Basuke, Siestaware Basuke, a Mac application designer and programmer of his own firm, Siestaware, hoped that he'd not only learn design and usability tips at the conference, but also learn presentation skills for convincing clients of the value of usability research. Mitch Tsunoda, Microsoft Basuke explained that this Japanese love of new things, can pose significant challenges for designers and usability specialists, who must encourage their clients to refine, rather than re-create designs. On the other hand, we saw examples of innovative gadgets that can help introduce new technology through a non-threatening and familiar form. Mitch thinks the Internet has more of a chance of pervasive adoption in Japan if it comes to people in recognizable forms. The i-pot is a hot pot, a standalone electronic appliance used for dispensing boiling water for tea.
Hot pots are common, everyday items in Japanese people's homes.
Yet this hot pot is quite different. This hot pot doubles as a monitoring device, so that you can keep tabs on anyone who might need close monitoring, such as an elderly person. The web page charts the time of i-pot events, like filling or dispensing water. Mitch talked about how effective this device as a way to get the Internet into people's homes, without people needing to know anything about the Internet. Along with these uniquely Japanese learnings, we heard from several attendees about challenges similar to what we've heard in other World Tour cities.