McDonald’s, Toledo, Ohio, 1967. Image from DRB62 on Flickr. We’ve looked previously at the effect of portion/packaging sizes as a ‘choice of default’ architecture of control, and I’m aware that I have not yet reviewed Dr Brian Wansink‘s excellent Mindless Eating, which examines this and […]
Yearly archives of “2007”
Dishonourable discharge?
Long overdue, I’m currently reading Bruce Schneier‘s excellent Beyond Fear, and realising that in many ways, security thinking overlaps with architectures of control: the goal of so many systems is to control users’ behaviour or to deny the user the ability to perform certain actions. […]
In default, defiance
‘Choice of default’ is a theme which has come up a few times on the blog: in general, many people accept the options/settings presented to them, and do not question or attempt to alter them. The possibilities for controlling or shaping users’ behaviour in this […]
Electro-Bonding: Part 1 of many
While it hasn’t often come across on this blog, due to most of the focus being on architectures of control, I am, both personally and professionally, very interested in lightweight transport – its design, use and potential.
Freelancing Part 3: The Ben Wilson Interview
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series I looked at some aspects of what it’s like being a freelance designer / engineer / maker, and some of the things I’ve learned along the way. Lots of freelancers have blogs, and sites such as Freelance […]
Detailing and retailing
The dazzle painting of HMS Furious, c. 1918. Image from A Gallery of Dazzle-Painted Ships A couple of weeks ago we looked at casino carpet design – a field where busy, garish graphic design is deliberately employed to repel viewers, and direct their attention somewhere […]
Unscheduled intermission
I know, I know a third of all blog posts indexed by Technorati are “apologies for the lack of posts recently,” and this is no exception. I haven’t posted on the blog in the last week, mainly due to being very busy with work – […]
On the level
A tilt-detector from this 1984 US patent, with intended application on a packing box. The liquid detection stickers in mobile phones, which allow manufacturers and retailers to ascertain if a phone has got wet, and thus reject warranty claims (whether judiciously/appropriately or not), seem to […]
New, more concrete opportunities
School of Engineering & Design, Tower A, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex. After a month of lifting and shifting boxes, frantic cleaning, driving lots of different vehicles, and dealing with bureaucracy, I’ve now moved house and started my PhD at Brunel; with broadband now set up, […]
Mentor Teaching Machines: The ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Textbooks
An Introduction to SI Metric and Applications of SI Metric, published by Mentor Textbook Teaching Machines of London, 1971. Back in January, in a post looking at the use of forcing functions in education, I mentioned a type of textbook I remembered having somewhere which […]
Biting Apple
Interesting to see the BBC’s summary of the current iPhone update story: “Apple issues an update which damages iPhones that have been hacked by users”. I’m not sure that’s quite how Apple’s PR people would have put it, but it’s interesting to see that whoever […]
Friday quote: Friction
“If the point of contact between the product and the people becomes a point of friction, then the Industrial Designer has failed.” Henry Dreyfuss, Designing for People, 1955 Cognitive friction is one thing, and generally a result rather than a deliberate strategy; process friction is […]