Observations – Page 11 – Introduction to Interactive Media

Through Glass

A house without any windows would feel suffocating. It’s not really the issue of having enough light. Even if you had enough artificial lighting inside the house to make it seem like you are outside in the broad daylight, it would still feel too enclosed. Windows provide a way for people to continue to stay connected to the outside world while being able to enjoy the comfort of being indoors. Even though you wouldn’t continuously stare out of the window, being aware of the fact that it is possible to do so is weirdly comforting. Whatever you see through your window, a simple glance over it helps you stay relative to the environment that you are currently in, both in physical space and time. It provides an important connection to the outside world that are necessary for people to carry out daily activities.

A window also provides an interface for people standing outside of its attached architectural structure. Windows offer a means to get a glimpse of lives of strangers. It’s really hard not to unconsciously stare into windows of buildings when walking down the street, and sometimes what we see tend to spawn our imagination about the probable occupants of the space. For example, every time I pass by the house with a huge disco ball hanging from the ceiling in my neighborhood I can’t help but smile, trying to imagine what kind of a person the resident would be. Even if the blinds are drawn of the window, it still says something about the owner of the space behind the walls (maybe that they are not big fans of too much sun?).

A window is a very unique structure offering different experiences depending on which side you are looking through it.

Simple Things

People interacting with physical interfaces are everywhere. Few examples I can recall from what I saw this couple of days are people swiping a card to get a meal, swiping it to gain access to a room, or something as simple as opening a faucet. But there are two examples I’d like to write about in more detail.

The first is door handles. Simple enough, people just turn them and voilà, door open. They might seem hard to improve, but in my experience some handles are more user-friendly than others. For instance, dorm handles are straight and close to the door itself, while handles in the staircase doors are curved outward. While that might seem like a small, mostly aesthetic difference, that curvature meant I could use my elbow to open the door when my hands were busy (something I can’t actually do to enter my dorm).

The second is the toilet buttons that control flushing. The dancing game example we saw in class made me think about visual cues that an interface gives an user for proper interaction. While the game’s builder admitted his game didn’t give cues as to how it worked, the toilet buttons are the opposite: the size of the buttons acts as a very simple cue of the amount of water each button would release.

But yeah, even simple things can give much food for thought.

In Passing

The NYUAD campus is far big enough to where sometimes the campus feels rather empty. Only in specific meal times, like lunch in the Marketplace, really shows how many students live within the corners of the college. These clusters of individuals bunch together, leaving only a few students walking to and from class etc. Particularly when observing human interactions, I noticed the passersby talk. It’s a few brief comments with someone you’re acquainted with, but it simultaneously builds the relationship between the two people. If one person is worth recognition to the other in passing, this develops a growing bond. It’s either strengthened when the two meet up and spend more time together, or it dissipates into awkward eye contact.

Regardless, I further wondered in this interaction how a passersby communication between a person and a machine, perhaps when they’re on their way to class, will also harness a communication. Down to a basic ATM, this can become a daily habit of that person’s walk to use the ATM. Maybe even a screen showing what the weather is like outside. It’s brief, and in passing, but over time it becomes something one anticipates and looks for on their walk.

Small interactions build on themselves over time.

Same action, same outcome

Today I watched a young lady try to enter the campus center by one of the side doors on the ground floor. The door had a sign posted indicating that users should enter through the main entrance. In spite of this sign, she forged ahead, presenting her NYU ID to the reader on the left side of the door frame, pulling at the smooth metal handle. After I saw her repeat this process three times, I stopped, mostly hidden behind a concrete pillar. As I watched, she tried to get through the side door another three times, without success. Apparently prior experience and the sign were not deterrents. Eventually she admitted defeat, and calmly headed towards the main entrance. The remarkable thing about this young lady was her casual demeanor. This situation did not appear to be frustrating to her. It looked as if each card swipe was a novel experience, an independent event. Maybe getting through the door was like rolling a die and getting a one; if you don’t get one after six tries, you might as well give up.

I can understand if someone feels compelled to swipe his or her card more than one time. I often find myself doing this, thinking that the reason I was barred entrance was due to a technical malfunction. Swiping a third time is usually an act of desperation; my degree of belief that a technical malfunction could occur two times consecutively is low. A failed third attempt means that my access is restricted by a higher power. I’m aware that the card reader makes a different sound if I’ve unlocked the door or if I’m not allowed access, but the sound indicating that I’m not allowed doesn’t feel distinct enough to convince me that I heard incorrectly on the first or second try. Perhaps the girl I saw thought she was hearing the right sound, but couldn’t get through the door. Perhaps she was just absentminded. She could also be a little nuts.