www.rejseplanen.dk

Rejseplanen.dk is a website that helps you get around in Denmark and is very handy when it comes to Copenhagen. The search engine provides you with detailed information on where to get on the bus/metro/train, how much the ride is, how long it takes etc. .

I like to have some kind of help to get around in a foreign town as it takes away some uncertainty. Additionally, the map visualization helps me to build a mental model of the necessary parts of a foreign city.

Gas oven

The place where I stay during the summer school is equipped with a gas oven instead of the electrical one I am used to from my apartment.

There are several points that I don’t like about the interface of this oven:

• The knob to turn on the oven is almost identical to the knobs for the stove which requires some experimenting to find the right one (reminds me of Donald Norman’s “The design of everyday things”…)
• In order to turn on the oven you have to turn the knob to the left, push it inwards, hold a lighter above one of the holes in the bottom of the oven and then wait some seconds to stabilize the flame until you can finally adjust the knob to the desired position.
• The labels around the knob are only stating numbers between 1 and 8 instead of temperatures which requires some guess work to find the right temperature unless you have a special thermometer.
• The light in the oven needs to be switched on separatly.

CityMaps2Go

CityMaps2Go is an offline mapping solution and enables you to get from A to B with the help of your Smartphone without using cellular network. As aforementioned, I like to create a mental representation of how to get from A to B thus interactive map representations with live tracking come in handy. In case I get lost on one of my exploration trips I always have a safety net that helps me to get back on track.