Monday, Mar 17, 2008
“...quite delighted by small gorillas...”
Shouldn't everyone notice your wonderful design? The better question is shouldn't your design leave everyone better off?
About a year ago, violin virtuoso, Joshua Bell, played the street musician, occupied a Washington, D.C. subway station, and gave brilliant performances of classical music.
The Washington Post asked about the “moral mathematics of the moment”?
Gene Weingarten, “Pearls before breakfast”, The Washington Post, April 7, 2007.Each passerby had a quick choice to make, one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional street performer is part of the cityscape: Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite? Does your decision change if he’s really bad? What if he’s really good? Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn’t you?
Everyone seemed to ask or answer the same question: why didn’t anyone notice the virtuoso? The Washington Post nails the prevalent assumption: “He is the one who is real. They are the ghosts.”
Art has been deified so that we expect the entire world to stop and listen. I’m not sure that’s the purpose of a street musician. Seems like they’re only supposed to make our time more pleasant.
Design, Art, and Performance
We think because “Design” has a significant impact, it should receive a significant response. People should notice. But that’s not the case. And there’s no logical reason why anyone should.
A photo from Alexis Lloyd’s ‘Concrete Jungle’ street art project.
Alexis Lloyd glues miniature animals in odd places around the city. Anne Galloway calls Lloyd’s work a street art installation. And then she describes it as interaction design:
Anne Galloway, “Reimagining the everyday”, Purse Lip Square Jaw, March 13, 2008.First, unlike most work in [interaction design], it doesn’t cater just to the technological elite. In fact, I imagine all sorts of gadget-less people quite delighted by small gorillas swinging from fences, and rhinos storming over parking meters. Secondly, it does not require any direct interaction. While walking down a busy urban street, to simply catch a glimpse of a tiny lion stalking a tiny herd of antelope is enough to change one’s frame of mind without demanding immediate action.
The real question about Joshua Bell’s performance, or any performance, isn’t about whether anyone notices. The real question is whether anyone’s day is better. That’s the first question: Are you leaving people better off than you found them?
The next question: does your audience want to notice?
There are two take-aways. First, anything you design should be as unobtrusive as possible, unless your audience wants it to be.
Second, next time you whinge about business or development not “noticing” the experience, stop. Why should they? That’s your job. They care about something else. Do your job, and make their job easier. Always leave people better off than you found them.
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