Taxi Cab Yellow Vipp Garbage Cans

If you have $469 to blow on a garbage bin then this should be right up your alley. Made from the world's finest steel and leather. Built in Denmark. Also available in Chrome and White, get it here.

Probes: More Contextual Awareness

I've spoken quite openly about the importance of context lately, but I've yet to cover the tools required to do the deed. Today, I will cover a couple of them, starting with context-aware experience sampling.

This idea was proposed back in 1993 at CHI outlining the need of non-intrusive, contextually rich collection methods such as GPS tracking with multimedia (Intille, 2003). Following these studies, we've seen expansions in the design of decision theory and further development of the experience sampling methodologies (ESM).

However, the problem with cultural probes, a common ESM, is the fact that they are... well, a pain in the ass. Disruptive in nature, costly to implement, and irritatingly long in duration to analyze, researchers felt the need to dive further and improve our methods.

This came in the form of expansion of the experience sampling types. 1) Random probes (probes that appear at random times), 2) Uncertainty probes (a predictive model made to embrace uncertain situations), 3) Decision-theoretic probes (DT) (another predictive model that kicks in when it feels it's most valued), and 4) Decision-theoretic dynamic probes (DT-dyna) (an extension of DT that catches changes in context).

All of this in a mouthful is acknowledging of the cost of interruption. People don't like being bugged, let alone asked to give up information about their daily routine. Hence, a means of collecting user-data without imposing "annoyance" is an important factor in any data collection methodology. And while the methods aren't perfect, they continue to show great promise. It's just up to us to develop one that works within the context of the human psyche, along with its annoyances.

Hey There, Nice Glass

And the obsession continues! Oh, yeah. This time around, the Panasonic Lumix GF1 gets a leather case and Carl Zeiss Biogon 28mm f2.8 lens treatment. And boy does it look good.

Micro 4/3, You Sexy Beasts

Above, you can see the GF1's dimensions compared to the smallest entry level dSLRs on the market. It's a bit bigger than the DMC-LX3 as well, so it sits right in the middle between the super tiny Sigma DP2 and SLR. Coming out this October. I can't wait.

Fixies In My Sleep

Mercer Kilo TT's. Hipster heaven. I just got my first Worldsport yesterday. Just need a few cool hubs and an Aerospace front wheel and I'll be on my way to biking around this dangerous city. And when I say dangerous, I don't mean the crime rate but the incapable drivers that zoom around the school campus in a half-drunken half-moronic state.

Vin. Diesel.

Sometimes I really think I should just go to sleep at night. Anyway, this one made me laugh.

Arranging In Small Spaces

I always love the feeling of moving into a new space. Especially small, "unlivable," and cramped ones. Being able to turn it into something incredible that leaves people in complete awe - that's one of the best feelings in the world.

Scrabble Pieces as Book Labels

Ah, now here's a clever use of that Scrabble Board game collecting dust in your closet. Using them as a simple bookshelf labeling solution may just be that extra bit of spunk your home office needs.

BKRW x Albrecht Gerlach NYC Street Fashion

All these Abercrombie kids got me feelin' sick. So I gotta give it up to NYC to showin' them how to flip.

Probing Culturally, Masterfully

When trying to learn something about a community, one cannot simply toss out a survey and expect sufficient results. Like all ethnographic studies, each part contributes to another, building a demographic that's very real and culturally rich. Hence, the introduction of the cultural probe.

Understanding the local cultures is necessary when you're attempting to design within context, focusing on the needs and desires they already understood, but also to lead a discussion with the groups towards unexpected ideas without dominating it with our own.

Formalities is important. Get rid of it. Play around with ideas such as postcards (with questions on the back - "I wish I had..."), maps (asking where they've been, dream to be), and a media diary (asking them to build a story with photos, log actions during certain events). Giving the user a disposable camera is not a bad idea either.

Hurdles such as distance, respect, and cultural differences should always be addressed in the initial design of the probe. Create tests that don't require you to fly out every 2 months. Reject stereotypes. Embrace the community to get ideas for your probe materials.

Unlike most design, we don't focus on commercial products, but on new understandings of technology. This allows us - even requires us - to be speculative in our designs, as trying to extend the boundaries of current technologies demands that we explore functions, experiences, and cultural placements quite outside the norm.

And lastly, remember this - we're not looking for information. We're looking for inspiration. This is what you gain from probes; the stimulation of our imagination.

Short, Crude Laughs

It's been such a long week. I had to do it. But don't you just love Galileo?

Contexual Design at Work

Never call something state-of-the-art merely by the new choice of anodized paint. A new product - something worth nothing - is a piece made of multiple parts. Designed by multiples. Created by multiples. Because any new product developed today is almost never single-handedly delivered, this brings forth the need of a contextual and unanimous methodology of generating agreement across multiple teams.

Contextual Design, as they call it, combines design, marketing, delivery, and support all in favor of the customer. Similar to how Zappos have wholehearted dedication themselves to customer service, contextual designers are dedicated to building models around the coherent environments people work in. Going in with contextual inquiries (one-on-one interviews with 8-12 people) for details and using team interpretation sessions to extract insights from those stories can capture the issues at hand, draw work models, and develop a shared view of the customer's needs. Think of yourself as a "sportscaster," recording every tool, sequence of actions, method of organization, and interaction you see.

However, we all know systems are never designed for just one person. Designing for a general customer population is probably your next best bet. Consolidating data and using affinity diagram maps (usually via Post-It notes) to render relationships in a visible plane can help organize ideas and reveal strategies otherwise hidden from your "ah-ha" moments. With this information, you can now unleash those lovable lists, "The four functions of this product is to..." You get the idea.


Next, your work redesign sets the stage for delivery of non-technology pieces of the pie. This step primarily for the stakeholders and presents the vision behind the design - its place in the advancement of "x." Follow up with storyboards and scenarios to illustrate your future world, backed by customer data. And finally, putting in place User Environment Designs (UED) help contrast the old system with the new. It shouldn't be long until everyone appreciates your marketing and creative genius.

So, while it's no easy task, contextual design solidifies a system in context of the user's point of view, provides a holistic perspective throughout the development of the product, and gives the design team a coherent system to work with for both customers and the organization they work for.