“Can I borrow your pen for a moment?” I asked my colleague. It took him few minutes to search his backpack full of books, mp3 player, mobile phone, a thumb drive, music CDs, headphone and office ID card to find an old age Reynolds ballpoint pen. I needed to fill up a form manually and then I realized, ‘sheesh’, I could write faster on a key board.

Nowadays, I find it really difficult to find a pen when I need it badly. Moreover, I even find it difficult to write ‘traditionally’. It wasn’t the case seven years ago when I was a student, and a pen was one of my fundamental needs (food, water, shelter, clothing and a pen). I remember running back to my hostel during exam time to collect it. I was sure not to find one, even from my best of friends out there.

So what happened now? I was one of those persons who used to go out in the following manner:

1. Pickup  wallet and check money
2. Pickup my favorite pen and put in shirt’s pocket to show my sincerity
3. Pickup my bicycle’s keys and walkout

Now the sequence is different

1. Pickup wallet and check credit cards
2. Pickup mobile phone
3. Pickup laptop
4. Pickup keys and walkout

Where is the pen? “Well I don’t need it, and even if I do, I’ll find it somehow” I always answer to me.

I did a quick analysis of various scenarios where I always used pen and nowadays prefer to adopt alternate solutions

This is a brief list of scenarios I could immediately think of, and I am sure there could be more. Though I don’t see a major impact in my daily life in ‘absence’ of a pen, I still feel guilty about it. When it comes to writing, I have observed some changes which I would like to rectify. Sometimes my own signature looks fake to me. I feel uncomfortable with the fact that in actual writing there is very little room for rectifying errors. I am overcautious and write slow, as if I am driving my car after ages in midst of a narrow lane.

I have a very high regard for those who write on paper fluently, effortlessly and confidently. Which I feel is difficult to achieve in a digital world, where all your mistakes are being treated as an overlook and rectification is very easy.

Since more and more people are becoming part of the digital ecosystem, I really wonder what will be the future of handwriting analysts, calligraphy artists and all those associated with the written script on a physical sheet of paper. I also wonder, if a person like me who have lost the flair of usage of pen, could be analyzed on various parameters of handwriting to identify personality traits?

Lately, I came across an interesting blog called failblog.org.  As name suggests, it’s surely not a failed blog. Instead, it is very popular and contains fantastic videos and images of products, services, people, behaviors etc., which fails to do justice to their intended design. Not surprisingly, I did agree on the existence of most of the product on this blog. However, there was one specific video which made me to think more about it.

This video shows a person addressing people in a restaurant, using a wireless microphone. Sitting next to him, is an old lady enjoying her meal. This lady is very much engrossed in the meal, totally unaware of the person’s speech.  The person suddenly offers the microphone to the old lady for her comments. Surprisingly, at the very moment, the lady is expecting something else. It’s nothing else, but a Pepper Crusher.  Just imagine her rotating the upper part of the microphone to dispense black pepper.

Have a look at the video.

The situation is definitely funny and the lady was obviously embarrassed. But was this really her problem?

I don’t think so.

I have observed two mindsets for this kind of situation. Either blame the person (or rather make fun of them), or blame the product, like most designers or usability experts do always. I personally found this situation rather strange. I cannot directly blame the product, because I have never ever seen people getting confused between a pepper crusher and the microphone. Also, I didn’t see anything wrong in the way that old lady reacted to the microphone.

I see a major influence of the context in which the lady looked at the microphone. At the very moment she was offered the microphone, she was enjoying her meal. And being totally unaware of her surrounding, she could not expect more than someone offering something related to her ‘context’. In this particular situation, the perceived affordance of the microphone was changed due to the change in ‘context’.

This triggers a question. Can ‘context’ influence the perceived affordance of a well designed product? I do not have any specific research data to support my claim, but I strongly feel, ‘Yes’.  Here are some of my observations:

1. Imagine a person trying to kill you and you need to defend yourself. Most likely the affordance of a flowerpot or an ashtray near you will change to a weapon
2. You are travelling in a crowded bus, and suddenly driver decides to apply brakes. Your reflexes force you to grab the hand of a stranger next to you. In this ‘context’ the affordance a ‘hand’ becomes a ‘support handle’
3. You are walking on the road and it starts raining. You quickly look for cover and in most cases you might end up using your bag, books or a briefcase as an umbrella 

There are more examples like this for sure. Here is one more example of a person hurting himself by a hot electric iron while mistaking it for a mobile phone. Here, you must observe the ‘context’, which is more important.

This is a great learning for me personally, and I am convinced that having a deeper understanding of various contextual usage of a product would help me design products effectively.

Any comments?

Last month, I attended World Usability Day 2008 at Bangalore, which was organized by UPA Bangalore Chapter in association with Yahoo India R&D and Human Factors International. Apart from all the interesting talks’ on ‘Usability in Transportation’, I participated in an interesting design challenge. Around 20 teams were formed and unique problem statements were given to each team. Teams were supposed to brainstorm and propose solutions to improve Transportation Experiences in a given timeframe of forty-five minutes.

Our team was a good mix of students and professionals from design and technology domains. Debashish, Saurabh, Chitresh, Mahima and I teamed up to nail down the problem given to us.

The problem statement given to our team was as following: Considering the current traffic situation in Bangalore and usage of signage on the roads, propose a solution for the following;

1. Help daily commuters and new visitors to identify their way from point A to point B
2. Improve signage on the road to help commuters find the correct directions
3. Update commuters on road blocks , traffic congestions and other obstacles on their way

We named our solution as Treasure Hunt Model for Route Navigation. This solution was awarded as the winner of the design challenge. So here goes the solution;

Target Users

We considered daily commuters as well as new visitors to Bangalore city as our targeted users. Since part of this solution involved usage of basic mobile messaging service (SMS), we made an assumption that at least 80 percent of commuters use mobile phones. In India and specifically in Bangalore, the concentration of mobile phone is pretty high. This way we targeted our solution towards mobile users. However, there are few sub-elements of the solution which could benefit non-mobile users too.

Technology Considerations

1. Most mobile users in India are comfortable using basic messaging service on mobile phones (SMS)
2. Almost all the mobile phones in India and service providers offer SMS service
3. Here, SMS is cheapest in the world. Sometimes it is free.
4. Voice interface service over mobile phones. PVR cinemas in Bangalore are successfully running this service
5. Use of ‘roller desk’ signage at major traffic signals to provide dynamic content update.
6. A centralize software service to keep road signage data in sync. with the mobile queries data

Challenges of commuting in Bangalore

1. Paper maps are usually outdated
2. Traffic directions changes frequently due to ongoing road constructions
3. GPS systems are very expensive in India. Not everyone can afford it and moreover they are not being designed for Motorbikes and Manual Bikes
4. Not all major junctions have route information
5. Not all people can remember maps in their mind
6. It is vital to ask somebody for directions at major cross roads
7. Very limited ways to inform commuters about road blocks and other obstacles

Goals of the solution

1. Since most people cannot remember or read maps easily, provide a solution where they don’t need to remember directions
2. It is easy to remember major landmarks on the way from point A to point B. Use landmark information in the solution
3. 80 percent of people use mobile phones and SMS service. Design the solution around the same
4. New visitors usually ask for directions at every major junction and decide their way to the destination. Use similar phenomenon in the solution
5. Signboards only provide names of main areas and not for all the destinations. Design the signage where all the places could be highlighted in a particular direction
6. If there is a road block in the certain locality, inform all the commuters in the same locality as well as people coming towards that location

What is treasure hunt game?

This is a popular game, where the goal is to find the treasure by following a series of clues. The clues are hidden in different locations where each clue point to the next clue. This creates a trail which ultimately leads to the treasure. In this game, there are two major elements. First is the node and second is the pointer. A player is usually given the pointer to the first node and rest is left for him to explore.

Solution

We divided the solution in four modules.

Module 1:

Find the route between point A and B The solution is loosely based upon the ‘Treasure Hunt’ rules with few exceptions. In treasure hunt, player is given information about the first node only. In our solution, the commuter will be given information for all major nodes from point A to point B. A mobile service needs to be setup where commuters can call a specific toll-free number, choose their language and speak for directions. The voice recognition system would confirm for point A and point B. The commuter will receive an SMS with the information of all the major junction en-route.

 Module 2:

Following the trail, commuter will start from point A and try to reach the first node as given in the SMS. At node 1, a big dynamic display at the junction will display all major ‘nodes’ on the way. User will identify the next node in his mobile phone and continue in the respective direction. Repeat the same process at each node to finally reach the destination.  

Module 3:

Dynamic Display Most airports have a ‘roller desk’ display boards for flight information. It is an effective way to dynamically change information as required. We proposed to use similar boards at major ‘Nodes’. Here are few components of the display board

• Top section for information on traffic situation or other important updates
• Middle section will be divided in 3 or 4 columns, depending upon the number of ways ahead
• Each column will have an arrow sign on the top to show direction and color code for the traffic situation in that direction
• Each column will display all primary locations in that direction.
  • The location names (or node names) will be stacked one above another.
  • If there are more nodes in that directions, the roller desks will get updated every few seconds and cover all the locations
  • At the bottom of each column, major landmarks could be displayed in the form of icons
• The bottom region will display the service number in big bold letters to help user call and find the way

Module 4:

Notify commuters for road blocks and obstacles All mobile service operators will have a centralized system which will monitor any information regarding road blocks, traffic congestion, accidents and other obstacles. The information will be collected from traffic police as well as authorized agents. All mobile service provides can identify their users in that locality through tower registration data. An SMS with this information will be broadcasted to all the commuters in the problem area. Also, commuters who are following ‘Treasure Hunt’ trail to reach their destination via the problem route will be notified. Here is the detailed flow

Conclusion

We conclude that, there are possible solutions which could simplify the route navigation without the use of maps and GPS systems. The proposed solution is completely feasible using the current available technology and services. With this solution, it is possible to provide a cheaper service model which is most likely to be used by masses. There are advanced solutions available in the market such as GPS and mobile maps, but the affordability is still an issue. A robust solution which works the way people behave in normal circumstances could surely qualify for better adaptation amongst most people.

While writing this blog, I would like to mention that I am a big advocate of a good design, however I would like to share today’s incident which came as a surprise to me.

Just like any other day, I took my car out and felt a little trouble in reversing it for first few seconds. At first, I didn’t bother and started driving. It was a pleasant drive for next forty five minutes till I noticed few people staring at my car. I didn’t bother again, since I already have a nice dent near front headlamp, big enough to grab anyone’s attention. Finally, at some point one anxious guy came and asked me to come out of the car.

On coming out I found that one of the tires was completely deflated, and I had been driving my car in the same condition. I felt really bad for my car and at the same time, I felt really embarrassed with the thought in my mind that how many people might have seen me driving like that. Somehow, I managed to change the tyres with the help of an Auto driver.

Now that I am out of the trouble, I am a little concerned about this incident. How could I not feel even a bit, that I am driving with one tyre completely deflated? Is this my ignorance or something else? It cannot be former, because I am a new driver and I cannot afford to ignore smallest of the indication of trouble in my car. Finally, I realized that I am mostly dependent on the various indicators on the dashboard which keeps me updated of fuel level, engine temperature, door ajar, speed etc. There are other indicators like, vibrating noise if the gear is not in position or door is not locked properly. Interestingly, there is no indication of the status of air pressure in the tyres. Is this the problem area? Probably not, or at least not the only reason.

My car seems to be designed for comfort and pleasure of driving. The noise levels inside the car are very low, individual suspensions are given for each tyre while driving on potholes, good engine bhp to drag your car easily on an incline. However, I personally feel, these three points which I just mentioned actually contributed to this situation. I was so pampered with those comforts that I could drive my car at a high speed on a highway with a deflated tyre. This could’ve been fatal. Thankfully, one usually cannot achieve red zones in the speedometer while on Bangalore roads.

I have spoken to many drivers and most agreed that, the best way to drive safely on Indian roads is to have some ‘feel’ of the road while you drive. This is the reason electronically controlled power steering rarely gives you that ‘feel’ as compared to hydraulic power steering. Similarly, sound-proof interiors are fantastic, but the road dynamics can be better understood if you can hear some level of outside noise.

I must admit that pleasure and comfort were key parameters for me when I bought my car. But now I feel, I would also look at a design on other parameters as well. For example;

• How does your car react in grave situations?
• Does it create sense of emergency or not in that situation?
• Does it tell you what to do immediately to prevent the situation?

Personally, I would not mind if my car vibrates heavily and create a sense of urgency. I would expect this to happen rarely, but similar actions should take precedence over all other comforting elements in the car.

As a designer, I strongly feel that a design cannot be fully successful unless fundamental requirements are met. In my case it was control and feedback mechanism, which was dominated by the pleasure and comfort.