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Here in Japan a number of vending machines accept payment via SUICA travel card. With the card held in proximity to the vending machine card reader the total credit remaining on the card 1380 Yen is displayed on the vending machine's display.

In a world where ever more objects and surfaces can be utilized by service designers to provide feedback, what information can or should be fed back? Which people (or remote/automated monitoring devices) will also be able to observe this information? To what extent do or should users of the service have the ability to control what or how it is displayed?

Its a particularly tricky question to answer when the users/customers of a service come from a wide range of different cultural backgrounds - in an airport say, because of differing cultural notions of what is considered private, and what is OK to share with all and sundry. My particular bugbear is the US Visit check-out vending machine that clearly displays the departing visitor/would-be-terrorist's full name writ large for anyone within a few meters to see.

Yes, but who would consider their name to be selectively made public? Same question for a middle name? OK then - age? Weight? Bank balance? etc

Half the Tokyo design studio heads to Rio next Monday, with an unfortunate six hour stop over in Washington DC sandwiched between two 12 hour flights.

Writing from Tokyo | July 20, 2007 | Permalink