Observations
Observation: speaking in metaphors.
What is it about the metaphor that is so attractive to Designers? It almost feels as if a zippy metaphor will save the day when it comes time to justifying your design. Too often, though, a metaphor ends up feeling forced. I constructed this parable (you can pull the metaphors from it) not to long ago to explain why adding more functionality to a piece of software was not as important as improving user experience:
You go to the store and buy an unassembled bookshelf. You get home, grab your tool box, open up the package, and start laying out the pieces. It quickly becomes apparent that you have no idea how to assemble the bookshelf. That’s where we step in an hand you a hammer. You say, ‘But I already had a hammer’. We reply, ‘Yes, but this one’s bigger’.
Does this get the point across? Not really. We could probably cull a decent metaphor out of the ‘bigger hammer’ idea. If anything, this is an implicit argument about why it’s more important to make software intuitive rather than adding more features. However, there are some gaping holes in this narrative. For example, I conveniently ignore the fact that most sensible people would use an instruction manual to put together a bookshelf. Perhaps I could use that fact for my argument. It could go something like this:
When I go to buy a bookshelf, I am not looking for a box of wood, some screws, and an instruction manual. I am looking for a bookshelf.
That, however, talks about user goals rather than about the functionality vs. user experience. We need to be careful about the way we as Designers try to explain/justify (aren’t those really the same) our ideas. Too often the use of a metaphor obfuscates the points we are trying to make. It’s like saying, “I shared my wisdom, now you figure it out”. Drop the oblique metaphors and say what you want to say. As Designers, one of our basic competencies should be the ability to communicate effectively. All the ideas in the world are meaningless if you can’t convey them to your stakeholders.
Observation: High chair repurposed
The other day I was out to dinner with my wife. As we were sitting there, a couple with a young baby was being seated next to us. The couple asked their server for a high chair. Upon obtaining the high chair, the couple proceeded to flip it upside down so that the larger base was in the air and somewhat cockeyed. Here is a sketch to illustrate what this looked like. The chair on the left is your right-side-up sketch with the one on the right being the situation present in this story.
They then nestled the baby basket (I’m not sure what you call this thing, but it looks like a seat for a baby with a handle on it) on top of the upside-down chair. It was obvious that the ‘baby basket’ wouldn’t have fit if the chair was in its normal position. The whole time, however, I was worried that the thing would fall over and the baby would go tumbling. I voiced to my wife that the whole situation looked rather precarious. To my surprise, she said (having worked in several restaurants over the years) that this was a normal thing for people to do.
Here’s the point, as you may have guessed. Why aren’t these things designed with this use in mind if it is common practice for people to use them this way? I love when people repurpose items, but it also screams to me a need that is not being fulfilled.
Observation: A few tidbits about driving
I drove to the South Carolina Upcountry this weekend and had a few ideas about the driving experience along the way. First, though, let me say a few things. Greenville, SC was quite a surprise. I can’t believe that I haven’t heard about this town more. It had a pleasant downtown area and quite simply felt right. Also, I am feeling very tired and not very clever. Please give me a break on this post
Let’s talk about the stereo. I own a VW Rabbit. In my opinion, you would be hard-pressed to find a better value in a vehicle; but it’s not without flaws. I found myself constantly fussing with the volume on the stereo. There was a back and forth between conversation with my wife and then some time listening to the stereo. I felt like I was constantly turning the volume up and down. It made me wonder why the stereo has no ability to adjust itself. In my mind, it doesn’t seem unreasonable for the stereo to be able to monitor speech sounds in the car and parse them from musical sounds. Also, why not monitor other ambient sounds. If you hit that patch of pavement that is rather loud, then adjust accordingly. My point being, If someone is talking in the car; then have the stereo adjust to a volume appropriate for conversation background music. Yes, I know there are some potential issues with this; but doesn’t this seem like a good idea in general?
The good folks at Volkswagen have designed one nice feature with the stereo. No matter what volume you leave the radio at when you shut off the car, it will reset to a reasonable starting level when you start it up. You can sort of see the scenario. Coming home from a frustrating day at work, you blare your favorite anthem of the week. You shut off the car, forgetting that the volume will be startling when you go to start your car at 8 in the morning. Problem solved.
The other thing I thought was funny/interesting about driving is the ludic experience of driving. It seems that human nature is to make a game out of just about anything. The same holds true for driving. I found myself constantly monitoring my expected arrival time on the GPS unit in order to try to lower the time. After a while, I started declaring a time that I was going to make my destination by. This would, of course, require shaving several minutes off the time that Garmin estimated. I arrived back home approximately 30 seconds after the time that Garmin predicted. I was pretty disappointed.
By the way, I refer to my GPS unit as if it were a person. I call it ‘Garmin’. I never call it ‘the Garmin’. When it sends me the wrong way, I say ‘Damn it Garmin’. I find my own behavior fascinating, amusing, and somewhat creepy.
Observation: bathroom texting
This is something that I have noticed lately when I use the restroom at work. I notice that one of the stalls is occupied and then I hear the unmistakable sound of someone texting while using the bathroom. Well, actually that’s an assumption but the cadence of that sound is pretty unique.
What I find funny is that I have no way to verify that the individual in the stall is using the bathroom. For all I know, they are hiding out taking a break from work. I know you Customer Service Representative managers out there are watching every last minute. I just really like the image of someone sneaking away to sit on a toilet to take a break. It does, though, bring up the question of why people are texting in the stall.
- Is it because they are not allowed to text at work, so they have to hide it?
- Is it because they don’t want to seem like slackers, so they hide their texting?
- Are they just bored while using the bathroom so they find something to occupy their time? After all, there are no magazines sitting in the stalls at work.
Anyway, I find it interesting that people are texting while in the stall. Alright Motorola that’s a freebie. I’m not exactly sure how you would leverage that knowlege anyway.