Jan Chipchase - Future Perfect: Brighton Archives

April 19, 2006

Micro Breaks, Macro Breaks

A security guard settling into another hour seated in front of a closed store in South Delhi (above), motorcyclist checking text messages whilst smoking a cigarette in Tokyo (below) and a bus stop indicating how long before the next bus arrives, Brighton (end photo).

Micro and macro breaks are the time we have between defined tasks: waiting for a bus to arrive; for a traffic light to change; for friends to turn up; to smoke a cigarette (assuming the act of smoking is not seen as a primary task). If you design mobile devices, applications or services you should be interested in micro and macro breaks - as a commonly carried mobile essential there is a fair chance that the mobile phone will be used during that break.

Not all all breaks are equal: some are planned, some not; the ability to predict how long a break will last affects how the time is used and whether tasks are started; some we have degree of control over how long they last; and the contexts in which breaks occur can vary considerably - just think of the range of situations you find yourself in.

What are the characteristics of micro or macro breaks? How do they differ between cultures? For that matter, how does the pace of life, the perception of time and how it 'should' be filled differ between cultures? How long do these breaks last compared the time it takes to complete a task such as sending a text message, locating information on a mobile web site or to go to a more topical application - tuning into signal for a mobile TV station?

And why the bus stop? Quite simply - knowing when the break will finish affects what tasks will be started.

Posted by Jan at 08:03 PM | Comments (1)

March 16, 2006

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?

Posted by Jan at 08:30 PM | Comments (2)

February 27, 2006

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?

Posted by Jan at 10:04 AM | Comments (5)

February 23, 2006

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!

Posted by Jan at 10:19 PM | Comments (10)

February 12, 2006

Extreme Customisation II

Posted by Jan at 08:08 AM | Comments (1)

February 10, 2006

Hotel Experiences

Occasionally research study hotels are a little different. A variety of experiences available in the Hotel Pelirocco - each room having a different theme.

Posted by Jan at 08:16 AM | Comments (0)

Speed Camera Avoidance

Advertising targetted at taxi drivers. "Tom Tom One with Free Speed Camera Locator Loaded"

Posted by Jan at 07:17 AM | Comments (0)

Observation(s)

Somewhat unnerving to have local council security cameras rotating and appearing to obseve the research observations.

Who watches the watchmen? Indeed.
What level of transparency in what we do? In what they do?

Posted by Jan at 07:10 AM | Comments (1)

February 09, 2006

Tea and Buttered Crumpets, To Take Away

This morning's office is a cafe overlooking a fairly ordinary street in Brighton, a small city on the South coast of England. I've been sitting here, perched on a raised stool at the window since it opened at 7:30 am, in an effort to warm up - having been pacing the streets for a couple of hours already. To view the street I'm required to wipe condensation away the window every 5 minutes or so. There is a constant stream of teas, coffees, buttered toast and crumpets* being served to the morning rush-hour commuters.

I'm here to research something out there, but it's cold and the draw of toast and crumpets is enough to bring me in here. And anyway there things that can be learnt from being on either side of the glass. The time between ordering and the arrival of food and drink is long enough to be considered a micro break - enough time to take out a mobile phone check messages, perhaps send one or two. But no-one does. Why should they?

A 3 minute walk uphill from here is Brighton station. A 60 minute or so train ride and the passengers will dis-gorging from London Victoria and London Thameslink stations to join the fun that is London's rush-hour. I can't imagine anyone going from home to office in less than 90 minutes which means 15 hours a week spent on the activity known as commuting. Commuting to work in central London from London's suburbs can easily take an hour so for many of these people Brighton is a practical alternative.

Commuting habits are of interest to anyone who provides content or builds devices that are used to access content - whether it's web based, radio or mobile TV. These commuters have 90 minutes or commuting boredom to kill, enough time to listen to a lot of music, watch a feature length movie, read a newspaper from cover to cover, read a novelette. It's probably enough to write the first draft of novel. But how much of those 90 minutes do they really have? What does it mean to commute? How does commuting differ between cultures? And how will the commuting experience evolve with the availability of a wider variety of devices and content formats?

When the 90 minute journey is broken down to sub-tasks - leaving the home space, walking to the station, finding a seat on the train, the train journey itself, negotiating the station at the other end, using pubic transport at the destination and the eventual walk to the building. The longest uninterrupted part of the journey is likely to be the long distance train journey, and actually that's far from uninterrupted. Announcements occur every time the train pulls into a station, pulls out of the station, and when one is available - to notify passengers of the buffet car. We can't assume the commuter automatically finds a seat - many people spend part of their journey keeping an eye out for seating and in some contexts to relocate to better seating. Every time people get on and off lighting conditions, ambient temperatures and noise levels will vary - not optimal conditions for watching a movie if one is available.

How does a commuter differ from one-off travelers? They have in-depth understanding of the nuances of the journey they are taking - knowing which exit can shave a few steps off the journey time, where they are most likely to get a good seat, being able to prepare a ticket or card sufficiently prior to reach a ticket barrier.

The commuting experience varies significantly between cultures - whether its a single person driving a car in Las Vegas, a motorbike seating a family of four in Ho Chi Minh City or standing on the Yamanote subway Line in Tokyo. Is the culture one of early risers? Getting up early in Jakarta or Delhi provides an opportunity for avoiding the heat. Japan has more of a culture of (starting and then) working late.

[The cultural connoisseurs amongst you may enjoy the subtle but important difference between buttered crumpets and, well, buttered crumpet]

Posted by Jan at 08:29 AM | Comments (0)

February 06, 2006

Adapted

Posted by Jan at 04:20 AM | Comments (0)

February 05, 2006

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?

Posted by Jan at 04:10 PM | Comments (4)

February 03, 2006

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.

Posted by Jan at 05:13 PM | Comments (0)

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?

Posted by Jan at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2006

Coping with Sizes in Death

Infrastructure inside a hearse - the position of the rollers are adjustable to cope with different coffin sizes.

Different ways humans are sized up: shoes, socks, waist, headband, sleave, check, bust, inside leg and so on. In life and in death. Whether the hearse default sizes from yester-year can cope with today's shifting body shapes and sizes?