Like Adam Richardson, I’m fed up with “Indentured Advertude.”

Shortly after his post appeared, I returned to my Orlando hotel room and found that housekeeping had left my TV remote like this:

In order to get to the controls, I have to remove it from the sleeve. Like other forcing functions I’ve written about it creates some mindfulness that drives a desired behavior; in this case it’s not in my interest at all. You must engage with this ad before you can perform another task. The service being advertised has no connection to watching TV or using the remote; it’s just there to get in your way.

I had to email iTunes the other day about an issue with my account. I composed and sent my message using their web-based contact system, and a little message box popped up.

The message said that since there was a chance iTunes’ response to my inquiry might end up in my Spam box, a test message would be sent within 15 minutes. If I didn’t get the test message, I was given several steps to take, including adding the iTunes email address to my contacts so that the real message would get through.

I’ve never had a site pre-troubleshoot like this for me, and I thought it was a really elegant and collaborative way of making sure I got the communication I was asking for. Nice job on this one, Apple.

It’s interesting to see workaround strategies like this evolving when things like spam filters–conceived as solutions–become problems.

• Interama – a planned Miami theme park that took 25 years to not get built
  1951 to 1975, the promise of a gateway for the Americas captured the imagination of local planners, famous architects, five U.S. presidents. It became a massive boondoggle that drained millions in public money. All that materialized was cleared land.

Orlando airport, June 2008

A touch screen looks like any other monitor; designers have not created anything in the physical form that denotes interactivity. It falls to the content (what is on the screen) and the context (where is the screen placed) to invite people to touch. In this case, they’ve chosen to add an external static sign to indicate what you should do.

This is in an airport, so informational rather than advertising content might be a more natural draw for interacting (seriously, an interactive menu experience?) and having this thing sitting near an escalator doesn’t make a lot of sense; it’s not a place to linger.

Here we have another example of post-design, fixing a problem in the original design by adding on another piece. Seeing that added instructional text made me wonder how we typically know that a screen is one that we can touch and interact with. It’s an interesting opportunity for the hardware manufacturers to create some visual language that can help with that invitation.

• How graphic designers do user research?
  From the SF AIGA: “In May we asked you to tell us the feature you liked best on the newly redesigned AIGA SF website-” Umm, leading questions anyone?

I guess the post-9/11 passion for preserving the notion of hero is over. Even if Krispy Kreme is intending to be wry here (though that’s not really their tone) there was still a time in recent memory when that wouldn’t have been acceptable either.

Previous donut-y blogging here.

• Serious leisure
  The systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer activity that is substantial, interesting, and fulfilling. The adjective “serious” embodies such qualities as earnestness, sincerity, importance, and carefulness.

I’m seeing a lot of these lately on rear windows of minivans and similar larger family-sized vehicles: icons that represent every member of the household (including pets).

Seems like a new example of personalization; an untapped bit of car real estate, and a new message to publish (who are the – writ rough – people in our household).

I wonder if this is more common among Hispanics and/or the churchgoing. Any ideas? Do you have one of these? Where did you hear about it? Where did you get it?

• Foreclosure Finder Tours
  Bus tour of foreclosed homes
• Foreclosured Homes Bus Tours in Sonoma County, California
  Sign up for our next bus tour of repo houses. You will be taken on a tour of 8-10 houses, get connected to highly professional real estate and loan agents, learn all about the foreclosure buying process from the experts.Refreshments!

• Exxon Will Sell Off Some Gas Stations
  They will sell off the 820 U.S. gasoline stations they operate and the land owned under 1,400 additional franchise stations but hopes to keep selling brands of gas by getting company distributors to acquire the stations.
• MySpace will redesign, streamline its site
  In the past, users have complained that MySpace can feel too busy, with flashing banner ads and too many elements crowded onto one page. The new look will simplify the ways members can personalize their page.
• Katrina refrigerator
  The many refrigerators that were destroyed or rendered unusable during Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita and their aftermath. Many were made into temporary folk art.