Much has been written about the psychological effects of the connected era’s information overload. Whole books in fact. Some academics, like Steven Pinker, believe internet use is making us smarter. Others believe it is making our thinking shallow and our temperaments impatient.
However you look at it, it is hard to argue that the nature of attention has shifted. If you’re wondering something – “when was the bicycle invented?” – you can find answer in seconds, and it’s sometimes hard to resist the urge. On the flip side, the expectations placed on people can also be greater (“I texted you two hours ago. Where are you?”).
Increasingly, attention is divided into smaller and smaller chunks, and interactions with devices are correspondingly shortened but more frequent – texting a friend, navigating to a restaurant, reading the news at a bus stop, checking which hair dye to buy. These short, deliberate interactions with technology are called micromoments. Google Research has a whole section of their website dedicated to them.
Micromoments are a fundamental part of good brand strategy. When user attention has laser-beam focus and highly specified intent (e.g. wanting to find which protein shake is healthiest), companies need to be there and to send the right message. This comes down to three key components:
- anticipating when needs and wants will arise, and being there
- correctly understanding the user’s request
- quickly delivering succinct, truthful content
Voice-enabling your app is not the end of a micromoments strategy, but it’s a very good beginning. Voice, by its nature, is ideal for situations when hands or eyes are occupied or when a query needs to be communicated quickly. This makes it perfect for situations of strong intent, when someone really wants an answer and wants it delivered fast.
MindMeld’s A.I. solution is an expert in both understanding the intent behind queries and retrieving the correct results. Trained explicitly on your content, it develops a humanlike understanding of all related concepts. Coupled with a smooth UI and accurately ranked results, it is a powerful tool for responding to these key, and fleeting, moments of inquiry.