Safety Video with a UX Surprise!

Being a frequent flyer, I typically do one of the two things once I board the flight. Either I immediately go off to sleep as I most of the times have a piled up backlog of sleep or I turn on the entertainment system if there is one to catch up on some movies. With all due respect to the need to know the safety process, I hardly remember paying any attention to the same lately. 

Recently when I traveled by Qatar airlines, however I was in for a pleasant surprise. These guys have some kind of an alliance with FCB which is Football Club Barcelona. To be frank I had no idea what FCB meant. But my son knew it when I mentioned this to him later and also that they wear jersey that has Qatar Airways on it.



The kind of film on safety instructions these guys have come up with is so interesting and visually appealing to watch, I watched it all 4 times during my 4 flights :) The relation they drew with football and safety procedures was just awesome. For e g a player getting a call on field and everyone reminding him to switch it off, embracing the lower position in case one feels uncomfortable linked to penalty shootout, red card shown to smoking and so on. The best was the ladies gasping for breath when they see their favorite handsome FCB player waving to them, and the process of putting the oxygen mask explained!




This is where you can see it yourself without flying by Qatar airways.


Isn't this what user experience all about. Making things as dry as the safety instructions meaningful. Kudos to the team who conceptualized it.

I am really excited about the future of learning, the way the online learning is being gamified, the apps that are coming up for kids to learn various subjects through simulations including 3D, I feel happy days lie ahead for our smarter next generation!

Can't resist writing about TCS Game On before closing the blog. It was a game development contest held by TCS for college students. 

The students created some serious games and those sound very interesting. The future is bright indeed!

#WT20 2016 Memoirs

Lots of memories of this #WT20

Scene 1: I am in Amsterdam for a workshop in that week. Planned an outing to Rotterdam with a few colleagues. After we roamed around the place through the day and had a lot of fun, we sit in a train to take us back to Amsterdam. I get the wi fi signal and Whatsapp home. No one has time to talk to me, India Pakistan match time! I also switch to ESPN cric info app and ensure that my colleagues and others on the train get a ball to ball commentary whether they want to hear or not! A colleague whom I only met that day looks at me with eyes that say, "Do u STILL follow cricket? Really! Isn't it time to grow up for you." But I don't care and continue till India wins the match. By then people at home are also free and we talk (mostly about the match again!)



Scene 2: I am in Munich for a presentation. The day I arrive in Munich, the unfortunate Brussels incident happened. As I was done with my work and looked at tv in the hotel, I could find only 2 English channels, BBC and CNN who were only talking about the Brussels attack. The images disturbing and the "I could have been there as well" feeling that I get into after I hear about any terrorist attack dragged me further down. Stumbled upon my cricket app and suddenly read that India won by one run with Bangladesh. Curious to find more, browsed and found out about the magical last over n run out. Impressed! Cricket is indeed a drug to forget our worries temporarily.



Scene 3: I am back home, and have seen the Mauka Mauka ad before India Australia match. I have a great company of my kids, happy to have my daughter as well join the party. Last year she was getting bored and fighting for changing the channels. Kids are growing up, I say to myself. I am rooting for India to win, others though want the same are skeptical. The match turns out awesome to watch, I shout my heart out forgetting about upcoming presentations where I need to speak. Kohli shines again and my son searches in his cupboard for an old Virat t-shirt that he used to have.
We are flooded with Whatsapp messages about Dhoni and Kohli and you know who.



Scene 4: match against West Indies and we get into a discussion about how West Indies is not a country but a group of islands. My son says in Central America and I am puzzled! I was unaware and express my doubts. My son is pretty confident and asks for a bet on it. I deny doubting my own belief and we see the map! Oops it's indeed in Central America. India loses the match and I talk about being a sport and we may end losing things in life, but we need to accept it in stride. My daughter declares her boredom of listening to this lecture through yawning. My son is listening or at least pretending to listen to me. I guess he has picked this from his father :)

Scene 5: final match. We watch in between as India is not playing. We all root for West Indies specially for their sportsmanship, and my kids love them from IPL matches. The last over is mesmerizing, a perfect example of "I can do that", "never say never", and "never give up, believe yourself" attitude. We are awed and kids also join in the West Indies team as they dance to the champions team. Work hard, party harder!!