A Walk A walk needs a view. The reason we don't call walking down a hospital-ward corridor "a walk" is that it has no view.So marching in place is not a walk either. The reason a walk needs a road is that a road tends to carry a view, and a good road makes a good walk possible. ... Everyone takes walks, but everyone's reason for walking is different. For some, a walk is a pleasure; for others, movement of the body for health; for still others, a stage for thought and worry. The different shapes walks take from person to person resemble the different shapes of their lives. What is a brief leisure for one can be the whole of life for another; what is an idle survey of the neighborhood scene for one can be, for another, a desperate flight from home to escape pain. Today, too, I go out for a walk. ... And I, too, become part of the scenery. - "Ordinary People" (Lee Seok-won) |
A good space, I think, is one that can give the same kind of benefit as a walk.
And maybe it's the role of a space not only to deliver the walking-effect of its surrounding structures, but also to let the people staying there — just by their staying — become scenery for someone else.
"Space" here can mean a structural, physical one of course,
but the organizations we belong to or the members of our families can also be considered psychological spaces.
A Bookstore Why is it that in a bookstore you can let your feelings wander at will?Even when lonely or sad, depressed or worn out, that place takes you in whether you're someone or no one, lonely or not. - "Ordinary People" (Lee Seok-won) |
In the sites and applications we build, too — when, beyond mere usability and convenience (outcomes, or efficiency), the thing can itself become scenery for another, voluntary motivation arises that goes beyond need and desire.
Perhaps what we should do first is design so that the user's feelings can become scenery for another.
Have you ever had such experiences?
The memory of saying "ah — this is nice" at a high-end café run by an owner who can't drink coffee.
The memory of saying "what a good meal today" at a restaurant run by an owner with very beautiful hands.
The memory of saying "this is really useful!" while using an app made by a startup whose employees don't travel for a hobby.
The memory of saying "they really built this well" at a company that doesn't even have a mobile homepage.
The memory of saying "this is so convenient" while using an app made by a developer who doesn't even use a smartphone.
Fresh imagination and fresh planning, and caring for the other, all start from one's own experience and interest.
Maybe,
before planning and preparing a lot so that our work or our space can become scenery,
there is far more we should be doing first.
