Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Final Post...For Now

1. What seminar readings, exercises, or assignments were most challenging, interesting, or rewarding for you? Why?

I really enjoyed working on three projects in particular: the Wikipedia Article, the group presentation, and the final argumentative essay paper. These projects were the most challenging that our class had this term, and I felt that they, more than anything, allowed me to develop and utilize college-level skills. The group presentation was fun because of the variety of opinions and experiences that our group brought together. It was challenging, but our ideas melded well in the end for a fairly polished final product. The Wikipedia article, like Dave said, forced us to implement a different writing style than is standard for most papers. The argumentative essay was an interesting project as well because of the opportunity to express strong opinion.

2. What are the most important things you learned in this seminar?

I learned a good deal about my own writing and design process. I think I've learned how I should go about improving the mechanical aspects of my writing and presentations. For instance, my best work comes when I do it a week or so in advance with lots of quiet time to reflect on it.

3. How might you use this learning in the future?

I am going to apply the skills I've learned in this seminar to how I study and write in the future.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Behavioral Architecture

1. What are examples of architectural design that you consider to be epic failures?

There is a community college in Centreville, MI with an absolutely terrible design. The building is built into a hill with a long hall leading up to a massive set of stairs. The stairs, a hideous blend of concrete, wind up into the center of an enormous concourse/student area. The concourse is larger than any other part of the school and is hideous. It is one huge open room with no visceral appeal and no private places to study or relax. The classrooms are set back into four tower-like "wings" at the corners of the concourse. They are inconvenient to reach because there are no entrances besides through the concourse. The building does not allow for easy or desirable expansion and suffers from structural issues (leaks, shifting walls, etc).

2. Choose a building on K's campus and analyze its behavioral and visceral usability.

Stetson Chapel is a really cool building on campus. It has an extremely attractive, antiquated feel with a neat bell-tower. The brick construction is very pretty, and the windows are neat. Stetson has a large seating capacity, and so is appropriate for some student functions. The building is also acoustically well-designed and so functions well for concerts.

3. What is the flaw in the current design process? How could this problem be fixed?

The flaw in the current design process has to do with a lack of communication. Owners and contractors cannot seem to communicate desires properly to each other. It results in finished products falling short of desired results. Were the strictures of relationship loosened, the program schedules changed, the flow of design would improve 100-fold.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Advertising

1. "Focusing on individuals or groups of individuals in test studies frequently concludes that advertising plays no significant role in decision making. An examination of advertising as a cultural phenomenon, on the other hand, suggests something quite different, a conclusion that might explain why revenues for advertising keep growing and why businesses continue to advertise."

This passage begins to rationalize, I think, a question I find very unclear: why is advertising so important if its affects are so unclear? The author then goes on to describe advertising's power, how it reaches into our psyche and preys upon, well, our greed.

2. First, the author defines advertising. The author then describes the subliminal power of advertising and contends repeatedly that it works despite a lack of concrete supporting evidence. He describes advertising basically as one cog in a machine of commercial selling power. His final point is that our culture revolves around the television, and so television advertising subliminally affects us all, "what television does is deliver audiences to advertisers."

3. Advertising is a psychological ploy in the first place: it is an elaborate game in which the advertiser must simultaneously entertain and inform while disguising the fact that it is trying to do so. An advertiser who does not understand the psychology of what they are trying to accomplish will come across as inexperienced and crass.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Thesis Statement

Downtown areas should emulate malls to increase appeal and maintain a sustainable and vibrant retail community.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Fashion Design

1. Why is fashion so reflective, when it could be purely functional and behavioral? (Why do people feel an impulse to express and redefine themselves through their clothes?

Humans choose to redesign themselves with fashion (clothing, hairstyles, etc) because it is an easy, extremely visible way to make yourself unique. All of us want our sense of style to reflect things about us, what we do, with whom we friend ourselves. Fashion does that: it reflects and enhances our projected image to others.
Fashion makes it easy to express and redefine ourselves because of its variety and visual appeal. People make thousands of judgments based on appearance, and fashion is a tool that attempts to frame those judgments, to put them in a narrow field. Thus, fashion fills a desire manipulate others' view of us.

2. Jones discusses the importance of time as it relates to fashion--why does fashion change and evolve, instead of remaining static and functional?

Fashion's evolution is derived partly from our need to differentiate from others as discussed above. In our desire to be unique, we move beyond the fashions of our predecessors and create new "looks." Fashion changes to reflect cultural swings. Looking at the past two decades in women's fashion, we see marked changes to showcase strong, smart, independent women. This is a direct result of how women would like to be seen in the modern era.

3. Based on the reading, make a checklist of principles to consider when designing a garment.

Fashion Checklist
1. Social context/affiliation: With regards to price, and style, in what class does this garment place a person? Does it denote authority or status? Does it say something about the wearer's background or preferences? About what they do in their spare time? About their status among peers?
2. Psychological self-enhancement: I think this is important because if fashion does not first convince the wearer of "self-enhancement," it fails to sell. I own many articles of clothing that lend me that sense of self enhancement, like some of my American Eagle shirts or my orange Nike shoes.
3. Fit: For some kinds of clothing, fit is everything. For instance, I will only purchase jeans with a very specific cut. There is a limited selection that match the style I wish to convey and feel good while doing it.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Thesis Analysis



1. "Make it simple and people won't buy. Given a choice, they will take the item that does more."
2. "Why such expensive toasters? Why all the buttons and controls on steering wheels and rear-view mirrors? Because they appear to add features that people want to have."
"But while at the store, I marveled at the advance complexities of all appliances, especailly ones that once upon a time were quite simple..."
"Why even more controls? I asked my contact at Siemens, "when you could make this machine with only one or two?"
"Are you one of those people who wants to give up control, who thinks less is better?" asked this usability expert. "Don't you want to be in control?"
3. Given the choice between two similar products, one complex and one simplified, today's consumer is smart enough to choose the simple design.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Downtown Evaluation

1. Downtown Kalamazoo is an area with much potential. The strengths of the downtown lie in its variety and individuality. Stores like Gazelle Sports and Climb Kalamazoo generate visitor traffic. The downtown's proximity to the Radisson Hotel offers visitors some nice places to shop and/or eat. Downtown Kalamazoo's problems arise from a few factors: the area's one-way streets can be confusing and thus deterring, and the area is known to be suffering economically. While generally a nice place to be, downtown Kalamazoo is not extremely successful as a business area.

2.
a) Even more stores, more variety. The area has many successful generators, but as many of us noticed while walking downtown, there is a lot of empty space. Kalamazoo needs renters.
b) Kids spend money, try to appeal to them! There are some aspects of the area that my generation enjoys, but certainly not enough. The area could take a few hints from Gibbs' ideas about urban space and let in some mall-like businesses.
c) Kalamazoo needs to use the downtown mentality in its favor and sell lifestyle. Presently, boutiques far outweigh any other kind of store. Sure, these are nice to have, but they are not generators, and they do not actually sell a high-class lifestyle. Kalamazoo needs more stores with expensive wares that cater to the upper-middle class.

3. From Lagerfeld's writing: "As Gibbs sees it, Clematis Street is fighting the same problem that a lot of other American main streets are: it doesn't have a purpose anymore. During the 1920s it connected the train station, on the west end of town, with the ferry to Palm Beach, on the east end. But after two bridges, on either side of town, began funneling traffic around Clematis, its fate was sealed. The Woolworth's, the McCrory's, and the Sears, Roebuck all continued to prosper for a while, but business inevitably followed the cars."
One of the problems with Kalamazoo's downtown is that save for purposeful guests, the roads there have little or no purpose. The main thoroughfare runs past the downtown, but it does not slow enough to provide retailers a chance to draw traffic in. The highways around Kalamazoo unfortunately do very well at funneling traffic all around downtown. The area is relatively isolated from all the other major retail centers (South Westnedge, West Main, etc).

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Whyte vs Gibbs...AND EGGS

1. To what extent do Whyte and Gibbs approach city design from different perspectives? Do you find one more convincing than the other?

Gibbs approach to city design is very sterile. His premise of a successful city focuses on things like easily-navigable streets and car traffic. Gibbs approach feels unnatural to me. In fact, his approach seems to take some of the personality out of a city. Whyte's ideas seem far more organic. While he recommends city planning, he approaches it in a way that allows for much more autonomy. A city following Whyte's model can be clean, safe, and feel unique.

2. What elements of an urban area are particularly attractive to you? What elements repel you?

I love an urban area with unique and accessible food. A restaurant with a good reputation can draw me to an area. I also love the reflective aspect of a city. There is a great feeling that accompanies walking and shopping around downtown Chicago.
I do not enjoy cities with a "sudden" downtown area, one that starts, and more importantly, ends rapidly. Urban areas that feel dead also repel me. Visiting St. Louis, I felt as though everything was closed. There was almost nothing to do, nowhere to really shop.


Egg Package
My egg package design partner was Beth Farwell. We decided to build a small, economical package with cute decorations. The package we used had some minor crumple zones on the sides (this was not enough to protect the egg from a 2-story drop) and we used play-doh and cotton "spider-webbing."
Our package did not survive the fall, unfortunately. We presume that our egg would have survived a smaller drop. It was also clearly the cutest package.

Here is a link to Beth's blog: http://bethfarwell.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

City

1. What do you feel were the author's key points in this chapter?

I think the author's key point is that city needs design. While chaos and disorder are essential parts of a city experience, they need to planned. Things that make a city a successful place, like traffic (foot and otherwise) flow, shopping and food, and attractive layout, can all be laid out and controlled.

2. Compare Whyte's ideas on design to Norman's concepts that we studied earlier. What's similar? What's different?

Norman's ideas of design focused around three categories of design appeal, visceral, behavioral, and reflective. All of these ideas are found in in Whyte's reading: visceral design is found in his statements about successful businesses with shock value (Icarus, etc). Behavioral design is, of course, found in his description of street workings and trash cans. In the design of streets he uses some of Norman's principles, but in reverse. Whyte advocates the creation of crowd, of slowing people down and delaying them, practices that Norman would probably believe overly-manipulative. I think he would agree with Norman as regards trash cans. He talks extensively about affordances the trash cans in New York. Their design provides passers-by with many opportunities for varied use, almost none of it relating to waste disposal, and even goes so far as to recommend adding a ledge for shoelace-tying. Reflective design would vary extensively for both writers. Norman's subject matter deals with products that must sell some reflective appeal to consumers. I would argue that cities must hold some inherent reflective value for people. Consumers must want to be seen shopping or eating in the city, they want to feel part of the community no matter which aspect of it they try to fit in.

3. Create a checklist, based on Whyte's chapter, that could be used to analyze an urban area.

1. Are buildings laid out well? According to Whyte, they must be flush with the sidewalk to provide a city environment.
2. Are there displays in the windows of shops and stores along the street frontage? This is necessary for a city shopping experience. Consumers, particularly women, want to window-shop in this environment.
3. The sidewalk should be a very particular size. Whyte prescribes 15-25 feet depending on the region of city.
4. Are passers-by slowed enough by design? Successful retail needs delay. Trees, seating and other amenities, and well-designed entrance ways facilitate delay.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

What Main Street Can Learn from the Mall

1. List the criteria Robert Gibbs uses to evaluate a Main Street.

1. Does the street lend itself to commercial success? Is it easy to navigate? Is the right-turn tendency ALWAYS maintained?
2. Is the street clean? Easy to keep clean?
3. Is the street safe? Is it well-lit? Does it give patrons a sense of security?
4. Are stores, restaurants, and other destinations situated where they belong?

2. Think critically of Gibb's argument. Do you think "Main Street" should be a mall?

I tend to disagree with Gibb's assessment. I live in a small, relatively rural town with a beautiful downtown area that has been irrelevant for decades. The only way to bring people downtown is to provide a space they are comfortable shopping and moving through. The affordances that make malls a desirable place to shop also provide a main street with its personality and attraction. In that sense, I think that main streets should possess mall-like qualities. Unlike malls, however, a main street should retain more individuality and personality than Gibbs tends to give them. Sure, the main street should appeal to shoppers and tourists, but it is also a place where locals go. Give them a town they can love.
Gibbs believes strongly that a main street needs to sell its soul to national retail to be successful. One some level, this must be a successful tactic, but I'm not convinced it's the right way to do things.

3. Make your own checklist to judge a Main Street. What things do you think are important?

1. I think it is important that a main street possess an undefinable character, an attitude. Whether it gains this through a single, unified theme or through individual efforts, it is a necessary intangible for any successful downtown.
2. Main streets should be more than just an avenue for travel. If they will truly be a shopping, eating, and enjoyable destination, they have to act like it. In the spirit of behaving like a mall, they must draw traffic to them rather than through them. Along this same line of thought, a main street should be more than just a car thoroughfare. It should be readily and enjoyably walked. Everyone who visits, be they tourists or locals, should be comfortable and even excited with the prospect of walking downtown.
3. Food. In my opinion, good food is a big part of what will endear people, both local and visiting, to a downtown area. Good food is not a nationwide chain found in every major city, it is unique, authentic, and fresh. Good food will keep people returning and enjoying main street.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Packaging

1. To what extent is packaging important in marketing a product? Give an example of how a package influenced your decision to buy (or not buy) something.

In my opinion, packaging lends an advance taste to a product, the opportunity to preview. I'm not sure that packaging is one of the most important facets of marketing; however, I believe, as the second article stated, that a product's packaging carries much of the "brand promise." The brand promise is the guarantee that a product makes, the need or desire it will fulfill.
Food packaging is very influential to me. I like to eat "visually" almost as much as I do literally. Candy in particular tends to have strongly influential packaging. I generally pick a snack based on what the packaging represents.

2. What other products have iconic packaging?

The Pringles container is extremely recognizable and represents a tasty and beloved brand.

3. What usability issues exist for packaging? Give examples of particularly good or bad packaging from a usability perspective.
Product packaging must be durable yet easily opened. This is difficult because ease of opening might compromise the package's stability. On the other hand, some packaging is excessively durable. For example, as a child, I loved to purchase action figures. Unfortunately, G.I. Joes and other such toys were wrapped in layer upon layer of the stiffest, sharpest-edged plastic one could imagine. It took many frustrating minutes to open and prepare the toy for assembly. Is it really necessary to wrap the plastic toys in so much packaging? I think it was a bad package design.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Gazelle Sports

1. I observed Gazelle Sports in downtown Kalamazoo. The store markets to runners and other endurance-sport athletes.

2.
a. Gazelle Sports is situated in the attractive downtown mall of Kalamazoo. The outside of the store has many long, thin windows. In the windows are decorative displays of merchandise. The store face is a slate-blue color.
b. The store plays fairly energetic, modern music over their sound system.
c. While there is a lot of merchandise in the store, it is well spaced. Shoes, the the store's specialty, are displayed largely on the walls. Gazelle's sporting clothes and other items are generally displayed on racks or tables. These have a wooden theme.
d. The floors are hardwood to match the general theme of the store through the center, carpets to the side.
e. The store utilizes bright, eye-catching posters, usually depicting runners in action or popular brand designs.
f. The cashiers area is located behind a long counter. When you enter the store, the counter is to the front and right.

3. Gazelle Sports conveys a very active, quick-thinking attitude with a personal touch. The store is small and items are laid out in a clearly-marked areas (menswear, womens, etc) to facilitate the easy-finding of merchandise. The store does not carry a huge selection of items; I think this is because they have a very specific clientele in mind and cater almost exclusively to them.
4. Gazelle Sports is primarily a running shoe store. The store's associates are trained to assist customers in finding the perfect shoe, and so patrons are encouraged to interact with the staff. There are many places to sit and try shoes. When you try a pair of shoes, your attending staff member will probably encourage you to take a quick jog around the store.
5. I thought that the store has an excellent business model. They do not cater to high volumes of customers, but are small and depend on repeat business and satisfied patrons. My sister purchases all of her running shoes from Gazelle Sports and would go nowhere else. It was interesting to note the wooden floors and some of the "old-Kalamazoo" features of the store.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

New Wikipedia Topic

Here is the address to the current Wikipedia article on my topic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Antarctic_Expedition

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Science of Shopping

1. What points from this article do you feel are most important?

Drawing the connection between the human psyche and human shopping decisions is the focal goal of this article. For example, the first major point in the article deals with our tendency to turn right when entering a store and retailers' attempt to exploit that tendency. We humans are creatures of habit, easily predicted, and Paco Underhill - and the article's author - recognize that beautifully.

2. How much do you personally feel you are influenced by a store's design?

I have never thought of myself as being influenced by a store's design, however I must now consider how I am subliminally affected by retailers' tactics. Do I always turn right? Perhaps. In what stores am I likely to penetrate beyond "Zone 3" or "4?" Certain stores do affect how I approach a shopping trip. When I enter Best Buy, many of the things I am most interested in - interestingly enough many items that are relatively expensive - are placed conveniently along the right-hand path.

3. Make a check-list you could use to analyze a retail store like Paco Underhill does.

1. Layout - The store needs to plan its' zones carefully. A "decompression" zone to begin, low-impact items next, zones of impulse items in the middle of the store, and behind all these "demand" items.
2. Use of space - As mentioned in the article, space is essential to create a particular shopping environment. Space must facilitate how customer's move through a store and how they view items.
3. Sales Associate Training - Although obvious, this is perhaps often neglected or done poorly. I am a thousand times more likely to purchase a product if I am well-attended by a sales attendant.
4. Attitude - Your store must reflect an attitude and mannerism that caters to a given clientele. Certain stores (Hollister, Calvin Klein) excel at selling an attitude to their customers. The space in which they sell reflects that attitude, and it is a winning strategy.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Web Design That Sucks

1. How does this reading relate to the concept of user-focused design that we have discussed in class?

As the author points out in the beginning of his piece, the only reason for your web site's existence (and thus its design) is to solve a customer's problem. This is exactly the driving principle behind any product design. The product exists only to fill a niche in the market, to fulfill some customers' desire.
A good web designer recognizes that, like consumer products, a web site must include affordances, good mapping, and an easily-recognized purpose.

2. What points do you feel are most important?

Point 2, A Man from Mars can't figure out what your web site is about in less than four seconds.
A web site's purpose is to display a given quantity of information in a condensed, easy-to-read format. I am immediately intimidated by a web-site with no clear purpose and lacking a sense of direction.

Point 8, concerning Mystery Meat Navigation. Buttons and links without labels aggravate me. How am I supposed to find what I need? Are the buttons unimportant? What if the ONLY thing I'm looking for is simply unlabeled?

3. Create your own list of important design factors for a webpage.

1. Clarity: A good website is uncluttered. It has few, if any extraneous materials. Advertising is carefully placed and kept out of the way of important content. There is plenty of white or otherwise high-contrast space to keep the viewer's eyes focused on important information. Simple sites look better!

2. Accesibility: I feel that at a good website, you are between 1 and 3 clicks away from almost all vital information. If you intend some feature of your site to help a visitor, it should be very easily accessible. This precludes lengthy lists of information and unlabeled links.

3. Time: This relates closely to the last point; imagine that someone has only five minutes to get on your website, find what they need, then leave. Can do they do it (or at least come close)? This obviously does not apply to web pages like the Common Application's site, where the user must commit hours of work. However, even for sites like www.commonapp.org it is important that a user be able to access their work in expedited fashion.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Wikipedia: The Know-It-All

1. What do you think are the author's main points in this article?

I think that Schiff's basic summation is that while a fascinating experiment, Wikipedia is not to be particularly trusted. The site has merits, among them its ability to include many, many points of view in its articles, but most of its merits work against its credibility in some way as well.

2. An important part of credible writing is selecting good supporting evidence. Select a passage from this article that illustrates the effective use of supporting detail. Explain why you think it is particularly effective.

"Wikipedia may be the world’s most ambitious vanity press. There are two hundred thousand registered users on the English-language site, of whom about thirty-three hundred—fewer than two per cent—are responsible for seventy per cent of the work. The site allows you to compare contributors by the number of edits they have made, by the number of articles that have been judged by community vote to be outstanding (these “featured” articles often appear on the site’s home page), and by hourly activity, in graph form. A seventeen-year-old P. G. Wodehouse fan who specializes in British peerages leads the featured-article pack, with fifty-eight entries. A twenty-four-year-old University of Toronto graduate is the site’s premier contributor. Since composing his first piece, on the Panama Canal, in 2001, he has written or edited more than seventy-two thousand articles."

This article states a potentially controversial opinion, that "Wikipedia may the world's most ambitious vanity press," then the author supports that claim with figures from the site itself. The figures are astonishingly weighted to favor the author's opinion.

3. Throughout the article, the author compares Wikipedia to the Encyclopedia Britannica, but not specifically on design. How would you compare the two encyclopedias from a design perspective?

Both encyclopedias are immense "volumes," but Wikipedia is far more vast. Its design is far more nested than Britannica's; it cross-references to itself far more often. In fact, linking one Wikipedia to another is highly encouraged. In this way, the site can be overwhelming and unrefined. Britannica contains a huge body of material, but it is laid out in a very linear fashion. The design is straight-forward and easy to reference. Wikipedia's nature does not lend itself to an easily-referenced source. It is a crude and unfortunately unreliable source that can change literally at a whim. Britannica has the advantage of years of legitimate background research and peer review.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Wiki Article

I am thinking about expanding a stub about ancient Egyptian chariotry. I will be checking the library and other online sources for information about the history and design of chariots in ancient Egypt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariotry_in_ancient_Egypt

Organization And Preparation

1. What do you think are the author's three most important points?

1st point: Be prepared. The more time put into preparation, the better the presentation.
2nd point: Be purposeful. Fill your presentation with relevant, pertinent information, not garbage.
3rd point: Connect with your audience. Do your 'homework,' be aware of "why you were asked" to be there.

2. How might you apply his advice to your own presentation?

I will certainly be prepared and practiced. I will try to understand exactly what is desired of the presentation and to connect with my audience.

3. What do you think presentation has in common with design?

I am very interested, in light of recent experience, in the design of medical instrumentation. The factors that must be considered when designing instrumentation are legion. how readily must the instrument be usable? Where must it fit? Can it be handled properly? Comfortably? Is it durable? Can it be distinguished from other similar instruments. Surgeons can be very, very frustrated when their equipment does not function absolutely perfectly or they are handed the wrong instrument.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Guts of Design...Visceral Qualities

1. Select a brief passage from Chapter Three of Emotional Design by Donald Norman and post it on your blog. Explain why you thought it was interesting.

"At the visceral level, physical features-look, feel, and sound-dominate. Thus, a master chef concentrates on presentation, arranging food artfully on the plate. Here good graphics, cleanliness, and beauty play a role. Make the car door feel firm and produce a pleasant chunking sound as it closes. Make the exhaust sound of the Harley Davidson motorcycle have a unique, powerful rumble. Make the body sleek, sexy, inviting, such as the classic 1961 Jaguar roadster of figure 3.2 Yes, we love sensuous curves, sleek surfaces, and solid, sturdy objects."

I particularly relate to the visceral appeal of "feel." I love my laptop because of how it feels: light yet dense, a generally smooth texture with wonderfully "tappy" keys. I am drawn to objects with that sort of visceral appeal, objects that feel "real" to me, products with substance.

2. Norman uses the terms Visceral Design, Behavioral Design, and Reflective Design. Do these categories seem useful to you? Would other names or phrases make the categories clearer?

These categories seem to aptly cover most of our emotional connections to products through their design. I had to read the text pretty carefully to really understand what he implied through "reflective design." I might label it "projective and reflective design" instead. Not only can such design reflect a lifestyle, it can project and create the image of a given lifestyle. This is particularly evident in the options available to consumers of modern fashion.

3. How could a designer decide if Visceral Design, Behavioral Design, or Reflective Design is more important for a particular product? Are some types of products more visceral, behavioral, or reflective?

The purpose of a product does indeed dictate to a designer which facet of emotional design they should focus on. Cars, for instance, depend immensely on visceral design to augment their appeal. Behavioral design concerns, things like fuel economy and other performance, are often secondary to the look and feel of a vehicle.
We talked about "pocket items" in one of our classes, and those certainly fall under the auspices of products that depend heavily on behavioral, or performance, design. Items we fit in our pockets, like wallets and cell phones, must meet a very specific profile of qualifications to be functional and thus desirable.
Articles of clothing succeed well as "reflective design" products. Clothing can meet its desired behavioral functions and still fill a reflective design niche.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Emotional Design

1. What do you feel were the author's key points in this chapter?

Norman's goal in this chapter was to describe three ways he sees design connecting to the human psyche. From this goal stem his key points: design reaches out to people with looks, feel, and performance. He has grouped these into three categories of design: visceral, behavioral, and reflective.

2. How does this chapter compare to the earlier writing (The Design of Everyday Things) by the same author?


This chapter is written in a very similar fashion as the last reading by the same author; he uses many examples to illustrate his points. This lends validity to all of his writing. Norman does, in fact, reference his earlier book
The Design of Everyday Things in this chapter.

3. Give examples, from your own experience, of 1) something that succeeds as Visceral Design, 2) something that succeeds as Behavioral Design, and 3) a Reflective Design success. What do you think makes each thing successful?

I think my cell phone has a good visceral design. It has a sleek, yet solid design. It has a sufficient heft to it that is somehow aesthetically pleasing.
I own a tower fan that exhibits good behavioral design. The fan has three speeds, a timer, and oscillates. The fan is perfect for keeping a small room cool, is not noisy even on the highest setting, and takes up very little floor space.
Some of the clothing I wear I choose for its reflective design, or for the image I want to convey. For example, I have "board shorts" that I wear in the summer to reflect a lakeside lifestyle. They are fitted and patterned in a very recognizable, unique way.


Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Conceptual Models

1. "...Clues to how things work come from their visible structure-in particular from affordances, contstraints, and mappings. Consider a pair of scissors: even if you have never seen or used them before, you can see that the number of possible actions is limited. The holes are clearly there to put something into, and the only logical things that will fit are fingers. The holes are affordances: they allow the fingers to be inserted. The sizes of the holes provide constraints to limit the possible fingers: the big hole suggests several fingers, the small hole only one. The mapping between holes and fingers-the set of possible operations-is suggested and constrained by the holes. Moreover, the operation is not sensitive to finger placement: if you use the wrong fingers, the scissors still work. You can figure the scissors out because their operating parts are visible and the implications clear. The conceptual model is made obvious, and there is effective use of affordances and constraints."
I found the idea of conceptual models quite fascinating. The author suggests that when a user uses a product, they must first design in their own head an idea of exactly how they will interact and how the product will respond to action. What is necessary to operate this product and what will it do? A conceptual model answers these questions. Conceptual models are very easy to construct (in our minds) for some products, and I believe that is an affordance in itself.
Norman goes on to describe products that do not afford conceptual models well, such as his refrigerator. Without clear physical mapping or affordances, products do not lend themselves to usability.

2. Norman's book spans time by describing design issues that are themselves timeless. The resolution of these issues is just as applicable to products today as they were in 1988. The human race has not, in fact, become more skilled at using difficult products. New merchandise still needs to be carefully mapped and conceptualized before a user can utilize it. Designers' ability to create usable products depends on their skill at implementing affordances and constraints.

3. My checklist would include a few basic ideas: the product must be obviously functional (easily conceptualized), must be as simple as can be reasonably expected, and must perform to the user's satisfaction. The last factor mentioned, "satisfaction," relates most to comfort and style; or, the product should be convenient and reasonably fashionable.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The Design - And Flaws - of Everyday Things

1. What do you feel were the author's key points in this chapter?

The author attempted to describe several key considerations of the design process, such as visibility, affordances, and mapping, and to explain common issues that arise when they are ignored.

2. Think of a specific object you have had difficulty using. How did design contribute to making it difficult to use? Does the usability problem arise from one of the principles that Norman addresses in this chapter?
Whenever I stay in a hotel room, I am often frustrated by the cipher-like design of the unassuming clock radios. Although I consider myself rather talented at utilizing technology, it takes me quite some time to decipher and set the functions of a hotel's clock radio. The clock radio is equipped with a few simply-labeled buttons and knobs. Unfortunately, many of the functions desired are not represented on the labels, and some are in fact spread across several buttons with no clear mapping. The designs are clever and "simple," but without a manual present (or even with it in some cases), a given user cannot utilize the clock radios. Such design is aggravating. When an alarm raucously awakes in the early morning a hotel patron with no clear conception of how to change the incorrect time or alarm, many guests choose to simply unplug the device.

3. How did the designers of the iPod address the principles that Norman discusses here?

The iPod at first glance would seem to be an example of poor visibility and mapping. With only five real buttons - besides the scroll wheel - it would seem impossible to negotiate the hundreds or thousands of functions and options available. However, the iPod is simplified because users can clearly see on the screen the response of the device to every action taken. While it is necessary to move through four or five levels, or menus, to select media on the iPod, a user need only select with the scroll wheel each consecutive menu, itself clearly labeled, and move to it with the center button.
The iPod system is not completely intuitive, but the learning curve is slight. Having mastered only four functions - up, down, select, and back - you can find and use any media on your iPod.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The Perfect Thing

1. What elements of the design process does this article illustrate?

Steven Levy's article gives insight to many ideas used commonly in the design process, such as ease of use, durability, and aesthetics. The article also illustrates how the iPod project needed to focus on specific facets of the design process, like comfort and mobility, to create a satisfying final product.

2. What factors would you use to evaluate a "perfect thing?"

If I am to evaluate a "perfect thing," the first question I will ask is: does this product do what it is intended to do? If it does, does it do it well? Is it easy and comfortable to use? Will it last, or, is it reliable? These factors, functionality, ease of use and comfort, and durability, are most important to me when considering a product.

3. Whether you own an iPod or not, you probably have some opinions of this product. What do you feel are its strengths and weaknesses?

I do own an 80 gigabyte, video-capable iPod. I love the general design of the device and enjoy using it. I feel that the user interface is extremely well-done, particularly with the new search feature included on newer models.
All of the iPod's hardware is brilliant: the compact hard drive, crisp video resolution, and scroll wheel are triumphs of innovation and design. I am extremely satisfied with the technical aspects of the iPod.
I do have a few complaints from a consumer's standpoint. Apple has restricted their product very well; it is very hard to get around the roadblocks they have zealously erected on the iPod. Possessing a device that Steven Levy describes as a "small computer" and being unable to utilize it to its full potential can be frustrating. Were the iPod to be unshackled, it would revolutionize how we see external hard drives. Can you imagine using your iPod - and an externally-linked, roll-up keyboard - to type and save documents?
Potential is what characterizes the iPod, much of it unfortunately wasted. I would love to see Apple's iPod interface adapted to accommodate other programs, including free-ware. Although each new iteration of the device includes new and interesting features, it is not enough.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Opening Post

I am Caleb Cordes, and this is a brief introduction to myself.
I spent my high school career as a home schooled student from Three Rivers, MI, but also attended two community colleges and several course co-op's. I have enjoyed growing up on Fishers Lake with my family and pets (currently Bear, a golden retriever).
I have a long-developed love for reading and writing. Right now I am reading The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Over the course of this quarter, I hope to improve my writing and cognitive skills, and to become a better critical thinker. I am looking forward to the class!