After having grand plans to follow the schedule I had outlined for myself yesterday, I was quickly thrown off guard by realizing that a few of the panels I wanted to see were being held at a hotel across the lake and almost impossible to attend if I wanted to catch a few panels back at the convention center. To that end, I’m a little disappointed that the 10 different “campuses” they have set up are not within the immediate vicinity and hope that in the future, they can try to work out a better system to allow folks to get from one place to another.

Having said that, I would not have stumbled onto the first panel I attended on Saturday, Time Travel: Interfaces for Geotemporal Visualization, had I read over the description ahead of time, which was all about data visualization (a topic near and dear to our fearless leader, Judy). I think what was most interesting about this panel though was that it was being given, not by designers or product folks, but university professors, engineers and researchers. And quite frankly, a lot of the discussion was over my head as the different options for visualizing the time or data axis were debated, but hearing some best practices for data display from the people who are pioneering the field was fascinating.

Below are just a few tips that I picked up:

• 1/3 of our brain is just dedicated to visual processing – so we should be doing more to cater to this part of our brain rather than just relying on text to communicate
• We are often tempted to use color to denote changes over time – the panel cautioned in doing so since the brain struggles to identify small differences in color – so keep that in mind when determining which axis to apply color to
• Animation is often used to show an evolving timeline, which is great, except that when time is in motion, you cannot directly compare two time slots and therefore sufficiently analyze differences
• Time is often thought as the fourth dimension – is social data the fifth dimension?
• Depending on what information you are communicating, multiple methods might be used (i.e. linking a map to a timeline – Trulia Hindsight)

After being completely blown away by the amount of brain power in the room, it was time for the main event, the keynote presentation from Seth Preibatsch, the designated “Chief Ninja” for SCVNGR. The line to get into the ballroom where he’d actually be speaking was over 1,000 people long, and people began lining up two hours prior to his talk. Keep in mind that every keynote, every day, is simulcasted into every single room featuring a panel, so you can watch a keynote from the luxury of a much less crowded room, in comfort. These people must have known something that I didn’t, because I shook my head and said no thank you.

Well, Seth did not disappoint. His whole presentation was centered around how “game play” is set to become the next layer of information to be integrated into web-based products (based on the premise that the social layer is the current “layer” of data being integrated and consumed). He believes that by motivating people through game play, you can accomplish great things within society and used our current educational system as an example of a gaming ecosystem that is broken due to a lack of engagement. For example, grades represent a moral hazard of game play -  you have kids learning for the wrong reason… to earn a grade, rather than to actually learn the material. Grades therefore become a status mechanic and a poor reward. You want to earn an “A” or become a “valedictorian.” Also, as a student, you have the potential to move in a negative direction and “Fail” rather than a grade dynamic that is based on progression (think experience points in a game). Wouldn’t it be great then if kids learned at their own pace, without experiencing failure, because they wanted to learn, rather than because they would achieve a piece of paper with letters on it? In other words, put the power back into the hands of the “players” and not to the “platform.”

Two business examples Seth used to illustrate using the art of game play (though to different mechanisms) to drive their business objectives were Groupon and American Express. Groupon acquires new customers using “communal gameplay” by stating that the deal only takes place after 50 people take advantage of the Groupon. They then raise the heat a little bit but adding in the “countdown mechanism.” By creating a definitive end time, it has been shown that activity tends to spike exponentially as the countdown approaches 0. And the whole time they are creating this gaming environment, they are building their email list to market to you again tomorrow. Meanwhile, AMEX focuses on building loyalty by engendering our need for status and exclusivity, or in game play terms, “leveling up.” And to think all they did was create different color cards, each with different perks and status associated to it. And while none of us could actually name what the perks are for Black card members… wouldn’t we all die to have one?

Having said all of this, these two paragraphs will not do his presentation justice, so I encourage all of you to check out his presentation deck here.

And after hearing such an inspirational talk, it was time to unwind a bit and play some foursquare with some of my new Austin friends, as well as redeem the mythical “golden ticket” Foursquare was handing out to a select few of lucky SXSW-goers to attend their free concert on Monday night. I’m not exactly sure how I unlocked this sought after badge, but I was not asking any questions…