Seminar II: Photo Essay

In the first picture, there is an ATM. There were many interactions with this object. One interaction was with a woman, she was on the phone while she was at the ATM. There was one man behind her and I noticed that he was a few feet away from her. He was either giving her privacy, personal space or both. While this was happening Rosie and I were also waiting behind this man to use the ATM. I noticed that there were people rushing so much that they didn’t even bother to move around, if they were going straight they would go in between the line with no bother at all. No “excuse me,” they would just go there way. I also noticed that the ATM had dividers on each side for privacy. Most ATMs that I have seen around New York don’t have those dividers. It’s common sense to know that they are for privacy, but it also made me wonder if it had these dividers because it was in the World Trade Center. Did the location have an impact on how these ATMs were displayed? I think that location does play a role because the Oculus is crowded with people, it could be hard to make sure that everyone there was respecting your privacy. I think that it makes it much easier for users of the ATM to feel comfortable. Focusing on the users, I don’t believe that this specific object is a target to one specific group. Anyone can use it from people who are New Yorkers to tourists visiting at the Oculus. However, I do believe that there are people who usually use this ATM. The people who work at the Oculus, most probably use it regularly, whether it be depositing their paychecks or taking out money. The ATM is one system that has an impact on other systems. It has an impact on the work system because of the reasons said before. It has an impact on the economy, which is a much greater system.

In the second picture, there is a sign of all the available trains. There are 10 different trains that go directly into the Oculus. The environment of the train station was relatively cleaner than most train stations in New York. Due to this, I was forced to ask the same question as the ATM, does location play a role in how the train is displayed? My answer stays the same, location does play a role. I believe that because the Oculus is in the World Trade Center and it is a huge tourist attraction it has to hold a certain appeal to people. It has to look presentable and clean in order to get people to visit and come back to see it. Additionally, having the train pass directly in the Oculus makes it much easier for people, especially in the cold and bad weather. People do not have to go outside to have access to a train, they can simply stay inside. This is also easier for people that work in the Oculus. They just have to take the train and nothing more. The train is a system in itself meaning there is working behind it. People have to pay a fair of 2.75 to get into the station. If they need to take more than one train, they can have access to a free transfer or they have to walk to a new station. There are many different interactions at the train station. There are a lot of people that are in groups, that ask people for directions because they are tourists. Then there are a lot of people that rush or run towards the train to catch it on time. In addition, some people get frustrated when their MetroCard isn’t working or if they miss their train.

 

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