Walk and Talk

Amarendra, a friend, was talking about an email signature - obviously, from a new father - that he saw: "First twelve months you ask your child to walk and talk. The next twelve, it's sit down and shut up".

Ever since I noticed that my conversations with Joshua during his first year revolved around the words No, Slowly and Carefully, I wanted to blog about it. And just the other day I was asking my wife about the most common words that she uses when with him. Not too different, I must say.

Leading the Mainstream

Many of us often customize a product to suite our special needs. There are always people who keep pushing the envelope, to extract more juice from what's available. Such people are called lead users. (Eric Hippel from MIT coined the term in 1986. Read more about it here and here) 

People, or companies watch lead users. Many a times, observing lead users is a way to improve your product, or even come up with new products. It may appear to be a rare usage by small group, but the potential of an unexplored market is huge. All one needs to do is convert such use cases to accommodate normal users. Usually, mainstream users do not know how to demand something that is not there.

Some of the lead usage can directly translate to mainstream, while some may require core changes. Take for example ABS, anti-lock braking system. Guess who was the lead user for ABS? Airplanes! Of course, what else one needs to stop without skidding, than the 200' long, 200' wide, 400 tonne flying giant? ABS quickly made its way into other fast moving objects like race cars, and eventually became a standard safety feature in any automobile.

In the above case, adaptation into mainstream happened without any change. Which may not be the case with some other products, like say, energy bar - a high protein food devised by top athletes to infuse max energy in the shortest/fastest way. If companies had introduced it as is into mainstream, it would have flopped badly because protein bars tasted like shit. Athletes didn't bother about the taste and probably swallowed it! It served a different purpose. So, companies reworked the formula to add cocoa and sugar into energy bars to make them best sellers in literally no time!

Every lead usage need not translate into a successful product. Some of the brilliant ideas may not even see the common light. But communities like open source software take a very Freudian approach to the concept of lead users - allow anyone to lead the changes, and let the best survive. IMO, best of both worlds.

So, the next time you are customizing anything because it doesn't serve your need as is, do a bit more - think how useful it would be if everyone knew about it.

Applied Art vs Design

How different is applied art from design? Art fundamentally is a form of expression while a design has to communicate. But applied art has many characteristics that are similar to design - one of them is the context of application. Medium where the art is applied holds the same amount of constraints and makes it contextual, just like in design. How does one explain this?

Let's take a cell phone. The concept of a cell phone, simplified, is a device for communication. Now try mapping the levels of cell phone concepts to that of art.

How a cell phone works and what it contains - its fundamentals, is equivalent to fine art. The core concepts of art, such as materials, usage, medium, is applicable to cell phone as well.

Similarly, the different models and features of a cell phone, that abstracts the fundamentals can be mapped to abstract art?

And, when a cell phone is applied to a context - usage by elderly, say - it becomes equivalent to applied art. Some call it design for context, or emotion. I just call it user centered design.

I have not studied art to really stand by these definitions, I am just looking at this from an eye of a designer. But this surely does explain why designers often can sustain a conversation in applied arts, and to certain extent on abstract art, they fail to stay on board when it comes to fine arts. I do not want to say that designers lack fundamentals, but the most important aspect of design and usability is the context and usage, which matches quite well with applied arts.

Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds

Tarantino claims this movie as his best masterpiece yet; Also cleverly stamping it with the last words in the movie. Given that it took so many rewrites and 7 years for RTM, it better be. But having watched the movie, I must say that the on-the-edge feeling one gets watching PF (or, even Jackie Brown) was missing. Storyline had history stacked up against it, so it was bound to be "tense". I read that this version is about 1/3rd the size of the original script. That probably explains why some of the gaps are too evident, which surprisingly included many of the character developments.

May be it's just me, but I detest film makers using narration to develop the story. Instead of building the character/ story line, this I feel is a short cut way to set premises. Setting a period say, 1941, France, is alright, but I expect more from QT. On the other hand, short interludes works fine. Say, the blip shot of sex with translator was very QT.

Soundtrack is pretty good. Audio/Visual has nothing to complain about. In fact, the DP did a great job. And the German actor who did SS Colonel Landa was brilliant. One actually felt uneasy when the character came on scene. Rest of the casting was alright, just about. Brad was pits. Why Brad? Why not say, William Macy?

Anyways, I feel this movie was hastened up for release. In terms of craft, I would say that this is typical Tarantino. And given the kind of engagements he had after the Kill Bills, I can understand why critics are calling it, the return of the king. Still an 8/10 for me.

District 9

Write down all the regular features in a Hollywood alien movie.

1. Aliens are attacking the world
2. It's the end of the world soon
   
3. Everyone looks up to USA
4. Americans have the best ideas and put a task force together
5. Big ticket actors for the BO
6. Overdose of patriotism, heroism and sacrifice
   
7. Billion bucks mind boggling CGI
   
8. Finally all aliens are destroyed, America saves the Earth once again
9. The End.
   

Let's work on a story that is exactly opposite to the standard fair above. Aliens aren't attacking, but they live amongst humans, for a change this is *not* happening in the USA. The actors are fairly unknown, no Michael Bay budget for graphics, the filming is raw and like surveillance footage. Thankfully the hero is forced to fight for it, hence heroism is non existent. The simple (though racist) human nature and politics looks very natural.

The ending, emotionally wrenching, leaves some loose ends untied, involving the audience to stitch the story back. An often used trick to either let the story linger in their minds, or for the, oh, sequel. It works well on both counts.

Easily the most original alien story in 30 years, after Ridley Scott's brilliant Alien. And certainly a must watch!

9/10