‘investment’ of time and money, but as asomewhat transient means to an end
• Learning these tools and the publishing process is notnecessarily seen as a large, daunting and discrete task,but rather as part of the process of creating a piece of media
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Creative youth and digital publishing
Why study youth?What we know about
today’s youth -3rd-party research
Meet the youth -vignettes from our
field research
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
A baseline understanding
Pew Internet & American Life Project 12/2007
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2004
Half of online teens have created contenton the internet
2007
Two-thirds have
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project 12/2007
on the internet, not on their hard drive
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2004
A third of teens share their own artisticcreations online
2007
Forty percent have
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project 12/2007
this is content they consider to be artistic, not just random posts
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2004
One out of five teens remix content theyfind online into their own creations
2007
One out of four have
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project 12/2007
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2007
Most teens receive feedback on thecontent they post online
sometimes most of the time
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project 12/2007
feedback is a key component of online
community
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Creative youth and digital publishing
Why study youth?What we know about
today’s youth -3rd-party research
Meet the youth -vignettes from our
field research
Note: names and other identifying information have been changed to
protect participant privacy
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
What we set out to learn
• Who are these teens?
• What types of media are they creating?
• What’s motivating them to create?
• What do they share (or not share) with others?
• What is their process?
• How are they used to learning?
• How do they find out about tools?
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Methodology• Our initial phase of research focused on a
particular segment of creative youth
• Creative, but not necessarily planning to go into art or design after high school
• Hand-picked for interesting self-expression activities (more than just a MySpace page)
• High-school age
• Self-motivated and self-directed creativity• Creating digital media to share with others
outside of their immediate circle of friends
• In-home visits• California area
• At their home, at their computer• Home tour, including their room
• 120-minute sessions
• Captured pictures, video and artifacts• One researcher, 1-2 observers
ginafan sites
This is Gina
Age: 16Grade: 10thHometown: Central California, 15,000 peopleSiblings: 26 yr old brotherDog: Shadow
Listening to music on imeem, a community music site
Gina likes...
It’s not just listening, it’s creating and
publishing an online self
Gina has been making websites since she was 13 yrs old.
Her first was Dance-to-this-beat.com, a fan site dedicated to Panic at the Disco.
She decided to make it one summer because she was bored.
Gina uses pre-existing social media platforms
to build her sites
Originally, she used Neopets, which influenced her to learn some HTML.
But her friend, who had a fan site at the time, introduced her to other programs.
She did her first 10 layouts in Adobe Photoshop Elements
“I just thought it was the greatest thing ever!”
Soon after, she was introduced to Photoshop in her digital media class.
Creative softwareisn’t a skill, it’s ameans to an end
Global connectivityand collaboration
is “no big”
She finished the site, with help from her friend, in July 2006. Her “friend” is a girl in Spain who
helped via internet. Angel shared her FTP login with this girl so she could get feedback
on her code and other parts of the site.
Since then, she has created two more sites.
Soon after, she became bored with the site and the band.
Pre-made brushes and templates “show a lack
of individuality”
Gina makes Photoshop ʻbrushesʼ by spraypainting in the garage
Pre-made brushes and templates “show a lack
of individuality”
“Iʼve been doing this long enough that I know all the tools and I know
what I want to do with them.”
In her digital media class, where Photoshop is used, she often sees other students “doing it the
long and hard way.”
Seasoned PS pros typically feel that
there’s more to learn
PatriciaRole-playing characters
This is her
room.
The teen transition:from toys to
Time Magazine
She is the creator of The Packlands.The Packlands is a role-playing site.
Building upon others, rather than creating it
all yourself
Building upon others, rather than creating it
all yourself
Late July 2007, she began learning Photoshopfrom a girl, Venomous Emma, whom she
had “met” online through role-playing.
She asked for advice and the girl gaveher tutorials with screen shots and text.
After role-playing online for a month, she became interested in creating “representations” of her characters.
A lot of learning takes place online, one-on-one
and asynchronously
Sometimes, she asks for peer critiques on her work.
Teens will reach out to their community for
artistic feedback
Sometimes, she asks for peer critiques on her work.
Teens will reach out to their community for
artistic feedback
Davidlongboarding, album covers, pranks, school projects
Age: 17Grade: 12thHometown: SF Peninsula, CASiblings: brother, brother, sisterPets: Dog
This is David
He likes
longboarding
Teens often define themselves through2-3 major interests
He reads forums on Silverfish, a longboarding site
Niche sites can be a major hub for social
and creative activity
He reads forums on Silverfish, a longboarding site
Currently, he is learning how to build a board.
He has also used the forum to find Bay Area
skateboarding friends.
Niche sites can be a major hub for social
and creative activity
He started using Photoshop in grade
school.
For many, the“learning curve”no longer exists
For many, the“learning curve”no longer exists
Recently he took a“boring picture”ofhis friend and made it more exciting.
He publishes his creations back to the
Silverfish forum
This is what he created, using motion and gaussian blurs “to make it look more fast.”
He publishes his creations back to the
Silverfish forum
CraigRenders & Fractals
This is CraigAge: 16Grade: 11thHometown: SF Bay AreaSiblings: 19 yr old sister; 8 yr old brother
He was first introduced to graphics by his brother, who frequented PlanetRenders.net.
Planet Renders offers free renders and an online community for
those who create them. The site
sponsors “battles” and hosts teams who
work together.
Communities provide a place to learn, publish,
and hang out
“They had all these cool effects and I wanted to see if I could do make
them...It was a challenge.”
Planet Renders offers free renders and an online community for
those who create them. The site
sponsors “battles” and hosts teams who
work together.
Communities provide a place to learn, publish,
and hang out
He now manages all the teams on PlanetRenders.
“It’s time consuming, but fun because I can see inside all the teams.”
His responsibilities include posting news, rules, applications, battles and private
forums. He also monitors the forums for any “bad” posts, for which he gives warnings.
Teen participation can be quite dedicated and
time-consuming
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Emerging themes
ExpressionBelongingInspirationLearningHelpingCo-designingVelocity
: establishing who I am: micro-communities: emulating and following: watching, doing, and ‘on the fly’: the global apprentice: beyond the lone designer: transient, throw-away media
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Changes in publishing for youth• Publishing has fundamentally changed for the MySpace Generation
• No longer a monolithic, discrete activity
• Part of an ongoing stream of activity, self-expression, and belonging• The tools landscape has changed
• Hundreds and hundreds of ways to self-publish• Anything from the mainstream (MySpace) to the niche (Wolf storytelling)
• Learning is changing
• Peer learning and peer sharing is on the rise• Teaching each other how to use tools, how to engage in deeper ways with the technologies
• Actively seeking out critiques and feedback
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
What next?• Working together, Adobe and Create with Context have begun to translate these learnings into
specific product and feature concepts
• Some are being explored through Adobe beta programs and Adobe Labs• Some are being developed for inclusion in future products
• Next, we want to drill further into various segments in the youth market
• Youth who plan to enter the design field upon graduation
• Youth who act as de-facto social and media hubs within their peer groups• Specific vertical segments: videography, interactive, ...
Copyright © 2008-2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated and Create with Context, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Q&A
Evangeline HaughneySenior User Researcher at Adobe Systems
Bill WestermanPrincipal, Create with Context
[email protected] +1 408 834-7601 x24
Thank you!