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Soon You Will Be There, Not Here
Yesterday involved a bike ride out to Azabu Juban to collect a visa-stamped passport from an embassy.
The process of applying for a visa and then arriving at the embassy to pick it up often provides the first "Oh, I'm going to..." moments - when it first sinks in that in a month or so you'll be living, working and documenting that culture and its peoples. The practical issues hit home - of researching in a new language, trying to figure out what it takes to get the job done all with a sufficient cultural sensitivity, naturally.
The act of making a visa application implies that other plans are well progressed - the research brief is far enough along, project dates are fixed, and that conversations with collaboration partners are sufficiently progressed. In a sense the visit is a time marker, the beginning of the count down clock. (I can't think of anyone who applies for visas for the fun of it though somebody out there probably does). The embassy visit is certainly not the first point of contact with a culture - a considerable amount of communication will have already taken place with local guides, organisations and the background research will be well underway. There is nothing like being in the richness of a physical space to bring it home. Online? By the time we develop comparatively rich digital environments that could evoke the same feelings we will have found new ways to look at and appreciate our physical surroundings.
Embassies are mostly run according to home culture norms: separate kiosks for men and women; television tuned to local entertainment channels (in this instance a gentleman is walking around a restaurant holding a microphone and singing - something that is no-doubt a pleasant enough way to pass the time); paintings of leaders and spiritual leaders side by side; the application process itself (for me an official invitation stamped by the Ministry of Lmnop), and finally there is the language that is spoken and, literally, the language of the writing on the wall.
Little touches of home culture make through the kiosk glass: the manner in which overly zealous applicants are rebuffed; the degree to which personal time and space is acknowledged and the manner in which this acknowledgement is appreciated; and an honest desire to share the best of one's culture. And then there's the cross-cultural - a visa stamp vending machine in Arabic and Japanese.
I must admit to being a little surprised that taking photos was allowed in this consulate office (though I did restrict the lens to the direction of inanimate objects). No smoking and no mobile phones certainly, but no no-cameras. What does your embassy not allow you to do within its walls? What does it say about your culture that it has these rules? How does it reflect on the way your country conducts itself abroad? Or the perception of your country in these foreign lands?
My home country embassy confiscates cameras at its entrance and returns them on your way out.
And this morning's embassy? You'll know when I get there.
Writing from Azabu Juban | August 30, 2006 | Comments (3) | Permalink
Local Heroes
Local heroes - express delivery from China.
(Cheers CY, gratefully received)
Writing from Tokyo | August 29, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink
The Entrance To
Design of the sign, affecting perception of the message.
Writing from Nagano | | Permalink
(The Benefits of) Switching Defaults
The male and female entrances to this onsen are swapped depending on the day of the week.
Despite assumptions to the otherwise each entrance led to a slightly different experience - swapping gives visitors an opportunity to try both. In most other contexts however it would be unusual to change such as basic part of the process - there is a moment of "did I walk through the right one?" just prior to turning into a crowded male/female changing room.
What are the benefits to swtiching defaults? In what contexts? And for whom?
Writing from Nagano | | Permalink
Notification Of
Close to a school. The other side of the road had likewise, complete with yellow flags.
Writing from Nagano | | Permalink
Cultural Norms
Where it is acceptable to point your feet.
Typical styles of seating.
Writing from Nagano | August 28, 2006 | Permalink
Cues to Understand North
Writing from Nagano | | Permalink
Time, Time Zones
A (hire) car that welcomes you by telling you the time and day. It's very difficult to imagine a non-gimmick use case for this feature. Progress indeed. But does it sync the time to the local time zone?
Writing from Nagano | | Permalink
The Very Definition of Local
When personal communication devices were less common arriving visitors to Nagano's Kouri Station would hunt down the nearest phone booth and could rote dial a taxi. The sign provided all the necessary information - since call to a local number were made from a local device. Mobility changes what we consider to be local - and in this instance for a mobile phone to connect to this number requires knowledge of the local prefix.
Incidentally, the addtional complexity and rules for dialling non-local numbers can be a barrier for low-literacy mobile phone users.
Writing from Nagano | | Permalink
Free, For Granted
Things that in a particular culture or context can be taken from granted will be provided for free.
Why interesting to designers' of mobile devices? If its common knowledge that its provided then you don't have to buy it (or carry the means to buy) and you don't have to carry it.
Writing from Nagano | | Permalink
Lockers & Lockers
Two sets of lockers located in the same onsen building - one with a crude wooden keys, the other metal keys and a wrist strap. Why the different levels of security? Why indeed the need for security?
It is common for onsen building's such as this to be a shoe-free zone and in this establishment at least most visitors secure their footware. (In some places it's more common to see shoes lining the entrance - providing a snapshot of what people are wearing). The second locker is for valuables and the key accompanies the bather during their time in the various hot spas.
Communal bathing is one of the more pleasant rituals in this part of the world particularly after a long day on the slopes.
Writing from Nagano | | Comments (1) | Permalink
Human Threads
Lines at Tokyo Station deliniating where passengers should queue for arriving Shinkansen. One queue is for the first train, the next for the second. For this to work requires both a shared understanding of the rules and that the rules are (sufficiently) obeyed. A sequential version of a linear queue/stack at Sé station.
Writing from Tokyo | August 26, 2006 | Permalink
Communication, Literacy, Design
Remote communication requires a means of identifying whom to contact. How do people who can't read and write manage their contact information?
This is just one of the many questions I'll be asking at a presentation on Literacy, Communication, Design to the University of Art and Design Helsinki on the evening of the 14th September. It's hosted by Teemu Leinonen and Andrea Botero Cabrera and is open to the public. It will draw on three years of research by colleagues at the Nokia Mobile HCI Group into low literacy communication practices, a journey that took us from urban and rural India to Nepal, China, Uganda and beyond.
Related research can be found here and as usual when its all done and dusted links to the slides will be posted to here.
Writing from Tokyo | August 25, 2006 | Permalink
To Mail You Is To Like You (A Little)
Visitors whose only interest is in downloading presentations can now subscribe the Future Perfect mailing list. You'll receive email notification when new material is ready for downloading. And that's it.
To sign up simply send an email to info @ janchipchase dot com with the word 'subscribe' in the subject line.
Why bother? Why indeed.
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
Personal Preferences
A mobile phone strap enables its owner to project personal preferences, affections (similar or identical straps are frequently bought by friends and couples) and lifestyle aspirations in a way that is both socially acceptable and often subtle. (OK, in the case of Japanese teenage girls it's often not so subtle).
Why is it that straps are far more likely to be found on the phones of Asian consumers than elsewhere in the world
Writing from Shibuya | August 23, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Efficiency in Informal Markets
Lady on the right of the photo sits at a make-shift in desk front of Shibuya Station issues receipts to her scouts in return for thick weekly manga that are popular with Tokyo commuters. Her network of scouts pull the magazines from nearby bins for recycling and resale. A selection are then sold on a nearby stall.
The gent in the photo has nothing to do with this - simply quietly having a smoke.
Writing from Shibuya | | Permalink
Advertising in 2012
Lines leading up an Akihabara staircase to a maid cafe above, and through a São Paulo station below.
What do the properties of the line tell you about what to expect at the destination? Or whether there is a destination? What if these lines were ethereal? A digital flow made visible by your personal communication device, like having a radio tuned to static, walking into a signal and following. What would the flow communicate to encourage you to seek out its destination?
Writing from Tokyo | August 22, 2006 | Comments (3) | Permalink
The Barriers of Barriers
Writing from Naka Meguro | | Permalink
Space Invaded, Spotted, Eliminated
Entire Tokyo invasion, documented here.
Writing from Naka Meguro | | Permalink
The Wisdom of (Observing) Crowds
What does the fact that a crowd has gathered tell you about the values in a society?
They are here to observe. What is it about the activity of arcade drumming that makes it so observable? At one point the audience applauded. What are the pre-conditions to shared understanding and appreciation?
Writing from Akihabara | August 20, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Bi-Lingual Density
Writing from Akihabara | | Permalink
Form, Carrying Style
It's more common (though still relatively rare) to see it clipped to front right trouser pocket on teen boys: the device remains in close proximity; can be felt relatively easily - which is good for noticing incoming vibra communications; and provides an opportunity to show off both the device and customisation of the device.
The costume? Akihabara on a Sunday.
Writing from Akihabara | | Permalink
The Art of Thinking Ahead
Noticed after conducting an ad-hoc interview in Lwamagwa with a rural Ugandan policeman.
The reason for the interview was that the spot just above the police station entrance was one of the only places in the village that had regular cellular reception (basically line of sight through a dip in the landscape to a base station). Move the phone a foot either way and the reception was lost. Making and receiving calls required dextrous use of his head set.
Related: Village Phone extended antennas.
Writing from Tokyo | August 18, 2006 | Permalink
Inherent Properties
The inherent properties of the matoke support carrying by bicycle, as shown here being displayed for sale (in Kyotera, above). Assistance required (Kansensero, below).
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
Toilets, Muslim Toilets
Must dig up the collection of different types of waiting rooms in China and India.
Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (4) | Permalink
You'll Like This. Or Not.
Visitors to Pretoria Airport are greeted by signs pointing them to turn on their mobile phone's Bluetooth connectivity. Accepting the connection results in an animated GIF being sent to the phone - with special offers on duty free products.
In our (naturally wonderful) wireless world the process of discovery, knowing what services are currently available in proximity is far from painless. Whilst I rarely buy duty free I suspect that most people would find the 'special offer' underwhelming given the steps required to receive (even if connectivity was switched on) and the risks associated with accepting gifts from strangers.
Purveyors of location based services may be interested in the 2003 NTT DoCoMo's comprehensive R-Click trial in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills. By signing up to R-Click and completing a profile of interests participants were offered three services: location based advertising according to personal preferences (Koko Dake Click); information based on what was shown on LCD displays (Mite Toru Click) for example a url related to the advertising that was displayed when you were present is sent to your i-Mode equipped phone; and finally a services that monitored where the participant was going and tried to predict what offers or items of interest they would want mailed to their phone (Buratto). In other words the system tracks your every move (not dis-similar to CCTV) except that this information can be cross checked with your profile, your mobile phone, and to the profile that the system builds around your behaviours. To be fair R-Click was a trial and trials are there to, well, try out stuff. And yes, its opt-in. But the approach in the R-Click trial, in particular the Buratto service highlights a fundamental assumption about privacy, or lack of - you are there to be tracked, sold to, and you pay for the priviledge because i-mode is a pay-per-packet service.
How well did the Roppongi Hill R-click service work? From my own experience, even with my profile of interests and knowing where I was heading it was unable to provide relevant recommendations and in many ways it highlighted the challenge of providing the right person with the right information at the right time. Getting it even marginally wrong results in an unwanted intrusion.
Would I accept future special offers at Pretoria Airport? Only out of boredom. But Airports are far from boring - there are simply too many interesting people to observe.
Bootnote: Can you build a service based on killing boredom? Undoubtedly.Who is motivated by what reasons to create boredom scenarios? Cue delayed flights, trains, busses...
Writing from Tokyo | August 17, 2006 | Permalink
Childhood Norms
50 meter outdoor pool makes coping with Tokyo's summer humidity that much easier. Highlights? Watching the locals come out to play; triggered childhood memories of learning to swim in London; and 10 yen (6 Euro cent) lockers.
And someone being overzealous with the locker stickers.
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
Relevant, Less Relevant, More Relevant
Not sure if this São Paulo graffiti refers to this or this?
Writing from Tokyo | August 15, 2006 | Permalink
Digital Gait
Knowing a person by the sound of their footsteps, their gait. What would be unique about your digital gait?
From a series of photos taken in Shibuya Station above and Sé Station below.
Writing from Tokyo | August 14, 2006 | Comments (4) | Permalink
Personal Space, Changes In
The human density from the process of queueing and then boarding a train in Sé Station, above. The degree to which personal space is maintained at a pedestrian crossing in Shibuya visually extenuated by the umbrellas, below. Different cultures have different norms as to what constitutes an acceptable amount of personal space. How does this distance differ between contexts? In any given context what are acceptable 'excuses' to breach this space?
How do notions of personal space, privacy change as more about how we define ourselves and how others define us become digital? What are acceptable excuses to breach personal-digital space? How do you breach someone's personal-digital space?
Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (1) | Permalink
Local Norms
And individual price stickers somewhat of a rarity.
Writing from Shibuya | August 13, 2006 | Permalink
Over Extending, But Workable
Writing from Shinjuku, back of | | Permalink
Shoe Gazers, Shoe Gazing
Freshly cleaned shoes sitting outside a barbers shop on the outskirts of Kampala. The photos were taken on a Sunday morning - for many locals an opportunity to dress up and head to one of the many hugely popular church services. White shoes have their moments, but they take on particular significance in a country such as Uganda where the dust and dirt makes keeping white shoes white that much more difficult. Numerous kerb-side stalls offered shoe cleaning services - first scrubbed with a toothbrush then left in the equatorial sun to dry and bleach. Which in a round about way leads me to a topic that has facinated me for a while - when you are walking the street and you see someone where do you look? Where do they look?
Walking streets from Tampere or Tokyo and beyond I've noticed that one of the first things that people look at when they check me out is my shoes. The result is the same whether the target of their gaze is a beat up pair of Pumas or brand new pair of Antas. Shoe gazing is a form of sizing-up behaviour that is prevalent particularly (though not exclusively) amongst male youths and it involves four stages. The initial recognition that occurs at a distance of 10 to 15 meters which is trying to figure out whether the person's shoes are of sufficient interest to warrant further investigation. If the wearer's shoes past muster then this is followed by a short period of looking elsewhere - it is after all rude to stare at someone coming towards you even if its at someones shoes. The third stage occurs in close proximity and involves a sequence of quick glances to check out shoe details. Occasionally there is a fourth stage that occurs once the person has walked by - it involves turning back to check out other aspects of what the person is wearing - by concentrating on the shoes other related clothing details may have been missed, the assumption being that if the shoes were cool then the other gear they are wearing fits the same bracket.
It might be that the shoe gazing effect is extenuated by the fact that I'm 'not local', the implication being that 'someone not from around here' may have access to stores and fashions to which they don't. I've been wondering whether online window shopping extenuates shoe gazing - people have a good awareness of what others are wearing worldwide but this may be the first time to see them locally and in the wild.
So how might all of this evolve in our Future Perfect? What happens when people carry to tools to digitally project who they are or who they want to be? Will someone turn around and look back knowing that their mobile device has automatically recorded all the relevant details? What are all the relevant details? And can they be recorded? What is digital equivilent of shoe gazing? If your interest is piqued then you might like to check out research by my colleagues Younghee Jung, Per Persson and Jan Blom, in particular their work on Scent and Sensor.
And what does all this to do with the elegant group of barefoot ladies above? The photo was taken in a church opposite the barber's shop, above - they're about to energetically head onto the church stage for a dance routine. It reminds me that when it comes to understanding shoe gazing, or pretty much any other behaviour, context is everything.
Writing from Tokyo | August 11, 2006 | Comments (3) | Permalink
Taken, Missed Opportunities
Pixel art in Jardins.
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
Slides for Repair @ Pecha Kucha
The slides from yesterdays Pecha Kucha presentation can now be downloaded via here [2MB]. Most of the material has been previously published here, though Japanese readers might prefer reading some light comments in, um, Japanese. An approximation of presentation text appears on the last three slides, though I hope what was said was more coherent than what is written.
Thank-you to Klein Dytham Architecture for hosting & KM for the timely localisation.
The top photo? The result of asking 300+ plus people to say cheese.
Writing from Roppongi Hills | August 10, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Electric Shaves (in the Land of Power Cuts)
The average life expectancy at birth in Uganda is around 47 years. This low figure is in part due to the prevalence of the HIV virus, which used to stand around 15% of all adults and at one point having infected almost 32% of pregnant women in cities. Following factors such as an extensive education campaign and the fact that HIV well, kills this figure is now closer to 6%. Those of you interested in background reading might head to here.
And what does this have to do with a barber shop shave in the village of Kyotera?
This barber offers an electric dry shave - somewhat surprising considering the frequency of power cuts in Uganda and the widespread availability of cheap tools that would offer a perfectly good wet shave. Except that a wet shave comes with a higher risk of cuts, and cuts have a higher perceived risk of transmitting the HIV virus.
So electric it is.
Writing from Tokyo | August 8, 2006 | Comments (3) | Permalink
Mobile (Bathing) Services
Bathing services for the infirm. Cable provides power and pipes for hot water, cold water and returned dirty water.
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
Balancing
Writing from Naka Meguro | August 6, 2006 | Permalink
Safe, Parking
1. What is parked
2. That what is parked does not need to be locked
Writing from Naka Meguro | | Permalink
Encouraging Behaviours
Writing from Naka Meguro | | Permalink
Afro Mouse
Writing from Shibuya, back of | | Permalink
Waving Not Drowning
I'll be hosting (possibly co-hosting) a workshop at the EPIC 2006 Conference in Portland entitled Waving Not Drowning: Practical Tips for Staying on Top of Photo Field Data.
The 3 hour session will be a forum for discussing topics such as: processes for handling large volumes of photo field data; techniques for before during and after the study; moral & legal issues; ensuring relevant data is easy to retrieve and use. It will draw on the experiences of both attendees, myself plus those of my colleagues at Nokia's Mobile HCI Group. There are 8 places, 4 are already booked. Attendees will spend more time on their next study waving and less time drowning.
Workshop details here or download flyer here [0.5MB].
Is the EPIC Conference for you? I've not attended before but you might like to read Steve Portigal's review of last year's conference (the review kicks in about half way down the page). A summary of the workshop including a creative commons version of the workshop material will appear here if for some reason you can't make it.
Writing from Tokyo | August 5, 2006 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Your Next Job Is Here
To round off today's virtual visit to Brazil - human billboards seated in a row carrying advertisements for jobs. In the photos below - a row of applicants queues and job advertisements displayed on public and ad-hoc infrastructure.
Many of the people queuing will have public access to online job advertising so what is that attracts, and continues to attract job advertisers and job seekers to this physical space? What are the benefits of human over stationary billboards? Are these benefits being fully utilised? What are the cultural characteristics that make human billboards omnipresent in this Sao Paulo street?
How do the human billboards affect the perception of the quality of the job (or other services) on offer?
Writing from Tokyo | August 4, 2006 | Comments (4) | Permalink
Mobile Location Based Advertising
Mobile advertising From Shanghai (above), Sao Paulo, Ho Chi Minh City and Delhi (in sequence, below). If these vehicles and the majority of people are carrying connected high capacity devices what kind of services does this enable? What will be your criteria for judging whether to connect or not?
OK, technically the Delhi photo is announcing a funeral.
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
The Positioning of People
Human hoardings in a Sao Paulo street - there were at leat 16 different information hawkers. What would be different if they were selling digitial services or content?
For a Tokyo equivilent see the value of you, is where you are.
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
Tangible vs Digital
Locks and MP3s for sale side by side in a Sao Paulo market street. For customers buying digital content from street vendors how to recognize the quality of what is for sale? That it plays? That it contains the correct music? That the metadata is present and accurate? In the way that collectiions are put together?
In the corner of the DVD market stalls below you can (just) spot a portable DVD player - for offering customers previews of movies. For music and in a noisy street environment how can a buyer appreciate what it is they are buying? Currently the quality of music bought in these contexts is largely 'that the CD-ROM or DVD actually plays', rather than the quality of the recording, but like with DVD previews its only a matter of time before some form of value added preview is offered. In some Delhi markets its more likely that the music would be burned just-in-time - its already the case with software purchased through the same channels.
With digital music larger file sizes might imply higher quality recordings. Part of the AllofMP3 business model is to allow the customer to choose the quality and ultimately pay according to the resulting file size - for example MP3s can be encoded at low, high or CD quality (128, 192 or 320 kbps) and the customer can choose which DRM free format to encode into. There is a flip side to all this of course.
How can street sellers raise the perception of quality of their digital wares? How will quality be judged by future, more savvy consumers?
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
Repair Culture @ Pecha Kucha
I'll be presenting some material on Informal Repair Cultures at Pecha Kucha 34 in Tokyo on the 9th August.
Slides will be uploaded here at some point.
Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (1) | Permalink
Manual to Auto (And Back Again)
Sign for drivers running trains through to Old Delhi station.
A big part of user interface design is deciding what to present to users when. Most things can delegated - either to other people or to technology. The question is what to delegate, to whom, and when. To what extent is delegation driven by efficiency? To what extent does delegation remove a sense of achievement? Does the Delhi train driver have a more enjoyable job taking care of the signalling manually? Is this a mundane task that technology can take care of? Or is this an important task that should not be left in the hands of a mere mortal?
In an increasingly automated world how to indicate changes beween automated and manual states? How to cope with exceptions to those states? How to present changes in state to us mere mortals?
Writing from Tokyo | August 3, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Security Concerned
A metro-using Paulista shields his back pack by wearing a coat.
Given all the security and theft stories both prior to and on arrival in Brazil this kind of most-obviously concerned-with-theft wearing style was rare. From our various studies on where people carry stuff (not that we did any formal research in Brazil, but drawing on data from 8 other cultures) people concerned with theft tend to carry bags and objects of value e.g. mobile phones or wallets hidden, within easy reach of hands, in lines of sight and/or in tactile contact to the body. Given that a back pack worn normally is mostly out of sight and out of reach the number spotted being worn on the Sao Paulo metro was surprising.
For every context a series of trade-offs.
Writing from Tokyo | August 2, 2006 | Permalink
Exposure Suggesting Tasks
Opened electicity meters and fuse boxes in a small town back ally about 60km outside Beijing. The photo was taken in mid-winter (bitterly cold if I recall correctly) so opening the boxes exposes them to the elements and weather damage. That they are left open suggests frequent access, and variable power supply.
Which is relevant if you are trying to figure out the charging habits for battery driven devices.
Writing from Tokyo | August 1, 2006 | Permalink
Stoking What is Hot
From a street walk in South Delhi.
Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (2) | Permalink
Tokyo Wakes
If there's an upside to jetlag it that it's a viable excuse to hop on a bike and take an early hour's ride around Tokyo - after a month or so on the road I need certainly need the exercise. The route runs from my home base of Sakura Shin Machi down the 246 through Shibuya, Omotesando, before touching the edge of Ginza before heading for home. In many ways the early morning urban landscape is a refresher course in the study of Tokyo, which helps put similar work related sessions in perspective.
By 4am the July humidity is sufficiently dulled to make exercise enjoyable and the pre-dawn light can give even the 246 - an ugly split level motorway that runs through the city, an air of romance. The traffic consists largely of taxis taking home drunk revelers, perma-tanned kids doubling up on mopeds (schools out for the summer) and a smattering of tinted window Hino vans making pick-ups for location fashion shoots. The Hino's are usually passed parked at the side of the road its driver, invariable a chubby bearded guy sneaking a quick fag in one hand whilst playing with a role of gaffer tape in the other. By the time you near the eastern edge of Ginza its common to come across three wheeled motorbikes driven by riders adorned in head to toe fish-market-rubber. I would love to say this is part of the local lively fetish scene but the mundane reality is that Tsukiji Fish Market is nearby.
By 6am the Imperial Palace serves as a training loop for local runners, overweight foreign joggers and cyclists. Arriving half an hour earlier they would have witnessed both the evaporation of the mist hanging over the Palace grounds and disappearance of the many homeless people sleeping rough. Homelessness is found in every park in Japan but it's at its starkest here amongst the splendor of the expansive grass and trees. One long term homeless gentleman lies under a purple blanket, a Louis Vuitton holdall lying next to him. The sight is interesting on lo