I travel a long distance to work… I am thinking a LOT of random thoughts on the way…
Scene… Bangalore in the morning… riding my gorgeous bike to work… traffic lights… Bangalore has a pretty long wait time at some signals… 2-3 minutes… and since there is pretty much nothing to do at that time… the devil comes out to play…
I ride a 500cc Enfield Machismo to work.. and though this machine is muted compared to other (earlier) bikes from the same stable… it is pretty loud compared to a lot of the plastic stuff out there… Advantage One…
Standing in a traffic light… eveyone has their vehicles on idiling… and are driving/riding to work almost on auto-pilot… I doscovered one thing… the collective energy levels of the crowd at the signal is a function of the noise levels… the more the noise… the more the activity (energy)..
so… I tried a small activity… everyone is on Idle… and suddenly… out of nowhere… I raise my machine and let her roar a litte… almost immedietely… bikes and cars rush into action… bikes budge forward to fill up spaces… cars inch ahead trying to get ahead… I just stand there watching… then they realise it was a false alarm and get back to they sedentary poses….
I tried this at various junctions and at all times of the day/night… it works EVERYTIME… Without fail…
What could this mean? why this collective behaviour? Why does this happen?
I have a few thoughts…
One… people dont really want to drive (or drive in bangalore) and are looking to disengage at every chance they can get… traffic signals create that oppurtunity… what does this mean? people are not alert at signals… and immeditely when they start off from signals… they are liable to not be completly aware…
Two… as a UX (User Experience)… traffic signals are tedious… they dont meet unsaid needs of the users… they are bad design… Traffic Signals were originally meant to be short stop solutions to clearing traffic… they were never intended to be an experince like this… We should look at redesigning the traffic signal experience… and immediately…
Three…vehicles were initially designed to move… they were designed to be be means of transport… they were designed to be in motion… then somewhere down the line.. they were also designed to look good standing… but look at it this way… who designed them to be at traffic lights? NO ONE!… they are just NOT designed to be running (engine) and standing at a signal with riders/drivers on/in them…! I think automotive designers need to rethink this as a paradim in automotive design… any takers?
Lastly… entertainment systems need to be deigned to fill this gap… I think design has become feature oriented and not purpose oriented… rethink this peoples!!! design should ALWAYS be purpose oriented…
Cheers!!!
-A
good thinking…this has been a common problem not only with auto-mobiles – look at any electronic devices out there – more than the users requirement – these thing’s are fitted with bells and god knows what…people seriously need to rethink the purpose….
Comment by JMJ — January 22, 2009 @ 9:38 pm
You moved to Bangalore? When? Meanwhile waiting at junctions is pretty fun when in an auto. The auto guy puts his feet up, pulls out a newspaper from the air and well starts reading without giving a damn abt the world around
Comment by | Balu | — January 23, 2009 @ 2:21 am
Meanwhile, join Blogaloreans (google group)
Comment by | Balu | — January 23, 2009 @ 2:22 am
This was a refreshing post on KJ after quite a long time…
Good job abhinava, well written. And to think, I thot I was the only one interested in bizzare experiments like the one above..
P.S: It works in Cochin as well..EVERYTIME
Comment by TheAnand — January 23, 2009 @ 7:04 am
As some one asked, have you relocated to Bangalore?
except few in front rest do not see the traffic signal directly- they rely on the response of vehicles ahead of them to know if it has turned green and they can get moving… SO you can’t blame them always..
Just like how windows locks itself or how monitor goes blank if left idle for a while, there should be a provision wherein vehicles should automatically switch off if in idle condition for specific duration…
Comment by Shrinidhi Hande — January 23, 2009 @ 9:48 am
Bangalore is far worse compared to cochin. Dont even try to compare.
Comment by Kenney Jacob — January 23, 2009 @ 10:01 am
Good music !
The only escape from the traffic blues … Hey btw. if you are car audio freak…Its high time in b’lore .. have you seen this?
http://acousticsforyou.com/forum
Comment by Navi — January 24, 2009 @ 12:44 am
Abhinava, do you think just doing it once will make everyone more alert at teh lights? People being alert could only be good for your own well being? Should we make it a common practise.
I know , there will be a collective spike in fuel demand all over the country if everyone does that. (or at least one guy at every light)
Comment by Domestic Avalanche — January 24, 2009 @ 6:37 am