“…All have died…Only Tania is left…” and 9/11; UX not just about making it easy to use

Normal 0 false false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

Just before the 10th anniversary of the attack to the Twin Towers in New York, a mobile application appropriately named “9/11 Memorial Guide” was released. We at Infragistics are proud for our participation in the design of the user interface and visual design of this application. While I did not take on any role in the development of this application, I wanted to. I heard my colleagues working and discussing the project together with so much passion and energy, I wanted to be part of the solidarity.

However, when I tried the application, something unexpected happened. It was Tania I was thinking about. Tania Savicheva was a little girl, only 11, who died of starvation, after the rest of her family died of starvation, during the siege of Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, in 1942. She died alone and probably scared.

Using 9/11 Memorial Guide, I noticed that I was getting an understanding “beyond the history.” After all, history can sometimes just be perceived as facts when you don’t personally relate to it. With this application, I was actually getting into the lives of those who died and the lives around them. When I visited the memorial for the siege of Leningrad, the interaction learning about it was very simple:  display cases, some artifacts, photos and Tania’s handwritten papers. Yet, it stirred something inside me. Her handwriting took me so close to her that I could even imagine her voice, her laugh, her innocence, and even more how lonely she was. It got me close to the tragedy, to her, to the story. That history has become part of me.

It made me question how it is possible that humans have so many times betrayed each other. Is it just to take something they want without regard for L-I-F-E. Why has there been so much pain over differences between race or creed or the many other exquisite attributes that make us all so unique?

It is impossible not to think about how unfair 9/11 has been on everyone. Ironically, there have been so many tragedies affecting human history, many tragedies are simply overlooked or forgotten over time.

I think that UX, together with technology, could play a key role in the way we perceive history - and how we relate to it. I think that many users of the “9/11 application” will have a better understanding of what happened. Newer generations will not just know what happened but will feel what happened when getting “as close to the victims” as this application allows, as in my case with Tania.

That leaves me with hope for the future. Perhaps this application will help people understand each other better. It could help us not betray each other, help us have an appreciation for our differences. In other words, solidarity in that User eXperience that we all are part of called L-I-F-E.