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
Indeed
Solicitor's office, London.
Writing from Tokyo | April 11, 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 | | Comments (1) | Permalink
Game On
Mobile phone game advertising, Shibuya station.
Writing from Tokyo | April 10, 2007 | Permalink
Context is Everything
A skate shop ad sticker using the b-word. The context? Heathrow's terminal 1.
Signs warning against bomb-related jokes can be found in a number of airports, LAX springs to mind. When does placing a advertisement become an arrestable 'act of terror'?
And taken to the nth degree by WK Interactive, and now viewable in Neo-Tokyo (ta David).
Writing from Tokyo | April 6, 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
Phone, PDA Customisation Norms
Nail shop in Bankgok that has extended its services at the bequest of customers to include customising mobile phones. Somewhat surprisingly PDAs also go for the bling treatment. And their design inspiration? Harajuku.
Writing from Tokyo | March 26, 2007 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Thai Nail Shop Norms
Writing from Tokyo | March 25, 2007 | 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 | | Permalink
Stretching in 2 Dimensions
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
Play On,
Uma is Japanese for horse.
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
If They Can They Will
What makes this pipe a (more) socially acceptable place to place trash than, say the ground or gutter?
From last winter's soujourn in Chengdu. The hard hat eventually moved - the chap was peeing against the other side of the wall.
Writing from Tokyo | March 23, 2007 | Permalink
Confidence and Consequences
Is this door locked? Can the person in the room test whether it is locked (without the act of checking itself unlocking the door - very Schrödinger's cat)? And what is the consequence if the door is not locked?
From a bathroom/toilet located in a design company.
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
Cost, Perceived Cost Affecting Usage Behaviour
The humble Biro is one of those ubiquitous products that is by and large ok to forget to return, or to put it another way - steal. Which helps explain why this Salt Lake City café has adapted the default design to extend their claim of ownership. But why is this product socially acceptable to steal? Even in a city where faith and responsibllity is pushed to the fore?
For those wanting background research my colleague Jan Blom has written extensively on what motivates people to personalise objects e.g. here he's also got good material in the pipeline which I'll link to in due course.
For a start the pen is mass produced, ubiquitous, changes hands as part of a task process (signing a credit card slip), and typically can be replaced for very low cost. Last week I chatted with guys from our LA design studio (cheers RN, AG & DB) and have since been mulling over the extent to which the in-store sticker cost is associated with the perceived value of the product.
Lets take a real world example from the advertising in the photo below- is it really possible for a Wal-Mart to make a profit or at least break even on a Motorola c139 mobile phone at less than $15? This isn't just about loss-leading. Despite its tangible presence the product in this advertisement isn’t the phone - the product is connectivity, and that’s where for Tracfone and by association for Wal-Mart where the promise of future profits lie. Of course this is nothing new - operators the world over take a hit on the device and make it back over the course of the contract with devices that best support services offering up the largest sticker subsidy.
But the gulf between sticker cost and actual cost hides something deeper than a lighter wallet. Like the humble biro it changes our perception of what it means to 'own' a product and may well have significant impact on the speed at which the product ends up reaching the end of its life as a functional object, of being discarded. With an estimated 1.2 billion mobile phones being sold next year this is a non-trivial matter. Transparency plays an important role in helping individuals understand their environmental impact (which is why I like the Kill a Watt that came in the TED gift bag). To what extent could or should the price of objects be transparent?
Writing from Tokyo | 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
Vehicle Colour/Color Norms
Commuter car park in northern Tehran above, and ski-resort car park close to Salt Lake City below.
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
EPFL Presentation Downloads
The slides from last-last week's presentation at the Ecole Polytechnique Fedarale de Lausanne were culled from previously published research on Cultures of Repair and Innovation in India and China [4MB] and Communication, Literacy & Design [6MB]. Thanks Nicholas for hosting and students for sharing thoughts.
A question was asked about whether rural consumers were offered classes to how to use their mobile phones. They aren't (though I think at some point Orange in the UK offered its customers lessons to make the most of features on their phone). What does the lack of structured mobile phone classes say about how people learn to use their phone? Whilst designers strive for simple and intuitive designs offering formal classes isn't inherently a bad thing: it can help align the user's mental model with that of the system; introduce local users to one another to build up a support network if things go wrong; and ultimately put people at more at ease with the technology. How does this apply to you? - we are all only one generation away from being mystified by the next ubitquitous, useful, but ultimately sub-optimal for humans technology.
And the photos? From ad-hoc street research in South Delhi last year - in an effort to figure out what kinds of and what levels of literacy were required to run a paper recycling station.
Writing from Tokyo | February 19, 2007 | 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
What You See, What You Are Expected To See
Those little design details that help you see what your brain is trained to see. Photo from Geneva.
Writing from Tokyo | February 15, 2007 | Permalink
When (Design) Rules Are Made to Be Broken
Do cultural attitudes towards obeying and breaking rules - not crossing a road except using pedestrian crossings also extend to the rules by which things are designed - say not creating a pedestrian crossing unless there is sufficient room for at least three stripes. Seems imbalanced to me. Also from Geneva.
Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink
Cost Optimisation
When the plane touches down theres usually one or two travellers who take off the battery cover, pop out the SIM card and replace it with a SIM from the local carrier. In wealthier markets to what extent will reductions in roaming charges reduce the practice of SIM card swapping? For more price sensitive consumers - whether students in Helsinki or increasingly the bulk of consumers in emerging markets what cost differential is sufficient to maintain multiple SIM cards?
Photo from a study in Brazil last year.
Writing from Tokyo | February 13, 2007 | Permalink
Fake, Real, Fake, Real. Repeat until fade
Real and knock-off 8800's from Chengdu's Tai Shen Lan Lu Market (photos taken late last year). A used original about 220 Yuan, a fake with Nokia logo about 900 Yuan, and a version with identical industrial design but no logo 50 Yuan. The power of the brand? Does the same apply to your brand?
Incidentally, my translator & guide for the day correctly guessed the real from the fake with her eyes (literally) shut by listening to the sound and feeling the sliding mechanism, but with her eyes open she considered the fake to be the real thing. Not exactly surprising considering that she'd not held one in her hands before. This is where I should probably write something about the need to eductate consumers. However, in what contexts does educating consumers on the value of the original drive up the value of the fake?
I've touched on fakes before, whether the fluidity of markets in Shanghai, watching fake covers being packaged up in a Delhi market, the real/fake fake/real battery buying options in Ulan Bataar, fake cigarettes in Xiamen, a prevalance of Ecko in Lhasa, how to fool consumers into thinking a non-waterproof watch is in fact waterproof in Kathmandu, and why Al Zawahri was probably wearing fake New Balance convolutedly via Cairo.
The backdrop to the photos? A backstreet Sichuan eatery. And yes, I'm still in Tokyo.
Writing from Tokyo | January 22, 2007 | Permalink
Open Minds, Open Skies
Heading to Europe later this week - a chance to listen, learn and contribute to the LIFT Conference in Switzerland and the Shell Technology Futures workshop in the UK. As some of you may be aware I've recently moved out of the research lab to join the Nokia Design Studio in Tokyo, not that much time, ahem, was actually spent in the lab per se. So to round of the trip a visit to the mothership to meet new colleagues. Will the career change result in a change of direction for Future Perfect? Lets see.
You may have watched the view of the future videos posted by Nokia Design on YouTube. I'm always intrigued at the personal touches that make it into corporate presentations - in this instance my design studio neighbour Younghee making a brief appearance in the Achieve video.
So why the hair-on-the-lens photos of back country boarding and Hokkiado's Mt. Yotei? The LIFT conference thoughtfully wraps up on a friday. What to do with a weekend near Geneva?
Writing from Tokyo | | 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
Village Phone, Photo Presentation
At the Nokia Technology Media Briefing last November I touched on the Village Phone initiative between Grameen Foundation, my employer and local micro-finance organisations in Uganda. A short photo essay about the Village Phone co-authored with my colleague Indri Tulusan is now ready for download as Powerpoint or PDF [2MB].
To recap - the Village Phone extends regular base station cellular coverage from around 15 kilometers to around 30 kilometers through the use of a village phone kit - an antenna and ten meter cable (shown above) and a coupler (shown below) connected to a regular Nokia 1100 mobile phone plus of course, a micro-finance loan. The net result? In a number of cases it provides the first convenient, reliable and affordable connectivity to the outside world for many rural communities as well as providing a stable income for the local entrepreneur that takes out the loan.
In the spirit of Future Perfect lets start with a simple question: To what extent do villagers need access to mobile phone? Who is in more need of personal, convenient synchronous and asynchronous communication - someone in London who works 9 to 5, 5 days a week or someone in rural Uganda working 5 to 9, 7 days a week? IMHO the impact on quality of life is far greater in the rural context and the some of the innovations this enables are touched on in this longish essay on Shared Phone Use. One example of the benefits of connectivity? Sente - the transfer of money via mobile phone that essentially also extends regular banking services such as the remittance of cash to these communities.
As always, related research here and you can be signed up to receive notification of new downloads by emailing to info at janchipchase dot com with the word subscribe in the subject line.
And the gent featured on the cover of the presentation? A kiosk operator for a rural village phone in Uganda. Cheers to the extended Nokia team for letting us piggyback your work - Johanna, Jens & Suzanne.
Writing from Tokyo | January 19, 2007 | Permalink
Separation of Church & State, What You Carry
Religious slogan adorns the wall of an Iranian sports hall - a common enough sight in a city adorned with revolutionary murals. Thoughts for today: the cultural differences in separation between church and state. Does the relatively high level of physical religious presence encourage or discourage the carrying of religious artifacts amongst mobile essentials? And for mobile phone manurfacturers does it encourage or discourage the religous customisation such as ringtones or wallpapers?
And the photos in the sport hall? Your's truly partaking in a 5-aside footy game between conducting contextual interviews in Tehran late last year. Yup, that phone is not a phone, its a stop-watch.
Writing from Tokyo | January 18, 2007 | Permalink
The Psychology of Packaging
Very deliberate design references for this non-alcoholic malt beverage, Iran.
Writing from Tokyo | | 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
Power Up: Street Charging Services in Uganda
Uganda is a country coping with a severe energy crisis resulting in frequent power cuts. In addition, access to mains electricity in rural locations is limited. Given that mobile phones require power, and access to power can be unpredictable - how do people keep their mobile phones and other electrical devices charged? Last July a Nokia research team travelled to Uganda and explored this issue as part of a more in-depth study into shared phone use.
There are two forms of mobile phone battery charging services in Kampala - either offered as an additional service by phone kiosk operators or as a stand alone service. It costs 500 Ugandan Shillings (0.2 Euro) to have a battery recharged similar to the price of 2 or 3 phone calls. Whist both services appear to thrive there are a number of barriers to use: customers cannot use their phone whilst the battery is being charged; the customer risks, or perceives the risk that their battery being swapped for an inferior one; a perceived risk of phone theft - signs that suggest service providers are not responsible for loss or theft are evident.
For many Ugandan rural communities with no access to mains power car batteries are the primary means of providing electricity to the home. Businesses such as bars also run off car batteries but they are more likely to have their own power generator. A used car battery costs 30 to 40 dollars and can keep a household powered for a month, though in a bar the same battery might last a week. The homes we visited ran electrical items included radios, CD players, television and domestic lighting.
It can take 3 to 5+ days to have a car battery recharged at the process involves delivering the car-battery to a charging service often tens of kilometers away the nearest town that has mains electricity access. The battery is taken and returned by a trusted and friendly taxi driver or trader. It takes 3 days to charge a battery, longer if the town where the service is based itself experiences power cuts. The cost of charging a battery is around 1,000 Ugandan shillings (0.4 Euro), not including delivery. (As a comparison a mobile phone battery costs half as much to be recharged using one of the mobile phone street charging services mentioned above).
How does people's behaviour change when there is intermittent or limited access to power? How can we better support users with limited and intermittent access to power?
Two short presentations co-authored with my colleague Indri Tulusan are available for download from research.nokia.com. The first entitled Power Up: Street Charging Service in Kampala as PowerPoint or PDF [3MB] and Rural Charging Service, Uganda PowerPoint or PDF [2MB].
Readers may also like the related research into shared phone use as well as the full list of presentations and downloads.
Writing from Tokyo | January 12, 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 | January 10, 2007 | Permalink