My Experience with Proxemics
In 1960, the term 'proxemics' (noun) was coined, but proxemics is not a 57 year old 'thing.' The definition of proxemics is "the branch of knowledge that deals with the amount of space that people feel it necessary to set between themselves and others." Proxemics are innate, you are born with them, however the amount of space needed is different depending on who you ask. Cultures play a big part in the amount of space individuals feel they need. Proxemics also play a crucial role in designing making it imperative that designers and designers in training, like myself, understand proxemics.
So as I have already mentioned, proxemics are innate. Babies have proxemics; If you crowd a baby, it isn't going to be happy. It may not be able to verbalize why it's not happy, but it sure knows how to scream that it isn't happy. I have an almost 3 year old niece and a one year old nephew that are prime examples that humans are innately different and they innately have a need of space. My niece was a cuddly baby, if she was tired, she would just lay down and fall asleep on your chest. My nephew wants his space, unless you're his mommy, he typically doesn't want to be held, and he will almost never just lay down and go to sleep on your chest, he will move around till he passes out on the floor (not kidding, we will literally pass out on the floor). Though he doesn't want to be still and held, he doesn't want to be alone either, if you sit next to him while he is I his high chair, he will put his foot on you just to touch you. My nieces proxemics are a small distance, she is okay being close, my nephews proxemics are a little bit of a bigger space. They were both born with a need for space, but different amounts.
Second point: Cultures play a HUGE part in learned proxemics. It may be over used as an example, or it could be just me having taken four semesters of French in high school and one French class in college, but it is a known fact that the French's need for space is much less than the Americans'. Americans in France are easy to spot because the French will come up and talk to you a foot from your face, the Americans first response is to take a step back. This step back is due to the Americans' personal proxemics feeling violated, they step back to protect their personal space, tough the French persons proxemics have not been violated. Based on the chart poster below, the French's personal space, is seen by the Americans as intimate space, making it odd when a stranger gets that close.
If proxemics are not taken into account in design and you put things too close together, or even too far apart, the design will most likely fail. The chart below shows examples of intimate, personal, social, and public space. All have their place and should be highly considered for a variety of peoples needs. Let me lay out an example of the need of proxemics in design. Take a social space, like a restaurant. You want to be social with the people you are eating with, but not with the table beside you. Designers have to consider this, while also not wasting space. This is why you see booths directly beside each other, but they have an about top of head- height wall between them, it is an example of not wasting space, while also giving groups or couples their privacy. Going back to the French example, as I have learned from my teachers/ professors who have been to France, private tables are not seen as necessary. It is more common and the 'norm' to have conversation from table to table between complete strangers, though this is due to their personal space being much smaller, it could also be due, in part, to the fact that almost no dinner goes without alcohol to some extent.
So as I have already mentioned, proxemics are innate. Babies have proxemics; If you crowd a baby, it isn't going to be happy. It may not be able to verbalize why it's not happy, but it sure knows how to scream that it isn't happy. I have an almost 3 year old niece and a one year old nephew that are prime examples that humans are innately different and they innately have a need of space. My niece was a cuddly baby, if she was tired, she would just lay down and fall asleep on your chest. My nephew wants his space, unless you're his mommy, he typically doesn't want to be held, and he will almost never just lay down and go to sleep on your chest, he will move around till he passes out on the floor (not kidding, we will literally pass out on the floor). Though he doesn't want to be still and held, he doesn't want to be alone either, if you sit next to him while he is I his high chair, he will put his foot on you just to touch you. My nieces proxemics are a small distance, she is okay being close, my nephews proxemics are a little bit of a bigger space. They were both born with a need for space, but different amounts.
Second point: Cultures play a HUGE part in learned proxemics. It may be over used as an example, or it could be just me having taken four semesters of French in high school and one French class in college, but it is a known fact that the French's need for space is much less than the Americans'. Americans in France are easy to spot because the French will come up and talk to you a foot from your face, the Americans first response is to take a step back. This step back is due to the Americans' personal proxemics feeling violated, they step back to protect their personal space, tough the French persons proxemics have not been violated. Based on the chart poster below, the French's personal space, is seen by the Americans as intimate space, making it odd when a stranger gets that close.
If proxemics are not taken into account in design and you put things too close together, or even too far apart, the design will most likely fail. The chart below shows examples of intimate, personal, social, and public space. All have their place and should be highly considered for a variety of peoples needs. Let me lay out an example of the need of proxemics in design. Take a social space, like a restaurant. You want to be social with the people you are eating with, but not with the table beside you. Designers have to consider this, while also not wasting space. This is why you see booths directly beside each other, but they have an about top of head- height wall between them, it is an example of not wasting space, while also giving groups or couples their privacy. Going back to the French example, as I have learned from my teachers/ professors who have been to France, private tables are not seen as necessary. It is more common and the 'norm' to have conversation from table to table between complete strangers, though this is due to their personal space being much smaller, it could also be due, in part, to the fact that almost no dinner goes without alcohol to some extent.
To sum this up, proxemics are innate, but also learned, and necessary to consider in design. You are born with some need of space, but cultural norms will effect how your need for space will grow or lessen. Designers need to consider that people have different needs and therefore design for a variety of people, often seen in the form of, in the example of a restaurant, booths vs. tables with chairs, chairs can be spread apart or moved together. 57 years is how long proxemics have been recognized as a 'thing,' but proxemics have been essential to life for all of life's existence.
Citations
“Definition of Proxemics by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/proxemics.
“File:Personal Spaces in Proxemics.svg.” File:Personal Spaces in Proxemics.svg - Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: Personal Spaces in Proxemics.svg.
This is really well described and I really enjoy your chart you added. It helps me visualize it better. The color of some of the tabs on your page are really hard to read such the publish button.
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