Archives / February 2005

We'll miss you, Jef.

NYTimes: Jef Raskin, 61, Developer of Apple Macintosh, Is Dead

Also see Jef Raskin the Movie.

Two parodic homages of The Gates:

http://www.not-rocket-science.com/door_gates.htm

http://www.smilinggoat.com/crackers.html

Extremely happy to announce our newest confirmed speaker for Gel 2005: Jimmy Wales, founder, Wikipedia; Director, Wikimedia Foundation

Charlie Todd, the mastermind behind this prank, will be speaking at Gel 2005 in April.

Update March 3: This post propelled the New York Times to run this story about Charlie's prank.

Anyone who wants a good example of good experience - practically a definition of it, really - should look no further than The Gates, the new art installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude which opens in New York City's Central Park tomorrow (Sat. Feb 11).

I'm especially pleased to see this take shape, as Christo and Jeanne-Claude created such anticipation at Gel 2004 when they described how the project would take shape. This, in a way, is the culmination of last year's Gel experience.

I consider Christo and Jeanne-Claude to be among the best creators of good experience in the world. Consider what, in my opinion, are the key aspects of the experience of The Gates:

- The artists' purpose (as I understand it) is merely to create something beautiful for people to experience.

- While there's no stated meaning, there's an open invitation for everyone to find their own meaning, have their own experience, and interpret it as they choose.

- Everyone is invited. The work is neither esoteric (and so attractive only to the elite) nor low-brow. To the contrary, it is accessible to *everyone* who comes to experience it, and it is rich enough to pay dividends to the most discerning or interested visitor. No wonder a cadre of paid workers have followed Christo and Jeanne-Claude across the globe, and across the decades, to work on each project!

- The elements are relatively simple - steel bars, saffron fabric - yet the results are rich, complex, and beautiful.

- The work itself doesn't call attention to itself as much as it calls out the beauty in what it surrounds. It feels positive.

- The project is environmentally friendly, financially sound (there's no cost to the city or visitors), and aesthetically beautiful.

An open invitation; simple elements for rich results; appreciation of context; and an eye towards beauty. These are outstanding qualities of a truly good experience.

And here's my immediate personal experience. I walked through Central Park today (Friday), and even the "unopened gates," with banners furled in preparation for tomorrow's opening, are strikingly beautiful.

Here are three images from my walk: image 1, image 2, image 3.

More images from the setting-up process come from Jok Church's excellent blog.

I look forward to the opening tomorrow, and encourage you to find a way to visit this once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Gates disappear entirely on February 27.

P.S. GEL *walkthrough* of The Gates: If you've come to the Gel conference in the past, or you're considering coming this year, drop me a note and I'll tell you when and where we're all meeting for a walkthrough of The Gates on this Tuesday, Feb. 15. E-mail me at mark at goodexperience dot com.

Notes on Google's Marissa Mayer, speaking to BayCHI a couple of weeks ago: Marissa at BayCHI

I interviewed Marissa in this space a couple of years back - read that interview.

Katie Hafner, whose New York Times columns I always enjoy, writes today that computer users are distracted by interrupting bitstreams like e-mail.

Then comes a slew of researchers talking about "natural language processing" and how the computer should "know" when to interrupt us or not.

Of course, there's a much more effective solution: bit literacy.

My suggestions:

1. Read this.

2. Read this.

3. Disable your e-mail checks if you don't want to be interrupted.

Users shouldn't cede this responsibility to the machine.

Interesting shopping cart function from the folks at Panic. See what happens when you remove things from the cart, too.

Thanks to Amit.