I had promised to keep you guys posted from Hyderabad but some things did not work out as I had planned. The data card didn’t work and I was left (fuming) without an internet connection. To make my matters worse, my camera stopped working and I could not take pictures from the event.
Back to the story. The conference was being held in the spacious environs of the Indian School of Business (ISB) in the Khemka Auditorium. The scheduled start was 8:30 am but it got delayed and finally kicked-off nearly 2 hours later. When we reached the place early morning, the banners were not yet displayed and we were completely lost. The chief guest for the event was Ravi Pooviah, my long time idol and a professor from IDC-IIT. This year UMO (Usability Matters.org) was exploring the theme of health innovation and therefore the guests from medical to software industry were offered an opportunity to showcase their work in that field. Amongst the presentations Parmeshwar Raju’s lecture on Designing through a grid layout and Anirudha Joshi’s slides on devising User-experience metrics were found to be most interesting. I also enjoyed Shruti Agarwal’s discussion on SMOKEDOTE, which is an interactive game for smokers. The design of her slides was very creative indeed. Shruti’s a senior Visual Communications student at IDC-IIT.
The action for the next 2 days shifted to the Abridge Solutions’ training center where the Track I and II workshops were to be held. I had opted for Track I and Ravi Pooviah’s class on Information Visualization. It was the most fabulous experience for me and we were given in depth information on the basics of design and evolving concepts through the mind mapping exercise. On the sidelines, I had a long discussions with Ravi on the future of design and the education system in India which prevents raw talent to be recognized and instead considers the marks system to be the final judging factor. It’s a topic for another article from me so I will stop here. Overall, the experience of attending this event was good and looking forward to applying the knowledge at my work place soon.
Technorati Tags: IDC, IIT, ravi pooviah, UMO, usability
December 4th, 2007
It was a typical office day like any other but it ended in a disaster which I must try hard and forget. My data card - that magic thing which allows you wireless internet access (on a laptop) through a SIM card got me into deep trouble. The antenna that’s used to catch the signal wouldn’t come on and it had to be sent for repairs. After 10 days, the card was going to be delivered to me yesterday. Despite running a high fever sitting in the A/C, I decided to stay on since I was off to
Hyderabad to attend the
UMO 07 conference. I HAD to get that card to keep me connected and working there.
The card finally arrived late in the evening and I heaved a sigh of relief. My condition was depleting and besides I had to pack my things after reaching home. But it was not to be so. Soon after testing the card I realised that the vendor had forgotten to insert the SIM without which it would be impossible to connect. A crossfire between the local engineer and the vendor ensued with both parties disagreeing on the missing SIM. Each one denied having seen the card while the vendor adamantly defended his position. All this while I sat shivering and starving for a morsel of foodgrain and some antibiotics (*cough).
A solution had to be found since it was certain that the card would not be delivered on time for my trip. An older version was found and one of the engineers tried relentlessly to install it on my notebook but failed on each attempt. The drivers were outdated and clashed with Windows Vista. After 2 hours of battling the issue, I finally put my hands up and decided to walk off. I was in bad shape and was not sure if I could embark on my tour in this condition. Thankfully after consuming some of mum’s delicious food and popping a few pills, I woke up completely fit and healthy this morning. And more good news followed - the data card which I had been missing all along is also on its way and I am flying off in the next few hours. If everything goes well (and the card works as planned), I will keep you updated on the conference activities and stuff through my website on all the 3 days with some pictures as well. So wish me luck and see you soon.
Technorati Tags: hyderabad, usabilitmatters, umo, usability
November 29th, 2007
I have been travelling a lot these days. In fact this whole month was a marriage tour for me to north India. Last week I was in a town called Sirsa in
Haryana attending a wedding ceremony in the family. A week before that I was in Delhi where my colleague from TCS took the nuptial vows and it gave me an opportunity to visit Agra and the Taj. It has been a great experience to see the north Indian style weddings which are quite different (read lavish) from the other parts of India.
The ceremony that kicked off in Haryana was different in more ways than one. The muhurat or the auspicious time for the pheras was (hold your breath) at 1:40 am in the morning. Naturally only a handful “close” set of people sat through the whole process in the chilly winter night. Most of them tucked in their rajai or blankets often sipping tea and trying to be as close to the fire as they could be. An open verandah in an outhouse with a mandap in the center with the bridegroom along with the family elders and of course the priest chanting the vows, surrounded by close friends and family. The sky was bright with moonlight and covered with myriad stars. It was freezing and to add to the aura of this night — there was no electricity. We strategically parked a car such that the booklet containing the Sanskrit chants could be read under its headlights. This was innovation happening at its most undesirable moment. Miraculously the lights came back just when the priest formalised the wedding and the group got up to proceed to the house!
Here in the north, the reception ceremony takes place first, even before the actual marriage has happened. At the entrance of the venue, beautiful Saree-clad women especially the bride’s sister and close friends challenge the groom when he’s ready to enter. He was given a Da Vinci Code like plastic cask containing a pair of scissor to cut the ribbon and pass through. The box had to be opened skillfully and the ribbon was to be cut with the tool inside; without breaking the box. I have never seen such an example of product design before but here it was. We struggled initially and frustration was quite visible on the groom’s happy face and soon all the baratas took turns in lending a hand to break the code. The garlanding ceremony of the couple happened on the stage itself unlike in the western parts of the country where it happens at the gates of the venue. The groom managed himself while the bride was raised up in the air by relatives in mocking attempt to dissuade the action. It’s a tradition to make fun and provide some entertainment for all. While the guests munched on pure amritsari delicacy and desserts that included gajar halwa and jalebis around in the cold night. The town had surely come to life that night.
Technorati Tags: haryana, india
November 26th, 2007
A long time ambition got fulfilled when I visited the magnificient Taj Mahal at Agra — considered to be one of the greatest man-made structures of the world. This marble structure is an achievement and a result of a man’s love for his beloved.
Technorati Tags: taj mahal, agra, mughals, india
November 20th, 2007
I had pooled some collegues to a local restaurant to treat them on my birthday. After the sumptuous continental fare was gulped by each individual, the ritual of singing the world famous ‘happy birthday’ song was concluded. One of the seniors in the team then commented on my addiction to
Facebook in a rather shrill voice and a gentleman in the viscinity just jumped out of his seat. “Are you guys from Facebook?” was his rather astonishing question. I admired the man’s naiveness which tempted me to pull his legs but as it seemed my colleague was already on the job. Looking at the bewitched individual he signalled at me and quipped, “yes..he is”. With a visible twinkle in his eyes he asked me “Did you start Facebook?”, the smile now broadening prominently on the man’s face and his eyeballs were at a point of popping out. He was on the verge of asking for my autograph I felt. I could see my friends giggling under their breath trying to channelize the unexpected humour from an unexpected quarter.
“No I am not Mark Zuckerberg!” I said in a satirical manner with a wry smile on my face. I had decided I was going to have some post-lunch fun now. At this stage the crowd around the place had virtually stopped eating meals and had begun to stare at me probably thinking that I have something to do with the social networking website. Sensing the inevitable my ignorant friend changed his question - “Are you guys from Facebook India?..huh…are you?”. It was clear that a) he was a great Facebook admirer, b) he thought it was developed by Indians and c) he was unaware of Mark Zuckerberg. It didn’t really matter you see — this guy was loaded and emptying questions at us like a machine gun.
We cleared the air a little later and ended our anxiety but not before I had mentioned atleast three more times that I was not Mark Zuckerberg and that FB was based out of US. After being convinced he concluded the high drama by saying “Facebook should get a humanitarian award or something” and left with his friend. If Mark Zuckerberg is reading this post — please come to India and see for yourself. Your invention has a big fan following here!
Technorati Tags: mark zuckerberg, facebook
November 13th, 2007
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