Design in Our Lives Reaction

High Functionality:

"Homeless City Guide"
Emily Read and Chen Hsu
2007

I very much liked the idea of a homeless city guide. As far as I understood, it involves numerous symbols and signs (aka "hobo code") through which homeless people communicate with each other. They let each other know where good food and shelter could be found. I assume that they also use that code to warn each other of dangerous places that should be avoided at all costs. The fact that this guide is printed out in every issue of The Pavement is extremely thoughtful. I'm sure it aids many homeless people on a daily basis. Read's and Hsu's work stuck out to me because I've recently been seeing a middle aged, homeless man with his dog near the bus stop I use to get home. I wish I could buy him a magazine like The Pavement and have a peace of mind.

"Gesundheit Radio and Floppy Legs Portable Hard Drive from the Attenborough Design Group"
James Chambers, Design Interactions Department and the Royal College of Art
2010

First off, how cool would it be to have electronics acting like pets? I personally think it would be absolutely adorable. Aside from that, any type of object that has the ability to clean itself gets an A in my book!!! A desktop that occasionally sneezes to dust itself sounds like a great idea to me! Another reason this work has high functionality is because many people nowadays barely have enough time to get home and drag themselves to bed. When the weekend comes around, the last thing on most people's minds is to clean.

Low Functionality:

"Talk to Yourself Hat"
Kate Hartman, Interactive Telecommunications Program, Tisch School of the Arts and NYU
2006

Yes, that's all that it is. It's a hat that not only looks ridiculous, but also seems completely pointless to me. It's supposed to boost people's confidence and make them feel comfortable to talk to themselves (any where at any time) without anyone listening in. If I were to see a person wearing that hat, my last concern would be that he/she is talking to him/herself. The hat alone could make anyone look like a nut-job. How could this work be improved? Simply by being used as a normal hat.

"Talking Carl"
Yann Le Coroller
2010

I absolutely adore Carl!!! Without a doubt, the little guy is the cutest thing. He easily puts smiles on peoples faces. However, I think that "Talking Carl" has low functionality. He could, however be used to teach little children how to recite the alphabet, how to count to ten and so on. For now though he makes a sweet, low functionality application on people's smartphones.