Attention Citizens!

What is your attention worth?

Lots right?  Okay, I’d better keep it short.

I’m thinking about attention; what it is; why it’s important; how to get it.

Like a lot of people I have an ever-shortening attention span.  I consume a lot of media (in a wide variety), but I am brutally intolerant of anything I feel is not enriching me, or worse, is wasting my time.

If this happens more than once, for example with a TV show, I give it up.

And this is ironic, because at the same time I am frequently distracted by twitter, facebook, incoming email, my daily routine and my to-do list.

And so I’m really thinking about our interview with Project Noah’s Yasser Ansari.  Yasser said several things that have given me a lot to think about, especially in regard to attention.

I mean I knew that attention is the real currency of business.  In fact, you could say that the best brands are simply those that people trust with their attention.  And people trust those brands to add value when they do give over their attention.

But the innovation of a product like Project Noah is not just to grab attention for itself, but to leverage the user’s attention, to make use of that attention.  Project Noah allows users to observe and document the wildlife they directly encounter.  Users can also take part in ‘missions’ which utilise the data they gather for research projects.

Not only can I observe, catalogue and learn about wildlife – and maybe contribute to a scientific understanding of it – but I become more aware of my environment, my attention is activated.

This is a rare gift in a busy world.   And it is hidden the bonus of Project Noah.  You get some of your attention back.

If you found this post worthy of your attention, please share it.

References: 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonoberholtzer/2011/08/30/how-to-focus-in-the-age-of-distraction/