Indeed

Solicitor's office, London.

Writing from Tokyo | April 11, 2007 | 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

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

Gaps Minded

The same message targetted at passengers standing on the platform and those disembarking from the train. Given the semi-random scattering of passengers on a platform versus the limited number of doors on a train there should be more messages facing the train - there were however equal numbers facing both directions.

The role of technology in supporting the delivery of micro-targetted messages. The contexts in which it is likely to be ineffective.

In Helsinki this week - a welcome opportunity to deliver projects, share ideas, fill in the gaps and plan strategies. And the best part? talking though research topics with the team; and figuring out the most appropriate places in the world to conduct the research. Time for something a little more challenging.

Writing from London | April 4, 2007 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Jarring Intrusions

When advertising makes its way into spaces that you'd rather it stays out of.

Like? Like the advertising for mobile phones on the hangers of London's Bond International.

Writing from Hoxton | April 3, 2007 | Permalink

You Are. Are You?

Writing from City of London | March 30, 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 | March 27, 2007 | Permalink

Oo

Writing from Tokyo | March 22, 2007 | Permalink

Localised

Graf includes a Japanised version of the Ronald McDonald face.

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Rules, Exceptions

Height rules for travelling on Bangkok's Sky Train: 140cm or less - free only on children's day, 90cm or less - free everyday.

And the exceptions to the exceptions?

Writing from Bangkok | March 21, 2007 | Permalink

Smoking Makes Your Teeth Go Bad

Mentally quite affective - the package design is simply not something you want to have lying around on a cafe table. But why stop there? Packaging with abrasive surfaces, increasingly unpleasant odors...

Thanks to our local guides, Nad & Yu for making our stay that much easier.

Writing from Bangkok | | Permalink

Information Positioning

Taxi license plate posted on the left and right passenger doors supporting information recall. Related to the risk of forgetting and then having to retrieve belongings from the taxi, and perceptions of passenger safety?

Writing from Bangkok | March 19, 2007 | Permalink

Thai Sticker Graph

Writing from Bangkok | March 17, 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

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

When you Delegate Positive Experiences

During yesterday's TED talk I proposed that from a design perspective a potential solution to pretty much every design problem is delegation - getting other people or technology to complete those parts of a task or activity that the user is unable to complete themselves. With the exception for things like bodily functions e.g. going to the toilet or entertainment - you wouldn't pay someone to go to the cinema and enjoy a film on your behalf. (Yes, just because its a potential solution doesn't make it a worthwhile goal to aim for).

Except that at some point - when we are better able to understand and map sensorial experiences and have a better understanding of how the brain processes these you may well be able to delegate entertainment experiences to other people, to be enjoyed at your leisure at a later time and date. In essense - time, location and body-shifting experiences. Movie buffs amongst you will already be tutting about Strange Days, and so you should.

Experience shifting raises all sorts of interesting questions about empathic design, where from an physiological-emotional perspective experience designers will literally be able put themselves in someone elses shoes. What are the characteristics of the people whose experiences will define, well, the essense of the experience we wish to design for, to communicate? It can be anything from designing an out of the box experience to learning, knowing what it feels like to walk in a Sao Paulo subway station (above), the touch a razor from a Chinese back street barber (below) and yes, will encompass sexual encounters. In this world DRM boils down to removing experiences from human memory and the inevitable badly written DRM leaves its host as a vegetable.

A new profession will arise - people whose job it is to experience stuff, and who will be judged on their ability to capture the subtlties of any difference process, task or context. With a distinction between raw experiences and those enhanced though stimulants, or post production. And yes, Gonzo?

Anyone feel like writing a job spec for this job from the future? Thoughts in the comments please.

Writing from Monterey | March 10, 2007 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Perception, Reality, Privacy

Close Circuit TV camera becoming a lightening rod for the debate on privacy. To what extent do people perceive their privacy to be violated by CCTV cameras? To what extent is their privacy actually violated i.e. the information that is collected is acted on in some way? And how big is the gulf between the perception and the reality? And is the difference irrelevant?

What design changes can be made to mitigate/extenuate the feeling of being watched?

Given the granuality of information they are able to collect, why doesn't this sticker include the name of a search engine? What does it say about our awareness of what search engines (and other services) versus physical presence? Or about the willingness to give up privacy for convenience?

Writing from Salt Lake City | March 4, 2007 | Permalink

Trust Jesus

Writing from Salt Lake City | March 3, 2007 | Permalink

Jahwe

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

Writing from Tokyo | February 25, 2007 | Permalink

Message Complexity

Writing from Geneva | February 11, 2007 | Permalink

Our Heroes, Who Are They?

Heroes? Heroines more likely.

Writing from Geneva | February 10, 2007 | Permalink

How it is Communicated

Writing from Geneva | February 7, 2007 | Permalink

The Line Between L'Humor and

Writing from Geneva | | Permalink

Looking for What You Expect To Find

A fly poster plasters the only available flat surface on a car park wall, pausing to keep a keyhole uncovered.

It's Switzerland, and I expect to find order. So I find order (regardless of its merit).

Writing from Geneva | | Permalink

Logos as a Moments in Time

Recommended by and listed in the guidebook. The entry is updated yearly with new stickers being added to the entrance of this restaurant, providing customers with a snapshot of design tweaks.

Writing from Grand Montets | January 30, 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

How to Avoid Becoming Road Kill

The striking thing about the journey between Rangpo and Gangtok apart from: taking chai breaks from a packed Mahindra; the scenery - tropical forests clinging to the Himalayan foothills; and packs of monkeys lining the route - are the multitude of signs extolling drivers of the dangers of the road. Arrive in peace, not in pieces, don't gossip let him drive, and my personal favourite because of its proximity to a particularly cliff-like cliff drive, don't fly.

The past days in the Himalayas have been physically and mentally tough (in ways you might not expect) and recent travel experiences have put a lot of things into sharp focus. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?Tomorrow starts the final leg of my winter journey - heading to Hokkaido for fresh powder and onsen. The future (perfect) can wait a few more days.

Writing from Sikkim | January 1, 2007 | Permalink

Microbreak Advertising

The appropriation of a zebra crossing in Chengdu as a backdrop for advertising, somewhat similar to this in Tokyo's Daikanyama.

How will local government digital infrastructure be similarly appropriated?

Writing from Chengdu | December 16, 2006 | 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

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

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 | November 30, 2006 | 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 | November 27, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Elevation to Art Form

The Heidelberg Montana graf shop somehow simultainiously at home and at odds with the twee surrounds of the old town. To what extent does the ability to see what other people have been doing in the same field, essentially comparison shopping legitimise the medium?

"Iranian grafitti?"
"..."
"Its all political isn't it?"

Indeed you might expect so.

Writing from Tokyo | November 17, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Relative Metrics of Success

Hard to figure out whom this advert is aimed at - its extolling the number of devices success of Bluetooth with a full page spread in the USA Today.

Writing from Heidelberg | November 16, 2006 | 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

Line, End

Signal, Daikanyama attempts to brand the end of the line. Urban spam? How could it be cleverer?

Cheers to the Tokyo crew - you're what Sunday's in Tokyo are about.

Writing from Daikanyama | November 5, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Peace Needs a New Logo

Lights projected onto the United Nations University in Aoyama being photographed by numerous passers by. Proportion of camera phones to cameras? About 8 to 1.

Writing from Aoyama | November 4, 2006 | Permalink

Mobile Classifieds

From a Tehrani free sheet.

Writing from Tokyo | November 2, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

ID Cards and the market for Fake ID Cards

Take a journey through a Chinese urban landscape and you'll soon come across stenciled advertisements for fake IDs - one phone call, meet up, hand over some yuan and you can obtain a work live/permit for a different city. In China there are restrictions on where you can live/work and although its possible to get away with it, having the necessary permit brings a degree of flexibility. Jump over the ocean to the US where college students are frequently carded - producing a photo ID, typically a driver's license to get served in bars or enter nightclubs. It's not surprising that in the US fake IDs abound, or at least that they did when I was underage and hitching my way across Texas.

What has this got to do with Iran? Iranians carry a National ID card and from experience where there are originals there are invariably fakes. Or are there? Buying a train, bus or plane ticket requires the ID card but the activities where fake IDs are most likely to be used in other cultures - drinking alcohol and entering night clubs don't apply to Iran. Underground events or private pool parties aren't the sort of places where a card with a photo is any more likely to get you in and buying alcohol is strictly an under the counter affair.

What mainstream activities enabled by being able to prove you are a different age, person or even gender? Are these 'benefits' sufficient to trigger the mainstream use of fake ID cards?

And what does this have to do with the photos above? Actually... nothing, they're just details from one of dozens of revolution related murals that have been painted on the sides of Terhan tenements. These remind me of the 'men ...rituals... touch...' by Barbara Kruger.

Writing from Tokyo | November 1, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Local Graf

Writing from Tehran, suburbs of | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Abstract Commodities: Money, Identity

The shared understanding and agreement of value that enables markets to form and transactions to take place. Current Iranian Rials, Shah era Rials and US Dollar bank notes for sale in the photo above, and SIM card + phone numbers below.

SIM cards are still scarse in Iran - ordering one takes months unless you're willing to pay to jump the queue. Numbers starting with a 1 - the first SIM cards to be issued by the government/operator, command a higher price than more recent issues. Abstract values indeed.

Shipping out in a few minutes. Cheers to the local crew for making it happen so smoothly: Mahsa, Saeed, Mohy, Nigar and Azadeh.

Writing from Tehran | | Comments (0) | Permalink

The Consequences of Walking in the Wrong Door

I'm currently sitting in a roadside restaurant sipping coffee and trying to avoid eye contact with a heavily set gent on the next table. It's quite difficult because I know he knows and I'm wondering if anytthing will come of it.

We're situated is on the hug-the-mountain road somewhere between Tehran and Amol. To our left lies Mt. Damavand - Iran's highest peak and the focus of today's attention. Except that my goal of scaling a decent mountain in these final two days in Iran has come to naught due to a combination of mostly positive factors - the driver having sidetracked me with a series of increasingly interesting diversions. And anyway this time was set aside to think through the events of the last month and focus on some big decisions for the next - I recently passed a six year milestone at Nokia and need to figure out where and with whom to focus the next.

Don Norman's treatise on designer's taking responsibility for people pushing a door that was designed to be pulled was one of things that inspired me to get into this line of work, so there's some kind of justice that it's the current reason for my current undoing. Twenty minutes ago I was, shall we say in need, and confronted with two signs denoting access to a male and a female toilets. Yes I know I should have figured out the Arabic for male and female public toilets but frankly it's not been that kind of trip. The challenge? There were no secondary design clues - no colour coded signs, no difference in smell (ladies trust me on this) and no one walking in or out to help me decide which door to pick. For all my inherent prejudice against blue denoting male and red or pink denoting female, colour coding gender specific signs sure helps you’re struggling with Arabic or any other unfamiliar script. The often re-assuring confirmation that you've walked into the right/wrong toilet - the presence of a urinal is wholly missing from Iran's public toilets - the squatting position dictated as the posture of choice by the powers that be.

So I flip a mental coin and walk in, do what I need to do, clean-up and walk out. And its one the way out that I meet the heavy set gent, walking out the other door.

BTW - photo above from a gents.

Writing from Rehney | October 30, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tire Man

Writing from Tehran | | Permalink

Bug Soap, Oxymoron

Writing from Chalus | October 26, 2006 | Permalink

Devil Bush

First piece of stencil art spotted in Tehran.
This is the city of murals.

Writing from Tehran | October 23, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Missing, a Good Thing

Our arrival in Tehran is certainly auspicious - 3 camera crews are here to greet the plane's arrival. The focus of their attention? A trophy wielding sportman returning home to the greetings of fans and family and camera crews. Clearing customs is a synch - for once the foreigner's queue at customs goes quicker than than for the locals - its a a half empty flight, and I guess October is not the tourist season. A female colleague is politely asked to don a headscarf before her passport is processed.

Within an hour we arrive at the hotel. Turn on the TV to try and see out what kind of event the sports heroes were competing in but get side tracked by videos of the intifada on channel one. The production values of the videos being broadcast are actually close to many of the underground sk8 promos floating around, or is it the other way around? Visions of of Mssrs Shortys, Fuct, et al. watching stone throwing resisters for tips on how to keep it real. For all of sk8s hardcore pavement chic you don't get any edgier than death so chemagh wins out over hoodies.

A late walk through a rather sizeable local park in an effort to stretch my legs. By 10:30pm the remaining visitors are families checking out the animal enclosures, couples and groups of male youths. I suppose sitting on exercise machines whilst smoking is a double act or rebellion where ever you are in the world. They smile, nod and like teens the world over check out my footwear.

Many of the strategically placed two seater benches have views of greenery, and of other two seater benches. Watching me watching you. I assume to know very little about Iran (though at this stage maybe a little more than you) but there are two striking features of this park - both things that are missing from comparable parks, say in the UK or the US. The first is that the children's playgournd is, well, not enclosed. The second is that the only signs in the entire park direct people to 'Don't drink this water' or 'Drink this water'. Nothing that suggests anti-social behaviours within these grounds. Signs can tell you a lot about the norms in a culture. A lack of signs may also speak volumes.

But at what point does the public display of signs become redundant?

Writing from Tehran | October 19, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Quiet vs Prayer

Writing from Doha | October 17, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Street Norms

Writing from Cairo | October 15, 2006 | Permalink

Hassan Does

Writing from Cairo | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Emotional Push, Emotional Pull

Writing from Venice | September 24, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Activities That Bring People In Contact

The delination of parking spaces, and the stakeholder negotiation that goes with deciding who gets what - the chalk marks were being applied as we arrived. A simple example of an task that brings people from the local community in contact with one another. I'm reminded of living in an othordox Jewish part of Hackney - there wasn't too much interaction between neighbours until an elderly volvo driving gentleman managed to shunt 3 parked cars - mine included. The things that enduce first contact.

Writing from Venice | | Permalink

Understanding Consequences, Affecting Actions II

Related to this.

Writing from Venice | | Permalink

Damping Identities

The distance between the advertising for a service and the hosting or epicenter of that service, particularly beneficial for services which fall into legal grey areas - like online betting in the US - there have recently been a number of arrests related to online gambling sites. Given the myriad of ways in which we are 'present' - anything from actual physical presence, online avatars, phone numbers or web sites, how can authorities arrest or shut down our multiple identities? Legally binding arrest warrants (and bounties) for second life avatars?

Writing from Venice | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Street Decoration

Writing from Tokyo | September 19, 2006 | Permalink

Objects That Support Tracking

Exchanged for bags at entrance to restaurant.

Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Activities Watched

Writing from Helsinki | September 11, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Proof of Purchase, Experience, Honesty, ...

A fan clutches an admission ticket from a football match in Brazil above. A lottery was held at half time, a cue for spectators to take out their ticket stubs and try to catch the numbers read out over the stadium intercom and win a prize.

The detrius of receipts from the exit of a supermarket in Lhasa below. On leaving the supermarket the contents of bags were checked against what appeared on the receipt, which was then ripped and thrown on the floor.

Receipts that also function as a form of lottery tickets were reasonably common in China - a move by the government to encourage a culture of giving and receiving receipts with the ulterior motive of moving business to run on rather than off the books.

For any transactions, what tangible objects are produced as part of the transaction process and why? What are people's motivations for keeping hold of receipts and tickets, in what form and for how long?

During wallet mapping exercises its common for our participants to pull a few receipts from their wallet or purse - and to use the interview as an excuse to sort and throw. Reasons for keeping hold of receipts include: proof of purchase - being able to exchange at the store at a later date; the fear of being accused of shop lifting; franchised stores trying to reduce the risk of sales not going through the cash register - see examples from Seattle and Delhi; re-assurance that the right objects were bought and the right price was paid - especially for multiple-object purchases; horders who feel the need to keep a receipt for everything - and like to track the transaction minutae of their lives; the self employed who tend to systematically collect and catalogue receipts as real or potential expenses; receipts as emotional momentos of where you've been and done; and last but not least as conversation triggers to talk about what you've been and done. Bourg St Maurice train stubs? Moi? Mai oui.

Bearing in mind the reasons for keeping receipts what role is there for tangible ticket stubs in an otherwise digital transaction? What happens in the football lottery when match tickets are digital and everyone carries a personal communication device?

Writing from Tokyo | September 8, 2006 | Permalink

Clues to Where People Sit

From a jetlag induced early morning street walk through Brazil's Kobrasol.

Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Welcoming, Filtering, Projecting

Welcome mats of sorts - from Tokyo above, the fishing village of Kansensero and São Paulo, below. The Future Perfect of mats here.

Writing from Tokyo | September 4, 2006 | Permalink

The Entrance To

Design of the sign, affecting perception of the message.

Writing from Nagano | August 29, 2006 | 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

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

Bi-Lingual Density

Writing from Akihabara | August 20, 2006 | Permalink

Toilets, Muslim Toilets

Must dig up the collection of different types of waiting rooms in China and India.

Writing from Tokyo | August 18, 2006 | 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

Local Norms

And individual price stickers somewhat of a rarity.

Writing from Shibuya | August 13, 2006 | Permalink

Afro Mouse

Writing from Shibuya, back of | August 6, 2006 | 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

Forms of Identity

Shacks on a Kyotera market street have the owners mobile phone number or name and phone number scrawled above the door. Here there are no signs for street names, no building numbers.

When a phone number and not say, a postal address is the primary means of remote idenification what does it mean to lose a SIM card? For your phone battery to run out? To have no phone credit? To lend your phone to someone else? Or as in the photo above, for the phone number to change? Why do the Kyotera dwellers not include instant messenger contact names, fax numbers or email addresses? Or for that matter ID card numbers or car licence plates? What is it that makes a phone number suitable for writing above the door?

Consider all this in the context of the other objects that are owned and used. How does mobile phone ownership affect status within the community? Are some phone numbers more or less desireable than others? And bearing all this in mind how important is it to have just the right phone model?

Writing from Tokyo | July 31, 2006 | Permalink

Design, Over Design

Elevator features (top of photo) originally designed for elevator attendants: knowing what floors have people waiting; and knowing the relative position of the other floors. Elevator attendants have largely but not completely disappeared from Japanese retail environments - seeing this makes me wonder to what extent their behaviours were a reaction to what the other elevator attendants where doing.

Writing from Tokyo | July 27, 2006 | Permalink

Context & Unintended Understanding

Writing from Dallas | July 26, 2006 | Permalink

Placement

Why are the stickers advertising the services of Mika, Karla, Pati, Juliana, Kakau and Sheilinha (and/or their pimp) placed on the phone body and handset and not in the infrastructurre of the booth itself? Why stickers and not cards that are popular in places like London or Berlin?

There's a Hugler Sao Paulo phone model in there somewhere.

Writing from Perdizes | July 23, 2006 | Comments (2) | Permalink

Icons, Rituals

The role of faith, religious icons, rituals in everyday life, from Sao Paulo above, and Old Delhi below.

For everything I believe in there are more people who believe in something else. The same goes for the rest of you.

Writing from Consolacao | | Permalink

Lateral Thinking Required

Writing from Jardins | | Permalink

Inverse Textures

Writing from Jardins | | Permalink

Touching Bases

A few days in the Sao Paulo to wrap up this trip to Brazil. In a world of dense urban spaces it doesn't get much more dense-urban than this.

The city is going through a heat-wave of sorts - the violence between Police and local gangs has escalated with police stations and government buildings being attacked. I'm tempted to say that it there is an Escape from New York edge to the city, but for the locals its business as usual.

Tonight's driver has promised a Paulista's view of the city, lets see if he delivers.

Writing from Perdizes | July 21, 2006 | Permalink

Location Based Advertising

Some skate parks have better views than others.

Writing from Kobrasol, back of | July 20, 2006 | Permalink

Bench

The permanence of different forms of advertising media.

Writing from Kobrasol, back of | July 19, 2006 | Permalink

Traces of Enjoyment

Car parking lot on the beach front close to Kobrasol. Wanted to check out the Brazillian custom car culture up close but the weather and sleep patterns have made it one research topic too far.

Writing from Kobrasol, back of | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Recognition

Writing from Kobrasol | July 14, 2006 | Comments (2) | Permalink

Form(al) Defaults

Writing from Florianopolis | July 13, 2006 | Comments (2) | Permalink

A Message To Our Guests

Hotel elevator (above)- children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult. Hotel flyer (below) - article 227 paragraph 4 - "the law will punish and abuse serverely, the violence and the child's sexual exploration of the adolescent".

Writing from Florianopolis | July 12, 2006 | Permalink

So New It's...

Still covered signs at the check-in counter of TAM Airlines - the moment between delivery, installation and use.

Varig appears to be cancelling a lot of flights out of Sao Paulo.

Writing from São Paulo | July 11, 2006 | Permalink

Negative Body Language

Writing from Tokyo | July 10, 2006 | Permalink

Selection Criteria

How does a consumer know whether the acid is good or not?

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Attention To Detail II

Writing from Harajuku | July 9, 2006 | Permalink

Delegating Panic

Seeing this switch in an upscale Cape Town hotel reminds me that almost everything, barring entertainment and biological functions, can be delegated. The button in question is for guests who have had too much of the sauna heat.

The question is who is willing pay what to have which tasks carried out on their behalf?

Writing from Cape Town | July 3, 2006 | Permalink

Hazard Leaves, Hazard Lights

Spotted on the return journey from Kansensero - a car that had run off the road, flipped and come to a rest on an embankment. Foliage laid on the road to warn approaching cars of an accident.

Note the spacing of the piles.

Writing from Kansensero, road from | June 28, 2006 | Permalink

The Scale of the Issue

Advertisement discouraging the hacking of local electricity.

Writing from Soweto | June 21, 2006 | Permalink

Risk of Suffocation

Writing from Pretoria, somewhere near | | Permalink

Ujano Has No Posse

Local appropriation, though far from original.

Writing from Shinjuku | June 18, 2006 | Permalink

Learning (Not) To Trust Mirrors

Mirrors are a common feature of Tokyo's narrow streets, a way of spotting not only oncoming vehicles but more often than not to avoid hitting cyclists coming the wrong way up a one-way street. Bicycles have it pretty easy here in Japan compared to, well, pretty much everywhere I've traveled and it's fairly common for example, that police ignore cyclists running a red light. As a newcomer here it took a while to learn what you could see in the mirror and what was missing, but now a back-street ride to the office is not complete without using street mirrors to see what lies ahead. And there in lies a potential conundrum.

There are a myriad of strategies and technologies that can help us avoid collisions in our daily travels, and with an increasing number of (GPS enabled) location aware mobile phones these options will only increase. What are the consequences of not looking at the road ahead, but instead relying on a filtered view of the road ahead?

Now think about what information could be overlaid on your journey. Would you drive differently if you were made aware that an oncoming car had a 'baby on board'? Or driving through a neighbourhood's narrow street your vehicle sensed youngsters playing nearby? Or that your feed of insurance company data highlights an accident trouble spot on the route ahead?

And given all this, who is motivated and by what reasons to manipulate your driving and navigating behaviours by re-filtering the data on which you base your decisions?

Pottering with K around Sangenjaya today, leaving the station we walked behind a PSP playing kid who negotiated the entire route from his seat on the train, through the crowded platform, up the stairs, through ticket barriers, up to ground level all without interrupting his two-handed game play. What is already achievable indeed.

Writing from Omotesando, back of | June 11, 2006 | Comments (3) | Permalink

Do You Aspire To This?

Advertising for dental services in Lhasa (above) and Ho Chi Minh City (below). There are strong cultural differences for what makes a perfect body, but what about for teeth? What do the viewers of these advertisements aspire to? Do the aspirations differ? How?

Writing from Tokyo | June 7, 2006 | Permalink

Who Values Your Data?

What is the value in knowing what is going on in each these Shanghai apartments?

Who would pay to know what the inhabitants use; their personal preferences; family preferences; what they look for; what they are planning; their secrets; what they buy; what they sell; who they communicate with; and what they communicate about; the emotional or practical value of that communication.

Which company will be the first to offer a we-pay-you-to-store-your-data^TM service? How many consumers would give up their pseudo privacy for a little cash?

Writing from Tokyo | June 5, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Tangible Reminders, Shortening The Path

Spent a few days this week working on a service concept with design team colleagues. This photo reminds me that having a compelling service is just the starting point. How long is the path to get to your service? How can you shorten the path by even one step? QR barcode from a shop around the back of Daikanyama.

Writing from Daikanyama, back of | June 4, 2006 | Permalink

Unwelcome Mat

"Be Quiet." Really.

Related research here.

Writing from Sakura Shinmachi | | Permalink

Responsibility Plus

Illustration done by a child on the side of a home, and close to a school in Hukeng, China.

What are the factors that make this socially acceptable?

Writing from Tokyo | May 24, 2006 | Comments (7) | Permalink

Literacy & Understanding

Writing from Xiamen | May 22, 2006 | Permalink

Perspectives Learned In Childhood

Map of the world (right-hand illustration) with China at its center, from a wall at the Rixin school close to Hukeng.

When people draw a map of the world - they often give away the country where they grew up - the center of the globe marks the spot. Learned in childhood, difficult to forget.

Writing from Hukeng | May 21, 2006 | Permalink

Scars As Conversation Starters

A nice moment in Jiang Tou Phone Market where we get to compare body scars. He'd had some major surgery on his head, arms and chest. How behaviours are affected by assumptions of shared experiences? How this might be manipulated?

Another design 'homage' from the same market, below.

Writing from Jiang Tou Market | May 19, 2006 | Permalink

Apartment, Typhoon

An advertisement close to Xiamen University (below) for an apartment with 2 bedrooms, kitchen and washroom space for1500 RMB (150 Euro) a month. I've not managed to get a photo of it yet but looking at the larger apartment blocks you know what apartment is for rent because a large banner with a phone number is draped over the balcony. The presence of the banner is enough to know the basic service that is offered (an apartment being rented), and the location of the apartment, the background colour indicates the company doing the renting, and the telephone number provides the contact information. The whose thing is stands out from the road below.

It's a simple, direct, highly efficient form of advertising with limited downsides: the banner is a micro eyesore; and in cultures where squatting is common (not sure if China applies) and seen as a problem it identifies the exact apartment that can be squatted.

Meanwhile we've spending then next two days on data analysis. Outside its already raining heavily and getting heavier - there's a chance that Typhoon Chanchu will hit our island. If it changes direction to Taiwan, we're in its path. Update: more info here.

Writing from Gulangyu Island | May 17, 2006 | Permalink

Caller ID

IP telephone kiosk.

Writing from Xiamen | May 16, 2006 | Permalink

How A Poster Gets From Here To There

On the theme of trains a poster in a dis-used shop in Shanghai (above) and a noticeboard in a back alley in Gulangyu Island (below). The gentleman figured in the picture is wanted in connection with planning train station bombings in China.

For all our assumptions about 24/7 connectivity how to reach the people who either prefer to spend time offline or don't have online access? At what stage does information swtich from digital to physical? And who does the conversion?

Writing from Gulangyu Island | May 15, 2006 | Permalink

Reversible Status

The signs for the top six apartments are revsersed - simple and itself reversable.

Writing from Xiamen | May 13, 2006 | Permalink

Love Knows No Bounds

Obscure graffiti from a back alley in Xiamen, obscure in that this China and it's in English, and the writer looks like they are handy with a piece of chalk. An english teacher perhaps?

Writing from Xiamen | | Comments (1) | Permalink

Prior Winners in Chinese Lottery

Lady sits in front of winning numbers from previous lotteries - offering a value added service to compliment the sale of lottery tickets and another example of prior results influencing or 'predicting' future purchasing behaviours.

Is this a prime candidate for delivery over a mobile device? Or are there important aspects of this service that cannot be replicated on a mobile device user interface?

Writing from Gulangyu Island | May 12, 2006 | Permalink

Sight Norms

Cultural norms for eye tests - from Xiamen (above) and advertisement for, in Tokyo (below).

From sign maker's shop in Ho Chi Minh City, here.

Writing from Xiamen | May 11, 2006 | Permalink

Presence Underfoot

What role does the welcome mat play? Can it play a similar role in the design of hybrid digital & physical services and in particular location based advertising?

Writing from Tokyo | May 8, 2006 | Permalink

Indicators To What Goes On Inside

The skylines of Ho Chi Minh City - knowing what people do inside their homes by what you see outside their homes.

Writing from Shanghai | May 1, 2006 | Permalink

Delivery Plus Related Services

Milk box located close to the front door of a Shanghai home. The design (above) is commonly found in Chinese cities includes a door within a door - enabling independent access by both the owner and by the person delivering the milk. The milk box design below requires both the owner and the deliverer to have the same padlock key. But why have a box in the first place? In a culture of extended families - where it is likely that someone will be at home when the delivery is made, what purpose does it serve?

Are there lessons that apply to the design of any physical or electronic delivery service?

The physical presence of the box also serves as an advertisement for the delivery service. How long before eBay gives away drop-boxes for customers of their auction sites? In 6 years time, if such a box was available what other digital services could it support?

Related material: media delivery in Delhi and Seattle.

Writing from Shanghai | April 29, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Recordable Surfaces

Small, cheap and thin displays finding their way into Taxis - this model is showing a loop of TV programmes. A way of coping with Shanghai traffic perhaps? A simple example of the extending reach of moving image displays.

Writing from Shanghai | April 28, 2006 | Permalink

Motivations for Defining Boundaries

Motivations for carving out boundaries in public spaces: An Old Delhi street cafe above, Shanghai building site below.

For shared services, devices or projects how to signify who has control over what? What signals can the layout of the space send to imply inclusion or exclusion for members of the public? Does this map to the digital realm? How?

Writing from Shanghai | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Number One Seller. Really

Phone numbers for sale at a kiosk - the numbers that have already been sold are struck through.

How does knowing what others have bought influence purchasing behaviour? How can this behaviour be manipulated by suggesting the popularity of certain items? Who would want to manipulate the data for what reasons?

Writing from Shanghai | April 27, 2006 | Permalink

Public Interfaces

Wandering the neighbourhoods around the hotel between working group sessions. Condom machine situated on a residential street points to the societal attitudes towards the availability of contraception.

Writing from Shanghai | | Permalink

Defacing As an Art Form

The extent to which graffiti is covered up is notable since my last visit here. As with Seattle the defacing of the defacing becomes an art-form in itself.

Writing from Shanghai | | Permalink

Motivations for

Walk along a street in a Chinese town or city and you are likely to see numbers stenciled on the walls. Street stenciling in China very much geared towards advertising - 'id cards' - without one a person who has migrated to work in a city might not be covered for health insurance, 'plumbing services', 'coke delivery' - coke for burning, not ingestion. The stencil describes the service and includes a mobile phone number.

Trees stenciled with advertising from Shanghai, above.
Leaves carved from Hawaii, below.

How does the object that is stencilled or defaced affect how the message is perceived?

Writing from Shanghai | | Permalink

Physical Personalisation

What motivates people to customise their phones? Where are they customised? Why? And how can this influence the design of future devices?

The slides for a recent short presentation to NIFT Delhi is now online on research.nokia.com. Entitled Physical Personalisation of Phone Covers in Japan can be downloaded here [1 MB]. It's an example of quick-and-dirty research project (an afternoon collecting data by reviewing 6477 phone covers in a recycling plant) with a limited but interesting enough scope (document any physical customisation), that eventually led to researching a number of more meaty topics. It's also an example of something that would never make it to an academic conference, but has proved relevant in day to day work. There's a lesson there somewhere.

Captive audience here and related posts here.

Writing from Tokyo | April 24, 2006 | Permalink

Man (Wearing Adidas) Sprints to Save Child From Car

Will the reporting of unfortunate but everyday events such as car accidents be affected by having easier access to more detailed information on what the victim or rescuers were wearing and carrying?

Today, passive advertising such as Samsung Mobile above, is ubiquitous. In an world where say, clothing monitors the wearer's vital signs is combined with the availability of accurate location information, a tool for ambient wireless communication and the ability to prioritize the newsworthiness of micro events (either retroactively or in real time) provide sufficient information to automatically generate the outline for a press release? Would Adidas want to spin 'Man Wearing Adidas Sprints to Save Child From Car'?

Fickle stuff. More interesting - will insurance scams be more difficult to pull off?

Writing from Shibuya, back of | April 23, 2006 | Permalink

Unlikely Symbols of Power

Pilgrims on their circuit of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa walking past an innocent looking plastic table.

Why a symbol of power? This is where the police sit.

Writing from Tokyo | April 22, 2006 | Permalink

Attention To Detail

Ash-tray in cafe somewhere around the back of Harajuku - text says 'Caution', small print says 'Smoking may cause your nasel hair to grow'. This level of attention to design details is fairly common in Japan.

Writing from Harajuku, back of | April 19, 2006 | Permalink

Coping With Shared Use

Shop owner in South Delhi limits employee access to his land line phone. Similar solution used at a security checkpoint in Lhasa.

For devices that are shared, hold private information and can incur costs for use, like um, mobile phones how to restict access to features?

Writing from Tokyo | | Permalink

Understanding Consequences, Affecting Actions

Graffiti/sign stencilled close to many of drains in Hilo make it harder to ignore/easier to understand the consequence of inappropriate dumping.

Fast forward, same situation, but what happens when there are numerous objects embedded with a life-time's worth of data; being able to identify (or partially identify) a person has been in proximity of that drain at a particular time; a framework of legal/social rules; and the ability to display dynamic signs based on that legal/social framework? Pro-active contextual street signage?

It's not a million miles from a real-time equivilent of this.

Given that some of the fun of life is in ignoring the (increased risk of the) consequences of some of our actions whether it's smoking (whatever), extreme sports or simply crossing the road, how will this play out when the consequences of actions can be calcuated and projected to a person in real time? There are likely to be signficant cultural differences - in terms of issues like the respect for authority and the extent to which people take a fatalistic attitude to life.

Writing from Hawaii | April 18, 2006 | Permalink

Effort Required to Help People Wayfind

How much effort to help people find their way? The consequence of not making the effort?

Marking trails at 3000+ meter altitude (Mauna Loa, above). Or directing people to a nearby toilet.

Writing from Mauna Loa | April 17, 2006 | Permalink

Adult Content, Other Grey Market Goods & Services

The availability of adult content is restricted in China. But what does this have to do with these women standing on the side of a busy Beijing road during last December's bitter cold?

In Beijing a woman in a market street holding a baby is associated by many with selling pornography. (The seated lady in the photo above is holding a baby and has a CD visible in her hand). Pornography sellers have even been known to carry fake babies since the baby is the signifier of the goods that are for sale. I've not gone out of my way to research this topic but my assumption is that is applies to other parts of China also - a clarification from Chinese residents welcome.

Every culture has goods and services that are considered illegal, or at the very least anti-social. For consumers wishing to buy adult content or for that matter any grey or black market services, how to identify who is selling what? What is the risk of making the wrong assumptions? The transaction process is may be made more difficult through a high turn over sellers (if they are frequently busted by the authorities), the degree to which any transactions needs to be shielded from prying eyes, and the risk that the seller is in fact working for the authorities.

What lessons can we apply to the distribution of legal content? On the assumption that all stratas of society are consumers of these goods and services, how long before marketers seek to distribute advertising content through these channels? Apart from flyposting, any examples of it having happened already?

Writing from Hawaii | | Permalink

Authority

Whether you believe the sign depends on a number of things including: the authority of the organisation or person that placed it there; the context (cloud covered mountain roads); and the risk of it happening to you (running into a cow with a car). It's rare to find humour in warning signs but it works well here. Do you believe?

Writing from Hawaii | April 15, 2006 | Permalink

Menu Options

Pictoral support in knowing what to order.

Writing from Hilo | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Map To Rest Room

How you get from here to there.

Writing from Hilo | | Permalink

Correlation

Mental, physical and spatial mapping.

Writing from Hilo | April 14, 2006 | Permalink

What You Are Likely To Forget

Sign to correct a common problem.

Got a few days R & R - the plan is to hit the trail for the next few days, assuming the weather lets up.

Writing from Hilo | April 12, 2006 | Permalink

Your Rights Are Irrelevant. If Anything, Demand Trust

A sign that reads: "Can you keep an eye on our workers to stop them stealing?" would not go down that well in this Delhi coffee shop - yet this is basically what this sign says. Another example of using customers as a resource.

Writing from Hilo | | Comments (2) | Permalink

Larger Small Print

Long queues to clear security checks at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport providing plenty of time for looking around and passenger watching. Due to the size of the sign the small print on the advertisement on the left is relatively large and noticeable - *conditions apply and *only in Delhi departure.

Four trends that might affect how this plays out in the future perfect: the increase of advertising across digital medium is not constrained by physical limits and provides greater scope for more small print; more people will carry personal devices capable of accessing related information; an increased quality of search engines to help you track down just what you are looking for; and an aging demographic with poorer eyesight demanding alternatives to today's small print.

Are more informed consumers better off? An opportunity to increase consumer understanding assumes that all parties benefit from having informed consumers - whereas in the real world conflicts abound.

Writing from Indira Gandhi International | April 9, 2006 | Comments (2) | Permalink

It's Easy Getting Objects Carried

Like many shops in Delhi the Rama Color photo studio in Bengali Market uses advertising handouts to get their logo carried and displayed by their customers. One side of the advertisement depicts a god and the other side a calendar. During wallet mapping studies I'm often surprised at the ease by which people accept objects which are then carried, at least until the next time the wallet is cleared out. One of the most prevalent of these objects in modern urban centers is the buy-10-get-one-free coffee 'loyalty' card, but in India if the religious depiction doesn't grab a person's attention then the calendar will. It's not even the functionality that draws people to take the object, but the perceived functionality - the fact that it might be useful and that it's, well, free.

At what point is it economically feasible for stores to give away, by today's standards, richer more complex objects? Electronic flyers for example. To be picked up in the first place one thing will remain the same - they object will have a perceived functionality. What will be different is that they can act independently - designed to take advantage of the proximity of being placed in someone's purse, pocket, handbag or wallet to collect and report proximity data. To some people the physical space of your wallet will be just another real-time commercial battleground. Knowing what you have in there and how frequently you use is valuable data - disabling the opponent in whatever way will be a bonus. Its tempting to use the word Trojan or parasite, but by being self-sustaining and self-maintaining a self-reporting free-bee is more accurate.

And in a world where this is widespread how will this affect what we decide to pick up?

Writing from Delhi, Outskirts of | | Permalink

Motivations for Ranking

[Corrected] Coaching institute in South Delhi publicises the students that have excelled on a billboard outside the school. The effort required to put up a printed billboard suggests that the ranking will be valid for a long period of time. In an increasingly real-time world what is a meaningful way of ranking people, events or other statistics?

This reminds me of two things: Awards are generally given out by people who like to be seen to be giving out awards to people who like to be seen receiving awards; and the easiest way to get an award is to first set up an award ceremony - what goes around will eventually comes around.

Writing from South Delhi | | Comments (3) | Permalink

Slabs of Joy

A shop selling game controllers to hook up to TV based consoles - designed for arcade use.

Example of use here.

Writing from Old Delhi | April 6, 2006 | Permalink

Out of Office Reply

The door to the office of an advocate includes both his mobile and residential numbers.

How easy is it to provide contextual information to deal with being out-of-office? In what situations is it useful?

Writing from Delhi | April 3, 2006 | Permalink

How India Wakes Up

What percentage of the world's population wakes up to a phone alarm clock?

The advertisement for a Nokia 1600 and 1110 phones above focuses on a single feature - a talking alarm and clock. Jaago India Jaago translates to 'wake up India'.

Writing from New Delhi | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Do, And What You Do

The style of holding the money and tickets is both practical (change lined up for customers) and a visual symbol of his role (bus conductor).

Writing from Old Delhi | April 1, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Game Play

The range of motion of hands shown by the dirt-scraped clean areas.

Is it possible to conduct accurate, longitudinal hand-placement usability tests using dirt as a boundary marker?

The weight of the TV is a counter balance to the pressure exerted on the buttons and joystick.

Writing from South Delhi | March 30, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

When Understanding Doesn't Matter

"Please refrain from the following acts in the store"

Many of the Japanese customers to this store will be unable to read with understanding this text, so what's its purpose?

Writing from Harajuku, back of | March 19, 2006 | Comments (5) | Permalink

Learning From Extreme Products

These photos, taken last year on a private trip to Chengdu, are from a shop selling equipment for the emergency services. As with the PLA store it was open to the public - so uniforms, accessories, ID badges and flashing lights to stick on the roof of your car were all for sale to whomever was able to stump up the cash.

Two police officers (or possibly private security guards, I'm not especially china-uniform-literate) were standing next to me checking out various electric shock devices and in the spirit of try-before-you-buy they decided to, well, try-before-they-bought. Since this was a small shop the electric current crackled a couple of feet from my face for each of the 3 models they tried. The guards appeared to be discussing the merits of each device before picking one out then moving on to negotiate the price with the owner.

The unique selling points appeared to be their size and whether the case was metal or plastic. The packaging advertised that they could shock to 35,000 Watts of power, a fact which I was not interested in validating. They had already succumbed to feature creep - the most feature rich included a torch, siren and electric shock button with the design making it possible to multi-task... see who you're electrocuting as they hold their hands up to cover their ears. I picked out a large plastic model which from the perspective of someone trying to subdue an assailant has the potential additional benefit of being usable as a cosh, it costs 100 RMB (8 Euro).

The three buttons on the device were identical so the only way to know which button belonged to which feature was trial and error. The design was not particularly smart given that people are prone to forget the details of infrequently carried out tasks. The electric shock feature did not work unless a plug, otherwise dangling from a short strap, was inserted in a socket on the base of the device. At least that's the theory - what is the quality assurance of a device that costs 100 RMB?

This shop happened to be in China, but I'm pretty sure I would have similar legal or grey-market consumer choices from Colombia to Canada, the UK to the US.

Designers often talk about learning from lead users or extreme users. What merits are there for looking at and learning from extreme products both in terms of their design, and in the moral/ethical/commercial/legal reaction of society to those products?

Writing from Tokyo | March 16, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Notice, Notification

Discouraging the anti-social behaviours of dog owners through actions that many other people would consider anti-social, even if it involves graffiting one's own wall. The close proximity of the words to where the dog-defecation takes place is a nice touch and shows the effort of the writer.

Signage typically includes information about the authority of the sign-poster e.g. 'the park is locked after 6pm' 'by order of the mayor of Brighton'. Who has what 'right' to post what infrormation where? By whose social/legal/moral authority? How is this information perceived by the signage readers? (How) are behaviours affected? And how can affects be multiplied through other factors - such as the presense of a remote control camera?

Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (2) | Permalink

Anti-Social Sensors

Sensor and display showing noise levels on building site (shown in center-right of photo).

How do the behaviour and activities of the builders change according to the feedback displayed on the noise meter? At what point, and to whom is the information on the noise meter no longer relevant - because stakeholders are adept at judging noise levels? What exceptions are there to this? What are the consequences of going over limits? Does a greater degree of accuracy encourage behaviours that push things to the the social, anti-social and/or legal limits?

Same questions, but this time for a speedometer in a car...

Writing from Tokyo | March 11, 2006 | Comments (5) | Permalink

Identity, Memory

A simple and expressive example of how a restaurant overcomes the problem of guests forgetting their coats - an issue probably caused by the coats being located out of the line of sight when people leave. This restaurant is well warmed by the sun, and a number of guests arrive by car (relatively unusual for Tokyo) so remembering a coat may not be a high priority.

Our paper submitted to DUX last year proposed the concept of the range of distribution to describe how far people allows allow objects to stray from their person. Range of distribution is not just about distance, but also location in relation the body such as out of the line of sight and/or out of the range of reach.

Understanding the range of distribution for objects is interesting primarily because objects that are placed out of sight are more likely to be forgotten - and objects that are forgotten are less likely to be used, and people tend to value and eventually pay for things that they use. Another non-trivial issue is that the performance of wireless devices may be affected by how far objects stray from one another - some RFID readers have a range of millimeter's, Bluetooth has a range of meters. Its not just about data transmission but can also affect battery life as devices scan to relocate one another.

Back to the restaurant cloakroom... guests are given a toy (shown in the box below) that matches the one on the hanger (photo above). When leaving the restaurant the toy acts as a reminder that the coat needs to be taken, and perhaps more obviously acts as a ticket to identify the right coat. Simple, fun and elegant very much keeping with style the restaurant itself.

Writing from Tokyo | March 8, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Checking Out, Checking You Out

In the departure lounge of Seattle Tacoma Airport, visitors flying out of the US are supposed to 'self check-out' using a US-VISIT homeland security machine (its appearance is not dissimilar to a US style free standing ATM). Whilst it did not yet appear to be obligatory a staffer informed me that not checking out would delay my next entry into the country by 'an hour or two'.

The process for checking out is: insert a machine readable passport into the slot of the security kiosk to be read; place the left index finger on the scanner; then the right finger; then have a photo recorded by a camera. If there are no problems a receipt is produced (shown above). I didn't observe anyone else using the machine and I'm not sure exactly what happens if there is a problem.

On the surface this is a good idea - speeding up the exit and subsequent re-entry of visitors by delegating some of the leaving-authentification-task to the user and technology. Sovereign countries have the right to have set the rules for people entering and leaving their country. However the self-checkout process left me feeling uneasy. Being finger printed is still strongly associated with being arrested, nor do I trust what happens with the data once it is collected. The system itself may have inherent demographic biases, though automating the process may reduce the risk of negative profiling. Ultimately the unease was a result of being an active participant in one's own verification, for a task that so often was handled by a human. I get to steady the gun to help someone else shoot me through the leg. Of course only the guilty have something to hide - as someone who is frequently pulled aside for additional checks I'm aware of the biases of data of meeting somebody's definition of some profile. Maybe it just tiredness or may be something more?

We have a choice about where to travel. This was a productive and enjoyable trip, but first and last impressions count.

Writing from Seattle | March 3, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

(Lack of) Trust

Sticker on the cash register in a sandwich restaurant - 'If you don't get a receipt, your meal is free'.

It's likely that this restaurant chain has a problem with staff theft. A staff member sells items on the menu, the order is not run through the cash register, and the money is pocketed (stolen). Although the sign faces customers it actually meant for the staff - they know that customers might pick them up on having a receipt they are less likely to steal.

Seen another more obvious version of this at Singapore Airport - 'if you don't get a receipt please call this number...'

Update: chatted with one of the store workers - turns out that as this is a franchise the head office insists upon these stickers to avoid the manager of this store and his/her workers from not running purchases through the cash register. It's an issue of trust, but between whom?

Writing from Seattle | | Comments (3) | Permalink

Crayola

Part of the task of ordering a sandwich delegated to the consumer.

A desire to speed up the ordering process and reduce errors? Supporting people speaking english as a second language? But is a concequence of too many choices?

Writing from Seattle | March 2, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Please & Thank-you

A slightly unusual sentiment in this graffiti - someone has added 'please' and 'thank-you' to the sign above right to the ATM.

Please 'no loitering, customers only' thank-you

Writing from Seattle | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Update Cycles

Personalized parking lots, above and parking lot with corrected text, below.

Using names to personalise parking lots implies extra work to re/de-personalise them when that person leaves. But does it? Do Del and Sandy still work there? Does it matter?

Writing from Seattle | March 1, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Unlikely Solutions

Do the opposite of what I say, to correct what I say.

Writing from Seattle | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Urban Frames

From the backstreets of Seattle - grafitti painted over with a patchwork of colours. The destruction of graffiti becoming a street art-form in itself.

Writing from Seattle | | Comments (2) | Permalink

Physical Phone Books

Will physical phone books still be with us in 5 years time?

Writing from Seattle | | Comments (2) | Permalink

Local Insights

One of my favoured activities during stop-overs is buying up local newspapers and spending the rest of the flight poring the contents to figure out local preferences. This flight was an exception - I was out like a light as soon as I sat down. How culturally appropriate is it to put your income in a classified advertisement? Hindustan Times readers think it is.

Writing from Toronto | February 28, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Technologies Around Spaces

Advertisement for using Suica equipped mobile phone to pass through ticket barrier, above. Vending machine using the same technology to purchase drinks, below. Both photos taken in Shinagawa Station. Japan Rail (JR) has invested heavily in Suica so it makes sense to find use of this technology clustered in and around its properties. A relatively easy way to provide consumers with exposure to a new technology, but will its use spread?

On a side note - the C-Mode DoCoMo/Coca Cola vending machine in Shibuya that supported payments via mobile phone is gone. It had quite possibly the most confusing user interface for any vending machine.

Writing from Shinagawa | February 27, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

How Real-Time is Real-Time?

Bus stop in Brighton, showing the time it will take for the number 1 bus to Whitehawk - 45 minutes.

Knowing how long something will take can make the time passing shorter not least because it allows a person to focus attention on other activities - reading a magazine, watching Mobile TV or text messaging for example. But just how accurate is this information? Time estimates can vary considerably according to different traffic conditions so the amount of time a bus takes to arrive may rise as well as fall.

What granularity of information is sufficient to be useful? Just how real-time does real-time need to be?

Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (5) | Permalink

Used > Mail Out > Re-Use

At home nursing a rather nasty head cold today but at least managed to catch up on some reading.

In the spirit of recycling and re-use I'll ship this copy of Banksy's Wall and Piece to the first person that can point me to an online research paper or web site that best inspires and informs Future Perfect.

Post your answers to the comments.
Yes its subjective.
Maximum of one submission per person.
Deadline: Monday 27th February.

UPDATE: travelling on from the 27th to the 3rd - will mail the book out on my return!

Writing from Tokyo | February 23, 2006 | Comments (11) | Permalink

The Traces of Traces

These guides to paint the road markings were first laid down in November 2005 and are still visible 3 months later. Understanding the process of how something is designed and built can raise or lower its perceived value in the minds-eye of its users.

In what contexts is it desireable to include traces of processes? Or fake traces? Is there a point at which traces should disappear?

Writing from Sakura Shinmachi | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Rights To Use Public Infrastructure

Parking spaces in the public domain but not to be used by everyone - doctor, ambulance, residents, VIPs only.

For designers of mobile devices, understanding how public infrastructure is used and abused is important not least because it affects what people decide to carry and the relative importance and positioning of what is carried.

For infrastructure in public spaces - who has what rights to use what resources? How do people understand what those rights are? Who will have have priority over whom? What happens if the rules are broken? And what is the likelyhood of infringements being noticed?

Writing from Tokyo | February 22, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Affect of Traces on Recycling

College canteen encouraging recycling of CDs, ink cartridges, old phones and batteries.

To what extent do the people putting objects in the boxes understand the cost or profits that can be made from what is recycled? For example phones that are re-furbished and shipped to another country to be re-sold. Can recycling behaviours be affected by communicating the use-flow of the objects? Will knowing what happens to that object after it is placed in the box affect the likelihood of it being placed there?

Writing from Tokyo | February 20, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Security Cat And Mouse (and Dog)

The degree to which perceived and real levels of security and risk of theft affect behaviours.

Heavy duty bicycle and motorbike locks are frequently sighted left chained to railings in London - in places that are oft visited such as outside a gym (photo above) or close to work. When I lived in London I had one heavy duty lock chained to the railings near work, one in the center of town and one that was carried - locking a bike up for more than a few minutes and out of sight means removing or securing everything that can be - each wheel, saddle, lights and sometimes also pedals, headsets (late at night with a bit of time), or deal with a high risk of theft.

The street signage is a reflection of the need for cyclists to find security and the people and organisations that maintain infrastructure in those locals to support (subsidise?) that security. I wonder how this maps the the digital realm?

And in Tokyo? In 5 years nothing yet stolen.

Writing from London | February 13, 2006 | Permalink

Street Annotation

Writing from Soho | February 12, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Overt

Seating projecting what goods are available for sale in the shop. Can surrounding shops take advantage of this advertising space in some way?

Writing from Soho | February 7, 2006 | Comments (2) | Permalink

Traces Of Events

Ambient traces of travel from someone who travels a lot, or at least travels on airlines and to destinations where security stickers are commonly used.

In our perfect future we can accurately track everything - the exact location, temperature, who and what is in proximity for how long, the information that was exchanged - every last minute detail. Some of this data could help ensure that your luggage arrives in tip-top condition, in the right place and on time. Or not. You land in a new country and immigration doesn't only check your luggage, it checks the history of your luggage.

It's 2012- your luggage in the hold of the plane and can communicate with the other luggage. What would they say to one another? Would they even speak the same language?

Writing from Hove | February 5, 2006 | Comments (4) | Permalink

Status Indicators

Writing from Brighton | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Guilt Trips

"Do you really need to use this lift? Please think of others that do"

How future consumption and use is affected by feedback given during current consumption and use. Photo from a a relatively slow elevator situated in an art college.

Writing from Brighton | February 3, 2006 | Permalink

Status Updates

'Press bell for immediate(ish) assistance" A door bell and signage from the back entrance of a shop.

It's possible to provide real-time status updates for the whole ascertain-status-of-person-at-the-door/door-opening processes. In what range of situations does the person inside the building wish to keep the person outside the building informed of his/her current status? And in what contexts is this information considered private and confidential?

Writing from Brighton | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Condusive Spaces

Inside of a toilet door situated in an art college supports chalk and wet-finger based doodling, expression, graffiti.

Writing from Kensington | | Permalink

Postcards From The Future

Had the pleasure of cycling down to Shinagawa this morning and getting Japan entry-permits transferred to my new passport. The new permit design includes an unsettlingly unfriendly 2D-bar code a poor substitute to the rich and more human-readable tapestry that was previously used by the immigration services. Will this enable Japanese customs to process me more efficiently? Perhaps. But the travels of the last few months have made me appreciate the finer subtleties of the various visas. Mongolia is a personal favourite, partly because it has a hologram of what I think is a flying pegasus, but could equally be an emasculated yak, and partly because its, well, Mongolia. Applying for entry visas is a bit like sending one-line postcards to oneself.

Our team spends a lot of time working on concepts 3 to 5 years ahead of what appears on the market. I spent one year working on ideas up to 15 years ahead of where we are now - it's quite a tricky mental space to visit though fun when you get there. You know those wonderful visions of the future where everything is white an uncluttered? Trust me, the future will be messy, and wonderfully so. I'm reminded of these things because in everyday life it's rare to come across bridges between where we are now and 10 years in the future - and my new passport says it is valid until 2015 (I expect to fill it by 2009). But where will I be in 2015? Where will you be for that matter? What will the world be like? Will there be re-entry permits in 3D? 4D even? Maybe the whole idea of an entry permit will have changed, based on a lack of privacy (by today's standards) bought on by continuous and seemingly ambient data exchanges. It will be taken as a given that you know that you don't have the right to travel somewhere without having to apply because you have the information at your fingertips. And they know you're heading there before you arrive, before you even left home. In fact they calculated the probability of you traveling there soon after your friend bought you a travel guide for your birthday, cross referenced this data with your credit report (enough saved for a trip) the analysis of phone call logs (excited tone of voice when discussing destination keywords), and half a dozen related purchases (though the system missed an opportuntiy to remind you to take stronger sun block because its been a particularly hot summer). All these information exchanges and status updates happening in real time, naturally. Lets be thankful for those in-store loyalty cards shall we?

Tonight I'm finalising some thoughts for a short presentation on Exploratory User Research for a design orientated audience of Japanese and English speakers. The format is pretty simple - show 20 slides with 20 seconds for each slide, and up to 20 presenters in one night. No chance to waffle, or to hear other people waffle. I'll post a link to the slides when I'm done.

Outside the sun dips behind Mt Fuji. In 3 months or so it will be climbable again.

[And the sun is rising over Algiers - safe travels SC]

Writing from Tokyo | January 24, 2006 | Comments (2) | Permalink

Appropriate Behaviours

A neon sign at the bottom of this stairwell commands people walking up to only use the far left lane. The recent addition of bright red and green lines acknowledges that commuters ignored the sign and provides additional guidelines for what appropriate behaviour. A less formal version of traffic lights perhaps, but with a degree of authority never-the-less. Attitudes to authority changes according to contexts and cultures (cultural differences are well covered in this book).

Today street signs show up-to-date status information for many things including the number of empty parking bays in car parks (Brighton+), the length of time left before the traffic lights change (Bangalore+), to which is the least congested route into the city (Tokyo+). How will the way we navigate spaces change as manufacturers find cost effective ways to embed status indicators into everything from fabrics to wall papers, hand-rails to stairwells, pavements and roads?

Writing from Shibuya | January 21, 2006 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Links, Cost of Entry

Links provided on an event flyer from record store in Shibuya include: site, email, drillcast, podcast and phone number.

Price of entry? On door 1000 Yen (7 Euro), with flyer 800 yen, bloggers get in for free.

Writing from Back of Ebisu | January 14, 2006 | Permalink

Notification

It turns out the markings left on a bike saddle by parking attendents in Chengdu are largely water resistant. And if you manage to leave your bike parked overnight for whatever reason, then the saddle will be marked with the fine needed to pay to get your bike back. Somewhat surprised to find it in one piece.

Writing from Back of Ebisu | January 13, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

DRM In A Different Age

What are your mental triggers to remember where you've been? What you've done? With whom?

In Japan stamps are a common way of providing proof of having been somewhere. Train stations, mountain huts, sea ports, and airports often have a work bench where you can add an additional stamp. The designs are often simple and perhaps because of the format have an element of 'classic' about them - the stamp for Chitose Airport, Hokkaido shown below.

The tools to take photographs are widely accessible. But what are the properties that make physical and digital photographs so accessible to communicate experiences? As more and more about how the human brain works is understood what will be the next major content format shift? Can and will experiences be piped more directly into and out of the brain? Assuming people will want to carry tangible triggers for those memories, what form will they take? Why? What is the essense of an experience to be captured and communicated? How will the essense change as the tools to communciate the experiences change? And in a world where this is possible is the ultimate DRM the ability to totally remove or add memories of experiences to enable us to have that first/most recent experience again and again?

Giving away (implanting) content/experiences for free may not seem like a great way to enforce DRM, but if the value of an experience is in doing something for the first time for example a watching a cliff-hanger movie or perhaps falling in love, users may well be willing to pay to have those experiences removed.

Writing from Tokyo | January 9, 2006 | Comments (2) | Permalink

Visualisation

2D/3D visualisation aided by unique characteristics of what is communicated. Perspective in poster below.

Writing from Hokkaido | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Welcoming

Mechanism for welcoming guests to room - the name of the arriving party is clipped next to the door. Suitable for displaying other status or preference information?

Writing from Hokkaido | January 8, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Ideal Height

Simple mechanical design to optimise the height of the top-most tray.

Writing from Hokkaido | January 4, 2006 | Comments (0) | Permalink

National Priorities

Every culture has an equivilent to this, its just a matter of figuring out what it is.

Above, Bird Flu street sign in Hue, Vietnam.
Below North Korean spy hotline on subway in Seoul, South Korea.

Writing from Hue | December 27, 2005 | Comments (2) | Permalink

Icon, Iconic

Writing from Ho Chi Minh City | December 25, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

What You See When You Travel Where You Travel

A street of sign makers in Ho Chi Minh City, 30,000 VND (2.6 Euro) and a couple of hours wait you can have pretty much any sign made to order. The shop itself offers insights into local (design) tastes, brands and concerns. Warning signs in particular highlight popular problem issues - based on the signs prepared for customers to this shop I'd say the top two issues are theft, and risk of electrocution from exposed power lines.

Writing from Ho Chi Minh City | | Permalink

Identity

Public interface identifying apartment person and/or family. Hints of corrective design

Writing from Ho Chi Minh City | December 24, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tickets, Stubs Of Tickets

In most cultures airlines take the body of the ticket and leave you to board with the ticket stub. I was trying to figure out why Sichuan Airlines does the opposite - keeping the stub and leaving the passenger with the body? Is it because as a newish airline they have more landing slots further away from the gates requiring bus transfer to the plane, (from experience) increasing the potential for passenger mix-ups and the larger ticket body is more suited as an additional check. It is possible to rip off part of the ticket body (the UI equivalent of a one way switch) and still retain the necessary information for boarding and seat allocation.

E-tickets particularly from low cost airlines such as Ryan Air have changed mainstream perception of what makes an (airline) ticket. What is essence of a ticket? How will this change as the tools to read and scan information digitally are in more and more hands?

Writing from Tokyo | December 23, 2005 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Cultural Reference Points

Global cultural centers of gravity shift.
Today's Mouse will be tomorrow's mouse.

How much does your job rely on creativity?
How much of your creativity is based on your deep insights into local cultural norms?
How long will it take before the global cultural center of gravity shifts to marginalize your culture?
How long before the (global) relevance that you take for granted is gone?
How long before your job is no longer relevant?
What do you need to do to stay relevant?

Photo taken earlier this year wandering around Old Delhi.

Writing from Chengdu | December 18, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Bedside UI

Writing from Lhasa | December 16, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

What Is Communicated

A comment book in a cafe popular with back-packers.

Most of the entries are written in Japanese, with a smattering of English, Korean, Polish and French. Is it that Japanese are more inclined to write comments, or is it an accurate reflection of the cultural background of the visitors to this place? The entries detail places to visit, stay, travel tips 'the guides tend to under-estimate the travel times for fear of frightening you off', and occasionally longer posts about the how Tibetan culture is changing over time.

According to the cover this is their fourth book.

Writing from Lhasa | December 15, 2005 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Payment Status Indicator

If you want to park a bicycle in the center of a Chinese city chances are you need to use a bike-parking lot. Attendant marks the saddle to show that you have paid. Wonder how effective this is in the rain?

Writing from Chengdu | December 12, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Artifacts

Momentarily seeing the near-present as the ancient past.

Workbench in a ceramics plant in Beijing.

Writing from Dashanzi | December 3, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Adapt

Beijing resident adapting to small font size on public newpaper display.

Writing from Design Research | December 1, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Context, Understanding, Risk & Consequences

This photo taken last year from a street market in Bangalore. For me it highlights the importance of context in understanding.

Lets imagine you are wandering around the street market and are looking for a toilet - you see this building and being non-literate you don't understand any of the words written in Hindi or English on its walls (the issue is not this straight forward but bear with me).

Relying on what you see before you, ask yourself:
How sure are you that this is indeed a toilet?
What is the cost of walking into this building if it is not a toilet?
Indeed, what is cost of not trying?

In this context the cost may range from nothing, to some social embarrassment, to perhaps walking into the offices of the mustachioed local political candidate - whose wonderful mural is on the building. There may also be a cost in not going to the toilet, and there may be viable alternatives like peeing on a nearby tree. It all boils down to risk and the consequences of making the wrong decision.

The real world contains wonderfully rich cues that can be drawn upon to make the decision whether to go in, or not. In this context these cues include: the fact that there is a stream of men going in and out of the building alone; that there is a similar building with a picture of a woman next door; your sense of smell (trust me on this); perhaps even that you've used this kind of building before. You could even ask someone in the proximity.

For mobile phone user's the challenge is that the phone user interface lacks many of these rich cues. For non-literate users in particular the consequence of not being 100% confident of what will happen next can be too high to just experiment and explore. Choosing that right soft key may start the game application. But equally it could delete the application. Or maybe it makes an expensive phone call. Or changes the carrier settings. How do you know? And are you willing to take the risk to find out?

As mobile phones are held in the hands of the next billion users, with their very different cultural backgrounds, language skills, education, mental models and (user) experiences designers need to work hard to understand the issues of context, risk & consequences of these new users.

Writing from Back of Ebisu | November 25, 2005 | Comments (3) | Permalink

(Lack of) Curves

Straight lines condusive to transcibing characters onto tarmac.

Writing from Meguro | November 11, 2005 | Permalink

Traces of Communication

What resources are consumed to generate what we want to communicate?
What trace is left by what we communicate?
Who has access to the traces of our communication?
And for how long?
Given the option, would user's like greater control over the trace of their communication?
What is the optimal way of presenting these options to users?

This gentleman writing with brush and water.

Writing from Tokyo | November 9, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Where You Can Expect People to Sit First

The properties and infrastructure in a space influencing where people choose to sit.

Waiting lounge for the San Fran - Tokyo flight the 3 males on the far left and right of the photo were clustered close to the power sockets (2 x laptop, 1 x dedicated DVD player), the couple reading - situated close to the check in gate with their backs to natural light.

I'm surprised no-one has tried to brand power sockets in locations like this - this socket sponsored by 'T-Mobile Wi-Fi access'. Micro targeted advertising should get interesting when it collides with the widespread adoption of IPv6.

Observed power socket clustering to charge mobile phones in a variety of cultures including Hangzhou train station and JFK Airport, below.

Writing from San Francisco | November 7, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Search Engine

Flexible and appropriate use suggested through design of (bi-directional) search mats at airport security screening.

Had a pleasant discussion with a friendly TSA staffer before taking this photo. Their previous rules forbid the taking of photos in the searching area, though I presume someone has challenged this because now the rules are 'it's a public space so the taking of photos is ok'. What of the rights of the TSA workers not to appear in the photos?

Writing from San Francisco | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Communication Over Time

Sprayed to presumably guide anyone taking off the cover to return it in the correct orientation. A number of covers up and down the street were sprayed in a similar same way. A simple, relevant and robust way to communicate information from one maintenance person to another.

With one exception - replaced the 'wrong' way. Or was it placed the 'wrong' way when it was originally sprayed? Or does it not matter which way it is replaced? And if multiple covers were removed and stacked together before being replaced would there be another marking?

It's the little things.

Writing from San Francisco | | Comments (4) | Permalink

4 x SSSS

This is the third time on a flight to or within the US this year my boarding pass has the SSSS designation - indicating that I'm to be pulled aside for further search before bording the plane. The joy of flying (to the US).

Writing from Narita | November 5, 2005 | Comments (3) | Permalink

Proximity Interaction

Tags constrained by tagger's reach, and perhaps imagination.

What happens when future technology help people project physical manifestations of identity beyond what is physically possible?

Writing from Shibuya, back of | November 2, 2005 | Comments (0) | Permalink

Knowing Which Way the Wind Blows

Writing from Shimo Kitazawa | October 30, 2005 | Comments (2) | Permalink

Pre-determining Use

Anticipation of use, contexts of use.

Writing from Tokyo | | Comments (0) | Permalink

Mobile Phone as Personal Shrine

What can you learn from products about to be recycled?

When I first moved to Japan one of the first exploratory studies I carried out was to try and figure out how and why people customise their phone cover. It's fairly common in Japan, Korea and to a lesser extent China to see phones adorned with stickers as well as the more usual phone straps. I was looking for inspiration for new applications and services and this seemed a good a place to start as any.

On a hot summer's day I traveled down to a mobile phone recycling plant on the edge of Tokyo and with the help of a number of friendly factory workers spent a few hours sorted through over 6,000 used phone covers, documenting all and any physical customisation that was evident. The result was several hundred photos of stickers of designs, logos, decorations and puri kura - the print club stickers that are still relatively popular in Japan and some Asian cultures.

Only 11% of the 6447 covers had some form of physical customisation. I was expecting this to be more based on ad-hoc observations from the street, though this reflects the places and people I hang out with. The range of physical customisation can be categorized into: stickers of logos; print club photos; telephone numbers; and illustrations/decorations. There were also a few examples of 'super customisation' where people had obviously put in a lot of time and effort detailling paint jobs, tagging, graffiti covering the whole device.

Why do people physically customize their phones with stickers?

Putting a sticker of a brand on a phone is an obvious and easy way to project lifestyle choices, peer group affiliations and aspirations - for example 'I'm into surfing' or 'my crew wear's Gravis'. It's socially acceptable, though in some environments a little dangerous, to have the phone out on display and at the very least answering a call and text messaging provide opportunties for others to see. Print club photos adorning the phone cover both confirm and project to others who the owner is connected with, in some regards a physical manifestation of the phone book. Customisation can also send the signal that 'this is mine, hands off'. Lastly, on a practical level it solves the problem of knowing widget is yours when all the widgets look alike. This was evident in a different study where we discovered the motivation behind walkie talkie customization by San Francisco bike messengers and of school calculators by Shanghai school kids was the same - to figure out which device belonged to them. If a company bought its workers the same mobile phone model, I would expect a large % of owners to add some small physical customisation for this same reason.

One of the surprise findings from the Tokyo recycling plant research was the use of the inside back cover as a form of 'mobile personal shrine' a place for storing photos/memories. Unless the back cover was removed from the phone no-one else would see or would know the photo was there so my assumption is that the photos were for personal consumption, or at the owner's discretion for sharing with someone else. A number of the photos appeared quite intimate - a couple hugging, a child, friends doing things in privacy of a photo booth.

There are of course limits to what you can learn through the documenting used products. Many of the best insights come from talking with people about why and how, whereas the recycling plant data just shows what. I had no way of knowing, for example whether the phones were for work or personal use or whether the owner was male or female.

More and more data can be embedded in and on objects - QR bar codes printed on the back of a sticker, RFID tags embedded in a device. A visit to a recycling plant in 2010 will probably yield much more about the product and its owners than we can ever know today. Interesting from the research point of view, by today's standards a major privacy issue for pretty much everyone else.

Writing from Tokyo | October 22, 2005 | Permalink

Side Effects of Transparency

Seoul central station has transparent waste bins.

I presume, like in Tokyo it is part of government 'anti-terrorist' measures. Any readers from South Korea know whether the bins in Seoul station have always been like this? Anyway, a side effect is it makes it easier to identify what categories of objects are recycled in which bin by seeing what others have thrown away. But it presumably makes it less likely to throw socially sensitive objects - such as personal correspondence, adult literature or things that should be recycled elsewhere.

Writing from Seoul | | Comments (3) | Permalink

Touch Interaction

Poster extolling the virtues of proximity touch interaction.

Writing from Harajuku | October 20, 2005 | Permalink

To Trust or Not To Trust?

On Saturday Apple advertising smurfs were plastering selected posters around Tokyo with peel-off plastic iPod Nanos. They were as popular as the real thing* pretty much being removed by passing punters as soon as they went up. The back of the Plastic Nano included a QR Bar Code linking to blurb and downloads related to the product. Anyone can create a QR bar code using a tool such as the solid online Pukupi Codeatron.

Scams are and will be possible with every medium - for example premium rate phone numbers, text messages, falsified email headers, URLs that are not what they seem. A question to the more technologically minded of you - just how hackable is what happens once you read a QR bar code with a phone? Anyone know of real world examples of malicious, or mis-representative QR bar codes?

* and currently about as useful as the real thing

Writing from Shibuya, Parco | October 18, 2005 | Comments (6) | Permalink

Motivations

Two very different motivations for tagging, marking?

Writing from Downtown LA | October 10, 2005 | Comments (2) | Permalink

Branded, Unbranded Experience

Writing from Downtown LA | October 9, 2005 | Permalink

State of Play

Buy 1 get 4 free.

Writing from White Plains | October 7, 2005 | Comments (3) | Permalink

Shortening the path

Coffee cup includes search term on local search engine. Less to type and presumably easier to remember than a URL. Any other benefits, drawbacks? Apart from AOL Keywords haven't seen much keyword advertising - any other examples you can point me to?

Writing from Seoul | September 28, 2005 | Permalink

Captive, wanting to be free

If there isn't a law about advertising to captive audiences there should be - one hour waiting to clear customs watching an endless loop of Samsung Mobile and Korea Tourist Board advertising. Perhaps this is what augmented reality could come in - overlaying advertising spots with white walls and calm? But if Samsung made the head mounted display that you used to augment reality would it have a built in non-filter to still allow Samsung adverts? Sometimes it all comes down to money and what the consumer is willing to pay, or not pay as the case may be.

Spending just over a week in Korea to run the first half of a user study, then tag with a colleague who will take over and debrief a week later. I know what I know, but have a day or so to figure out some of what I don't yet know. Takes a fair bit of energy to understand how to work in and gather appropriate data from a new environment. Where do people hang out? What are condusive environments for observing xyz? What will interest the folks back home? The primary study is all set to go, the side studies - typically the stuff that becomes the value-added will emerge after a few days. Value added can be anything from a blinder of an off-topic interview to stumbling on a sub-culture that intentionally or otherwise relates to stuff happening in other parts of the world. Joining up the global dots. One of my favourites side themes is asking about what people lose or leave behind in an environment, the implications of that loss and how they recover if at all.

Writing from Seoul | September 23, 2005 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Hearts, Minds, Wallets, Address Book Entries

Some industries are more cut-throat than others. To my mind the male and female escort service industries in Kabukichou, Tokyo must be somewhere at the top of the competition list. Slap down a couple of hundred Euro and their silky smooth conversation skills plus whatever else you can negotiate will presumably be yours for the night. Given the money floating around and the intense competition for that money it makes sense that they'll do what they can to have a presence in the minds, wallets and mobile phone address books of prospective clients.

So it is unsurprising to find a business card shop in the heart of Kabukichou offering to print QR (2D) bar codes onto otherwise standard business cards. (The photo above shows the mockup/advert from that shop). I'm not particularly enamoured with QR bar codes, but they seem to pop up with increasing regularity here in Japan - in magazines advertising mobile phone services, on receipts, on collectables. My gripe with the design is that the barcode graphic is by and large damn ugly, and tends to dominate whatever they are printed on. However, with camera phones from all the Japanese carriers equipped with software to capture and interpret the information from the bar codes they are one fairly ubiquitous way to provide short cuts to information. Don't want to type in that URL? Switch on the camera, point and click and its transferred to your phone. Don't want to enter the details of a contact? Names, URLs, email addresses, phone numbers, mail addresses can all be embedded and saved to the phone.

I'm given a lot of business cards and have only ever come across the use of QR bar codes printed on the business cards twice - both times from people working in the mobile phone industry. For most people the effort involved with generating a personal bar code and having it upset the balance of the card design are two barriers too many compared to the potential benefit to the person whom receives the card.

The task of exchanging contact information typically involves effort from both the giver and receiver of the information. With QR barcode reading software already installed on the receiver's camera phone a suitably motivated giver of the information can take over some of the task-burden from the receiver. On business cards its seems this currently equates to escorts, and mobile phone geeks.

Writing from Kabukichou | September 20, 2005 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Sign Painter

To continue on the thread of choosing whether to have a hand painted mural or not. The fact that we have a choice is our relative luxury. These photos are of a sign painter's shop in Pokara, Nepal. One feature of these individual designs is the ability to customise - I was particularly enamoured with the hand painted licence plates with the clasped praying hands.

Writing from Pokara | September 12, 2005 | Permalink

Writing/Texting

Tonight trying to conduct interviews in a cafe in Louisville, Kentucky. Particular challenges are: bad lighting conditions meaning either long explosures or having to use night vision; the cafe is hosting 4 rather loud bands so interviews occur between live sessions or outside on the back porch with the smokers; and the team is starting to flake from 4 straight days on the road.

Found some rather sweet messages written on a scrap of paper on the counter...
"blah blah blah"
"yada yada"
"boobs!"
"YES!"
etc etc

Not to dissimilar from some text message conversations, briefly fun to read and accessible to all.

Are there contexts where it's desireable to visualise text message conversations away from the mobile phone? Or are messages destined to remain in in-boxes and folders?

Writing from Louiseville | August 18, 2005 | Permalink

Steal Me

Night light from hotel bathroom in Cleveland. Of sufficient value to be stolen, cheap enough to give away - a subtle way of getting advertising in the home. Another example - salt and pepper shakers inscribed with 'Stolen from Virgin Atlantic'.

Writing from Cleveland | August 16, 2005 | Permalink

Thank-you for shopping with us, thief

My pet hate in Japan is the little stickers that are applied to your purchases if you decline to to put the goods in a plastic bag. Since I usually carry my own bag I always get the stickers, on everything.

That sticker encapsulates a negative aspect of the retailer/customer experience: "Thank-you for shopping at our store, but we don't trust you enough to walk out without stealing goods. So we apply this sticker to make you think it's easier for us to know what you've bought, and easier to identify you've just attempted to steal. Have a great day". Presumably the reason the sticker is applied is that it is an effective deterrent against theft, because it is highly visible and obvious what it applies to i.e. the object it is stuck on. (The sticker roll is ripe for a subversive makeover - drum roll designers...)

With increased purchases of digital goods content providers are looking to Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions to limit where and how content is played. For me a fair DRM solution assumes people know what they own, and know the rights for what they own. With competing DRM solutions this is not going to be an easy task. Ask yourself this question:

Are there limits to how and where songs downloaded from the iTunes store can be played?

In my mind if you answer 'yes' you are already in the niche that is technology orientated consumers. Next question:

How many of you can list any use-boundaries of songs downloaded from the iTunes store?

If you can answer 'yes' you're otaku. Most people have a life where technology or the design and application of technology are not a central driver. It's a wonderful world out there, and it's got nothing to do with computer screens, keyboards and mice (I'm sitting here tapping out this article, looking forward to my morning cycle ride through Tokyo to get to the office).

If you are a P2P network user - how many times have you downloaded the same song? Looking at my (paid for) physical and digital music collection I frequently find duplicates - songs that I've paid for more than once. We used not to get a choice - you bought the album even it contained two songs identical to that other album you bought. Even on digital stores it's easier to select all the songs from an album than figure out the one or two you may have already, and (for this consumer) the cost of checking multiple devices where my the music is stored is more that the cost of buying a few duplicates.

I'm looking forward to the day when N million iTunes users start hitting use-boundaries and start looking for ways and perhaps demanding ways to free what they consider to be 'their music'. Maybe the delay between the time of purchase and the hitting of boundaries will be sufficiently long - 3 years? 5 years?, that the impact will be met with a resounding silence. Each consumer older and wiser?

Returning to the sticker... physical objects have presence, and although I dislike the sticker on the Coke bottle at least it noticeable enough to have feelings about.

Writing from Tokyo | August 10, 2005 | Comments (6) | Permalink

Public Phone Recharging Services

You are out and about and your phone runs out of power - what are your options?

Something you see a lot in Asia but not yet in Europe or the US is public alternatives for charging mobile phones. These photos are taken from a waiting room near Hodaka - a popular hiking/climbing in Japan's Northern Alps. I watched as a potential customer struggled to operate the machine to charge his phone - 100 Yen (0.70 Euro) for 10 minutes.

In many ways the context of this room made it a perfect place for locating a charging station: a train station waiting room with accurate information on when the train is going to leave; a reason to wait and kill time; seating in proximity of the charging station to make it easier to remember when it comes time to leave and to enable checking that no-one will steal the phone. The last point may seem moot because the phone goes into a drawer and the door is locked - however the casing is pretty flimsy and would not deter a dedicated thief if no-one was around. Do you have any data stored on your phone worth stealing? Even if you don't now, this question will become more relevant as phones are used to complete a wider range of tasks e.g. mobile payments, and due to the options provided by increased memory space. The context should also provide a steady stream of customers: there was no cellular coverage on the mountain so a mobile phone left switched on the battery rapidly drains as it constantly tries to find the nearest base station; most people were on overnight trips so to keep their weight down they're not going to carry chargers; there was no where to plug in a charger anyway.

There are a number of other options available in Japan. Most convienience stores stock 'top-up' batteries that plug into the phones power socket. This is a practical alternative in Japan where to a large extent the carrier specifies the power connector - all DoCoMo PDC phones are able to take the same charging/data cable. (Actually the connectors are all slightly different but they are specified to share enough simiarities to be able to charge from the same cable. Some enterprising students I met used a knife to shave off the design differences so they could share a power & data cable).

A few solar chargers are for sale in Tokyo Hands, but these are still in the realm of gimmick than a practical alternative.

Other examples I've come accross in my travels - convenenience stores, restaurants and airports in China having charging stations where you clamp a postive and negative charge onto the battery. I've never seen anyone actually using these, but I presume that because someone has paid to roll the infrastructure out that its revenue generating.

Fast food restaurants in Delhi supply charging services behind the counter whilst you eat - from recollection they offered 3 x Nokia, 1 x Samsung, 1 x Motorola and one I can't remember. A colleagues told me about longer distance buses in India offering charging services to passengers. Any other places you've seen?

Writing from Hodaka | August 8, 2005 | Comments (7) | Permalink

Linked In

This photo of Banksy graffiti was taken last week close to the Hackney Road in Bethnal Green, London. During the most recent round of bombs attacks in London one of the bombers left the rucksack containing a bomb on the number 26 bus. Tenuous link to this picture, no?

I was suprised at the amount of people who have said they were close to, or at or on one of the routes taken by the bombers, displaced by time and/or location by some degree. The relative success of terrorism to affect or frighten people is enhanced by peoples ability to assume 'it could have been me', rather than other factors such as sympathy for the victims.

People will increasingly have the ability to track where they have been. Currently on mobile phones this can easily be done through base station triangulation or through GPS. In the future the granularity of information available to users will be enhanced by everyday interactions such as a log of purchases made with their phone (already available through Sony Edy here in Japan) or downloads from nearby content servers. Combined with increased tracking and sensors means that we will assumedly we will be able to trace the route of either the terrorists, or the packages they are carrying after the event. Will the ability to compare your route with that of a bomb and bombers magnify or reduce the affect of terrorists acts?

Writing from Hackney | July 28, 2005 | Permalink

Scars, Residues

Scars as evidence of past activities. Upper photo from legs of young female skater at EDIT skate park (Experimental Development Inner-City Tokyo) in Shinjuku, lower photo mountain scar from yours truly lava scree running down Mt Fuji.

Writing from Shinjuku | July 25, 2005 | Permalink

Use - Collection - Proof - Artifact

Always interested to see what people take as evidence of being somewhere, or doing something (for me its sometimes this web site).

A number of the mountain huts on the routes up Mt Fuji offer a walking stick stamping service. Punters buy the stick at the bottom of the mountain and at each station it can be burnt/stamped with the route and the altitude of that hut.

The stick fulfils a number of functions - a mixture of practicality, a gradual sense of achievement as each stamp is added, proof of attaining the summit, and ends up as an artifact/souvenir.

Writing from Mt. Fuji | July 24, 2005 | Permalink

Mobile Free Zones

The way technology is used changes spaces. Ever walked into a coffee shop where the tapping of laptop keyboards outweighed chatter? What what the atmostphere like?

Signs banning mobile phone put up by staff at the delectable Monmouth Coffee shop in Covent Garden. Where else have you seen signs like these?

Writing from London | July 16, 2005 | Comments (2) | Permalink

Current Status Indicators

The temperature of an oven. Today's pollen count. When the bus arrives. How long before your next subway stop. Your heart rate. The heart rate of your loved one. Best before dates. Todays date. The time left before your boiled egg is ready. Knowing when a book is available for collection. When an album has been released. Whether a file has downloaded. How much battery power you have left. How long the battery will take to recharge. How much cash you have in your wallet. Your savings account. Monthly outgoings. How much call time is still available. How long before the traffic lights turn green. Whether your friends are in proximity.

Just a few examples of everyday status information. As life increasingly becomes digital the volume and granularity of what is available will continue to grow. The mobile phone is in a strong position to generate, collect, filter, sort and present a lot of this stuff to us. The trick, naturally is to deliver it to the right person(s) at the right time(s) in the right format(s).

The pole is a flood indicator, taken from a place called Maisemore, near Gloucester in the UK. The area is prone to flooding from the River Severn, so the sign marks off the water depth. Theres something rather 'if you can read this its already too late' about it. Incidentally, its possible to surf 30km up the the River Severn following the surge of the bore.

Writing from Maisemore | July 15, 2005 | Permalink

By What Authority?

I'm not a train geek, but seem to spend a fair amount of times in train stations trying to find my cultural bearings. My motivation is to document and understand signage, and stations just so happen to be signage rich.

Signs tell you a lot about shifting norms in a society: indicating how society is segmented 'female waiting room only' or 'waiting room for military personnel'; what not to do 'no explosives' (Hangzhou train station); suggesting appropriate behaviours 'turn off phone'; or inappropriate behaviour 'no spitting' 'no begging'; supplying status information 'temperature 27 degrees' and so on. Handwritten signs can indicate how the design of buildings have failed their users or how the building has evolved since it was built 'for tomorrows tickets, go down the hall to the left' or the grey nature of the services they are offering 'sim unlocking, 5 Euro, 5 minutes' but that are not offerred by the establishment. They can show societal attitudes on cultural diversity - support for multiple languages or equally not, or the support of the blind and deaf.

Ignoring the observation that most signs remain unread by most people that pass them by. When signs are read, one criteria for acting upon the information in the signage is authority. By what authority is that sign placed there? By what authority should the information on that sign be trusted? Or depending on the authority, mistrusted? Case in point from this Shanghai photo taken during the recent Sars episode "Doctors Advise to Yourself and Others, Don't Spit"

How this might play out in the (naturally perfect) future? Whilst rules are not necessarily enforceable, technologies such as city wide surveillance cameras will make it easier to track 'offenders' if an organisation or individual is sufficiently motivated. 2010 is not a great time to become a celebrity and fall on the wrong side of the tabloids, or webloids for that matter.

If all or part of the message is delivered digitally, its possible to
customise to the message to a particular audience. 'Doctor [insert name of the doctor you've known 15 years] advises you not to spit"

Writing from Shanghai | July 12, 2005 | Permalink

Ad, Mob, Milk

Advertising in milk shop in Delhi - kid plays with mobile.

Writing from New Delhi | July 11, 2005 | Permalink

Sign of the Times

One of the techniques we use to understand a culture is to document signage, looking for clues as to what is acceptable or not acceptable in society or context. Of course most people don't read most signs, and even if they do they dont necessarily obey them, but it all helps to shape our understanding.

My all time favourite signs (geeky, no?) are both from China: no explosives, in train station in Hangzhou; and no spitting from billboard next to bus stop in Shanghai - where the spit was shaped like a bomb. Will try to dig them up later.

Writing from Tokyo | June 20, 2005 | Permalink

Mobility Touch / Magic Touch

Not just the NFC guys pushing Magic Touch. Photo from Karol Bagh market in Delhi.

Writing from Karol Bagh Market | June 1, 2005 | Permalink

TV & Mobile Fone

Mural in Kreuzberg, Belin - mobile phone joins television as symbol of mindless consumerism.

Writing from Berlin | May 16, 2005 | Permalink

Information & Location

This noticeboard outside a restaurant near Grunewald, Berlin plastered on both sides with motorbike related advertising. How does the reader know whether the advert is still valid and the object still for sale?

Writing from Berlin | May 14, 2005 | Permalink

A,B,C,D,E,F ... Z

Get your education from the streets.

Writing from Berlin | May 13, 2005 | Permalink

Purchase Password

Buy password? Why not?

Writing from New Delhi | April 9, 2005 | Comments (1) | Permalink

Browse the Future Perfect archives by date or keyword

© Jan Chipchase, 2005 - 07 | Site Map