In this fifth post in our series, Dogs on Design, Raleigh Pop blogger Sarah F. Cox sat down with designer Michael Surtees, an interaction designer at Behavior. They talked about how humans behave on the web and how dogs behave in the park.
I'm trying to ask Michael Surtees serious questions about his design critique of the mobile application Foursquare, but I'm a bit distracted. His weimaraner, Madison, keeps trying to crawl into his lap. We are seated on a bench in Washington Square Park at 9 am on a hot August Saturday and the slanted sun is already starting to bake sunbathers while some sort of work-out club is lunging and lifting in the shade. The park is a mid-point in one of the shorter walking routes Surtees and Madison take down Fifth Avenue. For a longer walk, they'll head north on Park Avenue to 42nd Street and loop back south to 23rd Street en route to the apartment. "What I like about that walk is that the sidewalks are wide, washed daily, and I get to observe Grand Central Station for several blocks." As a Canadian import, Surtees is still struck by New York icons after four years here. "While I live pretty close to the Empire State Building I never take it for granted. It's pretty rare for me not to stop at a light on Fifth Avenue, look up to that building and smile. That this is my normal view walking Madison."
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