Most would probably agree that the new Westfield complex on Pitt St mall Sydney is bright, shiny, and very stylish. It's choc-a-block with designer label stores - small on stock and very large on price.
I'm not quite sure who's shopping there. Most of it would be a bit rich for your average Sydney office worker. Perhaps it's the tourists.
But regardless of whether you're actually buying, you probably want to navigate to stores of interest rather than aimlessly wandering and being blinded by the floor tiles.
So what do you do? You proceed to the nearest directory. Not wanting premature blindness, that's what I did.
I was expecting a large board with a colour-coded, numbered store list to be cross referenced on a map sporting a "You are here" sticker.
This traditional form of directory has been supplanted with a touch screen. You select your store or category after which a graphic figure shows the directions to walk through the virtual shopping centre.
It was all very swish but there is a definite downside. Only one person can use this electronic directory at any one time. The traditional directory can accommodate as many people as can stand in front of it simultaneously.
Do people really sit around thinking up new technology just to replace manual systems without identifying extra value or the benefit to be had? Do they say to themselves "that's nice but if I applied technology it would be cool". The sad thing is, apparently so.
Technology is supposed to be an enabler - making things more accessible, not less! If you want to be both cool and accessible, perhaps an iphone app to supplement a traditional directory would be a better idea.
Whoever that geek was - why did Westfield listen to them?
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