Walk round East London

I recently took on some of the suggestions from the book in the previous post and went out and explored my local area a bit more.

It's really interesting to see how much is going on in the area, and I ended up stumbling across a few random sights that I wasn't actually aware were so close-by.

Some of the photos can be found on my Flickr page.

Eyes Open

I recently bought the IDEO Eyes Open guidebook for London from Amazon as I was interested in it's concept, which is to explore and experience your surroundings in a different way. It is essentially a guidebook that highlights a number of places not on the traditional tourist trail, but I like the idea of really looking at what is going on around me as I feel that my observational skills may be a bit rusty after becoming desensitised by the bustle of the commute.

I'm keen to check out some of the suggestions that are nearby, especially as I've been here for almost a year and I still feel like I haven't seen all the things that I should have by now. It will also give me an excuse to take a few photos again (another thing which I seem to have neglected since moving here).

Kitchen Stories

I watched Kitchen Stories last night, a subtly humorous Swedish film that plays on the idea of observational research being done by a impartial scientist. Although slightly surreal, the film actually made me think about some interesting points. There was a scene where the observer and subject are in a discussion about their situation where one of them says "How can you understand someone else just by watching them? You need to communicate..." which made me think a bit about selecting when it is right to observe, and when you need to speak to people to find out required information. Another similar point it illustrates is that it is almost impossible to impartially observe people, as just you being there will have an effect on their actions in some way.

Traces of Human Activity

Yesterday we travelled through to Edinburgh for the day to conduct a fieldwork activity. We were given the task of observing and recording traces of human activity in the built environment, and we were given some criteria of what to look out for. These were:

• By-products of use
• Adaptations for use
• Displays of self
• Public messages

We were also looking at them within their context i.e. clarification of/by the larger picture. Chris and I walked along Princes Street firstly, before heading through the Old Town along the Royal Mile and the Cowgate. We then went back towards the New Town and walked along Rose Street.

In the few hours we spent on the streets we noticed many examples of remnants of human activity. We were both intrigued by the amount of litter that had been placed down. It appears that people will happily place empty cups, bottles, cans etc. on a wall or shelf. It is as if they feel it is not really littering, as the object almost fits the spot it has been left at.

Traces of human activity in Edinburgh

The image above also shows how people will puts stickers on objects such as lamp posts and bins. Often it seemed that people were more likely to place their sticker somewhere if there was already one on it, giving the impression that people will "break a rule" if someone else has already done so. This also relates back to the people I observed in London, who would hold back and watch how someone else operated a ticketing machine in the underground before doing so themselves, and so picking up on the social cues.