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October 2, 2006
“Human Directionals” enliven the drive-by environment
Posted by Bob Jacobson
You know those guys who flap their arrows to get your attention at real estate developments and corner malls? NPR's Jennifer Sharpe has produced a fascinating audio documentary, “'Human Directionals' Twirling for Your Attention,” that sympathetically portrays this odd breed, the auto generation's equivalent of the street barker. On the same page is a link to the QuickTime movie, Street Moves, about “Active Advertiser” Steven Meyer. For Meyer, who was disabled, human directionalism turned his life around and made him a local celebrity with a sizable clientele.
BTW, I've witnessed Phil Parks, the human directional captured by Sharpe in the thumbnail above, in action. I pulled over and just watched. He's an arrow with a bullet. I already patronize his client, an online rental exchange -- but if I didn't, I'd certainly motivate in its direction.
Human directionals. Back to the basics. Designing experience one twirl at a time. (But notice their digital accoutrements!)
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BOB JACOBSON is fascinated by the experience of experience. A planner and technologist, Bob has a Ph.D. in Urban Planning & Design from UCLA. He's been a policy researcher, technology CEO, science writer, and consultant. As a Fulbright Scholar, he studied cellular telephony's impacts on transborder communities in the Nordic Arctic Circle. Bob edited Information Design (MIT Press 2000) and is now writing a book on the theory and practice of creating edifying, transformative experiences.
PAULA THORNTON says, "Understanding human behavior (economics), optimizing interactions (design) and facilitating conversations (markets), are the means to achieve strategic differentiation. This is the focus of our discipline. It is not a 'nice to have'‚ and is not, like documentation once was, an afterthought. It is the means by which to start a strategic discussion and the means by which to drive a tactical initiative. All design should be evidence-based."
1. Sign Twirlers on April 15, 2008 12:42 PM writes...
Ha, I listened to the audio on Human Directionals and even though I'm in the industry, I thought it very strange that someone would carry their sign with them just to use it for *fun*? I mean seriously, if I'm at the beach ... the last thing I'm going to be thinking is "gee, I'd sure like to stand around and flip this sign for a while" esp w/o getting paid to do it.
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