1. During
a
trip
to
Italy
I
took
advantage
of
the
situation
to
practise
my
observation
skills..I
didn’t
have
to
make
a
big
effort
to
think
like
a
traveller,
I
WAS
a
traveller!
The
shops
I
tested
my
attention
on
were:
a
miscellaneous
rubber
products
shop,
a
photo
printing
shop,
a
leather-­‐products
shop,
a
collectionist
one,
a
gift/design
shop
and
a
kebab
seller.
I
noticed
the
first
shop
while
wandering
around,
I
didn’t
need
any
rubber
products,
but
the
shop
window
drew
me
closer
because
there
were
so
many
different
products
that
it
felt
like
one
of
those
child
books
where
you
have
to
find
Waldo
(or
his
equivalent)
among
a
myriad
of
objects.

2. The
personnel
was
nice
and
the
whole
shop
had
some
sort
of
vintage
vibe,
however,
it
was
subtle
rather
than
obvious,
and
I
think
they
could
take
more
advantage
of
it,
given
the
number
of
people
looking
for
vintage
items.
For
example,
since
all
the
object
were
pretty
random,
they
could
use
Ikea’s
strategy
to
display
“scenes”
to
connect
the
dots
and
help
people
visualize
how
they
could
use
such
products
in
real
life.
The
photo
printing
shop
was
a
bit
puzzling:
the
sign
outside
was
very
standard
and
not
appealing
at
all,
however
the
owner
made
somewhat
of
an
effort
to
personalize
the
inner
part,
aligning
it
in
part
with
the
emotional/personal
aspect
of
printing
photos.
As
it
can
be
seen,
there
were
(of
course)
pictures,
a
bonsai,
an
old
table
and
a
place
to
sit.
The
overall
atmosphere
was
comfortable,
although
somehow
dull.

3.
Once
again,
I
think
that
with
a
small
decorative
effort,
such
as
a
different
sign,
a
curtain
at
the
entrance,
some
colors
on
the
walls,
people
would
be
much
more
likely
to
be
drawn
in
the
shop.

4. The
experience
at
the
leather
&
bags
shop
was
less
pleasant.
Everything
in
that
shop
sent
signals
of
stiffness
and
formality.
The
door
was
closed
and
the
personnel
was
really
unhelpful.
The
place
was
clean
but
everything
was
in
its
place,
with
items
exposed
and
organized
by
color
or
category,
nothing
like
the
joyful
mess
of
the
first
shop.

5. The
collectionist
shop
was
a
gem,
the
shop
window
unassuming
displayed
few,
carefully
selected
items,
the
window
itself
was
engraved
and
old
looking.
Inside,
an
even
better
surprise
was
waiting.
The
owner
was
happy
to
talk
about
the
stories
behind
the
products
he
sold
and
I
had
a
great
time.
I
even
bought
something
although
I
didn’t
have
the
intention
to
do
so.
My
suggestion
for
the
owner
would
be
to
capitalize
on
his
people
skills,
which
didn’t
emerge
at
all
from
the
shop
external
appearance.
He
could
simply
write
“come
inside
and
learn
the
incredible
story
behind
this
piece
of
jewellry
and
the
curious
passers-­‐by
would
come
in
to
satisfy
their
curiosity,
probably
purchasing
something
on
their
way
out.

6.
The
gift
shop
was
once
again
very
different
from
the
other
shops:
loud
music
was
playing,
bright
colors
were
everywhere,
unusual
and
shiny
products
were
dished
out
on
the
tables
like
design
objects,
and
the
shop
was
CROWDED.
Most
people
had
clearly
entered
just
to
look
around
and
because
they
liked
the
place
or
were
curious
about
the
strange
products
(dollar
printed
toilet
paper,
extremely
large
phones,
toasters
that
could
impress
funny
messages
on
bread
slices
etc.
The
problem
for
this
shop
it
seemed
to
me
that
was
that
although
there
was
a
lot
of
client
passage,
the
vast
majority
would
leave
the
shop
empty
handed.
One
of
the
possible
ways
to
reduce
this
phenomenon
would
have
been
to
place
the
cashier
near
the
exit
and
some
impulse
products
next
to
it
(all
products
were
instead
quite
expensive).
As
for
the
kebab
shop,
I
don’t
know
how
well
known
are
they
in
other
countries,
but
in
Germany
and,
apparently,
Italy,
they
are
very
popular
and
basically
identical
one
to
another.
Unfortunately
a
common
feature
is
that
they
look
not
exactly
clean,
dull,
and
not
very
welcoming.
The
one
I
visited
had
white
tiles,
a
neon
sign
(inside)
very
strong
odour,
partly
from
the
food,
and
few
stools
in
front
of
a
shelf
to
eat
on.
I
understand
that
this
way
client
rotation
is
incentivated,
but
at
the
end
of
the
day
kebab
is
used
only
as
cheap/messy
food,
while
it
could
have
a
much
stronger
cultural
connotation
if
the
shops
integrated
their
points
of
sale
with
their
original
cultural
traits,
as
almost
any
ethnic
foos
seller
has
done
everywhere,
making
“going
to
eat
Indian(/Chinese/Italian)”
progressively
less
about
the
food
and
more
about
the
experience.