Comments on: You Are Here. You Were There. http://dessalles.com/2008/05/21/you-are-here-you-were-there/ dessalles is the personal website of Omar Elsayed Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:44:41 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Larry Irons http://dessalles.com/2008/05/21/you-are-here-you-were-there/comment-page-1/#comment-545 Larry Irons Thu, 22 May 2008 14:27:59 +0000 http://dessalles.com/?p=249#comment-545 Most of these ubiquitous applications work on the assumption that seamlessness is the default design practice, everything is designed to work behind-the-scenes...in the back office. Greenfield's singular contribution in Everyware, at least from my point of view, is the point that not only privacy, but good design practice itself, points toward using seamfulness as the default design practice. When you purchased your Metrocard you did it on purpose, to meet a specific need of which you were aware. It didn't come disguised as a different device with a different purpose. The relationship established by tracking services, FootPaths as you call them, will only work over the long haul if the people tracked are allowed to opt-in as well as receive incentives for doing so. This could easily be done with visual tags posted at the entrance to a shopping mall, or individual store, that activates the functionality upon an intentional snapshot by an individual's cell phone, something like semacodes. Privacy issues are important here, no doubt about that. However, the more important issues relate to good business practice. Most people don't approve of commercial agents acting like MI5 or the NSA. Most of these ubiquitous applications work on the assumption that seamlessness is the default design practice, everything is designed to work behind-the-scenes…in the back office. Greenfield’s singular contribution in Everyware, at least from my point of view, is the point that not only privacy, but good design practice itself, points toward using seamfulness as the default design practice. When you purchased your Metrocard you did it on purpose, to meet a specific need of which you were aware. It didn’t come disguised as a different device with a different purpose.

The relationship established by tracking services, FootPaths as you call them, will only work over the long haul if the people tracked are allowed to opt-in as well as receive incentives for doing so. This could easily be done with visual tags posted at the entrance to a shopping mall, or individual store, that activates the functionality upon an intentional snapshot by an individual’s cell phone, something like semacodes. Privacy issues are important here, no doubt about that. However, the more important issues relate to good business practice. Most people don’t approve of commercial agents acting like MI5 or the NSA.

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