1 post filed under supernormal
“A service involving 8,500 GPS enabled busses and many servers is very impressive, but it really comes into its own when it doesn’t show off.”
— James Darling - Bringing the London Bus Network home
1 post filed under supernormal
I know this is a joke but I quite like what it’s saying.
1 post filed under supernormal
Mujicomp
(photo by fgirardin on Flickr)
During a recent talk in Switzerland (video) Matt Jones introduced the term “Mujicomp”. He said that ubiquitous computing components need to be “tasteful, simple, clear, clean, contemporary and affordable in order to be invited into the home” and that Mujicomp is a key factor in developing a bottom up strategy to building the sentient city.
I couldn’t agree more… but it does worry me a little.
I love the idea and there’s definitely a place in the world - my world even - for Mujicomp but I think we could be in danger of forgetting something.
To understand what (I think) he meant by Mujicomp it’s probably worth looking at the design ethos of Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukosawa. Two designers that introduced the concept of Super Normal in 2007.
The zen-like Super Normal philosophy is about design that’s executed in such a way that it’s easy for people to accept because it effectively becomes part of the existing “normal” in their lives. It upgrades normal but doesn’t shout about it in order to pander to the designer’s ego. It simply dissolves into behaviour.
Naoto Fukosawa’s ”design dissolving into behaviour” quote is frequently used in relation to ubicomp because it’s simmilar in concept to Mark Wieser’s concept of “calm computing”. Fukosawa designined the classic Muji CD player so I can see why it’s logical to end up with Muji as the style benchmark for the consumer Internet of Things but I think we’re in danger of forgetting that the majority of people probably think Muji is posh, boring - or even “poncy”.
I have a feeling that Mujicomp is likely to only be invited into the homes of the people with taste.
If we really want to design the sentient city from the bottom up we shouldn’t forget that the rest of the world aren’t designers. We should also be thinking about those that probably think Billy Big Mouth Bass is something hilarious, and worthy of display on their wall.
This photo from Matt Jones’ Flickr is titled “Not Mujicomp” and he’s right. It certainly isn’t super normal or calm for me but I think we shouldn’t discount the mileage we could get by creating things with such mass appeal.
I know the stuff in that photo is only destined to be landfill and would probably do more harm than good but we’re designers - we can work out how to be funny and sustainable at the same time, surely.
I definitely reckon I’d add funny to the list of attributes we could explore to get networked social objects invited into people’s homes.
1 post filed under supernormal
Post Digital User Experience
I’ve been getting this odd feeling recently. The feeling of being a bit penned in by purely digital design. The feeling that I could be doing more.
I’ve also become frustrated by the general lack of emotion in user experience design as touted by the UX community. Something I’ve been talking about at length with anyone that will listen (thanks Oli).
You can make a website that tests well but that doesn’t mean people will truly engage with it on an emotional level.
This is my way of getting some of that jumbled thinking out. It’s not perfectly formed yet, but I’m hoping that writing it down, sharing it and talking about it might help me consolidate some of my thinking.
I’ve developed a massive interest in Service Design, which is neatly summed up as “the design of multi-touchpoint experiences that happen over time and involve the participation of user and provider”. Touchpoints can be digital like web and mobile but the best bit is is that they don’t have to be. Touchpoints can be people, physical spaces, architecture or engineering. It’s so exciting. It’s more real. It’s more human. I’ve been describing it to people as like a digital user experience designer’s out of body experience where they see the complete eco system of how their work can fit into the bigger picture.
It’s nothing new though. Just a change in the way people approach these things by putting the user or citizen first when making decisions that could affect them and using design methods like prototyping to evaluate and iterate. It’s called design thinking. If you ask me, common sense.
If you want a great example of the sort of service design I’m excited about you should check out Streetcar which I think was designed by Live|Work. The printed material makes it seem fantastic but it’s a shame the website lets it down. The fact that the website is so pony has a real impact on the experience of using Streetcar. If it was as slick as the printed material it would be amazing. Perfect.
If you need another (pre digital) example of service design look at how Kodak revolutionised photography with the Brownie. Up until that point photography had been incredibly complicated and almost impossible for the novice. George Eastman designed a cartridge loading system that anyone could use and a service that allowed you to send off your exposed film and receive your developed photos in the post.
“You push the button, we do the rest”
Kodak went on to be one of the biggest companies in the world.
Physical Computing
I recently read an article by Russel Davies called Meet the New Schtick which starts off talking about how unimpressed people are with digital solutions these days because they’re never going to be as good as the ones they see in adverts or films. He then goes on to talk about the real pioneering work is in making things. Real things. Smart things. Connected things.
Craft
(Image from the awesome “I made you a beard”)
Craft has become incredibly popular over the last few years as we all know. It’s an actual movement. Sites like Craft, Make and Instructables are wicked and services like like Etsy and Lulu are fantastic at allowing the people that make stuff to sell their work and help support their craft habit.
Craft feels nice. It feels like things are made with passion and love. There’s something about craft that involves you in the process and in return you’re much more willing to forgive it if there’s something not quite right. Pure digital is expected to be perfect. Pure digital is always going to be cold and alien. I think Uncanny Valley might have something to do with it. The better we get at designing artificial interaction the more unreal it’s going to become until we get it absolutely perfect.
Nerds are doing some amazing things with paper.
Nerds have always been into hacking things, building things, taking things apart. Magazines like Make and events like Dorkbot are great examples of what’s going on.
Lots of this activity is centered around a cheap bit of programmable circuit board called Arduino. It’s brought the hardcore geek community together with the art and design communities and I’m really interested in getting to grips with it, and experimenting with RFID tags and a reader like the Mir:ror.
At Interesting I learned about TweenBots - human dependant robots that navigate the city with the help of people they encounter. I can’t think of a better example of emotional attachment to the artificial. It’s because it’s imperfect, helpless, fragile.
Human?
Which leads me on to the Japanese aesthetic concept called Wabi Sabi. It embraces the fragility, imperfection and impermanence of nature. I really think there’s a lot to be learned here.
Maybe elegant imperfection is the key to emotional connections.
Folk + Future
I am in love with a fashion brand called Visvim. Hiroki Nakamura takes traditional artisan methods and materials and mixes them with the ultra modern to create a brand that is both futuristic and historic at the same time. He makes products that improve with use. Something that’s rare in this age.
Super Normal
I recently read the Super Normal Philosphy. I’ve always been a believer in form follows function and I’ve been into designers like Dieter Rams for a long time. I’ve always found simple, but beautiful type and graphic design (mostly Swiss) to be the best but The concept of design being so beautifully invisible that it replaces and improves the existing normal has really struck a chord and got me excited. The world is so full of noise and it’s partly down to the ego of designers that want to be noticed for their work. Supernormal feels very zen and I like that. If things worked perfectly but didn’t attract attention to themselves what a peaceful world we’d live in. Designers just have to come to terms with the fact that the best work they do will be the work that is noticed the least. I like that too.
