Taxi Dashboard Norms

Faith finding its way onto the dashboard of taxi's in Cairo above, and Bangkok below.

During a recent field study in Cairo we encountered a taxi free from any religious adornments - quite the rarity in Egypt. But why? The driver was having his vehicle assessed for road-worthiness and officially taxis are supposed to be free of religious symbols. Faith is a hot and contenscious filled issue in Egypt these days. Once the test was passed he planned start personalising his car to become a mobile shrine.

Projections of faith strangly absent from the dashboard late night taxi into Delhi (above) though the he had an evil eye (Nazar Boncugu, eye bead) attached to his keyring. Tokyo dashboard, below limited to (a rather fetching) official taxi-driver identity card.

Writing from Tokyo | April 13, 2007 | Permalink

Gender Segregation, Service Opportunity

Gender segregated train carriage in Tokyo.

The demand for women-only carriages driven by: a desire for comfort which relates to; physiological gender differences; the dis-proportionate affect of hyper-crowded Tokyo carriages on women during rush hour compared to men (men tend to have smaller, less senstive breasts, differently shaped butts); and the exploitation of the commuting conditions by (relatively) occassional male passenger to sexually harrass female passengers.

During peak hours the train carriage is female only. To what extent does segregation currently support targetted advertising and services? How will this evolve as the technologies to support more flexible content mature - electronic signage e.g. e-ink and devices like mobile phones? How might this affect the female commuters that decide not to use this carriage during these times?

Another example of commuting segration? Tehran.

Writing from Tokyo | April 12, 2007 | Permalink

Election Bias

Tokyo became that little bit noisier today - with loud-speaker wielding polititions entrenched outside train stations extolling would-be voters to could-you vote for them. With the speed at which hurried commuters approach the station and decend into relative calm of the Tokyo rush hour it is doubtful they hear more than a few words of the candidates message. So if the message is not the message what is? The presence of the politition?

Elections billboard's such as this from sakuraesque Naka Meguro have sprung up in every neighbourhood - giving the candidates an opportunity to enter the consciousness of the electorate. Personality and image aside how might voting patterns be influenced by the design of the board: spatial positioning such as left or right as a reflection of political persuasion; loyalties suggested by the clustering of candidates in relation to one another; numbers each candidate is assigned; the number of slots for candidates as a reflection of a democratic society; the actual (low) number of candidates as a reflection of engagement with the democratic process?

The use of left/center/right to describe political affiliations is enough in common in Europe. But what analogies are in use elsewhere?

Writing from Naka Meguro | April 11, 2007 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Game On

Mobile phone game advertising, Shibuya station.

Writing from Tokyo | April 10, 2007 | Permalink

Predictability, Margins of Error, Quality of Life

Think about your daily commute - how accurately can you predict your time of arrival? To the minute? 5 minutes? Within an hour? And in what ways does being able to accurately predict where you will be when effect you and the people around you?

After graduating from college I lived for a number of years in Stoke Newington - a Williamsburgesque neighbourhood in north London made marginally more affordable by not being connected to the Underground network. Transport into central London meant getting on a bike or catching one of the iconic 73 Routemaster busses, with public transport putting the traveler at the mercy of road works and the then frequent IRA bomb scares*. A journey into town might take 35 minutes or then again an hour.

*For a number of years millions of UK citizens were affected IRA transport disruptions and in turn were forced to think about what their government was doing on their behalf outside the cosy confines of the ‘mainland’. In its own little way, changing the predictability of the daily commute bought the war in Northern Ireland home. Flyers in the US may well be experiences a similar pause for thought every time they take their shoes off going through TSA security.

Commuter travel in Tokyo is a very different story - public transport is both frequent and arrives on time (not that I'm unduly affected by it - its a city that is easy to get around on a bicycle). If a train is more than a couple of minutes late Japan Rail issues an apology and on arrival at the destination a queue may form at the station-master’s office to pick up an official late-note. Blaming public transport is not a viable excuse in Tokyo. Predictability encourages just-in-time behaviours and frees up time that can then be put to other uses. The flip side of this - not knowing the time of arrival puts the onus on travelers to maintain awareness of their current surroundings, keep abreast of the ongoing status of the transport as well as juggle destination related parameters - such as keeping colleagues or clients abreast of arrival times. If you have a job where being on time is a necessary component of functioning effectively then the ability to accurately predict where you will be when is also valued. Its a simple proposition - people tend to be willing to pay for stuff they value.

And yes the ability to successfully move millions of passengers, as in the photo of the Tokyo rush hour above, increases the flow of people to the point is literally and figuratively swept along by the crowd.

We are of course in the midst of significant shifts in the way we perceive time, location, and the world around us. Real time status updates are available from an ever wider variety of sources whether its knowing when a bus will arrive to parcel being delivered and yes, the mobile phone is playing an expanding role in supporting both micro-coordination and maintaining awareness of those things we, well, wish to maintain awareness of. Lateness is increasingly relative - when the people and things we coordinate with have sufficient awareness of your whereabouts they are more likely to mitigate the consequences of lateness by using the time for other valued pursuits. For some the concept of being late or early is a twentieth century notion.

But technology is far from neutral and affects us in different ways (the photo above is of a gender segregated queue for a bus in Tehran). What are the implications for being ‘late’ in business or social contexts? Or, bearing in mind societal stereotypes for way finding or map reading - what does it mean if as a woman you turn up late for a meeting compared to a man? Employers or employees? Brazilians or Germans? In the near near future your geo-location is just another parameter to decide to share with others.

Or at least that's the theory. Because many consumers won't fully appreciate what about their location is being shared and with whom - hidden behind deliberately opaque business models or poorly designed interfaces. Or quite simply they won't have a choice about whether to use the technology or not. Which is where the astute and empathic designer comes in - you have the power and with power comes responsibility.

Been playing around with Dopplr these past few days and whilst its too early to judge whether it will become a valued tool for the long distance traveler the signs are there: it requires minimal setup and ongoing maintenance to derive real value, and has a pleasantly neutral weather-forecast approach to informing members who is roughly where and when.

And why these photos from train stations around the world? The photo above is from Seoul Station taken during a study on Mobile TV early adopters [related essay]. Would-be passengers are relaxed and watching a sports event, trains and departure platforms have been announced well in advance of departure so they can switch their attention to other more leisurely activities. The photo below is of passengers in London's Waterloo Station, with only five minutes before the train is scheduled departure the platform has yet to be announced and fellow passengers spend their time intently staring at the screens.

Any (service) design students out there looking for a thesis project? Design a service utilizing mobile devices that helps passengers know where to be when. What would a station or an airport look like if everyone maintained an absolute awareness of their here-now, and there-next?

Writing from Heathrow | April 5, 2007 | Permalink

Routes, Landmarks

The dominant landmark, in this instance Mt. Fuji, that defines a route of a train. That then makes it onto the train signage.

Writing from Tokyo | March 27, 2007 | Permalink

My Icon. Your Icon?

Consider the impact of this grafiti on the walls of Geneva (where it was spotted) versus on the walls of Tokyo. Iconic images for whom? And why? And what reaction from the local population?

What are the technologies that increase the immediacy at which this kind of information flows around the world? And the accuracy of those flows. Blogs? Don't be silly. Think Microsoft's Photosynth. Though as a TEDster pointed out this moves from Wow to genuinely interesting when it is able to recognize the Post Falls Seven Eleven from every other Seven Eleven out there.

This morning's commute is a little longer that usual: hello London, followed by hei Helsinki next week.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

The Elevation of Objects

Media Skin by Tokujin Yoshioka, in the KDDI concept store, Harajuku. At first sight the design comes across as minimal, but when the flip is opened the user is confronted with additional rows densely packed buttons. Features have go somewhere right?

A pleasant enough way to display a product if you happen to have a couple of robotic arms lying around.

Writing from Tokyo | March 25, 2007 | Permalink

Stretching in 2 Dimensions

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Play On,

Uma is Japanese for horse.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Oo

Writing from Tokyo | March 22, 2007 | Permalink

Localised

Graf includes a Japanised version of the Ronald McDonald face.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Function & Projected Function

Writing from Narita | March 15, 2007 | Permalink

Advertising in 3 Dimensions

Physical advertising for Kenzo in a Daikanyama cafe includes supplying and stocking bamboo furniture, product samples, framed aren't-we-in Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia/Thailand photos for the walls, and a rather weak movie projected on the walls.

Writing from Tokyo | March 14, 2007 | Permalink

Stanford Slides

Links for last week’s Stanford University presentations on Repair Cultures [PowerPoint, 4MB] and Exploratory Field Research [PowerPoint, 2MB] - material first published last year. Cheers to Bill Cockayne for hosting.

For attendees following the discussion on the informal practice of sending money as airtime - Sente, may wish to read this essay on shared phone use and download this accompanying presentation [PowerPoint, PDF, 7MB].

And the photo? Just another Shibuya pop-street interview. Spent time observing, but in this instance nothing new to learn.

Early start tomorrow - the 35 degree heat of Bangkok and the energies of the design team awaits.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Textures of an Urban Interface

From a pedestrian crossing in Naka Meguro. The blind/dis-abled crossing box includes brail on its top surface.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Appropriate Use of Punctuation

Unusual use of exclamation marks in street signage, or more accurately park signage - Tokyo's Komazawa Koen.

Writing from Tokyo | March 13, 2007 | Permalink

Speed of Change, Discovery, Love

The Disney theme-park inspired love hotel close to my office looks like it’s about to close. Although the only people I’ve seen walking in and out are elderly salarimen and their spritely nieces it adds colour to the neighbourhood. I'm left wondering what kind of building will go up in its place.

Buildings in Japan are often constructed to last 20 or so years - before being rapidly torn down to be re-incarnated as something else. Local neighbourhood skylines that might take decades to evolve in cities like Frankfurt or Bristol change with rapid progression and I'm intrigued to what extent the speed of change - both in terms of form and function affects our perception of locality, history. How does it affect wayfinding - our ability to find or give directions? In a world where it is increasingly easy to (geo) tag places with memories how does the speed and velocity of change affect how this information is discovered, used? When, like in this love hotel, there's a emotional backdrop behind each and every encounter, room, and night of the duration of this building's existence some of these stories will make it into the ethersphere. So that when half a year later an office complex goes up on the same plot of land Tanaka san cross references his new desk location with the presence of who has been here, in this exact spot over time, and may well smile (especially if a photo was also carefully/throughtlessly uploaded).

And if you'll excuse the tangent - for individuals and cultures with a belief in ghosts and other-worldly presences to what extent will the digital blend with the ethereal and the physical? The one thing I know for sure - the exorcist will need to include data cache flushing skiills in his or her repertoire.

Hmm, ast call for boarding. Destination? West coast US to catch up with our Calabasas design studio, a couple of presentations to share ideas on design research (new material will eventually be posted here, plus a conference that hopefully challenges assumptions about, well, everything.

Would you turn down a weekend in the rockies? No, neither would I.

See you on the other side.

Writing from Tokyo | February 28, 2007 | Permalink

The Selfish Toothbrush

The electric toothbrush is a selfish object. Not in terms of the power it consumes - a viable enough argument, but in the level of engagement it requires during use.

For many people mornings are about completing a number of time-pressured tasks before walking out the door - ablutions, sustenance, getting dressed, and caring for appearance to present ourselves in public. In between all of this we somehow find time to catch up on the latest news, make packed lunches, and look after dependents whether kids, pets, plants or (occassionally) spouses. And at some point most people brush their teeth.

With so many things to do its not surprising that we multi-task - newspapers browsed whilst downing coffee, listening to the radio whilst getting dressed, interrupting tooth brushing to complete two handed tasks like opening the sock drawer or place objects into bags. Which is why the electric toothbrush is a selfish object - it demands to be held the whole time it is used and the alternative that works with regular tooth brushes - to be clasped in the mouth for those moments when you need both hands is not an option. Why? The device is too heavy, and more importantly it continues to vibrate making the mouth-clasp a thoroughly unpleasant experience. (Yes it can be temporarily placed on flat surfaces but it leaves nasty hard to remove toothpaste marks). At what point does the electric toothbrush becomes light enough to be clasped in the mouth polite enough to turn off the vibrator for that moment? At what point does it really fit into the flow of the morning? And in our sunny, shiny future perfect at what point does the act of brushing teeth become redundant? Replaced, for example by super efficient armies of Colgate branded bacteria scrubbing your teeth on your behalf? Pop a pill when you walk out the door, arrive at work feeling minty fresh.

A convoluted link, but a link never the less - I've been using the N800 for the past week - and it seems destined to fill a small but friendly role the the home. But as with the toothbrush its a selfish device that requires two handed engagement to be able to appreciate what it has to offer, which is fine in a number of contexts just not during the morning multi-task.

There’s another much talked-about selfish object on the horizon - the iPhone. How well will it fare as a two- handed device in what is more many people a one-handed multi-tasking world?

Writing from Tokyo | February 26, 2007 | Permalink

Context & Macro-Break Tasks

Tokyo is criss-crossed with railway lines so one cultural anomaly is the amount of time people spending waiting at crossings for trains to pass. Unlike other waiting contexts there’s not a huge amout of people watching going on - everyone on one side of the crossing is facing the same direction, and the people on the opposite side of the tracks are too far away to be able to pick up subtle (flirting) behaviours. For people standing alone mobile devices feature heavily in how they occupy their time.

Thought for today - the cultural differences in the causes of waiting. And how these differences affect technology/service adoption.

Writing from Tokyo | February 25, 2007 | Permalink

Jahwe

Mobile phone appliations advertised on the side of an advertising truck.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Expiry Dates Affecting the Perception of Validity

During a routine credit card transaction recently in the UK the sales person took the card, checked the expiry date and tutted “It’s just about still valid” - it is due to be replaced in 03/07. A gentle example of how people treat things with expiry dates and times, whether credit cards, parking meters, foodstuff, differently the closer it comes to being due. Another common example, particularly amongst the male bachelor of the species is sniffing milk before pouring - trusting the sense of smell over the date on the side of the packet.

As we continue to learn how to control what happens at the nano + bacterial level there is greater scope to communicate current expiry status: ID cards that visibly or olfactorily depreciate closer to that time; money that feels different when you’re down to your last ten Euro note - prompting a visit to the nearest ATM; containers that tell you much more about the condition of what is held inside.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Changes of Carrying and Wearing Positions Over Time

Whilst we've had the opportunity to research where people carry their mobile phones so far - having studied the residents of 11 cities across 4 continents, we've not managed to do any follow-up studies to see how carrying behaviours change over time (our studies were not designed for longitudinal comparison). Despite the rear area often being considered, in the words of a female clothing designer we interviewed, a 'problem zone', in Tokyo mobile phones and music players like the iPod (pictured above) are increasingly making their way into the back pockets of women. Monoblocks are carried 'all in', and clam-shells half-in and half-out - understandable there are still quite a few chunky clamshells in the market. In both cases decorative straps, that by our reckoning are found on 60%+ of women's phones, hang out of the pocket - both making it easier to retrieve phone from said pocket and drawing attention to the surrounding female form. Which gives all sorts of clues as to who wears/carries their phone in this way.

Of course this 'trend' could merely be a result of me seeing what my male brain is hard-wired to see.

Incidentally, the half-in the pocket half-out style is sometimes seen amongst younger males except that the phone more likely to be carried in the front right pocket - remaining within easy reach of the dominant (right) hand - useful for processing incoming information, maintaining a visual awareness (unlike Ms. Backpocket, above), whilst simultainiously supporting the projection of personal identity.

Deadlines permitting, I'll be co-publishing research on carrying behavious with my colleagues Fumiko Ichikawa and Cui Yanqing later this year. I live in hope.

Writing from Tokyo | February 22, 2007 | Permalink

Reduced to Pantone

When purchase choices are guided/reduced to one of colour.

Not all colours are created and perceived equally. And not all colour schema's are created and perceived equally. From the new Softbank store, Harajuku.

Writing from Tokyo | February 21, 2007 | Permalink

Understanding Alternative Scenarios for the Future

Delivered a presentation to the S.E.T. studio in Tokyo - in a funky, and funkily-wired building just off Harajuku's Takeshita Dori - a working environment that also functions as a test-space for 'living' new ideas.

Presentation material on research methods can be found here [4MB] and informal repair cultures here [3MB]. Ta Henry and Oba san for the invite

And the model above? Barcelona's own.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

The Art of Never Unpacking

To arrive back in Tokyo is to confront the rituals of physically and mentally unpacking.

Today there isn't a field research kit but in its place the tangible result of too much time spent in swiss and french delicatessens. Hotel laundry beats washing at home, unopened mail on the desk, grocery shopping. The absolute pleasure that comes from properly-properly cleaning the dust from another country from the camera lense.

Bodily time-zone adjustments that either just work, or that take days to figure out. And the the solitude that comes when, like today, the day starts at midnight and 'lunch' is preceeded by a 5am ride through the city. It takes a hard hour's riding to follow the expressway though central Tokyo before curving around the Imperial Palace and heading for home. After 8 hours in 54H the sounds and smells of the city are inviting. The mental clarity that comes from the wee-hours is only tempered by the effect that jetlag has on loved ones later on. Everything has a cost, you just need to figure out what it is.

In many respects home-life stands still for the traveller for the duration of these travels - that list of things that really should be done can take months to be crossed out simply because you're not here; food stuffs that would normally be eaten in a fortnight last half a year; projects that require a physical presense take an age to get off the ground and everyday relationships are put on hold.

When you travel a lot theres a part of you that never unpacks. Its not good or bad, but it is.

Writing from Tokyo | February 17, 2007 | Permalink

Print on Demand

Daily newspapers printed on demand by Newspapers Direct. What does the fact that this business exists in a world of ubiquitous digitial content say about our appreciation of physical content? In what ways is print-on-demand physical content different to role-printed mass-produced newspapers?

From Singapore Airport. Cheers DMc.

Writing from Tokyo | January 21, 2007 | Permalink

Contained Servings

Sake containers that double up as drinking glasses.

And a toilet sign semi-disguised as one-cup sake containers - the shelf swings out to reveal the bathroom. Buri, Ebisu.

Writing from Tokyo | January 20, 2007 | Permalink

Transitions

Writing from Tokyo | January 16, 2007 | Permalink

When a Butterfly Lands on a Cactus

Friends of mine recently moved in a modern Tokyo apartment, that included amongst its other mod-cons a remote control to operate the toilet. Control panel's like this are nothing new and this Toto washes, sprays, and blow dries (though It doesn't however have an SD-card slot for uploading music like the one in the ladies bathroom at work). The apartment also comes with peace-of-mind-security coverage - the remote control for which thoughtfully placed next to the toilet interface.

So when house guests are wanting to flush and aren't familiar with the kanji for 'emergency' (not yours truly, but tip of the hat to you-know-who-you-are) there is naturally a risk of pressing the wrong button. Looking at the photo which button would you press? What the likely consequences of pressing the wrong button? And given the context is the user in a position to ask the hosts for help?

Its no surpise that the 'wrong' button is pressed and an alarm sounds, and the security company sends out a uniformed emergency response team. I'd like to think that this is a joke, but it isn't, though the impact is lessened by the uniformed gentleman arriving by mamachari bicycle to investigate. Is this the end of the story? Actually no.

Some days later a written report arrives, officially stamped with the details of the resident-presses-the-wrong-button-in-the-toilet-incident duly written up. There's so much wrong with this future-perfect-connected world situation its difficult to know where to start. Good intentions, technological illiteracy, in-elegant failure. And its all coming soon to a culture near you.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Tokyo Park Sign: No Practicing Golf Swing

No practicing your golf swing joins the more common no cycling, no dog waste, no fires, no littering and no picking flowers on this sign at the entrance to a park in Daikanyama. It's not surprising given the passion for golf here. On a shinkansen ride through Japan the tallest structure in many local communities is the massive net covering the golf driving range. Combined with a distinct lack of practice space - balconies in Japanese apartments are not big enough to swing a perfectly manicured chihuahua much less a golf club and golfer's desire to practice in the local park is understandable.

Other sign norms? The lack of park signs in Tehran as an indicator of where the energies of officialdom lie i.e. not regulating what people do in parks; the use of humour in this 'Beware of the Invisible Cows' sign in Hawaii; signs to support illiterate users in multi-lingual and high-illiteracy India; and severe weather warnings at a toilet entrance in Dallas.

And sign shops in Ho Chi Minh City, Kampala and Pokara Nepal.

Writing from Tokyo | January 14, 2007 | Permalink

Expectant View

It is good to back in the megopolis after what feels like a year on the road. Samples of prevalent sticker-spam in Shibuya.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Analog Messaging Between Check-in Staff and Baggage Handlers

Simple analog messaging between check-in staff and baggage handling staff at Hokkaido's Chitose Airport. Group check-in luggage is preceeded and ended by empty annotated crate shown at the back of the photo.

Ah yes, what you really want to know is whether there was a decent dump of snow? Does an onsen smell of sulphur?

Cheers to the boarding crew for making it happen with such finesse. CS - next time for sure.

Writing from Chitose | January 10, 2007 | Permalink

Heritage, Reference

A digital sign capable of displaying text in any font or layout. What are the motivations for copying previous, analog sign designs? To what extent does the visual transition between the fixed analog form and digital support passengers looking for visual clues that they looking at the right sign?

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Borders Between Clean and Dirty Spaces

Reasoning here and here.

From a ryokan last week in Hokkaido.

Writing from Niseko | January 9, 2007 | Permalink

Contextual Advertising

Advertising for train pass (Suica) equipped mobile phones advertised at the point of their intended use - the ticket barrier.

Writing from Tokyo | December 4, 2006 | Comments (4) | Permalink

Societal Notions of Acceptable Anti-Social Behaviour

Smokers huddling around a smoking zone at the far end of a Shibuya train platform - a behaviour deemed as anti-social yet, by the very fact that infrasructure is present, accepted. A modern day opium den?

What similar behavours will future generations partake in? And how will society react?

6am Shibya station, waiting for the Narita Express.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere (in Tokyo)

Shibuya Station morning commuters walk past a sign advertising Mobile TV. 10 things you didn't know about mobile TV here.

Cultural practices and the the likelyhood of technology adoption.

Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (3) | Permalink

Personal Cultural Radar

A lamp shade made from dozens of internal rubber sheaths of Tenga's - a Japanese single use penis pump.

For those of you who like to know how things work - a cross section diagram of a Tenga can be viewed here and its possible to contrast the internal differences between each of the designs that they make. The product packaging, its relative simplicity, and the rich sensory nature of its human interface when in use make it an interesting case study for user experience designers.

The lamp shade formed part of the Peace Needs a New Logo event in Aoyama and an element of its appeal (or otherwise) as an artifact is in understanding its origins. In practical terms it means having dismantled a penis pump which in turn implies having purchased and used one, or at least having spoken with someone who has. And whilst there are contextual, individual and cultural differences to what you discuss with whom, the obscurity of its origins, its display in a public space, and the very personal nature of a Tenga's use make this lamp shade a conversational bonding experience waiting to happen. As such it reminds me of the shift that is well underway in how we process the cultural references around us and how future changes in technology will in turn create new shifts in this landscape.

Today's mobile phone already combines the ability to process audio, visual and other sensor captured information. It is in essense an early form of a cultural radar - in tune with your personal preferences and the values you prescribe to. The quality of those carried sensors, the sensors in the world around us, the extent to which interaction is automated will only grow over time - leading to new ways of understanding our context. If you value the perspective and critical eye of WallPaper*, the New York Times or even Future Perfect then you'll simply sign up to their subscription service to apply their filter to your literal view of the world.

Given that part of the enjoyment of an object or service is in the process of discovery, in knowing and understanding obscure references, how does the designer/artist/creator remain two steps ahead when the links between things are inherently that much clearer?

As a valued reader kindly pointed out earlier this year Future Perfect is not half the site of Grant McCracken's This Blog Sits at The Intersection of Anthropoogy and Economics. When it comes to writing about culture I couldn't agree more. And finally credit where credit is due, during my travels to and from the mountains this week I finally managed to spend time on Adam Greenfield's Everywhere well worth a read if you want a more systematic approach to understanding the ubitquitous world.

Writing from Tokyo | December 3, 2006 | Permalink

Tokyo Wayfinding

Writing from Tokyo | December 2, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

QR Bar Code Meta Data

QR bar codes (photo below) embedded into the mosaic of the station posters (above) - each 'tile' is a separate bar code. Snap a photo of the bar code with an appropriate camera phone to follow the link. From Shibuya station.

Writing from Tokyo | December 1, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Density of People In a Space

With the communication+ devices fully integrated into what you carry you are the infrastructure and that fixed point with which you interact today becomes fluid. What factors affect with what or whom you interact?

Had the pleasure of catching a rush hour train this morning. Related thoughts from Sao Paulo earlier this year.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Large Buttons, Gesture Input

Spent the last couple of weeks observing an elderly relative first puchase then use a digital camera for the first time. What stood out? The touch screen on the Sony T50. Why? Human motor skills depreciate over time and the soft keys are larger and less fiddly than anything than can be squeezed on the physical form factor.

But the bonus? The speed at which a (relative) novice learnt and understood gesture based interaction - sliding her finger left and right, to navigate photos.

Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Out of Office

A positive aspect of working for a Finnish company is the respect for personal and vacation time - in July and August many of my colleagues take up to a month out of the office and head to their summer cottages. My personal equivalent to this as of last year and continuing this, is taking off most of December and some of January and exploring new parts of the world. With a hectic year's travel and research behind me there are a lot of ideas to formulate, a lot to write.

So as of next week I'll be heading to first to China and then to India with time at altitude in both Tibet and the Himalayas. I'm still not quite sure what I come back to (if you guess right you can win a Shibuya blinged iPod Nano), such is the game of corporate musical chairs. Oh, the scramble to find a seat before the music stops. One thing is for certain, next year the best is yet to come.

In a way my month off has already started - prompted by visiting family, time off in the Japanese Alps and coastal ryokan. There's nothing like the clarity that comes from watching the sun rise over the Pacific (in Izu above) or waking up above the clouds to put life, the universe and (more humbly) my research into perspective. That these mornings yield a disproportionate share of big ideas is merely a bonus.

Next to me on my desk there's a freshly brewed coffee that needs drinking (a rather tasty organic blend from Ugandan since you ask) which is probably the weakest way of leading into saying that In the next few days I'll share some research on, um, Shared Phone Use a study that co-incidentally also covers Uganda. For now I'll leave you with the following two questions: Of everything that you own what would you not share with others? And why not? Answers in the comments please.

Writing from Izu | November 30, 2006 | Comments (13) | Permalink

Posture Signfying Events

Writing from Izu | | Comments (2) | Permalink

Human Traffic Flows, Design Flexibility

Form and flow of the sign facilitated by the ability to read top to bottom. The flexibility of sign design in a culture that reads left to right and top to bottom.

Writing from Izu | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Street Language

Writing from Tokyo | November 28, 2006 | Permalink

Separation of Clean and Dirty Spaces

Shoes specifically for use in the male toilet room (the rest of the building, a mountain lodge is a shoe free environment) the result of a strong separation between clean and dirty. Visually the strongest demarkation of boundaries is the presence of the objects, toilet slippers, themselves.

Does it, should it, or could it apply to the storage and separation of clean and dirty (or private and not so private) digital content? Beyond the obvious, what makes for dirty content?

Writing from Akedake | November 27, 2006 | Permalink

Cutting to the Chase

Tangible reminders of memories for sale.

Writing from Akedake | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Trial, Error, Aspiration

Train carriage canvas for aspirant graf artists. Apply your tag/artwork/visual noise from the comfort of your own sofa/school desk/bedroom. A simple lifestyle object with strongly implied intentions.

From the Montana store, Heidelberg.

Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Object Positioning and Flow

Keys positioned in doorway - making them easier to remember but sufficiently out of the way to not inhibit flow. From the same Akedake mountain lodge as previously.

See also point of reflection.

Writing from Akedake | November 25, 2006 | Permalink

Culturally Understood Sequences

Say the name Ichiro and ask a Japanese person over a certain age to guess the name of his male siblings they'll sequentially come up with the names Jiro, Saburo and Shirou. Why? Because at a particular time this naming sequence was popular amongst Japanese parents. (Admittedly there can't be that many Japanese families with 4 sequential male siblings but by naming the first Ichiro, and the second Jiro you are perhaps showing intent to have a large family).

Thought for today: culturally specific naming sequences of siblings, objects, products or services. The ways in which these sequences can be leveraged by designers e.g. to suggest that a product is the first of many. The extent to which these sequences can be exploited e.g. someone uses the first item of a little known sequence as a password, can guess other passwords based on other items in the sequence. The extent to which sequences have cultural equivilents.

Mountain hut rice cookers named Ichiro (above), and Jiro, Saburo (below).

Writing from Akedake | | Permalink

Harass, Segment

"On weekdays this car is 'only for women' in trains for Osaki and Shinkiba departing from this station from 7:38 to 9:33"

Of note: the necessity for gender segregation of train carriages; the precision of the rules; colour, design and placement of the sign.

Writing from Tokyo | November 13, 2006 | Permalink

Friday Pop Quiz - Free Blinged Nano