RELATION & INTERACTION

by Johan Adda
first appeared on Mission UX email list.

I’ve been explaining quite a lot (45 keynote speeches, to be precise) the value of nonverbal communications: haptic (touch), kinetic (body movement) and proxemic (spatial requirements). This human-centred approach helps brands and creative teams significantly while they craft human experiences. In fact, it’s a big part of our job to define verbal and nonverbal interactions.

Haptic studies suddenly became very famous all around the globe with the rise of the iThings, then later with any touch devices. But focusing only on the touch field is too restrictive. Do you know there is a nice word to express the pleasure of using a well-crafted touch interface? It’s called tapiness. 
We will practise later the art of “tapiness” — I am pretty sure it will make a fun exercise.

For today, we need to understand how we, as humans, interact with each other in terms of personal space and territory.

Initially I was worried about overloading you on a Monday with a lot of theory. Luckily, I remembered the brilliant work of Nathan Pyle on NYC etiquette. I bought his animated book and had an idea: this will be our challenge. Yes, I want to make it too.

Let’s first understand “proxemics”

Proxemics: There are 4 circles of space that people feel it necessary to set between themselves and others. I am adding to these circles our relationships with our devices (smartphone, PC, TV…)

. Red Circle — Intimate Space

(For embracing, touching or whispering)
Please make a circle with your arm in front of you, hands joined. Like hugging your partner or your kids. This is the intimate space.

Remember the gif above, “Do we need to be touching”? This is the NYC basic tips and etiquette #13 from Nathan Pyle. This is, for me, the perfect illustration of what intimate space means. Depending on the context, we are more or less tolerant of touch. In the intimate space belong our smartphones.

. Orange Circle — Personal Space

(For interactions between good friends or family)
This is approximately the distance of an arm and hand outstretched. A quick way to visualise this is to imagine the distance between you and your personal computer.

. Green Circle — Social Space

(For interactions between acquaintances)
You can visualise this as the distance between you and a colleague while you chat at the coffee machine. In the example below, it’s the distance between you and the waitress.

An interesting fact about the Genius Bar in the Apple Retail Store perfectly illustrates proxemics. The Genius Bar is where customers come to get support for products. Initially Apple dealt with customers from a social distance — behind the bar — until they realised that they could be more effective if they interacted in the personal space via their “geniuses”, who now sit with customers at the same table. Smart.

. Turquoise Circle — Public

(For public speaking)
Let’s say you enter a small, busy park and see people all around. Basically, the fourth circle is the distance you are going to give between you and some strangers.

Practise time! Let’s start.

Let’s have some fun and try to do your city’s basic tips and etiquette. I would love to hear about you. Please share your thoughts in the comment zone at the end of this article.

Here is the format:
Think about your city, nationality or home town (share with me — I’m curious to see your diverse interpretations). Then give an example for each space.

1/ Intimate space
What is the tip you want to share about people and smartphones in your city? Is there a particular etiquette? For example, in Paris it’s very impolite to have a loud conversation on your phone on public transport.

2/ Personal space
Interaction with friends or colleagues can define this space. I have a good one: French people don’t hug. It’s not a good thing to do. But we cheek kiss. Don’t ask :).

3/ Social space
Think of a coffee terrace or a restaurant. In Paris, a lot of people smoke at terraces. It’s their last freedom. If you want to smoke, always ask your neighbouring table if it’s ok. Sometimes you will receive a no. Don’t complain, just stand up and move a few metres away.

4/ Public space
This could be the park, a museum, an exhibition…
Most of the foreigners I have met, after hearing that I’m from Paris, complain to me about queuing. Yes, it is erratic. Yes, it is annoying. Parisians don’t queue. I try to stay civilised in such situations. And being assertive is okay too.

Frequency

Let’s do one of these exercises this week.

Challenges

Your challenge is to illustrate one of your tips. You can draw it or just make a photo, but you need to caption it. There are lots of apps that will do this, I am using Aviary. Link

Another challenge is to explain proxemics to your team, with no visual support, just words and you making the gestures. Use the above examples.

Tools

Just a pen and your notebook.

A bit of science

“Life is a tragedy when seen in close up, but a comedy in long shot.” 
Charlie Chaplin

Film analyst Louis Giannetti has maintained that, in general, the greater the distance between the camera and the subject (in other words, the public proxemic) the more emotionally neutral the audience remains, whereas the closer the camera is to a character the greater the audience’s emotional attachment to that character.

Now, if you want to film something here are some good tips: Link

Shots are defined by the amount of subject matter that’s included within the frame. They can be divided into 6 basic categories:

1/ Extreme long shot — taken from a great distance, showing much of the locale. If people are included in these shots, they usually appear as mere specks.

2/ Long shot — corresponds to the space between the audience and the stage in a live theatre. The long shots show the characters and some of the locale.

3/ Full shot — range with just enough space to contain the human body in full. The full shot shows the character and a minimal amount of the locale.

4/ Medium shot — shows the human figure from the knees or waist up.

5/ Close up — concentrates on a relatively small object and shows very little, if any, locale.

6/ Extreme close up — focuses on an unnaturally small portion of an object, giving that part great detail and symbolic significance.