Capacity planning for meaning
in the age of personal informatics
Aaron Straup Cope
Design Engaged 2008

“We should be mapping information that in
some ways has been historically
unmappable because it is 1) not valued or
is 2) actively seen as threatening or is 3)
simply too hard to map using traditional
tools.”
Anselm Hook

“It is this narrow definition of context that
makes life harder for ourselves, because
adding more and more sensor readings is
not really the same thing as adding more
and more context.”
Dawn Nafus

“Your focus on implementation details is
limiting your imagination.”
Kellan Elliott-McCrea

Hi, my name is Aaron

No, really

Aa is for Alphabetical

08:08 AM

08:31 AM

08:36 AM

1,269 clicks. 28 minutes.

Kill me now

Ubiquitous

The future was 20 minutes ago

Information wants to be seen

Based on a true story

Translation: OMG

Translation: WTF

Translation: STFU

But what does it mean?

Capacity planning

But is it art?

I/O is fancy-talk for In-n-Out

Ceci nʼest pas un bar chart

WALTERIN UR BENJAMINZ

Itʼs a good problem to have

http://www.flickr.com/photos/straup/2566161300/
http://lists.burri.to/pipermail/geowanking/2008-September/005594.html
http://blogs.intel.com/research/2008/03/dawn_nafus_add_gps_and_stir_so.php
http://www.laughingmeme.org/
08:08
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mishu/2791606756
http://www.flickr.com/photos/straup/504954422
08:31
08:36
JONESFIELD
http://www.flickr.com/photos/revdancatt/2593401848/
KILL ME NOW
OMG ! A PICTURE THATʼS NEVER BEEN PUBLISHED ON THE INTERNETS BEFORE!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_njrzVU1r8s
http://www.flickr.com/photos/straup/2696830709/
LIFEʼS RICH PAGEANT
OMG
WTF
STFU
http://stamen.com/clients/indigital
http://www.slideshare.net/jallspaw/velocity2008-capacity-management1-484676
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pstar/397375505/ (used w/permission)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/straup/2623018714/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luiscolan/260411037/ (used w/permission)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellan/2900547100
http://www.flickr.com/photos/straup/2380695585/
See also: http://www.slideshare.net/blackbeltjones/polite-pertinent-and-pretty-designing-for-the-newwave-of-
personal-informatics-493301
http://www.aaronland.info/talks/