Altered Sense of Time

In my undergraduate course in Physics, I was exposed to “Twin Paradox” - a thought experiment in Special Relativity. According to the paradox, if one of the twin brothers travels at the speed of light to outer space and returns back on earth, he will be younger than the one left behind on earth. This paradox was based on the phenomenon of “Time Dilation” which describes that time slows down for observers in different frames of reference. To better explain the phenomenon, my teacher oversimplified the theory and put across an analogy of two people doing some work. Say, when my Mom is gardening time would fly swiftly for her since she enjoys the activity. On the contrary, if I have to deal with some banking work (which I hate), I will feel that it is taking too long to finish off the drab work.

That was what I learnt in Physics long back. I remembered this episode while I was reading about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of Flow.

Csikszentmihalyi describes “flow”, or optimal human experience, as a state of happiness while engrossed in an activity. He describes flow as

"being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're
using your skills to the utmost."

When in the state of flow, the mental energies are drawn towards doing the activity better, bringing a sense of fulfilment and meaning. This is a Zen like state where one truly experiences the joy of the activity one is involved in and stops getting distracted.

In this immersed state, one experiences an altered sense of time while surfing on the challenges the activity poses. As challenges are mastered and goals met, newer should surface to continue experiencing the flow. The challenges should match with the individual’s skills. Challenges way beyond proficiency can result in anxiety whereas lack of alluring challenges can set in boredom.

Aquaduct - a tricycle to sanitize and transport water

Imagine rural India where people have to walk long distances, carrying vessels, to fetch water. The water most of the times may not be potable. Can the long walk be replaced with cycling? We know that cycles are low-maintenance and no-fuel means of transportation. How about adding a storage tank and a filter to the cycle? Pretty darn idea coming from IDEO. They have designed a tricycle named Aquaduct which transports, filters and stores water.

IDEO explains how this tricycle sanitizes and transport water simultaneously:
“As the rider pedals, a pump attached to the pedal crank draws water from a large tank, through a carbon filter, to a smaller clean tank. A clutch engages and disengages the drive belt from the pedal crank, enabling the rider to filter the water while traveling or while stationary. The clean tank is removable and closed for contamination-free home storage and use.”

Now I am left wondering how we can adapt the tricycle in Indian context where mostly young girls do the job of collecting water. Can they ride the tricycle with large amount of water stored? In rural area there may not be flattened roads or paths for smooth ride. How would the people fill up the container at the back? Which means do they need to carry extra gear to fill the tank?

I really liked the idea but for it to be suitable in Indian context, there needs more deliberation.

IdeaCampPune

Often our ideas remain ideas and we are not sure whom to discuss them with. You may have a great idea, but the real challenge lays in finding its appropriate application. Cohesive and divergent thinking is what is required to build ideas from scratch to working prototypes. In the process we need to discuss with people from different walks of life to identify how our ideas can make a difference in their lives. Can our ideas make money for anyone?

IdeaCampPune is a self-organized gathering to share ideas and see them shape by applying divergent thinking. The objective of the camp is to get people from different roles like designers, entrepreneurs, financers, creative minds, technology evangelists, product managers and marketers together to bandy ideas from everyone’s viewpoint. Ideally by end of the gathering we should have ‘proof of potential’ for our ideas.

If you want to be a part of this ideation event, register on http://barcamp.org/IdeaCampPune

Snippets from an interview with Dr Edward de Bono

This week on Walk the Talk on NDTV Shekhar Gupta interviewed Dr Edward de Bono. Here are some very insightful snippets from the interview.

‘…perception is by far the most important factor in thinking, and research by cognitive psychologists has shown that in thinking, 90 per cent of the errors are errors of perception, not of logic. And if your perception is wrong . . . your logic can be erroneous. Once you change people's perceptions, you change their emotions, you change their behavior.’

‘…major corporates throughout the world develop a habit of saying, 'Put all the information, all the information or data, into our computers, and our computers will analyse the data and that will set our strategy, make our decisions.’ This is very dangerous because unless you can look at the information in different ways, you are not going to make progress.’

Software Branding

In the intangible milieu of enterprise software, brand perception is acutely related to the emotions triggered by the user experience at all touch points. A user will perceive a brand to be superior when engaged in a good user experience.

So, what kinds of emotions are elicited while interacting with software? The negative emotions which are aroused while interacting with software can be anger, disgust or frustration when they stumble due to bugs or complicated task flows in the software. On the contrary, there can be positive emotions like satisfaction when the user finds it easier to perform a task which is also quicker; astonishment when coming across a very innovative feature (the WOW factor); and confidence as the user thinks that whenever they have similar task at hand, they can trust the software to do it for them.

Here are the ingredients to what you call emotionally charged products…

• Engaging, memorable and distinct visual design
• Intuitive, useful and useable interactions
• Innovative features based on user needs and context
• Superior and seamless technology
• Easy installations and deployment
• Great after-sales customer service

Microsoft has well etched guidelines on software branding for Windows Vista.

Expanding Role of Design

Globalization is linking cultures, economies and people to people. People from the developing nations are getting to see the ‘other’ world and panoply of consumables. To articulate the needs of this changed new world, designers are taking center stage equipped with their design tools. Design today is seen not only as a tool to make products aesthetically pleasing and desirable, but its dimensions are playing a key role in business, society and in people’s lives.

Design has the power to redefine our socio-economic thread. Its methodologies are at the core of business and innovation as it helps creating value and exploring new market opportunities.

In the business realm a good design would help increase sales, build brands which can meaningfully engage with people, find new markets, and innovate new products.

Well designed systems can qualitatively improve the standard of living of those at the bottom of the pyramid. By finding better ways to do things, design can solve needs and add value to people’s lives.

Design should encompass cultural relevance by binding cultural values with the form to make it accepted by the people who are going to use it. Today’s design should strive to be sustainable.

The Tongue Sucker

‘Tongue Sucker’ which received the first prize from INDEX Awards in the ‘Work’ category is an amazing life saving device. It is designed by a team of four design students from Imperial College and Royal College of Art after the London catastrophe in 2005. The research done by them reveals that a person in dearth of oxygen can die or suffer brain damage in four minutes. When a person gets unconscious, there is a tendency for the person’s tongue to fall back on the throat covering the trachea. There are chances of death by suffocation due to blocked trachea.

The tongue sucker consists of a round red-colored suction bulb made of rubber along with a tube. To use the device the rescuer has to squeeze the bulb, place it over the tongue to the unconscious person and then release the bulb. The bulb sucks the tongue of the victim in the tube facilitating free airway. The red bulb which remains outside the mouth is distinctly visible to the paramedics such that they can reach for help.

The user research conducted by the design team validated that one size of this device fits all the age groups of causalities.

This simple device is economical and can be used by untrained people by reading the instructions on the packaging.