It’s been quite a while since I’ve had some time to spend removed from the day-to-day design issues of my current job, so the past two weeks spent out of the office were a welcomed break from routine. They also helped to get my mind wandering back into some of the places it spent during graduate school.

The more interesting part of my trip fell on the second week, where I was free from work obligations, and had the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World in Florida. While most people I know have visited Disney-themed amusement parks as children, this was my first time. Not having come to Disney as a child, I felt like I was able to look at things with fresh eyes, and since I was visiting nearly a full year after completing design school, I naturally looked at everything through the lens design—thinking, making, or otherwise. Being immersed from the minute I got off the plane, I found the entire Disney experience from start to finish to be deeply fascinating from the idea as a whole to the excruciating attention to detail throughout.

The first thing I was struck with was the immense amount of area that the parks covered. I never realized that Disney was made up not only of multiple amusement parks, but scores of resorts, a “downtown” area, and a boardwalk. On the first day, while we boarded the monorail into the Magic Kingdom I was wowed by the fact that they had a self-contained transportation system via bus, rail, and boat. I wondered about how they planned the parks, the transportation system, and all the integration points to work for most everyone. It seems like an immense feat, especially when you’re pushing that amount of people through the park each and every day. Not to mention to variety and types people—young, old, native, foreign, disabled, etc… Talk about a wicked problem.

While I don’t know much about the history of Disney or the Disney Park beyond the name being the last name of the creator, my initial reaction to seeing and experiencing the Disney parks is that something of this magnitude and over-the-top-ness could never have emerged from a group of folks looking to increase revenue, growth, or design products purely based on what people say they want or need. The idea of multiple amusement parks and resorts that make up a kid-friendly near-fantasy world is not something that emerges out of a spreadsheet or a an afternoon meeting. In fact, I find it hard to imagine these types of grandiose ideas being entertained for more than a few seconds in most corporations. It would be deemed too risky, overambitious, expensive, and likely not providing a clear way of measuring the return on investment up-front.

So how do ideas like this flourish? How does something like Disney World develop from the insides of Walt Disney’s brain into its current manifestation? And how is it able to sustain its vision long after the person who created it is gone? It would be fun to dig into some of these questions and learn more about the process that people went through to get Disney World created in the first places, and what their process is for creating additional attractions within the parks. It seems to me that Disney is one of those places that’s teeming with insights and lessons about design, since they have a need to create and maintain products at all levels of design, be it communication, industrial, interaction, service, organization, or otherwise.

Again?
My final thoughts on the “JesusPhone.” I showed up at the Apple store on Michigan Avenue a few minutes after it opened, so I got to witness all the crazies lined up and crowding around the doors. I found the presence of Chicago police funny, even if it was justified. I didn’t end up getting my hands on one of the smudged screen until the next day after patiently waiting for one of the many that they had scattered around the store.

The funny thing was listening to all the people call up their friends on the store phones and go “Hey! I’m calling you from an iPhone!” leaving their poor friend’s number on a public phone. The phone I was using had a bunch of numbers left behind, hopefully they won’t be called up while eating dinner.

After using one for a bit, I ended up with the same view as a lot of other people. The touchscreen is neat. The visual and physical design is great. It’s also great for their first try at a phone, but it’s still lacking in the general scheme of things. Still not worth the money. The media coverage of it is a little out of control, and I think I need an iPhone detox week. That probably won’t be likely this week though.

Hello MotoLabs
On a somewhat unrelated note, it was nice to see two stories on experientia regarding MotoLabs since I really dig a lot of the stuff they do there. Their user-centeredness feels a lot more inline with what we are taught at CMU. The first post was a presentation by Crysta Metcalf called Investigating the Sharing Practices of Family & Friends to Inform Communication Technology Innovations, which is directly related to the project our group did for Grad Studio. So it’s nice to see a rigorous study conducted a little more broadly and seeing similar trends show up. It also helps to know that we were working on something relevant during school.

I had the chance to meet with Crysta a couple of times and talk with her about her research and how it fits into CXD and Motorola. I’ve also been able to speak with Frank Bentley who had the other presentation on experientia, which is about ambient motion information on mobile devices. Everyone there has been extremely generous with their time and willing to discuss anything.

I wonder what else the people at MotoLabs will come up with. I’ve enjoyed visiting them every time, but I’m not sure how many times I want to head over to Schaumburg

I’ve had a lot of random thoughts about the iPhone since it first came out in January, ranging from lust to disgust. Although I wanted to hold back until it came out, I thought it might be appropriate to say something on the eve of its release. Jamin had a an entertaining post about it, and it seems to have deeply angered people like Dvorak from PC mag. There are lists all over the place about the top reasons to buy or not to buy one. I always find discussions of Apple and their products interesting.

Bad Apple
I don’t really know much about them as a company besides the rumors that are circulated. For a long time I had no interest in them and I regarded them as people who made stuff for simpletons. I started using them in undergrad at the computer labs just because the log-in process was significantly faster. After using them extensively during the first year of grad school, I’m totally sold on their simplicity and I tell everyone to get one who isn’t tech-savvy. They are computers made for people whose goal is do get stuff done and not to just use a computer.

All politics aside, that’s how I see the iPhone. Like any product, there are lots of benefits and detriments. But Apple has attempted to make a device for people whose goal is to call, get info, and listen to music. Not only that, but they announced and presented it in a way that is easy for people to understand and realize why they would want it. We learn in school how important the argument is for new products and this is a prime example. They are stressing the functionality of it in a clear and concise manner that makes sense, there’s no shame in that.

I see it as a really positive wave of energy because they are proving how important user-centered design and clarity is for mobile devices. Their innovation was not in bringing a new technology to market, but taking existing technologies and features and packaging them in a way that will hopefully allow for a greater experience for people.

Money, Money, Money, Money 
While this is great and all, it’s not worth it to me. It’s probably also not worth it to a large percentage of the population that will settle for free and low-cost phones. I was considering buying one at first because I had never shelled out the cash for a phone or an iPod, so it seemed like it might be worth it. But $600 plus a $60 phone bill is not something I want to deal with right now.

Perhaps when there is a potential for longer-term usage (changeable battery, memory extensions, etc…) I might consider spending that much on a product. So whenever good design becomes affordable for the everyday person, I’ll get in line the night before. For right now I’m fine just ogling at it and wishing for a free one.