A Dream of Escape

A dream of escape.

Here in the Northeast in America, we are under a cold snap.

Since Christmas, we have been suffering with below zero temperatures and into the predictable future (according to the iPhone).

And then, with or without a cold (which I have), we are essentially trapped indoors.

I've been lucky to have a writing project to take me out of myself.

The BEST vacation I can ever have. 

Gamification of Relationships

Some aspects of relationships CAN be Gamified.

Some already are in ways we think are appropriate.  Measuring marriages in years (1 point per anniversary), kids (1 point per human created).  Artificial numbers which seem to mean something; especially when there is little to no other tangible signifier.

Note that the fewer number of relationships is an indicator of "being haunted".  The fewer experiences, the more likely the few have tremendous impact. But the number seems to want to be low-note that we hardly ever confess the truth here in numbers.

Beginning relationships can be gamified too-but must be considered in terms of Game Theory-Theory of Mind.  Think of playing a game of chess and predicting your partner's next move and deciding on your moves based on the outcome you predict.

The question remains: do people want PREDICTABLE relationships?

Theater and Software

The idea comes first.  Something brilliant, that bugs at you until you DO something about it.  (UX at this stage will involve people responding to this idea, is it something they even want? What is closest to it?  How is this different?  How can you iterate before you even begin?)

Then there is the planning.  Laying out a skeleton and working your way through it.  Revise and rework. (In software, this stage may be Agile, built 2 weeks at a time.)

The final draft, the final blueprint.  Now you have to build it. Program it, cast it, hopefully you'll have enough money to see it to birth. A real prototype of what you want it to be. You can test it out on people before its actual release, the UX testing is equivalent to bringing in your directing mentor for the final dress.  "Tell me its fatal flaws before we open!!"

Then finally, its on its feet.   Opening night, the day everything goes live. Maybe its an MVP, Minimum Viable Product.

2 weeks of previews, features added to the next iteration. People get to see it and clap or yawn.  If they are somehow trapped into usage, then hopefully their suffering won't be too bad.

And then it is out there. The longer it is out, the longer it has to be polished, or to have the shine taken from it. Have all its faults displayed openly, prominently.

Or more likely, it will be a bore.  And will get washed away by the tide of exciting and better.

And new.

Why the Monkees Are Good UX

This is a show from the 1960's, full of youth and culture and fun.  Built to be full of delights, to be commercially viable for kids and teenage girls.  Good music that can stand on its own, and an assemblage of character actors who can act the pants of of the 4 main costars.

The boys are young and handsome, innocent and charming, attractive in their own way.  Blank slates that we all can put our minds into.  You want to kiss them or be them, or maybe both.

But the references inside of each episode are countless, and I enjoy trying to count them all.

It is the ideal medium for a Lesson plan of what America was in the 1960's, or what we thought we were, or what we wanted to be.  There are enough names and old-fashioned props to fill an encyclopedia.  Their pad is similar to the internet, packed full of random goodies that you can stumble over.  Mid Century Thrift Store.

It is an easy way to digest history.  It looks like candy, but is actually full of protein.

Comparing NYC to Waltham

And vice versa.

At the end of August, Waltham is very green.  And lovely,  Summer is great here.  The smell of the sun on the leaves is beautiful.

Whereas the subways in NYC are full of smoke in the tunnels and random stoppages.  Its merely a matter of time until you are in an Instagram worthy position to document the crazy of the commute.

But just wait until winter, when the streets are cold and everything is about your cold car and digging it out of the snow.

You CAN get a great NYC job in Waltham, especially if everything works virtually!

Just Like Theater

UX is all about the User.

Theater is about the audience.

In both cases, its about what is designed and how it is perceived.  And the perceptions only get measured rarely and inconsistently.

At least in software, it's a measure that is beginning to count.

MicroAttitudes

Any performance/presentation can be broken down by POV & MicroAttitudes:

1) What you intend to convey
2)The WORDS, text, images, events that literally get presented
3)The Microattitudes that underlie every moment, including intonations, jokes, facial expressions, etc
4) The interaction between the presenter & audience which evolves the performance
5)What the audience perceives moment to moment
6) What the audience actually REMEMBERS at the end of the night
7) What the audience members take away & REMEMBER about the night going forward into the future

The MicroAttitudes are probably the biggest takeaway of all of the above.

The worst way to prescribe drugs

A double drop down.

Just to encourage mistakes.

Not that anyone's life is on the line.  Or everyone's.

UX & Design of Grand Central (Chalkboard)

There are a lot of surprising & hidden gems within Grand Central Terminal.

I've been noticing a few, especially in the context of UX and Design.

My favorite relic: the chalkboard track announcement board. Hidden & now on display in GC's quietest area, The Biltmore Room.

Highway Stop Novelty Game

I was stopped in West Haven and saw this:

"Super Star" Game.

For $1, you get a chance to try for "high value" items.

An expensive purse, headphones and an iPad Air (?!?!?!)

Simply press the button and let go when you are ready!

If you win, the arrow lands on a number.

If you use a Credit Card, you get 5 chances for $5. On other games, there are 7 chances for $5 if you pay by cash.

$198 Michael Kors purse.

IPad Air.

Now, assuming these are genuine articles, there is a glaring question. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? 

I admit, I played 2 games to test it out, to see if it was especially hard or rigged or something. I had to leave because of time, but was convinced that I could have gotten an iPad within a few more tries. Even if it took 20 or 30 tries, economically, it would have been worth it.

But there was little to no skill involved. The arrow is directly connected to the button with no apparent lag in the mechanism. 

This was in the same collonnade as 2 other machines with GRABBERS. Those had $30 baseball hats and stuffed animals.

Is the perception supposed to be that the game is easy enough for a player to win with skill or persistence? If I had spent $5, I'm convinced I could have matched the arrow. Or is that just the intended illusion of perception? How can it be that easy and why?

Paths of Desire-Wires

I was sitting at a Conference table when I saw this in front of me.

In case you can't see it clearly, there is a built in phone/power jack built into the center of the table. There is a metallic flap to both cover & protect the connections, and to reduce the visual clutter in the surface of the table.

However, the phone line has been CUT to accommodate the placement of the phone on the table.  Also, a surge protector with additional outlets has been plugged in. Presumably because there were not enough or they were not easily accessible for placement. The chord does not allow the plate to close properly.

The phone line and the chord must be bent properly and do not easily fit into the gap of the plate.  In fact, the plate encourages more damage to both.

Better design required, perhaps?

Giant Corporations like Big Ships

Giant corporations are often compared to giant ships, difficult to steer & even harder to change course quickly.

For instance, old telephony & new telephony are competing. The first needs to prove the worth of their old technology (wired lines), while the new can jump ahead and offer many new digital features without having the costs of infrastructure to deal with.

As far as the audience/customer is concerned, they just need their service to work. They don't care why things don't work, or about the layers of difficulty you have to deal with to fix it.