1. I think people treasure things that they attach meaning to. Whether its something that have good memories with or something that they have worked hard to get.
2. I treasure my teddy!
3. It’s white (ish) with a singed head from when he got in a fight with a lighter and it has a pink bow tie
4. I treasure it because I got it when I was born and it always used to make me feel better when I was sick – even when I threw up on it a couple of times… My cousin got the same one with a blue bow tie when he was born and we used to play with them together and pretend they were siblings.
5. It comes on holidays with me. It’s like taking a bit of home with me wherever I go!
6. I think i’d live without it for a while as long as I knew it was there somewhere…. but if it was taken away from me forever I’d probably be a bit upset – and wouldn’t be able to sleep properly for a while! I’d need to hug a pillow or something…I sound like a nutter totally in love with my teddy…

Luther, aged 20, musician. In a good friend’s band.

1. I think they treasure it because it’s something they worked hard for, or has a big emotional attachment, and reminds them of things and people.
2. probably my squier stratocaster.
3. it’s the first ever guitar I got on my 13th birthday and it’s pretty much changed my entire life and pushed me toward music which is my career now. plus it’s blue and shiny
4. because it’s been there from the start, and basiccally was my parents seal of approval to try to go for music. I wrote my first ever song on it
5. keep it with me, it’s in the music studio I work in so I can teach with it
6. I would cry!

Girl1, aged 19, second year philosophy student. Friends, flat mates friend. Met when round at my friend’s house visiting, after chatting about my project she offered to be interviewed but did not want to be named.

1. because some thing’s have emotional value or meaning which is not always obvious to others.
2. a 1/2 penny on a necklace.
3. dark, old metal with a hole in it. brown string.
4. my gran used to wear, and inherited it when she died. I used to play with it when I was a child. Think’s it pretty cool that it’s something I can wear and it’s interesting that few people actually have half penny’s.
5. leave it attached to my wall so I don’t lose it and can see it all the time.
6. I feel pretty panicked if I don’t know where it is, but because I keep it in one place mostly, it doesn’t bother me as much.

Fraser, aged 19, computing student.

1. Hunter Gatherer Instinct.
2. My guitar.
3. It’s white, about the size of a guitar, 6 string, cut-away under the neck. It has birds instead of fret markers.
4. Ehhm, uhm, it makes sounds that I’m thinking, ehm, I would die if I couldn’t play it. It is an outlet, if I don’t play it for a long time, I feel like I have to play it.
5. Leave it in a safe place
6. Don’t know, I’ve never been without it. I can’t imagine it.

1. ‘Cause they carry memories and evoke different memories of sensory experiences. Different smells, thoughts, feelings or people.
2. My soul, no, ehm, probably my laptop.
3. It is old and broken, but still really powerful. Cuts out all the time, but I still love it.
4. It does everything I could want it to do, watch movies, play games, listen to music.
5. Take it with me.
6. Kinda bored, It controls every source of media I have. But I would probably do more, like go out more as I would be very bored in my house without it. but I would definitely get very bored.

I will follow this up with a reflective post exploring my findings.

When starting this assignment, I began by looking at the list of topics and considered firstly my interest in each. For example  I felt the topic of “How have students’ dress sense changed since they left home?” would have been fun to do, and I could think of many related questions. However when it came reflecting on the interviews I think I would have struggled to relate this to any real interest of mine. I also considered the questions about shopping, and sales, these could have been interesting but I think they would have taken just too far out of my comfort zone. So in the end I decided to Focus on “What object do people treasure the most? Why?”. I chose this because I find belongings, the idea of keepsakes, and attaching feeling to possessions very interesting, as someone who has many treasured items, all for different reasons. I think I will really enjoy analysing other’s answers and exploring the reasons people get emotionally attached to belongings.

After this point, I mind mapped this idea to explore what areas I could cover. Thinking about what type of objects people could choose, and more importantly why they singled that thing out, I felt I wanted to structure my questions around the reasons behind each object, asking questions which would let the person explain their reasoning in detail. I tried to consider how I would answer each question as I wrote them, and make sure none could have a yes/no type answer. It was difficult to write a lot of questions about this topic, so my first set had only three questions which I tested on a friend. I wanted to get the person thinking about why, before actually asking them about their object.

Tester questions:

1. Thinking about belongings, why do you think people treasure “stuff”?
2. What object do you treasure most?
3. Why is important to you?

When interviewing Rachael, my test interviewee, we sat comfortably in university and the interview lasted about 5 minutes. I strayed away from filming/recording the interview as she was not comfortable with it, as many people aren’t. Instead I wrote lots of notes to record the interview.

me: “Thinking about belongings, why do you think people treasure “stuff”?”

Rachael: “Because they usually have a strong connection, sentimental value or they just couldn’t live without them.”

me: “So, What object do you treasure most?”

Rachael:”A ring from my great gran”

me: “Why is it important to you?”

Rachael: “It is one of the few things I have of my great gran. Died when I was young. It’s nice to feel some connection to her”

So when looking back at this, I felt it was just lacking something, It was too short and did not make the interviewee dive into much detail about the object. However the direct questions did force direct answers, there was little hesitation, or an unsure reason. It is always going to be an object that the person feels very passionate about, so asking why, directly will always give a good story I think. I expected Rachael to describe the object more when I asked what it was, this is somewhere where I feel I need to add another question or two.

From this i have decided to add, “Could you describe this object for me?” and a question at the end depending on their answer to why, to try to get them to go a little deeper.

Let’s go interview!

For this assignment we were asked to go to places we visit regularly and observe people, doing it at different times on different days. Other than uni and my house, where I do spend a lot of my time, one place I go every so often is the Tartan Cafe on Perth Road. So over the last few weeks I have tried to go a little more often.

When observing here, I tried to take into consideration both the costumers, the staff and the design of the room it’s self. Each of these area’s highlighted some interesting thoughts. I also tried to give my self a few things to focus on from the brief, because the first time I tried this I felt I didnt really get a good grasp of the situations, looking back over my notes a little while later, everything I wrote was that generic, I could have wrote it never having walked into the cafe. So I tried to think about

• The rules people followed.
• The interaction of people.
• The design of any interactions in the interior.
• What the situation suggested about people out with the activity they are currently undertaking.

The Staff

When thinking about a cafe situation, the staff can be as interesting to watch as the customers. When thinking about how they interacted with customers I noticed that they were very efficient whilst remaining friendly. When interacting they made you feel comfortable, however they didn’t stop to chat. They created a good balance between friendly and professional.

The way they interacted with each other was much more relaxed, they stood chatting as they got on with small jobs around the counter, always keeping themselves busy. Seemed fairly happy, liked, or at least didn’t mind the company of people they worked with. Contrast to their professional attitude when interacting with customers. Most of the waitresses came across as students, each seemed between 18 and early 20′s, dressed fairly studenty. This maybe isn’t a great descriptor, but students often have a certain look.

Costumer

All of the rules Costumers seem to follow are unwritten, slightly instinktive rule. They come in fairly quietly, look out a suitible table, act quite reserved, keep thier chat at a volume only thier table can hear, wait for the waitress to come over. There are rules you learn and follow from a very young age, from your parents taking you out for food. It’s not something most people have to think of.

When taking a closer look into their interactions, with both their group, and with the other costumers, one thing I noticed was when in a cafe, they tend not to interact out with the group of people they came with, very seldom talk to stranger. For such a social environment, it feels quite segmented. There was a clear contrast in behaviours between people sitting in groups and people sitting on their own. Groups seems to not be paying much attention to their surroundings, very focussed on the conversation the were having amongst them selves. Where as people who are on their own appeared much more aware of their environments. They often have paper work, a laptop, or tablet infront of them. A few were also on their phone. This suggests they’re doing work, weather it be uni or a job, as the cafe is round the corner from the university. This suggests people find it a relaxing, non intrusive atmosphere that they feel confortable to work in.

There is a clear contrast in the type of people that eat in this cafe at certain times of the day. During the week at lunch time manu people were dressed as though they were on a break, many dressed smart casual, could be lecturers at the university or work locally. Some groups had university staff cards. There were also a few groups of what seemed like students. All of these groups moved in and out of the cafe quickly, as though they had a time constraint, quickly grabbing some lunch. Where as if you go on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, it feels much more leisurely, many people will be sitting with just coffee’s, taking their time. There’s is often a family or two. In general it is a much more mixed group of people.It’s harder to try and draw out a persona for people at the weekend, everyone’s much more casual, and everyone appear to have a similar attitude. It is used much more for socialising than for grabbing lunch.

Place

The design of the room is very neutral but comfortable. It’s has subtle background music, letting the customer relax. The shop is very bright with a large Outward facing window, and is always well lit on a grey day, this makes the space feel inviting.

The tables are not too close together, feels spacious and if you’re sitting in a group if feels like you’re sitting in your own space, It’s not easy of over hear conversations and you’re not constantly getting your chair bashed. This adds to the relaxed feeling of the place and helps the costumers feel comfortable.

There is a large open plan area for for coffee tea, and cakes. This acts as both advertising and allows the user to see a lot of the things they may be be buying before ordering. This can often reassure a costumer that the place sells high quality things, and will encourage them to buy more. The positioning of the till in this counter area allows the user to realise they go up to pay.

Because the place is named a cafe, there are rules we all know, that have been taught to us from a young age, on how you behave in a place, what you do and how to put your self across. These are not things that are wrote when you walk into cafe’s, there’s no sign that tells you that you talk quietly or that you sit round a tab;e with company. These are rule’s we know. I assume there would be much more of a contrast with this and the way you would know the rules at somewhere like the casino, the next place I am going to study. I Feel right now I don’t know the “rules”, I’m nervous about going somewhere new and not knowing the etiquette. I am finding this contrast really fascinating.