They're people, not end-users: why the tech industry must ban buzzword bingo

Introduction and the millennials

Power to the end-users! Forget natural language processing algorithms – most of the tech industry has no clue about natural language. In my long career as a tech journalist I've received so many press releases and sat through hundreds of PowerPoint presentations about so-called life-changing gadgets where the supposed audience were openly called consumers or end-users.

That won't surprise anyone – both archaic terms are hard-wired into tech-speak – but it's got to stop. Such obnoxious language is fast infecting politicians, too, who so often now say 'consumers' when they mean the equally derogatory 'voters'.

What they – and all businesses – mean is 'people'. Using that simple term makes a company instantly appear more human. With the rise of people termed millennials (typically defined as people born from 1983 onwards), it's a step-change that could soon be necessary to save a tech business from obscurity.

The time-bomb under tech

The tech industry's language is incredibly naïve. Interwoven with dated business-speak, products that promise 'an exceptional end-user experience' or reports into 'increasing end-user trust' just sound so awful. It can't last. Millennials will make up 75% of the workforce in 2025, and a new survey of 24-35 year-olds reveals how the global language of business will need to change with their rise. Building a modern tech business means using modern, inclusive language.

Millennials get tough on tech

That the tech world borders on being anti-human isn't going unnoticed. It's a fear we've expressed before, but a report by Intel discovered that the majority of young people believe that tech makes their lives easier, but makes them less human.

The survey of 12,000 18 to 24 year-olds – the so-called millennials – in Brazil, China, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the USA found that 59% say people are over-reliant on technology, believe it makes people less human, and they desire technology that is more personal and knows their habits.

"At first glance it seems millennials are rejecting technology, but I suspect the reality is more complicated and interesting," said Dr. Genevieve Bell, anthropologist and director of Interaction and Experience Research at Intel Labs. "A different way to read this might be that millennials want technology to do more for them, and we have work to do to make it much more personal and less burdensome."

Negative language

For technology to be more personal, the tech industry needs to communicate better internally as well as to people who are its potential customers. Just as people investing in new IT products don't want to be called 'end-users' or even 'consumers', nor do they want to be described as 'staff' or 'stakeholders'. Done properly, technology is about innovation, opportunity, purpose, wonder and collaboration, and about being creative within a community, a team or a family. It's about people.

Touchy-feely language gone wrong

The box around a product is vitally important, and it's here where language is crucial. "Packaging plays an enormous role in supporting a brand's story, particularly in the tech industry where appearances are everything," says Ben Davies at Rodd Design. "It's very often the first touch-point you may have with the product, if bought online."

A lot of the big brands understand what it is to speak on a human level, and simply say 'Welcome to WeMo' or, more famously, 'Welcome to iPad' on their packaging. The sub-text is as simple as the language; you're in the club.

Some go super-human, with hilarious consequences. Open up the Google Glass box and there's a note that reads: 'You are a pioneer, a founder and an architect of what's possible … what happens next starts with you.' Actually, what happens next in our experience is a few days trying to work out how to operate Glass and get it online, mustering the courage to go out in public, and ultimately figuring out how to return it (though Google has, of course, just announced that it is ending the Glass Explorer Program next week anyway).

Despite Google overdoing it with Glass, its messaging is a valiant attempt – the use of straightforward English language is usually very effective, and tech-speak is not. However, the birth and death of buzzwords isn't the big problem here. Terms like 'crowdsourcing', 'next-gen' and 'web 2.0' have been buzzing around the tech world for years despite meaning very little, but they're innocent enough.

Or are they? 'The Cloud' has been top of the list of tech buzzwords for the last five years, but no-one really wants to talk about why. People love the cloud. It's convenient when using mobile devices, or even when not, and it's often free to use. Its popularity is why it's growing so fast, surely? As the tech industry knows, that's not actually the case; the cloud is the perfect place for companies to access 'end-user data'. And that's about as dehumanising a term as it's possible to utter.

Language and login issues

The mistake of illiterate internationalism

Too often the tech industry is lazy, and takes the easy way out, believing that its global nature demands a global language. Cue poorly written instruction manuals packed with mistakes and bad writing, or another huge annoyance to people using a product – the series of unenlightening cartoon images on how to set up a gadget. Either way, such passive internationalism is nothing more than a cost-cutting exercise, and it's really obvious. People prefer to be talked to in their own local, colloquial language.

Active internationalism is arguably an even worse faux pas. For instance, in 2009 Samsung Electronics included a feature called Contents Library on its smart 'widget' TVs that included spoken children's stories, stretch workout videos and a 'party' mode that showed fireworks set to appalling pan-Asian elevator music. It was appallingly bland, and a lesson in globalisation gone wrong – design something to appeal to anyone, anywhere, and it will likely be palatable to nobody.

The online dominance of English is over

If internationalism and global branding is tricky now, it's only going to get more difficult. The rise of the millennial has a string in its tail – it's made up primarily of the much talked about 'next billion' people in developing countries, all of whom are new to the internet and mobile devices. It's a great opportunity for the tech industry to grow exponentially, but there's a problem; over 55% of the internet is written in English, but only 5% speak it.

The password/username problem

The frequent alienation of people using the internet is not just a language problem. One of the most common mistakes made by website developers is to fudge password/username protocols and favour heightened security over basic usability. When usernames and passwords cannot contain certain characters, or must contain upper and lower case letters and numbers, it frustrates people. The fact that this most often occurs in e-commerce only makes it a more heinous crime.

There are other archaic conventions used online that treat people like robots. After initial sign-up where it's usually necessary to enter a password twice for understandable typographical reasons, most websites then default to the home page and ask the person to sign-in again from scratch. That's a lot of typing of the same email address and login details.

Although they're symptomatic of a much deeper problem within the tech industry, at least those pathetic terms and conditions can usually be agreed with and forgotten about quickly. However, that doesn't remove the correct suspicion that impenetrable language is being used to deceive people, most often to harvest personal data (another example of disgusting tech speak).

In the end this isn't about corporate social responsibility, it's about being honest and transparent in addressing the needs of the only thing that ever matters – people. The tech industry needs to 'hit the back button' and remember that it's nothing without an audience, and that its audience aren't end-users or opportunities to harvest data, they're people who want to love great tech products and services – but only if the industry speaks to them and serves them. Technology is about people. So why not say so?

from TechRadar: All latest feeds http://ift.tt/15mOC84

via IFTTT