Proxemics
Posts related to the study of proxemics: how space is used by (and uses) us.
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Giant Ledge in Big Indian, NY
Last year in a graduate seminar, I made the claim that all experiences of space and place are designed for us. One student in the seminar rolled her eyes and, face aghast, said, “I don’t believe that.” As I pressed her on the issue, she relayed a story of a hike she took through the…
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I took my graduate students to Walmart. Don’t judge.
Everytime I write an paper about user-experience design, I try to illuminate the main concept by comparing Ikea and Walmart. So, it made sense to me that instead of talking about this comparison in my graduate course in “Space, Technology & User Experience,” I would utilize the actual spaces to make the comparison for me. My…
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Unfriending leaves a mark.
Whether you were once BFFs, Facebook friends, more-than friends, or friends of friends, unfriending someone leaves a record – a history. My family and I were strolling through a park a few weeks ago and sat on a bench swing. Bench swings, trees, and fence posts have a rich history of serving as markers. People throughout the…
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Proxemics for Blogs: Using digital space to your advantage
I’ve spent the past few days assessing blog sites full of observations about spaces. A blog is a digital space worthy of analysis in the context of proxemics. The objects placed into a blog post all have individual attributes (size, color, location) that impact their perceived use of space on a page. The trick for bloggers is…
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Mice on Main – Greenville, SC
In many cities, hunts for mice on the streets are tasks left to cats, health inspectors, and pest control personnel. Not so in Greenville, SC. Everyone is expected invited to search the city’s main street for the mice that are ever-present and underfoot. The nine bronze mice were a senior project envisioned by Jim Ryan in 2000 during…
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Paradigm Pathway – Greenville, SC
It’s described by some as a whimsical Dr. Seuss floral and by others as an industrial mash-up in metal. In May 2012, the statue was installed on the banks of the Reedy River in downtown Greenville (SC) to mixed reviews. Whereas many residents enjoyed the addition of public art to the pedestrian bridge, some onlookers thought…
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Spaces of Learning meet User Experience Design
Those planning construction or renovation projects for educational facilities might want to study the people using the proposed space as part of the construction and planning process. Dr. John A. McArthur makes this case in an article in the American Clearinghouse on Educational Facilities Journal. The publication, titled “Practical Lessons from User-Experience Design for Spaces of…
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Voicing a Campus Icon
Where do information design theory, digital media, and community engagment intersect? One location is on the Queens University of Charlotte campus inside a fountain in the middle of a major courtyard. That’s the home of @QueensDiana. At the National Communication Association annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, I presented a paper on the hyperlocal community engagement enhanced…
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Town Crier? Village Idiot? We each have role in public space
Town crier? Village idiot? We each have role in public space CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper This column ran in the Charlotte Observer on September 30, 2011 on the opinion/editorial page. The link above will take you to the column on the Observer’s website. Facebook is changing the face of our private lives. The impending release…
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9/11 Remembered in Memorials
On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was sitting in a classroom on the first day of the term at Furman University. I had just finished the first course of my senior year – “Freedom in the Western Tradition” – and was settling into my second of the day – “Islam.” The irony of…
J.A.McArthur 