Smoke and Miros — how safe is data in the cloud?
The rising popularity of integrated autosave may have you believe that you are immune to data loss up in the cloud. But can we trust our favourite UX tools — and do they really have our back(up)s?
Whilst autosave is possibly one of the most convenient tech trends, another contender is the grand cloud, hosting over 60% of all corporate data as of 2022. But all these digital advancements may have left us starry-eyed in some regards.
If we take a hard look at ourselves, studies show that 96% of all users fail to carry out backups, which is worrying when you consider that 7 out of 10 small businesses that experience major data loss go bust within a year. Chances are that time-crunched students are also not prepared to lose all their hard work overnight, so this is a problem for multiple user types.
With this in mind, let’s explore the UX scene with its downtimes, and also address the part that cognitive overload plays in this all-too-common (not only human) error.
A cloud still hanging over us
Cloud computing has been boasting an impressive pace of adoption, especially ever since work went virtual during the pandemic, making us consider new approaches and solutions.
The result? Currently, 94% of all enterprises utilise cloud services in one form or another. However, almost 80% of organisations using SaaS have lost data, which remains a significant concern for all stakeholders especially as adoption rates keep soaring.
In fact, Statista’s recent survey found 64% of respondents citing data loss or leakage as their biggest cloud security concern in 2021. As companies keep increasingly pushing workloads into the online sphere, this could become a growing issue. But are we to blame here? Probably not, if our psychology is to chime in.
Head in the clouds? Not your fault.
We consume a constant flow of new information, which adds up to a never-ending cycle of cognitive overload. Neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin has studied this topic (along with technology and productivity) in great length, and his research attributes information overload to the sheer amount of multitasking required in our digital age. Put simply, our mental capacity can only be pushed and drained so far.
“Information overload refers to the notion that we’re trying to take in more than the brain can handle. The conscious mind can attend to about three things at once. Trying to juggle any more than that, and you’re going to lose some brainpower.” — Daniel J. Levitin
Our overwhelmed mind then also has to tackle decision fatigue, which is why, for example, Steve Jobs famously stuck to black turtlenecks on most occasions. Wasting valuable mental energy on small choices was pointless to him, and the same applies to all of us. Our attention is already fractured and stolen by everyday demands — surely, technology should do what it does best; automation?
Though backing up your data might not be an inconsequential side-thought, it’s just simply not something that crosses our mind on a routine basis. Even when we do stop to think, we are used to the system looking after our “security admin” for us in most instances, so we (understandably) take it for granted.
This is an area and an expectation that the UX of all software, platforms or tools should consider. Data backups are no exception to any other feature; catering to the user’s mental bandwidth and model is always important.
Autosave: a hazy middle-ground?
A now-regular feature, autosave comes with some clear advantages that address parts of this problem. Right off, it can free up the user interface and keep it clean and decluttered, allowing for a less overwhelming experience. More importantly, by making the system save for the user, they don’t risk losing (as much) work due to dying batteries, system crashes and other culprits. This, of course, also depends on save intervals and the user’s internet connection.
A UX-favourite, Figma, addressed the latter issue when they expanded autosave, so edits made while being disconnected get saved to disk, and then uploaded to the server once the user is back online in the digital aether. Before this improvement, being shoved offline could run the risk of losing data, so it was a welcome fix for ensuring changes would be alive, well and synced once the connection got restored. (Whilst also allowing you to work offline with limited functionality.)
Not quite Cloud Nine
Despite autosave becoming the new pattern, having a Save button is still a deeply ingrained mental model. So, even with the efficiency and the convenience of not having another button to press, it can cause confusion and an increased mental load. Here we have a catch-22 of assuming that we are saving the user a step, when, in fact, they are actually being dragged out of their comfortable autopilot mode.
Even if designing for the path of minimum effort, sometimes our implicit memory gets in the way, as past interactions continue to shape current expectations. This can result in an (unintended) added step of the user having to check if the save has been successful, if the system is working as it should, and generally what’s going on. Essentially, taking away the choice of when to save can be a frustrating and disorienting experience when not communicated well.
That is not to say that autosave and the good old manual save cannot co-exist. The challenge perhaps lies in implementing both without getting them muddled together and confusing the user. But let’s leave autosave behind for now and focus on its siblings, backups instead.
Unclouded judgements
Most of us can probably agree that Miro is a wonderful tool for collaboration that enables a smooth workflow even across distances. If anything, the company sure has the figures to show for it.
In 2020 they confirmed to have seen a 236% growth in weekly active users between the beginning of March to the middle of June only. Imagine how much their engagement has been peaking ever since, if this was their success at but the beginning of remote work as the new normal.
The same article also states that 49.5 million sticky notes were posted in May that year (a 162% increase on March), proving that Miro users were creating more content than ever. Be it for work or for your studies, clearly, they are steady favourites and a much-needed tool serving remote teams in changing times. An ingrained, regular autosave element and ways to export one’s work also make Miro a convenient and user-friendly helper.
No real smoke here
If we were desperate to search for a flaw, we could point out that there is no automated backup feature that would truly put your mind at ease. Whilst there is a manual way for backing up your boards, this can get time-consuming if you have to repeat the process for multiple projects. Resorting to a manual method with each major board update, or at regular intervals can result in a lot of time spent on repetitive tasks that may quickly become redundant. Then again, version control can be a feasible alternative, where saved versions are stored for 30 days.
Besides, the last time the application had a partial outage (for 45 minutes) was back in May earlier this year. In that month, the Miro app’s uptime stood at 99.96% — and ever since, it’s been at a solid 100%, according to their overview. There were some connectivity issues following a server infrastructure upgrade mid-June, but apart from this? You may find you’ll struggle to dig up any major dirt.
At the same time, Figma encounters the odd service disruption, but they also report a 100% uptime over the past month. Not to mention that they, too, allow for manual saves, exports, and keeping track of changes with version history.
The takeaway? They both seem rather reliable based on the numbers, but if you are concerned about possible downtime, you can subscribe to get notifications (here for Figma and here for Miro).
Onwards and upwards
With cloud services thriving, there are still some examples when even the best of apps leave something to be desired, even if autosave generally helps our frazzled mind out. These two cases seem to prove the opposite — they offer multiple ways to ensure your projects are in safe hands.
Still, although Miro and Figma mainly bear the hallmarks of a happy ending, other products might not be this considerate. So rather than sticking to the current (at times) precarious fog that surrounds your digital work’s safety, perhaps opting for a more grounded approach from time to time could serve you better.
Basically, don’t forget to get up close and manual with your backups every now and then, or find a task automation tool to do your dirty work for you (such as Magicul as Kevin pointed out in the comments).
Thanks for reading! 📖
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References & Credits:
- Share of corporate data stored in the cloud in organizations worldwide from 2015 to 2022 by Statista
- 2018 Netwrix IT Risks Report
- Cloud Adoption Statistics for 2022 by Nick Galov
- What are your biggest cloud security concerns? by Statista
- 26 Cloud Computing Statistics, Facts & Trends for 2022 by Cloudwards
- Data Protection Survey: Trends Across the U.S & U.K. by Spanning
- Collaboration trends: how we’re evolving our product by Miro
- How to think straight in the age of information overload by Susie East and Ben Tinker
- What Are the Consequences of Data Loss? by Mark Campbell
- Behind the feature: the hidden challenges of autosave by Rudi Chen, Figma
- Levitin, D. J. (2014). The organized mind: Thinking straight in the age of information overload. Penguin.
- Images by vectorjuice on Freepik
