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Figure 4.4: A full Day in the Life model. This model shows the three primary areas of interest for travel—at
homeandworkpriortothetrip,gettingtothevacationlocation,andactivitiesduringthetripitself.Activities,
issues, and device use are shown in each location.
For example, when studying travel planning, the team saw a user pass the time waiting
for her son's swim lesson to be over by researching possible destinations on her iPhone.
This is a small, self-contained activity, easy to interrupt and easy to pick up again, which
might happen at many points throughout the day. It was brought together with other oc-
casions of quick research done while waiting. Looking at the part of the model shown in
Figure 4.5 , this insight is represented as a rectangle within the orange home bubble labeled
“. . . while waiting .” This shows that one key part of travel planning happens at moments,
with partial attention, and may be interrupted at any time. Any design should support this
context of use by being quick to pick up and get into, simple enough to work despite par-
tial attention, and hold the user's place when they are interrupted. The story text on the
model captures the essence of the user experience. The model does not attempt to cover all
instances observed—instead, it provides a characteristic example to communicate the be-
havior.
The overall structure of the Day in the Life model is designed to evoke the experience
oftime, place, andmovement. The greypanels make it immediately apparent that there are
three major contexts for the team to consider, each with its own issues: planning, which
takes place around home and work; getting to the vacation location; and enjoying the va-
cation itself—which includes planning and research, although at a lower level. The large
white arrows show that there is a flow from planning to the location and back again. The
use of space and the amount of content in each part of the model makes scanning and fo-
cusing possible. Graphic elements are deliberately selected to draw the eye to distinctions
the team wants to communicate.
We find that nearly any kind of work or life activity can use a similar structure, with
modifications based on the exact situation. The big cycle represented by the white arrows
show the flow through the day; the place and time contexts represented by the gray panels
might be home, work, and third places (offsite meetings, coffee shops, and so forth).
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