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There is no single scientific understanding of what human attention is. There are only theories, approaches, and descriptions of what it is and how it works.

For example, cognitive neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene describes in his theories how attention works in conjunction with our brain. He considers attention to be a filtering mechanism that allows consciousness to select relevant information and focus on it, while discarding all unnecessary information and distractions.

Economist and psychologist Daniel Kahneman proposes to consider attention as a limited resource that our consciousness distributes in a similar way to how a company distributes a limited financial budget. Kahneman is concerned about the consequences of the limited attention resource, such as the tendency of people to make the simplest and often wrong decisions due to a lack of attention resource.

In short, attention is, on the one hand, the ability to filter information and focus on it, and on the other hand, a limited resource, the distribution of which affects the quality of our lives.

The study of the physiological and psychological mechanisms of attention has helped us to significantly improve AI, and the approach to attention as a resource has led to the development of the attention economy. Here is how the UN defines the attention economy:

The concept of attention economy was first coined in the late 1960s by Herbert A. Simon, characterizing the problem of information overload as an economic one. However, the concept has become increasingly popular with the rise of the internet making content (supply) increasingly abundant and immediately available, and attention becoming the limiting factor in the consumption of information. While the supply of accessible information has continued to grow rapidly - digital data roughly doubles every two years - the demand for information is limited by the scarce attention we can give to it. Indeed, the total available attention is limited by the number of people with access to information and the fixed number of hours in a day and conflicting demands on our time and attention. Davenport and Beck (2001) first define the "economics of attention" as an approach to the management of information that treats human attention as a scarce commodity and applies economic theory to solve various information management problems. We are increasingly living in an “attention economy” rather than an “information economy”.

Although from a scientific point of view we still do not fully understand what attention is and how it works, the attention economy is already a fairly developed concept in which everyone can learn and improve.

The first thing you need to do is remember that attention is a limited resource, and most importantly, that you are in control of this resource. Then you need to study how your attention budget works - this budget is largely the same, but in some places it differs greatly from the time budget: for example, you can allocate and spend an hour on one task and at the same time only devote 10 minutes of attention to the task itself, and spend the rest of the time in correspondence and social networks.

You should also understand the specifics of your personal attention: what things "steal" your attention, and on which, on the contrary, it is difficult to concentrate, what distracts attention, and what helps to direct it in the right direction.

But more importantly...

How you, as a product manager can utilize the concept of attention economy?

• Use attention scarcity to your advantage: People are more likely to value things that are scarce, so product managers can use the scarcity of attention to make their products more desirable. For example, they can create limited-time offers or exclusive content.
• Design your products for distraction-free focus: People are constantly bombarded with distractions, so product managers can make their products more appealing by designing them for distraction-free focus. This could involve features like blocking notifications or simplifying the user interface.
• Use micro-interactions to engage attention: Micro-interactions are small, subtle interactions that occur when a user interacts with a product. Product managers can use micro-interactions to engage attention and keep users focused on their product. For example, they could use animations or sound effects to provide feedback to users.
• Use gamification to make your product more attention-grabbing: Gamification is the use of game-design elements in non-game contexts. Product managers can use gamification to make their products more engaging and attention-grabbing by adding features like leaderboards, challenges, and rewards.
• Personalize your product recommendations: People are more likely to pay attention to things that are relevant to them. Product managers can use personalization to recommend products and content that is more likely to be of interest to each individual user.

Here are some specific examples of how product managers have already used these strategies to succeed:

• Netflix : Netflix uses the scarcity of attention to its advantage by creating limited-time original series. This encourages viewers to binge-watch the series before they are removed from the platform.
• 谷歌 Docs: Google Docs is designed for distraction-free focus by allowing users to hide the toolbar and other UI elements. This helps users to stay focused on their writing.
• Duolingo : Duolingo uses micro-interactions to engage attention by providing feedback to users in the form of animations and sound effects. This makes the app more fun and rewarding to use.
• Khan Academy : Khan Academy uses gamification to make its educational content more attention-grabbing by adding features like leaderboards, challenges, and badges. This encourages students to learn more and stay engaged while competing with each other.
• 亚马逊 : Amazon uses personalization to recommend products and content that is more likely to be of interest to each individual user. This helps users to find the products they are looking for more quickly and easily.

Attention is the currency of the digital age. And product managers are the architects of attention. By understanding how attention works and how to use it to your advantage, you can create products that are more engaging, successful, and profitable.

How do you use attention concept in your products? Share your stories in the comments!