Designing for trust: Applying Promise Theory to collaborate effectively with your remote teams

This is the talk that I gave at Design Matters Tokyo 2022. It talks a topic of remote collaborations through the lens of information architecture and Promise Theory.

Transcript

1. Designing for trust: 2022.05.14‒15 Akira Motomura @ YUMEMI Applying Promise Theory 
 to collaborate e ff ectively with your remote teams Design Matters Tokyo 2022
2.  2 Introduction Design Matters Tokyo 2022
3.  3 Akira Motomura Board Member / Service Designer Introduction
4.  4 Digital Design x Engineering Agency Introduction
5.  5 We help our trusting clients to create digital services that everyone uses. Introduction
6.  6 Business and Business to Customer a.k.a. BnB2C Introduction
7.  7 Introduction Table of contents Introduction Before and after the covid-19 Information, context, and understanding The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Conclusion
8.  8 Introduction This talk’s main point I promise that 
 my language is always carefully designed 
 for us to collaborate e ff ectively.
9.  9 Before and after the covid-19 Design Matters Tokyo 2022
10.  10 Before and after the covid-19 before Time to breathe after Endless meetings and chat responses e.g., co ff ee break, taking a walk e.g., meeting after meeting, chat after chat
11.  11 before Physical space after Digital space e.g., o ff i ce, conference room e.g., video conference, chat room Before and after the covid-19
12.  12 before Verval + non-verval communications after Textual communications e.g., voice, gesture, facial expression e.g., text Before and after the covid-19
13.  13 What’ve been changed? Before and after the covid-19
14.  14 Everything happens inside screens. Photo by Trinity Nguyen on Unsplash Before and after the covid-19
15. question  15 What do we need to design 
 to collaborate e ff ectively with others 
 in an environment like this? Before and after the covid-19
16.  16 Information, context, and understanding Design Matters Tokyo 2022
17.  17 What is information? Are there di ff erent types? Information, context, and understanding
18.  18 Information, context, and understanding 3 types of information Perception / Cognition Spoken language Written / Graphical language Information organization + design Information technology Physical information Semantic information Digital information Information animals including humans use to perceive 
 their environment for the purpose of taking physical action Information people create for the purpose of 
 communicating meaning to other people Information by which computers operate, and communicate with other computers Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash Photo by Cam Adams on Unsplash Tacit Explicit
19.  19 Information, context, and understanding Context (and its collapse) Physical information Semantic information Digital information Information animals including humans use to perceive 
 their environment for the purpose of taking physical action Information people create for the purpose of 
 communicating meaning to other people Information by which computers operate, and communicate with other computers Tacit Explicit Circumstance Agent Agent Information Information Agent Agent Agent Agent Agent Agent Agent Agent Information Agent Agent Circumstance Circumstance
20.  20 Information, context, and understanding What our current work environment consists of: Physical information Semantic information Digital information Information animals including humans use to perceive 
 their environment for the purpose of taking physical action Information people create for the purpose of 
 communicating meaning to other people Information by which computers operate, and communicate with other computers Circumstance Agent Agent Information Information Agent Agent Circumstance Circumstance Tacit Explicit Information Agent Agent Agent Agent Agent Agent Agent Agent
21.  21 Information, context, and understanding Some characteristics of our current work environment: 1. No physical qualities available 2. No synchronous and shared contexts 3. Less tacit (and unedited) information available 
 4. More explicit means of communications such as text 5. More individual perspectives and contexts 6. More explicit (and edited) information available 
 
 More upfront designs of what we communicate with others are required; 
 you are the one who is responsible for designing your own messages.
22.  22 What are the things to consider? Information, context, and understanding
23.  23 Information, context, and understanding Information processing limitation: The magical number seven plus minus two The number of objects an average human can hold in working memory is 
 7 ± 2. What this means is that the human memory capacity typically 
 includes strings of words or concepts ranging from 5‒9. 7 ± 2
24.  24 Information, context, and understanding Cognitive tendency: Principles of least e ff ort We act to perceive, based on the least e ff ortful interpretation of the information provided, even though it sometimes leads us astray. Unconscious Intuitive Automatic "System 1” Conscious Deliberate Re fl ective “System2" Tacit Explicit LEAST EFFORT If there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will choose the least demanding course of action.
25.  25 Information, context, and understanding Individual understanding: Umwelt Di ff erent people experience and interpret di ff erently 
 even though they share the same information and environment
26.  26 Information, context, and understanding Cognitive sca ff olding: Physical invariants Persistently stable properties of given physical environment e.g, stairs, fl oor plans Persistently stable properties of given semantic environment e.g., labels, signs, symbols, rules, de fi nitions Semantic invariants Photo by Martino Pietropoli on Unsplash Photo by Balázs Kétyi on Unsplash
27.  27 Information, context, and understanding Interpreting experiences: Narrative Humans make sense of the world through stories Beginning Middle End Exposition Rising action Climax Falling action Denouement Happy Unhappy
28.  28 Information, context, and understanding A crazy dude? Photo by Viktor Bystrov on Unsplash
29.  29 Information, context, and understanding “A staring contest” Photo by Viktor Bystrov on Unsplash A crazy dude?
30.  30 Information, context, and understanding A simple description changes our understanding Photo by Viktor Bystrov on Unsplash “A staring contest”
31.  31 Information, context, and understanding Language as infrastructure Andrew Hinton Understanding Context: ENVIRONMENT, LANGUAGE, AND INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE Design has traditionally been centered on objects and physical environments. There is no “language design” discipline — it’s instead called “writing.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but we have to come to grips with 
 the reality that language is a more important material for design than ever, especially with the arrival of pervasive, ambient digital systems.
32.  32 How can we take an advantage of this? Information, context, and understanding
33.  33 Information, context, and understanding Designing a meeting A meeting
34.  34 Information, context, and understanding A meeting When is it? What is it about? Who attends? Where is it held? How to attend? Why do we need it? Designing a meeting: De fi ning the (external) context
35.  35 Information, context, and understanding A meeting When is it? What is it about? Who attends? Where is it held? How to attend? Why do we need it? 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday Design specs Ryo, Mike, and, Akira To review and discuss Designing a meeting: De fi ning the (external) context Via Online Via Zoon Meeting URL
36.  36 Information, context, and understanding A meeting When is it? What is it about? Who attends? Where is it held? How to attend? Why do we need it? 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday Design specs Ryo, Mike, and, Akira Via Online Via Zoon Meeting URL To review and discuss Designing a meeting: De fi ning the internal structure How do we proceed?
37.  37 Information, context, and understanding A meeting When is it? What is it about? Who attends? Where is it held? How to attend? Why do we need it? 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday Design specs Ryo, Mike, and, Akira Via Online Via Zoon Meeting URL To review and discuss Designing a meeting: De fi ning the internal structure Context sharing Agenda 1 Agenda 2 Agenda 3 Wrap-up Ice break Goal de fi nition Q & A Beginning Middle End How do we proceed?
38.  38 Can you “promise” to thoughtfully design 
 your everyday communications? Can your promises create “trust”? Information, context, and understanding
39.  39 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Design Matters Tokyo 2022
40.  40 What is Promise Theory and why do we need to care? The basics of Promise Theory and its applications
41.  41 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Promise Theory A modeling language of information to describe and discuss cooperative behavior among di ff erent agents or actors, proposed by Mark Burgess, 
 an independent theorist and practitioner in the fi eld of information science, 
 in 2004. It has the capability to visualize, analyze, and solve any problems 
 and bottle-necks of how people communicate and collaborate with 
 each other in a formalized way. Also, it o ff ers a completely new way to understand the word around us. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01092PYG8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
42.  42 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Core concepts: Imposition Clean up the room. Is applied to others Tells how to behave or follow a certain recipe Diverges into unpredictable outcomes Is a top-down strategy i.e., hints, advice, suggestions, requests, commands, Promise I promise that the room will be clean. Is applied only to yourself De fi nes an end state or outcome Converges towards an intended outcome Is a bottom-up strategy
43.  43 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications A concept map of Promise Theory Promise Imposition Obligation Intention The subject of some kind of possible outcome Publicly declared or 
 stated intention An attempt to induce cooperation in another agent An imposition that implies a cost or penalty for noncompliance Autonomy The state of being free 
 to choose Agreement An autonomous decision 
 to accept a proposal 
 from another agent Cooperation A voluntary behavior to give up an agent's autonomy to accomplish a common and larger outcome is necessary for has makes can be may take a form of If repeatedly kept, increases If accepted, leads to Agent Any part of a system that can intend or promise something independently evaluated by Assessment A decision about whether a promise has been kept or not Trust The basis for expectation or certainty of promised outcomes in fl uenced by possesses If stated publicly, becomes can increase attempts to induce
44.  44 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications An imposition: Throwing a ball without warning + throw Imposition nope
45.  45 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications A promise: Throwing a ball and accepting to catch the ball + throw - catch + throw Imposition Promise nope
46.  46 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Repeated promises: Repeated enough times, then it becomes playing catch + throw - catch + throw Imposition Promise nope Playing catch + throw - catch - catch + throw
47.  47 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications An emergent promise: With multiple promises combined, + throw - hit Rules of play Hitting a ball Playing catch + throw - catch - catch + throw + rules - accept - accept + rules + +
48.  48 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications An emergent promise: With multiple promises combined, it is a baseball game + throw - hit Rules of play Hitting a ball Playing catch + throw - catch - catch + throw + rules - accept - accept + rules + + A baseball game
49.  49 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Trusting means ignoring the internal promises, 
 which greatly reduces the amount of information + throw - hit Rules of play Hitting a ball Playing catch + throw - catch - catch + throw + rules - accept - accept + rules + + A baseball game
50.  50 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Trusting enables us to cooperate at scale, Baseball games Baseball fans Stadium Committee + ‒ + ‒ ‒ + + ‒ ‒ + + ‒
51.  51 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Trusting enables us to cooperate at scale, 
 promising much more complex activities Baseball games Baseball fans Stadium Committee + ‒ + ‒ ‒ + + ‒ ‒ + + ‒ A baseball league
52.  52 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Having a lens of promises 
 brings more rigor and discipline 
 to your way of communicating with others. And, it is a bottom-up strategy 
 to increase and improve cooperations with your teams.
53.  53 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Two types of disruptors: Trouble-makers Change-makers Leading from the edges Not having trusting relationships with other members of a community Being regarded as causing troubles Leading from the edges Having trusting relationships with other members of a community Being regarded as making positive changes ‒ + ‒ + ‒ +
54.  54 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Steps to build trust and become a change-maker: 1. Competence + You + + Show what you are competent at
55.  55 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Steps to build trust and become a change-maker: 1. Competence + You + + You + ‒ + ‒ ‒ 2. Relationships + Establish relationships and build allies Show what you are competent at
56.  56 The basics of Promise Theory and its applications Steps to build trust and become a change-maker: 1. Competence + You + + You + ‒ + ‒ ‒ + You + ‒ ‒ 2. Relationships 3. Initiative + + ‒ + + + + Establish relationships and build allies Start new initiatives that actually make changes Show what you are competent at
57.  57 Conclusion Design Matters Tokyo 2022
58.  58 Conclusion To summarize, in a remote environment, Everything happens inside screens, 
 o ff ering only semantic and digital information. Deliberately designing every message you make is ever more imperative 
 as language is the primary construct of the semantic and digital context. Promising to design your everyday language enables you 
 to build trust with your peers and collaborate more e ff ectively.
59.  59 Conclusion I promise that 
 my language is always carefully designed 
 for us to collaborate e ff ectively. A bottom-up strategy for better remote collaborations:
60.  60 Conclusion References Andrew Hinton. Understanding Context: Environment, Language, and Information Architecture. O'Reilly Media. 2014. https://tinyurl.com/y34zqpe4 1 George A. Miller. "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information.” 1956. https://tinyurl.com/y2t6bwkc 2 Helen Bevan and Steve Fairman. “E The new era of thinking and practice in change and transformation: A call to action for leaders of health and care.” 2014. https://www.england.nhs.uk/improvement-hub/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2018/09/Change-and-Transformation-White-Paper.pdf 3 James J. Gibson. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Psychology Press. 1986. https://tinyurl.com/y3hs675s 4 Mark Burgess. Thinking in Promises: Designing Systems for Cooperation. O'Reilly Media. 2015. https://tinyurl.com/y4x7x7rh 5 Mark Burgess. “3. Promise Theory - Scaling cooperation with modularity and trust (part 3).” YouTube. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZcWZokRRac&t=324s 6 Peter Merholz and Jesse James Garrett. “28: The Leadership Ceiling (ft. Tim Kieschnick).” Apple Podcast. 2022. https:// fi ndingourway.design/2022/04/29/28-the-leadership-ceiling-ft-tim-kieschnick/ 7
61.  61 Thanks! About Akira Twitter note LinkedIn https://twitter.com/akira_motomura https://note.com/akiramotomura https://www.linkedin.com/in/akiramotomura About YUMEMI Let’s have a chat 💁 Conclusion