Starbucks - This morning I went to Starbucks for a coffee. I found myself doing what most everyone else was doing. Standing off to the left near the miscellaneous items for sale waiting for my coffee to go. I would say about six other people were doing the same, making this the trend of my TAO. However, one drink order was called out and someone rose from a table to collect their coffee before leaving. This one person, as the anomaly of my TAO, is unique because she chose to sit and weight for her to-go coffee while the rest of stood, allowing people who intended to stay the seats we would otherwise have taken up in our waiting. The anomaly woman was in her 40s so maybe she had some condition where she couldn't stand. But really, anyone is entitled to the seats. Having Starbucks signify that seats are only for staying customers would be problematic in that people would probably get upset. Also people seem to be figuring it out on their own for the most part. My observation from this trend would be that most people waiting off toward the side at least feigned interest in some of the items like coffee cups, teas, and other nic-nacs.
Starbucks Orders - Another trend from my time at Starbucks this morning were the orders of women. When I was there, those waiting with me were women between the ages of 25-50 roughly. I noticed that 5 of the six of them order "skinny" coffee variations, such as latte or cappuccino. I believe they all ordered them skinny because women are generally more concerned with their caloric intake than are men and also because Starbucks baristas call out publicly the orders so there is perhaps a stigma that is perceived by the orderers that they will be associated with being considerate of their physiques to the others in the Starbucks when their order is in fact called. As if to say, "Yes that is MY skinny vanilla latte because I care how I look". The anomaly in this trend was someone who ordered a green tea drink. I'm not sure if green tea can be skinny-itized but the fact that she deviated from the skinny coffee-variation trend is significant when considering that we were at a coffeehouse. Perhaps she has an aversion to coffee and didn't think she needed caffeine until she got to driving and then impulsively stopped at the Starbucks. My observation in this trend is that several of the women appeared to be moms as I know them because they were between 30 and 50 and had some mommish clothes on like tennis/running gear like I've observed them to do. (This Starbucks is on West Paces Ferry).
Facebook -
A trend in the Facebook world is that when it's a friend's birthday, people post on that person's Facebook wall to say something to the effect of "Happy birthday!" Today is one of my friend's birthdays and I checked out the wall to see if the trend persisted and if there were any anomalies. I was not let down. The trend continued and there were myriad birthday wishes on my friend's wall. And in the midst of the birthday wishes? An anomaly. Instead of a birthday wish was a link to a food recipe. I found this interesting as it was almost in lieu of a birthday wish. Perhaps the person who posted the recipe had an aversion to post birthday wishes and was implying such a wish with the link, maybe he was so obtuse that he didn't realize all the other birthday wishes around his post. I don't know, but I found the anomaly funny. An observation was that my friend had 980 friends and I counted only 23 birthday wishes.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
TAO Journal - 6th Entry
Circus Entry - This week I sat by the student entrance to the Circus to see how people entered through the ID badge entrance. I watched about 20 people come in around 4:30 pm on Tuesday. I found that the trend in people entering was that most, about 14, entered by putting their wallet up to the external sensor. This means that the ID card is kept in their wallets where they are less likely to forget the badge. The anomaly -About two others had the badge hung around their neck and then leaned towards the sensor to scan. And another four just took the card from their pocket or purse to scan. I think the anomaly occurred because the badge looks like something your supposed to wear with it's lanyard. It's a little surprising more people weren't wearing them around their neck really. But the trend makes sense as the card can be easily kept in your wallet and you are less likely to forget your wallet than an ID badge that no one checks and isn't absolutely required for building admission. An observation from this trend, for instance, is that at least three people that I watched during my observation had forgotten their card and asked someone outside to let them in.
Searching for New Music In Store
I was at Criminal Records in Little Five Points last weekend (Saturday) and after I did my own shopping watched people enter the store and shop. From what I could tell from the roughly 10 people I saw come in, almost all of them came in and began loosely browsing. No one that I saw came in and asked a clerk where a certain item was. They pretty much all went to seemingly random parts of the store where other people weren't clogging up the foot traffic to begin browsing. I believe this trend occurred because record stores aren't necessarily a place where new music is debuted - a lot of people that come in are collectors and want to see what has been attained by the store since their last visit as there is a lot of turnover in record stores. The anomaly to this trend was that one person came in, walked directly to one row of records, appeared to look through a stack, and when she couldn't find it, left the store. I assume this act occurred because she was looking for a particular item and knew where to look for it, but the item was not there. A sad observation from this TAO - Criminal Records is going out of business in November unless they can get enough community support.
MLB The Show '11 Online Gameplay
I play a baseball game online made for the Playstation 3. After signing in, you go to an online forum in which users can find other users to play against. A game is typically arranged by determining who in the room wants to play by typing "GM" into the chat box. GM is an abbreviation for "game" indicating you want to play. Yesterday I observed about twenty people in the room. Of them, a trend of about 15 simply typed "GM" into the chat box, making it the trend. The other five anomalies typed in GM along with their specific qualifications they prefer in the game (such as pitching/batting interfaces). This is uncommon but I understand why someone might include it in their initial offering of a game. I think the makers of the game should allow users to simply toggle their game play preferences and submit them for public view. My observation from this TAO is that the majority of the people in the room were not engaged in playing a game and appeared to be idle (not seeking a game).
Searching for New Music In Store
I was at Criminal Records in Little Five Points last weekend (Saturday) and after I did my own shopping watched people enter the store and shop. From what I could tell from the roughly 10 people I saw come in, almost all of them came in and began loosely browsing. No one that I saw came in and asked a clerk where a certain item was. They pretty much all went to seemingly random parts of the store where other people weren't clogging up the foot traffic to begin browsing. I believe this trend occurred because record stores aren't necessarily a place where new music is debuted - a lot of people that come in are collectors and want to see what has been attained by the store since their last visit as there is a lot of turnover in record stores. The anomaly to this trend was that one person came in, walked directly to one row of records, appeared to look through a stack, and when she couldn't find it, left the store. I assume this act occurred because she was looking for a particular item and knew where to look for it, but the item was not there. A sad observation from this TAO - Criminal Records is going out of business in November unless they can get enough community support.
MLB The Show '11 Online Gameplay
I play a baseball game online made for the Playstation 3. After signing in, you go to an online forum in which users can find other users to play against. A game is typically arranged by determining who in the room wants to play by typing "GM" into the chat box. GM is an abbreviation for "game" indicating you want to play. Yesterday I observed about twenty people in the room. Of them, a trend of about 15 simply typed "GM" into the chat box, making it the trend. The other five anomalies typed in GM along with their specific qualifications they prefer in the game (such as pitching/batting interfaces). This is uncommon but I understand why someone might include it in their initial offering of a game. I think the makers of the game should allow users to simply toggle their game play preferences and submit them for public view. My observation from this TAO is that the majority of the people in the room were not engaged in playing a game and appeared to be idle (not seeking a game).
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Adlerian Exercise
Based on the Adlerian principles of psychology, we designed a user experience concept in which the cosmetic store, Sephora, could build friendships, establish intimacy, and contribute to society using the words confidence, social respect, and romance.
The concept involves an online application in which a wife/girlfriend could send her boyfriend a picture of her, where he could chose from a palette of colors in various make up products. The picture of her will show different styles of make up that would compliment her skin tone, eyes, lips etc. Her confidence would increase, knowing her boyfriend chose her look, not to mention the romance to come later.......
Group: Scott, Ashley, Jameson, Erin
The concept involves an online application in which a wife/girlfriend could send her boyfriend a picture of her, where he could chose from a palette of colors in various make up products. The picture of her will show different styles of make up that would compliment her skin tone, eyes, lips etc. Her confidence would increase, knowing her boyfriend chose her look, not to mention the romance to come later.......
Group: Scott, Ashley, Jameson, Erin
Psychoanalysis Exercis
Based on three parts of Psychoanalytic study, we chose three words and tried to create a phenomenon that related the three terms. The words were: fidelity, laughter, and culture.
Our solution was a website that featured funny videos of people caught cheating on their significant other. The site would be funny, promoting laughter; a violation of fidelity; and against cultural norms.
Group:Scott, Ashley, Jameson, Erin
Our solution was a website that featured funny videos of people caught cheating on their significant other. The site would be funny, promoting laughter; a violation of fidelity; and against cultural norms.
Group:Scott, Ashley, Jameson, Erin
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
TAO Journal - 5th Entry
Facebook - I observed five people use Facebook. Four of the five people, after signing into their account, immediately scrolled down their timeline. I asked how far they were scrolling down, and their replies explained that they were going back to the last thing they saw on the timeline when they checked previously. The one other person I observed clicked on her profile to see if her wall had sustained any changes. It hadn't. She then went to her timeline to look at her friends' activity. The trend in this study is the people checking their timeline and the anomaly the individual who went straight to her profile. I think this trend occurs because when people log into Facebook, the time feed is effectively the home page. Also, people get emails if something is posted to their wall or profile so the interest in others is ostensibly the reason for logging in without receiving an email. The anomaly could have occurred because the person does not regularly check email or prefers to find out changes to her wall/profile upon visiting the site. A random observation during this test was that 2 of the users looked at their timeline with the "Most Popular" filter, and the other three used the "Most Recent" filter.
Pictures - I went around taking pictures of groups of people to see how people took pictures with one another. Out of the ten I took, eight put their arms around each other. The other two groups (anomaly) did not. I began typing "the reason for the trend occurring is obvious" but I stopped and realized it's not all that obvious. Why do people embrace each other in pictures? I suppose it suggests friendship, but it's almost second nature that people embrace for pictures. I do not know why but it is truly a common phenomenon. The anomaly makes more sense - stand in the picture in your own capacity. The trend is almost like the two being photographed are going through space on a trip together. My observation from this test was that everyone smiled in the photos, even those that didn't embrace.
Presentation - In my classes this week I tried to analyze how people were presented their marker comp advertisements. I probably watched about 25 different presentations. Roughly 20 of those were presented by pinning up all the advertisements and then briskly going through each of the ads with back turned toward the rest of the class. The other five or so did not (anomaly). The other five differed from the trend in that they either pinned up each ad one at a time or they faced the class as they presented each one. I think the trend of lacking presentation skills is probably because we are first quarter students and have not been properly instructed how to present our work. The anomalies may have occurred because those people had been trained in other places to present in such a way. The observation I took from this experience was that most people seem in a hurry to get through their presentation and speak at a clipped rate.
Pictures - I went around taking pictures of groups of people to see how people took pictures with one another. Out of the ten I took, eight put their arms around each other. The other two groups (anomaly) did not. I began typing "the reason for the trend occurring is obvious" but I stopped and realized it's not all that obvious. Why do people embrace each other in pictures? I suppose it suggests friendship, but it's almost second nature that people embrace for pictures. I do not know why but it is truly a common phenomenon. The anomaly makes more sense - stand in the picture in your own capacity. The trend is almost like the two being photographed are going through space on a trip together. My observation from this test was that everyone smiled in the photos, even those that didn't embrace.
Presentation - In my classes this week I tried to analyze how people were presented their marker comp advertisements. I probably watched about 25 different presentations. Roughly 20 of those were presented by pinning up all the advertisements and then briskly going through each of the ads with back turned toward the rest of the class. The other five or so did not (anomaly). The other five differed from the trend in that they either pinned up each ad one at a time or they faced the class as they presented each one. I think the trend of lacking presentation skills is probably because we are first quarter students and have not been properly instructed how to present our work. The anomalies may have occurred because those people had been trained in other places to present in such a way. The observation I took from this experience was that most people seem in a hurry to get through their presentation and speak at a clipped rate.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Examples of Diminishing Good Will
Hiding info that I want - https://secure.palmcoastd.com/pcd/eServ?iServ=MDQzMDE1Mzg3MiZpVHlwZT1FTlRFUg==
This is a link to the Garden and Gun subscription services site. However it does not list a number I can call to talk to someone.
Punishing me for not doing things their way - https://secure.opentable.com/details_pci.aspx?iid=1&shpu=1&hpu=1759678377&rid=1301&d=8/31/2011%205:30:00%20PM&p=2&pt=100&i=0&ss=1&sd=8/31/2011%208:00:00%20PM&ofid=72700&ofv=1&Q=IID&mode=pcicyb
OpenTable - I wanted to make a reservation and just enter my name, but the site wants me to make a whole profile.
Asking me for info they don't really need - https://secure.opentable.com/details_pci.aspx?iid=1&shpu=1&hpu=1759678377&rid=1301&d=8/31/2011%205:30:00%20PM&p=2&pt=100&i=0&ss=1&sd=8/31/2011%208:00:00%20PM&ofid=72700&ofv=1&Q=IID&mode=pcicyb
OpenTable - Not only do they want me to start a new profile, but they want me to enter my credit card information for a reservation, which doesn't make sense or seem right.
Faux Sincerity - http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/CustomerGuarantee.html
Comcast has the worst customer service I have ever encountered. Getting them to credit your account when they miss an appointment is like pulling teeth, and is insufficient for your time anyway.
Putting sizzle in my way- http://espn.go.com/
The leading sports site has a lot of flashy banners that expand upon coming to the site which makes it more difficult to find what I'm looking for.
Experience seems amateurish - http://www.drudgereport.com/
I know this is a popular news blog, but the site seems so poorly designed and amateurish that I don't see how it is taken seriously.
This is a link to the Garden and Gun subscription services site. However it does not list a number I can call to talk to someone.
Punishing me for not doing things their way - https://secure.opentable.com/details_pci.aspx?iid=1&shpu=1&hpu=1759678377&rid=1301&d=8/31/2011%205:30:00%20PM&p=2&pt=100&i=0&ss=1&sd=8/31/2011%208:00:00%20PM&ofid=72700&ofv=1&Q=IID&mode=pcicyb
OpenTable - I wanted to make a reservation and just enter my name, but the site wants me to make a whole profile.
Asking me for info they don't really need - https://secure.opentable.com/details_pci.aspx?iid=1&shpu=1&hpu=1759678377&rid=1301&d=8/31/2011%205:30:00%20PM&p=2&pt=100&i=0&ss=1&sd=8/31/2011%208:00:00%20PM&ofid=72700&ofv=1&Q=IID&mode=pcicyb
OpenTable - Not only do they want me to start a new profile, but they want me to enter my credit card information for a reservation, which doesn't make sense or seem right.
Faux Sincerity - http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/CustomerGuarantee.html
Comcast has the worst customer service I have ever encountered. Getting them to credit your account when they miss an appointment is like pulling teeth, and is insufficient for your time anyway.
Putting sizzle in my way- http://espn.go.com/
The leading sports site has a lot of flashy banners that expand upon coming to the site which makes it more difficult to find what I'm looking for.
Experience seems amateurish - http://www.drudgereport.com/
I know this is a popular news blog, but the site seems so poorly designed and amateurish that I don't see how it is taken seriously.
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