- Today I Learned is a proposed mobile app that allows public transit users to anonymously share 140-character messages about what they learned that day and have conversations with other users on their route. - As users rate messages as interesting or uninteresting, the messages spread and travel along with commuters, mapping the movement of ideas across a transit system. - The app aims to transform commuting from idle time to a fun, educational experience that fosters unexpected communities and discussions to encourage greater public transit use.

1. TODAY I LEARNED DesignSpace : S. Eagen, A. Hong, C. Hsu, & A. Shave TRANSFORMING TRANSIT THROUGH A FUN AND ACCESSIBLE MOBILE PHONE APP What did you learn today?

2. INDEX TODAY I LEARNED: Transforming Transit THE PROBLEM: Discovering a Need HOW IT WORKS: Mapping Ideascapes VISUALIZATIONS: The Beauty of Interaction THE APP LANDSCAPE How we stand out

3. TODAY I LEARNED: Transforming Transit Location-Based Phone App : Today I learned is an interactive learning application for mobile phones. Accessible on Public Transit Routes: Users send 140-character messages visible to other users on their transit vehicle beginning with Today I learned.. . Creating Community Through Conversation: Other users mark these messages as interesting or uninteresting, and can respond with other messages grouped into conversations. Positive interaction extends the visible life of these messages as the user/carrier travels through the transit system. Fun & Accessible Design: These routes are then mapped artistically (visually and audibly) on a website.

4. “ The basic idea of the Web is that an information space through which people can communicate, but communicate in a special way: communicate by sharing their knowledge in a pool. The idea was not just that it should be a big browsing medium. The idea was that everybody would be putting their ideas in, as well as taking them out.” - TIM BERNERS-LEE, Professor and Inventor of the World Wide Web This image is a projected map of the virtual landscape.

5. DISCOVERING A NEED: Commuter Engagement The average commute time in OECD countries is 38 minutes. Most spend this time idle. This is a wasted opportunity for fun and interaction.

6. Riders on Transit Vehicles are selected completely at random. Every day, thousands of micro-communities are created and destroyed as people enter and exit these vehicles. There is rarely any positive value added. These communities could be the basis for open, truly democratic discussion with a variety of people. By engaging with this group, and by extension one's own community, one could cultivate new relationships to turn strangers into friends. DISCOVERING A NEED: Community Development

7. The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history. In 2008, more than half of the world's population will live in cities. For the good of the planet, these new city dwellers must be encouraged to ride public transit to reduce automobile emissions . DISCOVERING A NEED: Environmental Sustainability

8. THE DESIGNSPACE VISION FACILITATING the continuous sharing of knowledge and ideas thorough the creation of a fun and anonymous platform. ENABLING interaction between strangers in order to create community and a forum for discussion. TRANSFORMING stereotypical perceptions of commuting as time wasting to make the experience fun and educational. FOSTERING innovation and creativity by facilitating interaction between people with different lifestyles, perceptions and opinions. ENCOURAGING people to use public transit rather than personal vehicles to create a more environmentally sustainable futur e.

9. An anonymous commuter sends a 140-character SMS message starting with the words “Today I Learned” at the station or on the train: TODAY I LEARNED… “ Traffic congestion is caused by vehicles, not by people." - John Smith The message travels with that commuter as he or she travels, adding it to a live-feed of cascading messages accessible by others in the same vicinity X commuters find it interesting or uninteresting, which adds to or subtracts from the length of life of the message. They now carry the messages they rate interesting along their own transit routes. X commuters can comment on the message. They now carry both the original message and stacked replies as a conversation . HOW IT WORKS: Day in the Life

10. The most compelling feature within the application is that commuters can access beautiful visualizations of the ideas along the transit map These visualizations will illustrate the movement of information in real time , and show the tangle of opinions present in the city. Computer users can see not only what ideas are widespread, but at what transit stop these ideas originated. These unique visuals demonstrate the ways in which knowledge and ideas travel in collective decision-making processes . The possibilities for how these idea journeys will be represented are endless. VISUALIZATIONS: The Beauty of Interactions

11. MAPPING IDEASCAPES: The Toronto Transit Map

12. Other Transit Apps exist, but none with the range or sophistication of Today I Learned. Twitter allows users to submit 140 characters messages and connect to others sharing the same idea via hash-tags, but lacks the ability to create sustainable communities Vibe uses location-based software that allows other users in the same vicinity share and view messages, but relies on groups which share pre-determined interests such as the Occupy Protests Blendr fosters communities of users in the same region who share similar interests, but only allows one-on-one messaging THE APP LANDSCAPE: Similar Applications

13. THE APP LANDSCAPE: Innovations that set us apart Community-moderated system that allows users to determine which ideas are worthwhile and interesting Re-inventing micro-blogging as a means to share ideas and knowledge by fostering chance connections and unexpected communities Strengthen communities through the sharing and promotion of ideas Explores the possibility for new pedagogical methods that incorporate social media with educational strategies Creative visualizations that illustrate where ideas originated and how they travelled to create accessible and meaningful art

14. Thank you for reading about TODAY I LEARNED Presented by Design Space