Has this ever happened to you? You walk into a restroom and you put your hand under the tap, only to realize after 5 seconds of performing hand gestures under it that it is a manual tap? Then, you go to the paper towel dispenser and look for the lever to press, only to realize after another five seconds of basically reenacting the monolith scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey, that it’s an automated one?
People’s paths can sometimes tell us a lot. Whether we actually do what we say we do or not, one of the more interesting aspects about human behaviour in places, is that we tend to leave evidence of our actions behind for analysis. In urban planning they call this concept desire lines. They are the organic emergence of where people want to go versus where we plan for them to go. Have you ever seen …
Reading a recent interview with Ellen Langer on “Complexity in the Age of Mindfulness” in HBR, it got me to thinking about the importance of process in UX. Whenever we see a headline that someone has a new process for doing something, our ears perk up. Why? I would argue that it is because not unlike technology, we believe that processes will allow us to automate work in way that provides consistent outputs.
As I walked past a restroom recently, in a building I was visiting, I came across a bathroom door that used a more conceptual symbol to identify the intended gender for the room. Next to that sign, stuck on the door with tape, was another photocopied sign with a more conventional image and text. I walked around until I found the men’s restroom and saw that it had been temporarily re-signed the same way.
An old art professor of mine used to tell us that when an artist makes a piece of art, they are responsible for the whole canvas, regardless of whether they put anything on it or not. As UX designers, we are responsible for the whole experience, whether it is part of what we are designing or not. Now, this does not mean that we must account for and mitigate every conceivable point of interaction. It …
I have always marveled at international airports. They are what Anthropologist Victor Turner refers to as liminal spaces, where its transient occupants are betwixt and between spaces of clearly defined nationhood. That is to say, an airport is meant to be a truly international place that is not fully where you are coming from, yet a little bit of where you may be going. For this reason, signage in airports needs to be internationally generic, …
On a recent sojourn out of town, I had to take a morning flight at a time of day when it was still dark. Although I generally dislike these flights due to how early I have to get up, they generally make for a more productive day since the normal waking hours for everyone else are spent interacting rather than traveling.
I came across this link the other day in reddit, for a marketing campaign from a UK mobile service provider. The campaign featured the song “We Built This City” by Starship”, in which you first watch an advert featuring a girl riding her bike with a cat in her front pannier. Then, you have the opportunity to upload your own photos and put yourself in the action. It’s great for a laugh, so see the …
