Want to learn this is a social environment?
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Values-Based Data Science & Design
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Level 3 - Structural Features, Part 1

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Games Unlocked: Structural Feature Spotting, Field Tripping
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Outcomes Can identify structural features of different scenarios live and from memory
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😱 Meaningless Time

💩 Meaningless Time (one that felt empty, pointless, shitty):

🌳 Personal Value that was suppressed (way you couldn't be/approach things/treat people):

...treat people with ...act ...approach things ...keep things

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Is it a value?
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Let's clarify your value to make sure that it isn't polluted with norms, goals, fears, etc. Note that your value might already be on spot, in which case you don't need to answer the questions below.

  • Would it still be worth doing independent of the outcome? If so, continue to the next bullet point. If not, it's a goal or fear! Take notes below.

    • "How would I want to approach things/treat people/etc. if I couldn't affect the outcome?"

  • Would still be worth doing if no one knew you did it? If so, continue to the next question. If not, it's a social norm. Take notes below.

    • "How would I want to approach things/treat people/etc. if no one noticed?"

  • Do you believe you could still be a good person even if you failed to be this way? If so, continue to the next question. If not, it's an internalized social norm. Take notes below.

    • "How would I want to approach things/treat people/etc. if there were no rules?"

  • Would it still be worth being this way if no one else ever joined in? If so, (after all the questions above) it's probably a value! If not, it’s an ideological commitment. Take notes below.

    • "How would I want to approach things/treat people/etc. if I couldn't influence anyone?

    Write your clarified 🌳 Personal Value in the box below using one of the following pre-fixes.

    approaching things ___, treating people ___, acting ___, keeping things ___, living life ____

💍🛃 Expectations that suppressed the value (following social norms / promoting ideologies):

📈 Goals/Fears that suppressed the value (strategies to get certain outcomes):

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Teachers Notes

Due to situation, more than to hard steps

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Game: ⛪️ Here or 🏡 There?

🌳 Drop your personal value in here:

Check out the location pairs beneath. Is there one of the two that you'd clearly prefer as a context to live by your value in? If so, embolden it and write a short explanation: What about this environment renders you hopeful that you can live by your value there? What about the other leaves you pessimistic you'll express your value there?

If you don't have a clear preference between either of the two in a pair, move on to the next one.

Big dinner with your partner's extended family vs. Quiet dinner with your best friend

What about this environment renders you hopeful that you can live by your value there?

Academic conference vs Camping trip

What about this environment renders you hopeful that you can live by your value there?

Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting vs Facebook News Feed

What about this environment renders you hopeful that you can live by your value there?

Gallery art opening vs. Project Meeting

What about this environment renders you hopeful that you can live by your value there?

Masquerade ball vs Waiting in line at grocery store

What about this environment renders you hopeful that you can live by your value there?

Job Interview vs Rock band jam session

What about this environment renders you hopeful that you can live by your value there?

Rock concert with fans vs. Waiting at a subway station

What about this environment renders you hopeful that you can live by your value there?

YouTube vs Neighborhood Bar

What about this environment renders you hopeful that you can live by your value there?

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⚙ Walkthrough Tour

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Take five minutes to look through this list of structural features and to think through the four situations beneath. For each situation, take note of two (or more) structural features you notice.

What two structural features characterise a dinner with friends?

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Click this for the filled in sheet "Dinner with friend"
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What two structural features characterise a team meeting?

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Click this for the filled in sheet "Team Meeting"
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What two structural features characterise a poetry reading?

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Click this for the filled in sheet "Poetry Reading"
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What two structural features characterise facebook newsfeed?

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Click this for the filled in sheet "Newsfeed"
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Teachers Notes:

Size: Why is the size Unclear - Each time we post we are unclear of how many people will engage with my post. The oposite to this is organising a dinner and putting th cap on the number of people to 10

Loyalty: Why is loyalty Transient - Most users on facebook are only opening their app for a quick check.

Pretext: Why is the prestext Shared Topic - Usualy we are reacting to posts and orienting our discussion our that topic

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Teachers Notes
  • How to teach - intro cheat sheet, answer questions, have them think for 5 about 2SF for each situation, go through filled in sheets when they are done, what surprises them, what do they not get?
  • Do you know what these mean?
  • Do you get WHY something is X in this situation?
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Which of these are you least clear on?

Parasocial interaction (PSI) is a term coined by Donald Horton and Richard Wohl in 1956 to refer to a kind of psychological relationship experienced by an audience in their mediated encounters with performers in the mass media, particularly on television.[1] Viewers or listeners come to consider media personalities as friends, despite having limited interactions with them. PSI is described as an illusionary experience, such that media audiences interact with personas (e.g., talk show host, celebrities, fictional characters, social media influencers) as if they are engaged in a reciprocal relationship with them.

  • Which to you sticks out the most, is most obvious to what is possible there and what not?
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👭 Where Would You Send a Friend?

Your friend is trying to live by fresh values they recently discovered.

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Show up with vulnerable honesty

Where would you send them, and why? Because of which structural features? Where would you NOT send them, and why? Because of which structural features?

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Attend to our connection more than to the outcome

Where would you send them, and why? Because of which structural features? Where would you NOT send them, and why? Because of which structural features?

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Appreciate the people around me as mammals, not just as Homo Sapiens

Where would you send them, and why? Because of which structural features? Where would you NOT send them, and why? Because of which structural features?

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Treat every sentence I craft as an art project

Where would you send them, and why? Because of which structural features? Where would you NOT send them, and why? Because of which structural features?

Beginning with the value you find most interesting, ask yourself (and answer in the greyboxes hidden in the toggle) these questions:

  • Which ideal place would you send them to, to practice living by this value? Because of which structural features?
  • Where would you NOT send them, and why? Because of which structural features?
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Show me the cheat sheet!
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🃏 Jokering

Player one picks a scenario they want to disrupt. Player two play-acts their role in the scenario for about 30-60 seconds to set up player one with a game they can change. Once player one has made their move, they point out what structural features they changed. Take turns!

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Try to focus on these 4 structural features (they tend to be easiest to change on the fly).
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Audience — Feedback:

What kinds of responses are possible?

Examples: like | friend | follow | thank | review | comment | join | commit | request | buy | eye contact | body language | hand signals

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Contribution — Pretext:

Why are we communicating?

Examples: Shared Goal — team meeting Shared Value — close friends Shared Topic — comment thread Interlocking Goals — marketplace Unclear — strangers at a party

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Contribution — Pace:

How quickly are we communicating?

Examples: Off the cuff — improv, chat rooms Asynchronous — texting Thoughtful — journal and share Contemplative — blog posts

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Connections — Form:

How do we interact?

Examples: In pairs — news feed Teams — sports league Whole Group — sharing circle Disjointed — high school dance (in-groups/out-groups)

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Show me the cheat sheet!

Pick A Scenario

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1 — So, what do you do?

A and B are at mutual friend's party. A is doctor, B does some weird freelancing. A asks B what B does for work.

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2 — Flat White

We are making coffee. There is no time for anything else. Words or feelings that are not about coffee are not allowed.

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3 — Consent decision making

We are making a group decision about the office using the consensus voting protocol in which people can thumbs up to vote for a certain office, down for against, thumb sideways to abstain, or hold up there hand to block a decision.

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4 — FUN FUN FUN

We've been friends for 10 years and haven't hung out in a while. Tonight, we will have FUN.

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5 — Ooops, no ticket

A checks tickets on the subway. B has none. A makes a very serious face now.

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6 — Let's be professional, please.

You and I are running a workshop together. Remember: This client needs to recognise how professional we are.

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7 — Show me the picture

Your stepmother wants to see a picture of you and your partner REALLY BADLY.

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8 — The office

Pretext: Anne wants to be assured that [our future office] will offer her [the ideal mix of introversion and extroversion], and she wants to be so assured quickly, permanently, and with no caveats.

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9 — Stranger at a bar

Adam and Eve are strangers at a bar. She sparks up a conversation about whether he comes here often. He isn't into that conversation right now.

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10 — Not my fight

There are three people, Mia, Tom and Nadia (an imaginary character). The goal is to feel that disputes involving Nadia and Tom are resolved and also for Mia to not participate in the resolution except that she is already in the room. Nadia does not feel safe. Mia is annoyed and disinterested.

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Teachers Notes

What value would you like to live by in that environment? How do you need to change the SF to make that possible?

2 person version - other person guesses what move they played.

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🗣 Reflection

Think of the meaningless time you described at the beginning of the class—is there a way you could have flipped that situation? Is there a way you would approach it differently now, knowing of structural features?

Think of one setting where it seems particularly possible to live by a value of yours. What are the structural features of that space that seem relevant to that?

Think of one setting where it seems particularly difficult to live by a value of yours. What are the structural features of that space that seem relevant to that?

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🕵 Homework: Fieldtrip!

Pick one or two places this weekend to analyse, with the help of structural features.

Where did you go?

What structural features did you notice?

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Audience — Size:

How many people are present?

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Audience — Loyalty:

Are people going to stick around?

Examples: Loyal — dinner with close friends. Trapped — WhatsApp group, open mic Fickle — people passing on the street Unclear — you can’t tell

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Audience — Feedback:

What kinds of responses are possible?

Examples: like | friend | follow | thank | review | comment | join | commit | request | buy | eye contact | body language | hand signals

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Audience — Time Together:

How long are we present?

Examples: None — twitter, news feed Brief — speed dating Some — weekend workshop Enduring — workmates, old friends, family

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Connections — Matchmaking:

What clues connect people?

Examples: Deep Context — education, talents, skill sets, interests, values Shallow Markings — age, class, gender, race, beauty None/Random — chat roulette

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Connections — Interreliance:

Do we need each other to proceed?

Examples: Dependent — parents/children, gatekeepers Interdependent— congress, social club Independent — news feed

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Connections — Depth:

How well are people acquainted?

Examples: close friends | acquaintances | strangers | anonymous | mixed |

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Connections — Form:

How do we interact?

Examples: In pairs — news feed Teams — sports league Whole Group — sharing circle Disjointed — high school dance (in-groups/out-groups)

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Contribution — Pretext:

Why are we communicating?

Examples: Shared Goal — team meeting Shared Value — close friends Shared Topic — comment thread Interlocking Goals — marketplace Unclear — strangers at a party

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Contribution — Pace:

How quickly are we communicating?

Examples: Off the cuff — improv, chat rooms Asynchronous — texting Thoughtful — journal and share Contemplative — blog posts

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Contribution — Filter:

Why is this or that person talking?

Examples: Invited — dinner/camping trip Uninvited — question time at a public event / comment in a public forum Selective — standard barrier (e.g., university)

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Consequences — Status:

Is there a social hierarchy?

Examples: Flat — no, we focus on equality Ranked — scores or skill levels Celebrity — huge differences

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Consequences — Stakes:

How much will outcomes affect me?

Examples: High — THIS MATTERS!!! Medium — I'll live either way, but... Low — who cares?

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Consequences — Durability:

Will what I say stick around?

Examples: Ephemeral — Talking at a bar Temporary — Snapchat Searchable (w/effort) — Microfiche Permanent Record — Twitter

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Other Features:

What else is relevant to the situation?

Name a personal value that supported by structural features? Can you guess some values that would be difficult to practice?