Walking down the cereal aisle today, I observed three distinctly different box designs for Grape-Nuts Trail Mix Crunch. A week earlier, I had noticed only two of of the three and assumed that they were transitioning in a new look. But today, three entirely different boxes were on the shelf, each one containing exactly the same product. (Yes, I compared the ingredients and nutrition “facts” tables.)

This, despite claims that the middle product had a “great taste and lighter crunch” (always an important factor, no?), while the cereal on the right had “MORE! Raisins & Almonds,” a statement which, one could argue, does not make any particular claim due to its broken grammatical structure. It will form associations in people’s minds, just as mentioning “Iraq” and “Osama bin Laden” in the same breath will, but only because people are lazy, and not because of any truthful or meaningful claim. The box on the left does not mention Grape-Nuts at all.

Can anyone suggest a reasonable explanation for this? Could they be market-testing multiple designs to see which one sells best?

As part of my research, I’m looking into the psychology of crowds, and what makes some “crowd” experiences positive, and others negative. I had an experience recently that Joe suggested I document here.

In line at Boston Logan, I waited impatiently with hundreds of other people, bracing myself for the mad rush that happens just before and after the metal detector. You used to be able to put your bags on the conveyor belt and walk through, but now getting through security involves no fewer than 13 separate steps, depending on how you count them:

1. Remove any liquids and laptops from your luggage.
2. Place your luggage on the conveyor belt.
3. Place your laptop on the conveyor belt, in its own bin.
4. Remove your shoes.
5. Remove your jacket.
6. Remove your belt (if any) and empty your pockets of everything — wallet, keys, change — except for your boarding pass! You will need that in a moment.
7. Place your shoes, jacket, belt, and pocket contents in a bin on the conveyor belt.
8. Add to that bin a small plastic, resealable bag which contains any liquids or lotions that you want to take on the plane with you. Oh, and of those items, not one may exceed 3 fluid ounces. (Note that this step requires extensive preparation prior to arriving at the airport.)
9. Wait until a TSA agent gives you a blank stare, which is your indication to proceed through the metal detector.
10. Get scolded by the TSA agent for not holding on to your boarding pass, as instructed in step 6.
11. Deflect nasty looks given to you by the 8,000 travelers in line behind you as everyone waits for your boarding pass to be retrieved from the gray bin.
12. TSA agent now allows you to pass, having verified that you are in possession of a little scrap of paper that any 5-year-old could have mocked up in MacPaint.
13. Collect all your belongings, repack your bag, apply anti-fungal foot cream (aerosol varieties prohibited), get dressed in front of strangers who now hate you, and proceed to gate.

That would be stressful enough. But add to it general anxiety about flight, lack of decent food, sleep, hydration, and other physical and emotional stresses associated with travel, and most people’s general mood at this point, in the security line, is one of unpleasant anticipation.

So I’m back at Logan, it’s early, and I just want to make sure I don’t miss my flight. I have prepared for all 13 steps the night before. My lotions, liquids and gels are apportioned and sealed. My shoes are untied, ready for instant slip-off. I’m trying not to make eye contact with anyone, assuming they all feel the same way — grumpy and distressed — but it turns out they don’t.

I only know that because Mr. TSA himself decided we needed a little refresher course. He approaches, walking alongside us, lifting a number of large bottles of verboten shampoos and suntan lotion into the air. He is literally yelling: “THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR LIQUIDS. YOU MUST PUT ALL YOUR LIQUIDS INTO A SMALL PLASTIC BAG.” He is five feet away from my face and yelling directly into it. The corridor is about 20 feet wide; I think he could use his indoor voice and communicate more effectively. But he continues down the line, hitting all 13 items on our to-do lists at full volume.

Finally, having reached the last passenger, he shuts up, turns around, and starts heading back to his post. And that’s when the horrifically magical moment happened: Someone said “thank you.” Thank you! This verbally abusive authority figure has, in my eyes, been nothing but rude, obnoxious, and insulting, lecturing us about things that we should already know. But someone thanked him for what I interpreted as abuse. And then another person thanked him. And another. And soon, once about ten people had said “thank you,” he felt obligated to respond with “you’re welcome.”

Did this people think he was doing them a favor? Did they think he was a hero? Have TSA agents been elevated to the mythical level of firefighters and first responders? “You can do no wrong. You are keeping our country safe. Thank you for everything.”

It was fascinating to me that anyone would respond this way, and that after the first “thank you,” that others followed. What does that say about the crowd’s dynamic relating to this authority figure? How can the collective emotion be so different from my own? And how can this sort of interaction inform our approach to emotional designs?

As you can see, people seemed to have a good time at the ASCII art show on Saturday. I had a blast, and was really pleased with how my ASCII Photo Booth turned out.

The “booth” was weeks in development, and often took priority over my regular school work. But I learned a ton about Processing, worked with live video for the first time, and also figured out how to generate and print PDFs. Also, although I was half-expecting the application to crash at some point, it never did. What more could I have asked for?

Here’s what it looked like during installation:

It was fun watching people use it for the first time, and I got some usability-related insights that will help me improve future installations. But most people understood it right away. You sit down in the chair and see your image translated into ASCII text on the screen. Click the mouse, watch the countdown — 3… 2… 1… Smile! — the screen flickers for a moment, and a second later your image emerges on paper from a laser printer. Cool!

Update: Just posted this video of the photo booth in action:

One thing I observed is that the best images were created by the people who didn’t rush and took some time to experiment with the system. They would lean in closer to the camera, then farther back, watching the on-screen text regenerate in response to their motion. The final images were sharpest when the subjects sat completely still before and during the exposure. That felt appropriate, given that ASCII is old technology, originating from a time when computers were much, much slower and unable to process images at all. As with early photography, a clear image in ASCII takes time to develop.

I was happy to see people walk away with a physical artifact of the experience, in this case a photo of themselves or of a friend. I hope that one or two of those dynamically generated, original artworks will end up on a refrigerator somewhere. (If you had your picture taken, leave a comment below and tell me about your experience.)

More pictures from the evening below. The gallery sign (excellently designed by Colin, who curated the show):

JK’s ASCII video wall:

The choice between the two Democratic presidential candidates is clear, at least if we’re deciding based on their website and collateral material designs. Finally, the people we really want to hear from are commenting on the Obama campaign’s use of Gotham. First, an analysis by Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, the designers of the typeface. And second, a response from Gary Hustwit, director of Helvetica, including a brief interview with H&FJ about Gotham’s origins. (Note to Hillary: Have your design team adjust your keming.)

Update: I just checked hillaryclinton.com. Is it me, or are they using Gotham all over the place now, too?

Project: Pick a potential thesis issue you want to explore and respond to it.

Theory: I’m very interested in how the virtual and the physical realms trigger affect each other and effect changes or events in each other via ongoing feedback mechanisms. It boggles my mind to think about how many (physical) actions we take in the real world as a result of (virtual) information fed to us through networks, where data exist as light and are literally weightless. How do flashes of light become manifested in the physical, experiential world?

My theory is that the user is the point of intersection (and interaction) between the physical and virtual realms, between objects and information. The Earth enacts gravity and other physical effects. Computing systems enact data transfer and processing. But only sentient beings can find meaning in both, because they can understand what gravity means and understand what data transfer is by extrapolating outwards, taking what they grasp about these physical/virtual systems and applying them to hypothetical scenarios. I can imagine what would happen if I threw a glass vase up in the air: It would fall back down, hit the ground, and probably break into pieces. I’ve never thrown a vase before, but I can model and predict that outcome with near-certainty because I have inferred the rules that govern the system.

So, as a user/sentient being, my job is to intepret inputs, deduce the rules of the system (that would produce those inputs), decide on a course of action, and then physically manifest that action. In the case of a digital system, my physical output (throwing a vase, pressing a key, clicking the mouse) is input for the virtual system, which responds according to its own rules, and on and on the feedback loop goes.

I don’t think this project was extremely successful at addressing those ideas, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Try it out, and see if you can (1) deduce its rules and then (2) use them toward your own ends. Post a comment below with your findings.

Credits: Word list courtesy of mieliestronk.com.

Launch project >