Every year in April, Milan erupts with energy for the ‘Salone del Mobile’. You go to the Salone and ‘Fuori Salone’ for ideas not so much to see products. It’s an intense few days to concentrate on design, exchange ideas with colleagues and to be inspired. The event requires strategic planning as it’s vast. Here are a couple of memorable installations, one from the fairground...
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Often the best ideas are the simple ones. For anyone catching a bus in London during the rush hour has probably experienced a mad crush on the lower level only to find that the top level is almost empty. For some, they like the convenience of sitting or standing close to the door. But for others, there the lack of visibility of what space is...
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In an earlier blog we talked about some of the uses of iBeacon technology. In this piece from the BBC, TfL are trialling their use in combination with a smartphone app to provide accurate walking instructions to the visually impaired. View the video > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31757593 When we did our research work for Guide Dogs for the Blind, this kind of application was clearly something that would...
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Back in November Passenger Focus released it’s findings on what passengers needed when things go wrong; it didn’t paint a very good picture of how the railway industry handles problems. The recently issued National Passenger Survey continued to show a high level of dissatisfaction amongst passengers. We know it’s not usually done well because of the recurring story from passengers when things go wrong is “we weren’t...
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iBeacons are causing quite a stir at the moment with a flurry of major companies, including airlines, retail giants and arts venues running trials and pilot schemes trying to work out how they can be employed, the benefits they may bring and how consumers react to the geo-position enabled devices. The key battleground, as we see it, is the contest between enabling customers to pull...
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A Guardian article about a study of the use of intense electric lights to improve performance of students in Sweden and our recent work with the design office team at CERN has got us thinking about the way technology can be used to enhance how people experience a workspace. In particular we have been considering what technological interventions could be considered when there is a scarcity of natural light...
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The recent UK Customer Service Institute survey showed that, across all sectors, levels of customer satisfaction have fallen in recent years. The economic situation is of course playing a part and this is potentially driving some organisations, as the economy recovers, to push for winning new customers at the expense of focusing on serving existing customers. Consumer expectations are also going upwards, they are more likely to...
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Our local station, Kings Cross, now has one of these holographic assistants reminding people not to take heavy luggage up the escalators but to use the lift instead. You will note that just to the right, at the bottom of the escalator, is a sign giving the same message. That sign has been there since the station reopened and, we can assume, has not had...
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The recent reports of disturbances on flights where passengers have had some robust “disagreement” over reclining their seats made us think about the meaning of and need for personal and personalised space when we travel. There is a desire to be able to adjust our seat and space to fit us and what we want to do (eat, sleep, read, etc). This also reflects the...
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Part of what influences our experience of places like airports is how those around us behave. Of course it’s not always positive as far as our own perception goes – a recent piece on-line highlighted the 12 most annoying things other passengers do – http://goo.gl/rRIi6v We’ve probably all experienced most of these (and been guilty of some of them too!). However we’ve pointed the link to...
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