In my previous post, I wrote about the relationship between work flow and anarchic technologies. In proofing my text, I was reminded of the second chapter of Donald Norman’s book Things That Make Us Smart (published by Addison-Wesley, 1993) in which he discusses the human phenomenon of “flow”. It’s a state of being that goes by many names (most of them being related to sports): “in the zone”, “in the groove”, “on the ball”, etc. It’s a wonderful mindset. As Don says, “It is an enjoyable state, for when attention becomes so intensely focused upon the thing of interest everyday worries and fears are transcended and all else recedes.” Wow, Don just captured what I love about flow: no worries, no distractions, focused thought. Sadly, for most of us, flow is limited to those times when we are sitting in front of the TV or film screen. Yes, it’s great to “zone out” with a flick, but it’s much more useful to experience flow when doing something productive. I have a terrible time achieving flow when reading or writing, and I suspect that others find this difficult also. I do, however, frequently experience flow when doing certain computer activities. Namely, when I’m busy coding HTML or doing other such tasks, I often get in the zone.
Why do I bring this up? Well, all these ideas made me reflect on how technology can help one achieve flow. Mundane tasks such as coding can be made enjoyable if one can achieve flow while doing the tedious work. Coding by hand in a simple text editor is terribly boring. That’s why I use a special text editor that simplifies the work. Indeed, the editor is so good that when I use it, I frequently enter that flow state. Coding no longer seems like drudgery. What I wonder is if the designers of social software consider the idea of flow. From my experience, I would bet not. For instance, I am using WordPress to create this blog. Although I don’t have experience with other blog hosts, I would bet that this is a pretty good one. The site has powerful tools and it is relatively easy to use. That being said, I have yet to experience anything remotely like “flow” while interacting with WordPress. For example, I find myself clicking through all the menus to find what I want. It’s not easy to maintain flow when you’re lost. Is it the nature of blogs and blogging software that prevent me from achieving flow? Is it just that blogs and I don’t mix? Perhaps other bloggers get in the groove. One way or the other, I reiterate that social software designers should ponder how they can help their users achieve flow. What better way to get people to return again and again to your product?
