In looking at Dave’s site while pulling together thoughts on MeshForum, I came across his fantastic post regarding transitions in physical spaces, such as buildings. Dave:
“The experience of entering a building influences the way you feel inside the building. If the transition is too abrupt there is no feeling of arrival, and the inside of the building fails to be a sanctum.
While people are on the street, they adopt a style of “street behavior.” When they come into a house they naturally want to get rid of this street behavior and settle down completely into the more intimate spirit appropriate to a house. But it seems likely that they cannot do this unless there is a transition from one to the other which helps them to lose the street behavior. The transition must, in effect, destroy the momentum of the closedness, tension and “distance” which are appropriate to street behavior, before people can relax completely.”
Is it just me, or does this also feel similar in many ways to the idea behind progressive disclosure in interface design, or progressive trust in relationship building?
Bonus term: Intimacy Gradient
(Edited to add: I think I’ll use the word “sanctum” more often. It’s a good word, and perhaps underappreciated.)