The image on the left is from the information plaque (see below) at the new MH shopping center and supermarket in downtown Suva. Absolutely nothing is labelled on the center floor map. I am not sure what it's real purpose is. It appears to be nothing more then a token gesture of trying to provide information on the various floors of the new center. Given not all shops and floors are open yet, it may only be a temporary placement. I sincerely hope it really is only temporary. In the meantime, I reckon the sign on the plaque should read, "Information: for building architects only".
If the function of this plaque is to inform the shoppers and visitors to the center about what to find where, then the form isn't designed to function as such.
On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by the smart and sophisticated shopping center upstairs. It seems to me a little piece of Myers/David Jones/Farmers put together. It is well lit, smartly laid out, with decent range of goods on offer. The staff seem to be friendly and ready to help as my wife and I discovered when shopping for a baby pram. The only drawback is the louder then normal music that constantly plays in the background. The music is always some stupid Hindi or Western pop. I would much prefer a soft elevator music that doesn't get in the way of differing tastes. In this case if the form is meant to be a smart, sophisticated shopping experience then the music is definitely not helping.
The supermarket on the ground floor is in sharp contrast to shopping experience upstairs. It isn't laid out well at all. I get the feeling they tried to cram everything in limited space. Some of the aisles are definitely not wide enough for two trolleys. Check out experience is absolutely slow! The first three times, I only ventured to buy 2 or 3 items, but I had to wait at least half an hour to checkout. The line wasn't long, but the shoppers ahead of me, all for some reason seemed to be buying a $5 Vodafone recharge voucher. The cashier had to leave the checkout counter to a central counter which housed all the Eftpos and Vodafone voucher terminals. How stupid is that! If I were the floor manager, I'd create a separate kiosk to handle such customers. If you've ever experienced the shopping at MH Superfresh in Tamavua, you'll see what I mean.
I didn't set out to review MH shopping experience in this post, so I'll stop now. The idea was really to discuss form and function, so here are a couple of articles that expand on the phrase:
