In high-traffic, information-dense environments like a train station, signs need to be clear and simple. The faster customers can get the message, the more quickly they can move on. Making customers think slows everyone down and adds confusion.

This sign spotted on a Singaporean train station is unnecessarily complex. The two uninterrupted services should not have been on the list of unavailable services.

Intentions show through. Despite going through the motions of respect, politeness and customer care, the absence of real care shows through clearly. Many of the Singaporean service personnel I have encountered recently demonstrated this.

They take my money or credit card, and hand me receipts and change, with two hands. This is a sign of respect in Asia. But it is very clear that this has become a …

I thought the SingTel free wireless login page was broken today. When I try to click on the password field to enter my password, the mouse pointer turned into an arrow and I got taken to a different page.

I was just about to give up when I realised that I had previously enlarged the text display on the browser. This has actually caused the link …

Spotted these books at Kinokuniya Singapore that look like packs of cigarettes. Interesting use of the notoriety of the cigarette pack.

Spotted these advertising tags on the Singaporean trains (MRT). They have little cut-outs at one end to enable them to hand on the overhead hand rails.

I was asked what were the three things that really matter to me about my work recently. These were my on-the-spot responses:

Making a difference, making a contribution, changing something for the better.
Learning new things, and putting what I have learnt to use.
Doing interesting work, meeting interesting people, participating in interesting projects.

The person who asked the question was surprised that money did not make it on the list. After …

In this News Limited story, Philippe Starck says design is dead and his work ‘unnecessary’.

“I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact, … Everything I designed was unnecessary.”

All the egoistical self-indulgence aside, this statement does merit a certain level of self-reflection, whether you are a designer or a consumer.

What does a designer really do anyway?
How green or sustainable is …

I had a council rubbish collection day last month. I threw out two PCs, a pile of SCSI storage devices and a scanner (leftovers from my mi$$pent Apple days).

I almost threw out my 100Mb ZIP drive. But at the last minute decided to see if it will work with my current Thinkpad (via an Adaptec SCSI PCMCIA card). It did, and I spent the next …

Here’s an example of how good signage ought to be done.

The designer has considered the contexts of use: people who are driving past or looking for the bank from a distance (the logo appears on the edge of the awning for maximum distance visibility), and those on foot (the logo appears closer to normal human height under the awning).

The designer also …

See this Sydney Morning Herald story on how CityRail transit officers don’t actually have the authority to issue valid tickets.

How much more ridiculous can CityRail management get? Situations like this clearly show that there is no intention from the management, or dare one even say “leadership” level, to do any better.

I travel on Singapore’s MRT (Mass Rapid Transport) everyday. And everyday I am reminded of how …