T Talk : a local communication channel for subway riders

Abstract

The goal of T Talk, is to utilize the tens of minutes of subway waiting time everyday as an opportunity for reading and appreciation of the complexity and diversity of the city, and developing an awareness of and social support from the subway riding community. T Talk is an open, asynchronous, and anonymous communication channel designed specifically for subway riders. T Talk consists of three major components for users participation: a kiosk installed on subway platforms for riders to post new messages and browse/reply to messages left by others; an in-house produced daily newspaper whose contents are the collection of messages and replies submitted during the previous day; an SMS server that enables riders to post and reply to messages without the constraint of time and space. This thesis details the iterations of design and implementation of T Talk, a complete description on the nine-session user study I conducted, and lessons learned during the process.