Category: Reading Response

What are the goals of Apple’s website? How does Apple’s website address the needs of a user who has just purchased their first MacBook? (pp. 41-56)

The goals of Apple’s website are to provide users with a comprehensive look at what they have to offer and to offer useful information and support to customers when they need it.  Its simple, sleek design allows for easy navigation to ensure a smooth experience that minimizes time wasted in finding what the user is looking for on the website.  This design is particularly useful to someone who has just purchased their first MacBook in that a first glance at the homepage leads users to information dedicated to specifics for the MacBook that first-time users would find useful in addition to easy access to the support section of the website for unique needs not addressed on other parts of the website.

What are the functional specifications of Facebook’s wall? If you are not on Facebook what are the specs for the signup page? (pp. 72-75)

The Facebook signup page in designed to quickly and efficiently sign someone up for a Facebook account by entering some basic information.  The goal is to allow one to create an account without having to leave the home page.  Information to the left of the data entry fields tells users of the benefits of signing up, with the intention of both signing up new users and signing in old ones upon one’s arrival at the home page.

What are four architectural approaches to information structure? Find one example of each. (pp. 94-106)

Four architectural approaches to information structure are hierarchical structures, matrix structures, organic structures, and sequential structures.  Hierarchical structures have nodes that have parent/child relationships with other related nodes (example: apple.com).  Matrix structures allow the user to move from node to node along two or more dimensions (example: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_fsl_cat_softlines_brand_ban_sa?rh=i%3Aaps%2Cn%3A7141123011%2Cn%3A10445813011%2Ck%3Apurse&bbn=10445813011&keywords=purse&ie=UTF8&qid=1453089849).  Organic structures do not follow a consistent pattern, and nodes are connected together on a case-by-case basis (example: http://www.eonline.com/).  Sequential structures flow naturally from node to node in a sequential fashion (example: http://news.yahoo.com/us-pay-iran-1-7-bn-debt-interest-160942074.html).

What percentage of The Huffington Post index page is navigation, and what percentage is content? What about Google, Wikipedia, and Etsy? (pp. 116-134)

The Huffington Post index page is approximately 95% navigation and 5% content.  Google is approximately 100% navigation and 0% content.  Wikipedia is approximately 100% navigation and 0% content.  Etsy is approximately 94% navigation and 6% content.

How does http://www.landor.com guide the readers’ eyes and focus their attention on what is important? (pp. 144-155 )

This website guides the readers’ eyes and focuses their attention on what is important by first presenting them with large, shifting images bursting with color that serve as the background for perhaps the most important aspect of the site, the firm’s purpose.  Immediately upon opening the site, one is aware of what the most essential part of the firm is before scrolling down to uncover more information or using the navigation bar.  Ultimately, organizing the website in this way reminds the user of the ultimate purpose of anything to be found on the website in a visually appealing way before guiding him or her to a more expansive view of it.  Additionally, its limited text does not clutter its appearance and focuses on what is most important.  The images also inform in the same way the text does.

Apples websites goals are to sell apples stuff mainly.  Also, Apples goal is to support its customers and make their experience easy and memorable.  Apples site helps a first time mac buyer because it has technical support online, in-store, or by phone.  this means that new people can easily find answers to all the questions they have about their purchased product.

Facebook has specific parts of its website that helps users to create a unique looking page customized to their info and pictures.  Also, Facebook has things like sharing posts, commenting, chatting, and liking posts that creates a connection between people over the internet.

The four structures that the book talks about are hierarchical, organic, sequential, and matrix.  Hierarchical shows items in most important to least important and an example of this would be Apples website.  Organic means that there is no set order to which things are organized.  this is shown in Wikipedias site.  Sequential structure is when there is one specific order in which information is organized.  This is shown in books and movies.  Lastly, the matrix structure is one that any page can be navigated to from any other page on the site.  This is shown on Amazons website.

I think that practically 90% of the Huffington Post index page is strictly navigational and about 10% is content, but when you get to articles and things like that the pages completely flip on navigation vs. content.  I think that google is about 90% navigation and 10% content too because once you get to more content you aren’t on googles site anymore.  I think that wikipedia is split about 50/50 on navigation to content and Etsy is about split too because they are both focused on finding what you want and informing you on that when you get there.

Landor does a great job of showing you what is important because of the colors and the minimalistic layout.  Also, it does a great job of guiding your eyes though its content by having only one content on the screen at a time.

Apple’s website is build in a way that is tailored to the user, but their own goals are clear as well. From looking at their site their goals appear to be selling their product, supporting their buyers, matching their design and branded standards, and promote use of their services and products. As far as the users needs after purchase, the site allows easy access to a page related to each of their many products and includes links to content related to starting use, and issues with a wide variety of topics.

Facebook, being a site that has changed a lot since its creation, has many functions on the feed alone. The site shows posts that are up to date from my “friends”. It allows users to search for people or pages. It has a chat system in place for users to talk.  The site notifies users of events, birthdays, and messages. Navigation is also allowed through menus.

Hierarchical structure starts with a home page and branches off based on sub sections. rmu.edu

Matrix allows users to move from page to page by defining search criteria. amazon.com

Organic is free form and does not have clear paths from one page to another, and is based on user decision. wikipedia.org

Sequential can only be seen in one order, usually to tell a story or guide user through sections. Logging in to many sites follows this.

The Huffington Post’s homepage features very little actual content, maybe an 80% navigation to 20% content. It may appear to be mostly content, with photos and articles appearing over all the page, but these are just content snippets which function as Navigation to the actual content. This trend carries over to etsy, the site’s homepage focus is on getting the user to a page of content using snippets, as opposed to having full content on the home page. Google’s homepage has only the google logo as content, and the rest is navigation to other places. Wikipedia is similar to google in that it does not have any more content than its own logo on the homepage, with navigation to elsewhere.

Landor uses many elements of art to guide the user throught their site. Color plays a big part in eye movement on the web, in this case it pops against a white backdrop to instantly pull the eye towards the colors. Color also helps distinguish between different pages and ideas. Motion is also a huge part of the site, there is a want to move down by scrolling, then options to move to the side by small arrows, which are used over and over to create continuity.

Apple most likely had quite a few goals when planning the strategy of their website. One of which would be to develop branding. Apple wants to have it’s own “look.” Another goal would be to sell product. This ultimately leads to the user’s needs. When a user purchases their first Macbook, clearly they would have needs. The user would need information on the product, a shopping cart, and it all must be easy to navigate. Apple’s website does fulfill all of these needs by having a shopping cart system and a simplistic design.

Facebook’s wall is a main feature of the site. It relies heavily on user created content, but the site gives the user the tools he/she needs to create that content. There is a text box for posting written messages and a place to upload pictures and videos. When you are not a user, Facebook shows you the signup page. This page shows a number of text boxes that the user can fill out in order to make a profile. Everything that is filled out is a requirement. Emails and phone numbers are needed to identify a user, passwords are necessary to keep the user’s information safe, and a date of birth ensures that the user is of appropriate age.

The hierarchical structure consists of a tree-like structure where one node can lead to multiple nodes and each of those nodes can lead to even more nodes. Huffington Post’s website is an example of this because different paths open up based on which page you visit. There is also the matrix structure. This structure allows a user to move through two or more dimensions. Amazon uses this structure when the user seems to be searching for something somewhat specific. Another structure is the organic structure. This structure is not consistent. Every user could have a different experience and follow a different path. Wikipedia is a good example of this. Finally, the sequential structure is the simplest of the four. Here, the user moves from node to node in a predetermined order. There is no way of going from the first to the last without going through every other step. When purchasing from a site like Amazon, this structure comes into play.

A lot of The Huffington Post’s homepage is content. There is navigation in the sense that that content is linked to a page with more information about said content. There are also places on the site used for searching for more specific content. Google on the other hand is all navigation until you start searching or clicking on google’s apps. Wikipedia and Etsy are kind of the same way. The user doesn’t find much content until they start using these sites to find what they are looking for.

Landor seems to use large text to direct the user’s eyes to content that it thinks is the most important. Pictures and bright colors also come into play.

 

1. What are the goals of Apple’s website? How does Apple’s website address the needs of a user who has just purchased their first MacBook?
   1. Apple’s goal is to attract those who are interested in the latest trends in technology and reflect the characteristics of their products on their website while making it simple to purchase and obtain them. The website addresses the needs of new users by setting up multiple ways to interact with employees and help services as well as allowing them to easily access manuals, forums, and information on their products. Their purchasing system is also simplified for easy maneuvering and a speedy, straightforward checkout.
2. What are the functional specifications of Facebook’s wall? If you are not on Facebook, what are the specs for the signup page?
   1. Facebook includes a multitude of functional specifications on the typical user’s wall, including a feed of “organic” material made up of text, video, and picture posts with a full menu that leads you to your groups, favorites, applications, and a number of other categories specified by the user, a chat box with a list of online friends, links that allow you to travel to your page and profile and multiple ways to connect to your friends’ pages.
3. What are four architectural approaches to information structure? Find one example of each.
   1. Hierarchical:
      1. Each node has a parent node that trace back to a single point in which they all connect.
      2. Most websites are structured as it is the most common form of structure in the list. Apple would be an example of this as it guides the user through its sight and tends to have a pre-determined path defined.
   2. Organic:
      1. All elements of the website are connected on a case-by-case basis, meaning that the site does not directly control where the user is likely to go as there are too many given paths to be able to foresee a set path.
      2. An example of this is Wikipedia. This site allows users to search for specific items and within teach item are numerous in-text links that take you to an entirely different article, free from the one before it.
   3. Matrix:
      1. A mean that allows you to narrow your search among a number of nodes.
      2. Many shopping sites, typically for clothing, have menus that allow you to narrow your search results by specifications like color, size and style, resulting in a matrix structure.
   4. Sequential
      1. This structure allows only one straight path for the user to navigate. This would include media like TV and video, as you can only proceed forward or background rather than hop from node to node.
      2. Many checkout scenarios offer this structure, so that the user can only travel the step-by-step process of purchasing a product, rather than giving them the option to be distracted or lose interest in buying.
4. What percentage of The Huffington Post index page is navigation, and what percentage in content? What about Google, Wikipedia, and Etsy?
   1. Most of The Huffington Post is navigation. The entirety of the home page is made up of two navigation/search bars and the rest is a wall of links and photos to the daily articles posted by the post, but this also leads me to believe that the number of links leads to a large amount of content made available by said links. Google, itself, is purely navigational as it is a search engine. While it provides us with an unlimited amount of content, it is not the source of the content, but simply a means of acquiring it. Wikipedia is almost the opposite of Google, though, in the sense that you can search practically anything, but it also provides information and content on what you search without redirecting you to an entirely different site. Then, there is Etsy, an online shopping site, that I would say has the least amount of navigation. It has its items sorted in to categories that you can browse and narrow, but that is typical of most sites.
5. How does http://www.landor.com guide the readers’ eyes and focus their attention on what is important?
   1. Landor has quite a unique layout that really moves the reader’s eyes over the entirety of the page. Unlike most sites that just lay out all of their information and navigation options, Landor forces the user to physically move through the site with the use of a fade in technique that doesn’t allow the user to clearly see what is next on the page unless the user moves over it. It gives a sense of motion to the page that immerses the user in to the site.

• The goals of Apple’s website are to sell their products, inform the user, and

provide technical support. Apple addresses the needs of a user who has just

purchased their first MacBook by displaying available accessories and

showing user support if they are having trouble.

•  Some functional specifications of a Facebook wall include the user’s post in

order to connect people, chat to talk to people, and a search bar. For the

signup page, it displays a security system to login and a signup form.

• Hierarchical shows what’s the most important first and an example would be

Apple’s website.

A matrix structure allows the user to navigate through everything in the site

because it’s all connected and an example would be Amazon.

Organic structures have paths that don’t completely connect and an example

is Wikipedia.

Sequential structures move only forward or backward in the order that the

content is presented like a video or book.

•  The Huffington Post has a lot of navigation to different articles so I would so

50% navigation and 50% content, Google 100% navigation, Wiki 50% nav.

and 50% content, and Esty 60% nav. 40% content.

•  Landor guides the readers’ eyes by using a visually appealing color palette,

showcasing very clear and striking images, and having big easy to read

headings with some content.

 

• The goals of Apples website is to be easily accessed and simple navigation to any part of the site. For new buyers or and questions Apple provides a support page so that users can trouble shoot their questions or they also have the option to speak with someone one on one.
• The function of the Facebook wall is to display a profile picture any posts the user may have made, a sample of some of their most recent photos and a friends list. The Content Inventory is needed for the set up of such a profile so that similar information such as name, birthday, photos, and posts are displayed on every profile page or Facebook wall.
• The first structure is the Hierarchical approach and the apple home page is an example of this structure. It has links that remain at the top of every page and hold parent links to other links that can be thought of as child links. The second is the Matrix approach and websites like Amazon follow the matrix to navigate the website by selecting a type of product and narrowing down the search by also selecting a color or style of product that they are searching for. The next structure is the organic, this approach does not follow any consistent pattern and websites like Wikipedia is connected case by case instead of by a category. Finally the final structure is sequential, this approach is mostly used when a user is making a purchase on a website so they must follow steps to achieve an outcome in a sequence and not any random order.
• On most of these sites content is fairly dominant and the actual navigation is at the bottom of the page with many links.
• The Landor website uses contrast and color as well as hierarchy to guide the reader and also uses an arrow on the homepage to make the readers see more of their content when it is clicked. The use of bright yellow really catches the users attention and making the text black when scrolled over also catches the eye and users can’t help but read.

1.) What are the goals of Apple’s website? How does Apple’s website address the needs of a user who has just purchased their first Macbook?

Apple’s goal is to reach the users goal, meaning that the website is easy and clear to read and also easy to navigate through to find what they are looking for. They sort it all out on the navigation bar. You can choose which “Mac” you purchased or want to purchase and if you do not know they also have the names and small icons to make it easy for the user. It is easy for all ages to use. It is quick and easy and a very user friendly website!

2.) What are the functional specifications of Facebook’s wall?

The functional specifications would be to share and communicate. How does Facebook allow you to do that? By having chats, posting pictures, by having albums to store your photos in, and also being able to post things. You can also search and add friends to stay in touch with them.

3.) What are the 4 architectural approaches to information structure?

Hierarchal: The most important stuff. It is the “navigation bar.” People find the most important factors of the website on this structure. Apple’s website would be an example of this.

Matrix Structure: How things relate. Allows the user to move from place to place and navigate. An example of this would be Library.rmu.edu

Organic Structure: Not organized by patterns. It is very unique because not everyone will have the same “movement” as you can say. Not everyone ends up in the same place. An example of this would be Wikipedia.

Sequential Structure: A sequence, something like a video, a movie or a book. Amazon would be an example of this.

 

4.)What percent of the Huffington Post index page is navigation and what percent is content? 

I would say that the Huffington Post would be about 80% navigation and 20% content

Google: 80% navigation, 20% content

Wikipedia: 90% navigation, 10% content

Etsy: 60% navigation, 40% content

5.)How does www.landor.com guide the reader’s eyes and focus their attention on whats important?

I believe that their color choice of the white, the blue’s and yellow’s work very well. They really catch the eye. They have nice big typography that is always eye catching. The overall layout works well for the website and also the parallax scroll that they have really makes you read as you scroll down the page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are the goals of Apple’s website? How does Apple’s website address the needs of a user who has just purchased their first MacBook? (pp. 41-56)

The goals of Apple’s website would be to provide their products but also to make money. Apple has many support systems on there site. They have troubleshooting, helpline number and store locations to help any of the issues that may occur.

What are the functional specifications of Facebook’s wall? If you are not on Facebook what are the specs for the signup page? (pp. 72-75)

For the sign up page you must enter either your email or phone number for conformation and security purposes. Also you must enter your age, however there isn’t anything checking and confirming your actual age.

What are four architectural approaches to information structure? Find one example of each. (pp. 94-106)

Hierarchy, organic, matrix and sequential. RMU.edu, Wikipedia.com, BestBuy.com, and check out section of Amazon.com. (in order)

What percentage of The Huffington Post index page is navigation, and what percentage is content? What about Google, Wikipedia, and Etsy? (pp. 116-134)

The majority of the Huffington Post is navigation. This helps you to find what you are looking for and articles that are similar. A small percent of the site is actual content. Google would have the most navigation because when you do get to the content it is no longer the Google site. Wikipedia is almost all content because it is organic and there isn’t really any navigation to certain pages but they use hyperlinks for navigation. Etsy is mainly navigation, using the matrix format you have to click through things to get to the content that you want.

How does http://www.landor.com guide the readers’ eyes and focus their attention on what is important? (pp. 144-155 )

Landor uses jQuery and flash to keep what is important in front of you. You must scroll to see new content and it uses visuals that will appear and disappear depending on the part you scroll to.

• What are the goals of Apple’s website? How does Apple’s website address the needs of a user who has just purchased their first MacBook? (pp. 41-56)

I think Apple’s entire site is made with simplicity in mind. It’s made to bring the specs of all of their products into one concise site. Apple highlights some of the best features of any product as you scroll through their pages, not just the MacBook. For someone who just purchased a Mac Book, it is easy to find what will be some of the most exciting things you can do with this machine. What to learn down to the very tee what its retina screen is doing for you? What about the inner design of the product? Just click the “learn more” button and you will probably find all the information you need. That is how Apple helps any new user to their products.

• What are the functional specifications of Facebook’s wall? If you are not on Facebook what are the specs for the signup page? (pp. 72-75)

Facebook’s main focus on its login page is ease of use. The login/register page is very easy to understand. You know where you are with the simple top banner that clearly states their name. If you’re just signing up, they give you a small blurb of what Facebook is all about, 4 short lines of text. Finally, they let you sign up right there on the home page. I believe this was done to let people think that it is so easy to sign up for Facebook, so you might as well do it right now.

• What are four architectural approaches to information structure? Find one example of each. (pp. 94-106)

The first structure is hierarchical. An example of this structure would be ESPN’s website. There is the main page, and then a banner with the various sports covered. When clicking on a specific sport, there is another page that will have an even more in-depth banner to make your search for stats or a specific team even easier. The second structure is a matrix structure. RMU’s library search engine, run by EBSCOhost, is an example of this type of web structure. You can search through the website in multiple ways, making it a matrix in nature. You can use key words to find an article, or only use dates for a certain time frame, possibly find only peer reviewed essays. You can do all of that on the libraries website. The third structure is organic. McGraw-Hill’s connect website seems organic in its nature. When navigating through e-books or learning a lesson, there is no trail of where you have been, meaning you have to start all the way from the beginning if you want to do something over. The final structure is the sequential structure. A YouTube channel with playlists is an example of sequential structure. A person’s channel is placed in order of time, and the individual playlists are also meant to be watched in sequential order.

• What percentage of The Huffington Post index page is navigation, and what percentage is content? What about Google, Wikipedia, and Etsy? (pp. 116-134)

Huffington Post: 30/70 nearly everything in the page is linkable to somewhere else, but they do have lots of headlines that give some content information. Google: 85/15 everything here is a link. The only information you get is the one word description of what you are clicking on. Wikipedia: 50/50 there’s a good mix of actual content versus just navigation, the most balanced of the three so far. Etsy: 25/75 you get information on what you’re clicking on from the pictures that are the links.

• How does http://www.landor.com guide the readers’ eyes and focus their attention on what is important? (pp. 144-155 )

Landor’s home page is stark white, and then the information shows up in the highlighter yellow that makes you stare right at the information. It effectively moves the eyes of the reader to each sequential piece of information.

What makes up interaction design and what are some of the industry’s challenges?

            According to the text by Jon Kolko, interaction design is defined as, “a creative process focused on people”. Further, a group at Carnegie Mellon University has created a formal framework for discovery during the design process. The process includes Define, Discover, Synthesize, Construct, Refine and Reflect components. A designer must first understand wants and needs and balance political requirements with the end user while also achieving business goals. Otherwise known as defining. Discovery allows a designer to gather data related to the given problem and understand who ultimately will use the creation. Both of these steps must be completed in order to move onward with your design, and also the structured process. Synthesize, Construct, and Refine fall next. These phases often get grouped together because of their similar nature and total time consumption. These steps include sketching ideas, creating personas and scenarios, mapping ideas to solve problems, testing prototypes among other things. Designers must work through creation and refinement over and over again during this time in attempt to extract the wrong ideas from their work and decide on a particular solution. The final step in this framework is Reflection, or the act of assessing success or failure. Regardless of the guidelines put in place, Interaction design is based on people and it is essential for designers to realize that. There are a lot of challenges being an interaction designer. In most companies, interaction designers are not involved in the beginning stages of product development at all. This type of work is left to business people who make decisions based solely on increasing profits or building brand equity. More collaboration should be established between designers and upper management. Another challenge that interaction designers face is the regulated funds they are allocated. The best elements of functionality may be costly to implement. When this is the case, designers become advocates for usability and attempt to convince superiors that it is worth the extra money to be user-friendlier. Interaction design may be difficult to grasp and implement, but creating a more user-oriented world is in the works.

What is interaction design, how it’s evolving. What fields does it draw knowledge from?

Just like many other aspects of the world are evolving, interaction design is no exception. A concept that correlates with interaction design very well is the idea of progressive learning. In order to be a successful interaction designer, one must be willing to learn new things everyday. For example, an accountant can get his degree in Accounting and thirty years later complete the same tasks without learning anything new. Opposite goes for interaction designers. Their job is evolving as the world’s like/dislikes and trends change. Interaction designers must change gathered information into meaningful data and incorporate that into their work. Interaction designers must also design for errors. When something is developed, every interaction with that product will not be the same and errors will occur. Errors related to the product itself and errors made by the user. Interaction designers must think deeply about the types of errors that could occur and effectively design for them.

Interaction Design draws knowledge from a few different fields. Some of the main fields of study this relates to are Psychology and Sociology. Both of these relate to human behavior. Psychology looks into the minds of humans and at their physical behavior and Sociology looks at humans social behavior. Interaction design deals a lot with its users and in-depth knowledge of humans could be very useful. Obviously basic knowledge of Design is very pertinent to this field of study as well.

What makes up interaction design and what are some of the industry’s challenges?

Interaction design is made up of 6 main components:User control, Responsiveness, Real-Time Interactions, Connectedness, Personalization, and Playfulness.  A human interacting with a phone, a dog interacting with a water fountain, etc.  Some industry challenges are: What hasn’t been done successfully already, that can make a users day to day life better?  What can be done to enhance the users experience?

What is interaction design, how its evolving. What fields does it draw knowledge from?

Interaction design is the enabling of communication through media using technology.  With enhancements in technology interaction design is evolving.  With the use of sensors, switches, and much more designers are able to create unique objects that could change lives.  Interaction design can be involved in any field, anywhere in the world.  Interaction design has  such a broad spectrum of applicable use.  In a way an electric toothbrush is interactive design.

• What are the goals of Apple’s website? How does Apple’s website address the needs of a user who has just purchased their first MacBook? (pp. 41-56)
  • Apples website is designed to let the user learn about their products and purchase them.  It also creates a brand for the company.  They’ve had the same nav bar set up for years.  The content of the buttons and design aspect may have changed but the actual bar has been the same.
  • It addresses the needs by offering informational help, how to’s and video tutorials.
• What are the functional specifications of Facebook’s wall?
  • Facebooks wall
• What are four architectural approaches to information structure? Find one example of each. (pp. 94-106)
  • Hierarchical-Facebook
  • Matrix-Amazon
  • Organic-Wikipedia
  • Sequential-Amazon Checkout
• What percentage of The Huffington Post index page is navigation, and what percentage is content? What about Google, Wikipedia, and Etsy? (pp. 116-134)

  • The Huffington Post index page is mainly content. I would say that approximately 80% of the page consists of content, while only 20% is navigation.  The main content includes posted articles.  

  • Google consists of primarily navigation, I would say approximately 98% navigation.  The only content I would say is the logo or the google doodle that swaps out when they have something special.

  • Wikipedia I would say is about 65% content and 35% navigation.  They have thousands of pages linking to different sites that explain more and more about the individual words you click.
  • Etsy is similiar to Wikipedia.  I think that Etsy has about 75% content and 25% navigation.

• How does http://www.landor.com guide the readers’ eyes and focus their attention on what is important? (pp. 144-155 )
  • It fades out the lesser important stuff and keeps the more prominent promoted stuff in full color towards the center of the page.

1. What information can ethnographic tools give you to improve the interactivity of an online banking website? (pp. 48-54)

Ethnographic tools allows the designer to collect information about their designs.  Ethnographic studies allow the designers to get an idea of how people look through their website.  This study can tell you how long or little someone spends on a page.  This can help the designer add more or less information to get people to stay on their page longer.  It is good for designers to have this tool, because designers never want to see the flaws in their work and this allows them to see the problem areas and address them appropriately.

For an online banking website, by using this study it allows the bank to see flaws in the design that the designer might not have noticed.  Some designers may look at a feature as something no one would use, like mobile depositing, and decide to hide it within a sub-menu and when the study is conducted it is observed that the feature is more popular then it is thought to be.  This allows the designer to go back and change the layout and put it somewhere that more people would be able to access it easier.

1. At what point is a design finished? What makes it a success? What is its purpose? (pp. 54-62)

Everyone has a different opinion on something being finished.  In my opinion a design is finished when the designer has met his/her objective.  If the objective was to build a website that taught viewers how to edit film, if you can look at the website and learn how to edit film by going through the website.  Also, if you can look at the website and not see anything that needs improvement then the design is finished.

All things that are designed should make people think of the design as useful and persuade users to believe in what you are trying to convey.  If the designer built a website to convey the seriousness of animal suffrage in shelters the viewer to take a stand against animal shelters and to get people to start adopting shelter dogs to end animal suffrage.  Making the viewer seem as if they are important to the cause is crucial to having a successful design.

Things to take into account when designing something is form and function.   Form and function do not have to go together, where previously they went hand-in-hand with design.  Designers can convey form with emotional and social qualities.

1. Identify a product family you use regularly (can be anything from technology to consumables except for coffee).  How has its branding effected your use, relations and experience with the product? (pp. 78-84)

The one product my family uses on a regular basis is our cars.  They get us from point a to point b and everywhere in between as safely as possible.  My dad drives a 1994 Chevy Suburban and my mom used to drive a 1997 Chevy Lumina, which both my sisters and I have learned to drive on and now is the vehicle that my little sister drives.  I didn’t realize that in a way, the way the cars have always been in my life have shaped my opinion on the brand.  My moms car had been in many car accidents, my older sister got in an accident in it, I got in two accidents in it and my little sister was involved in two accidents in it.  It had kept everyone of our passengers and us safe.  My dad’s truck had been taken care of making it last over twenty years.  Deep down, my trust with Chevy and the experience my family has had with it in the past had shaped me to becoming a loyal customer to Chevy.   When something is branded in such a positive way it makes your impression of it so much greater.  I think if my family had negative experiences with that brand of car and others did too, then I might not have been so likely to buy that brand.

1. Ethnographic tools allow designers to get in the head of their target audience and appeal to them. By studying potential users, we can rank the importance of features based on actual data instead of our own assumptions.
2. I think design is finished when anything you can think to add to it takes away from what it accomplishes.
3. I think the branding of the Apple products I use affects how I use them. I’m generally more focused on minimalism and getting the most out of the least stuff when I’m using those products.