User-Centeredness Week1:
User-Centeredness of a Taxi Interior:
The purpose of the product is to provide comfort to the customer for the duration of the drive. The customers usually relax in the taxi so comfort in the interior is very important. Also newer taxis also contain a touch screen in the center of interior which provide information to the customer such as weather updates, traffic news, even the exact GPS location and the estimated time of arrival to the destination. This feature allows users to obtain knowledge of their whereabouts during the ride which provides a level of self satisfaction of knowing where the user is at all times. There also is a credit card system attached to the screen which allows users to pay the taxi fees with ease and with speed.
The users of this product vary from business men and women to students to almost anyone who travels and can afford taking a taxi.
Another striking feature of a taxi interior is the division between the taxi driver and the customers. There is also a small window in between to communicate with the taxi driver if needed. It does provide privacy from the taxi driver, personally I think the separation is very similar to the separation found in police cars. This division should be re-designed so that there can be privacy for the user without the aesthetics of a police vehicle.
The seats of the taxis are not plush or that comfortable probably due to wear and tear. It could off more comfort for the user. Another aspect of a taxi interior is leg room. Most taxis have just enough leg room for a person of average height. Personally I feel that the leg room in a taxi could be increased even if it was by 4 to 6 inches.
In the design of a taxi interior I feel the designers concentrate mostly on the physical factor of the user. The physical factors include the height and width of the seats, the amount of leg room in the interior, the materials used for upholstery etc. With the given amount of space to work with I think the designers have done a commendable job on the physical aspects.
The GPS system which allows users to know where they are is proof that some amounts of thought have been put into the cognitive factor.
There is not much consideration given to cognitive, emotional, social and cultural factors. An example of not giving consideration to emotional and social factors is the division which is put up between the front of the taxi where the driver sits and the back.
The product is user centered but can be more user centered by giving more leg room as mentioned before. Also some form of entertainment should be installed in the interior such as giving the user control over the radio, or even using satellite radio or television, maybe even supply an iPod jack so that you can listen to it on the car speakers. Another way to improve user centeredness is by redesigning the division. It is required to have a division but it could be more subtle. Two tone interior upholstery could be used so it is more inviting and less monotonous.
php popper and cron – Week2
- upload php_popper using ssh to itp server
- go to the client window and go to public_html/mobilemedia/php_popper
- vi php_popper opens the php code in edit mode press i to insert and change the e-mail configuration and also the file path
// Gmail Settings
$mailbox_username = “test.tested.testing@gmail.com“;
$mailbox_password = “test1234″;
$mailbox_hostname = “ssl://pop.gmail.com”;
$mailbox_port = 995; // SSL
- Create the cron script as a text file :
MAILTO=”sanjaypapinazath@gmail.com”
0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * * /home/sp1650/public_html/mobilemedia/php_popper/parseMailScript.php >> /home/sp1650/public_html/mobilemedia/php_popper/out.txt
- Now run the Script in the client terminal using the following commands:
[sp1650@itp ~]$ cd public_html/mobilemedia/php_popper
[sp1650@itp php_popper]$ chmod 700 parseMailScript.php
[sp1650@itp php_popper]$ ./parseMailScript.php
Connected to ssl://pop.gmail.com
Logged in to ssl://pop.gmail.com
- copy the cron.txt in the server
- go to terminal and go to the sp1650 directory and run cron script:
crontab cron.txt
MYSQL:
First got a some server rights
Set up a table at itp.nyu.edu/MyAdmin and created the variables and set the data types.
ran the mysql in terminal window by logging in wit id and password and also changed the mysql config in the parseMailScript.php.
mysql Command Line Tool
$ mysql -u <username> -p
Enter password: <password>
mysql> use <database name>
Select mysql> select * from mobile_me_messages;
mysql> select * from mobile_me_messages where from_name = ‘212xxxxxxx’;
mysql> select * from mobile_me_messages where from_name = ‘212xxxxxxx’ or from_host = ’server name’;
Project Ideas
Group
Sanjay
Aram
We came up with a few ideas but could not narrow down on one:
Movies:
- movie as a product in theatres
- services for promotion
- movies on small screens such as psp,ipod, mobile,etc
Cleaning :
- sanitation
-recycling
-energy
Web Surfing
-different ways?
-different places
Bike Accident Device
-device to notify vehicles that a bike is coming and to becareful
Fashion
- customizing fashion , accessories, trends etc
Week 2: Observation
Fly on the wall:
I decided to document my friends Sandheep and Thauseef going grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon at around 3pm. Since they do not have a vehicle they walk to the grocery store and decide to take a taxi back home due to the large purchases made. As they walk the 1.3 miles to the grocery store they chated about random events and topics from cars, beer to what to cook for dinner. They reached the grocery store they each get a shopping cart to buy items for each other separately and also a common for the household. They first enter into the fruits and vegetable section. Sandheep being a health food freak immediately reaches for the various fruits such as apples, grapes, plums etc while Thauseef contemplate if he should get fruits as the fruit he had bought previously was still sitting and rotting away in the fridge. Finally for the sake of it he picked up an apple and also a pear.
The two buy less fresh vegetables as they do not cook regularly at home but they did pick up enough onions and potatoes to last a month or so.
Next Thauseef being a carnivore heads towards the meat section. He picks up some chicken. Sandheep decided to stay out of the meat section as he is vegetarian but waited patiently till Thauseef was finished with the meats.
They both go row by row comparing various brands and picking up items they needed. Once in a while they stopped to consider if they needed certain products like chocolates and cookies. The bulk of the shopping was done at the frozen vegetables and bread sections where they stocked up on frozen peas, beans, carrots, bread, bagels, etc.
Occasionally they spotted a bargain which they took advantage of, such as bread was three for three dollars, so they bought six loafs of bread.
The last and final row was the dairy section where Sandheep was keener on buying gourmet cheeses and Thauseef headed for the processed cheese singles.
Being satisfied with the shopping and also happy that they had food for a month they headed for the cash register where they paid for and bagged all the groceries.
As they headed out Thauseef made the call for the taxi. They waited for around 15 minutes for the taxi arrived. As they waited they discussed the cost of the common groceries which they split. Once the taxi arrived they loaded it up and headed home where they unloaded it, brought it all up 3 flights of stairs and started unpacking the groceries.