May I please speak to a HUMAN?
I have my email, my gmail, AOL Instant Messenger, and can connect to the Internet wirelessly anytime and virtually anywhere that I have decent cell phone reception. From the moment I wake until I turn in from the evening I have multiple interactions with technology. I turn off my cell phone reminder telling me that I’m late for a meeting, move to office to check my email (both accounts), and call to check my bank account balance. It isn’t the alarm clock or the electronic toothbrush, it’s the technology that have somehow replaced a human interaction within my life. Instead of my mother taking down a message for me, my digital voicemail picks it up for me. I no longer call 411 to speak to an operator, instead I call a fully voice automated “Google 411” to obtain the information that I need. My interactions with people have gone from analog to digital.
While planning my wedding, I began to catalog the different sites that come up from my Google search for “weddings”, which were several out of 70 million hits from a simple search. There were a few things that stood out to me. While each website or service offered a wide variety of options for help, guidance, and overall tips, none of them had real human to human interaction or personalization, while a wedding is an extremely personal event. Many women hire wedding planners/coordinator to assist in creating the “big day” – they have an actual person there to talk with, bounce ideas off of, or simply give all creative power to. Sure, my mom was there and so were many of my friends, but they didn’t know what the proper etiquette was for a formal dinner place setting.
My wedding took a full year to plan. I did not hire a wedding coordinator, why should I when I have the Internet to guide me? It would be impossible to deny the value of technology, most importantly the Internet. It allows people like me, to access a wealth of information on any number of topics that may or may not spark my interest. I can now build a deck, find a book in the Library of Congress, and learn how to house train a puppy, all from the comfort of my living room.
When you sign up for “information” from a wedding planning site, you in turn add yourself to litany of spam to clutter your inbox. All of the email that I received was less than helpful, advertising for things that I did not need or the latest celebrity cakes on showcase. It occurred to me that I was yearning for that person to talk to about my decisions and planning. Was I missing out on that part of my wedding planning that generations before me had experienced? Was this something that I needed?
Does this dress make me look fat?
There’s no simple way to find a wedding dress. Theknot.com has a way to search for different types of wedding dresses. I think that I was a radial button “ball gown- empire waist- no sleeve” kind of girl. What about body type? How was I supposed to find the type of dress that would be most flattering on my figure? Would it support my bust properly? Would my face look fat? Trivial and vain as it may sound, these are things that brides worry about and there was no help from the computer, not that I wanted my Mac to tell me ever so unemotionally that red was “so not my color”.
I wanted to have my mom and all of my bridesmaids there to help me throughout the process. When I was deciding on bridesmaid dresses, instead of having all of my attendants there to discuss, try on, and dish the latest gossip with, I opted for an email with a few different choices of dresses to choose from. For generations, women and their mother have pounded through wedding planning together, in person, analog. At the same time that I felt like I was doing something innovative and great by putting the wedding together myself (not to mention feeding the control freak within), I left feeling a bit frazzled (more than the usual bride-to-be), and quite honestly cheated of my wedding planning experience.
The Future
Planning weddings will always be a huge event for many people around the world, arguably until the end of time. With the future, comes questions of how technology will play into our everyday lives and more importantly, our personal lives. We must be wary of technology, as it can create a non-human experience, a feeling of detachment, or devalue an experience, which should be energizing, personal, and extremely valuable – such as a wedding. With the new generation of “Web 2.0’ers”, the reliance and use of technology will become more prevalent as they become older. With this new generation becomes new responsibilities and problems – while online invitations are environmentally sustainable and friendly, is the aesthetic and ceremonial/traditional importance worth the paper it’s printed on? But alas, that would be an entirely different rant, so now I sign off.
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Tags: capstone, cscw, hci/d
bloomington startup weekend
so it begins… the madness that is bloomington startup weekend is upon us. 100+ people crammed in a city council meeting room talking about what we want to dedicate the next 60 hours to… current/future entrepreneurs, lawyers, designers, developers, usability consultants… all with ideas that flow freely and with conviction. paring down a list of ideas to one has been a painfully exciting process. considering that my head feels like it is going to explode at any minute… or maybe it was those clif caffeine chews that brandon gave me as a “pickmeup”.
as i’ve been sitting here listening and discussing possible designs and concepts, i realize how my education has been valuable thus far. it’s so easy to come up with the ideas, ideas that serve a purpose. ask the important questions. what is the problem? who is the user with the problem? i often find myself in a pit of dispair, feeling as if i’m inadequate, wondering if i’ll make the cut in the “real world”, and now i’m feeling fulfilled and confident in my thoughts, processes and education.
while i never came into this weekend expecting to make millions, i was hoping to gain precious experience to help me in the future. i’m excited to see what comes from this weekend – new friends, contacts,, skills, and insights.
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