Ames' syllabi

Dane Moore
Response to Chapter 6
I agree with most of what the chapter had to say on how interaction designers must be careful that they put the usability design aspect and all of the attributes concerned with such, and with how the average person (who is not oneself) commonly interacts/would interact with an object first before artistic design. While a product can be aesthetically pleasing and should be, it is of no use if the user does not find the design to be usable, is awkward, or is too complicated to understand. All initial efforts should be to making the product to be easily usable so that the user will want to hold on to the product and become attached to it for technical reasons, which will last longer than mere emotions, which are temporary.
This is not to say that the product can also be aesthetically pleasing, as a product can also have the desirable attribute of looking good along with usability. Still, however, in interaction design, artistic design is subject to usability. This is true with the smart phones; smart phones are compact, light-weight, and has wireless capabilities. With the usability and easy access attributes meet, the artistic look of the smart phone can now be explored. Since the smart phone is slim, it can have a flowing metallic look, even with the appearance of a texture.

1. The objectives of the website are to advertise and sell Apple’s products, and to educate and help the customers, both potential, first-time, and long-time users. MacBook users can go to the Mac tab and find out some basic uses of the MacBook, or they can go to the Support page and ask a specific question about their MacBook or scroll through FAQ’s for the computer.

2. The functional specifications of the Facebook wall include the site showing a current holiday or sport event in which the user has liked or followed, posts from the user’s friends that have been made within the past 24 hours, and advertisements from businesses or subjects in which the user likes or follows or from the user’s friends who like or follow them.

3. The four architectural approaches to information structure are hierarchical (tree-shaped; nodes have parent/child relationships with other related nodes), matrix (move from node to node along two or more dimensions), organic (no consistent pattern, nodes connected on case-by-case basis, no sections), and sequential (one by one nodes, individual articles or sections). An example of each can be Facebook, Amazon, vintagehope.co.uk, and Pizza Hut, respectively.

4. The Huffington Post is mostly content that navigates to articles which can be confusing to tell the difference. Google is all navigation, leading to the website in which the user is looking for. Wikipedia is really half and half, since half of the content has links to navigate to another Wiki article. Finally, Etsy is at least 2/3 navigation, with most images being links as well.

5. The home page focuses on the white bold text stating their mission on top of a yellow-hued image. When scrolling, the text and hue fade to the original color of the image, and more scrolling transitions to another image before finally scrolling through different articles of brands Landor has helped. The article links and their images glide up as you scroll, keeping attention on the boxes and their titles, whether they’re white on yellow or black on white.

I agree a lot with Jon Kolko’s ideas during this chapter.  One idea is that Interaction Design is the “design of behavior, can contribute to, shift and shape, and even help to control the normative frames that describe cultural change.”  I believe that, as designers, we need to continue to develop and modify culture around us, and hopefully for the better.  Usability definitely plays a role in shaping culture.  When designers create successful new technology, society believes that everything should operate in the same fashion.  For example, take the story about Professor Ames’ daughter thinking that a magazine should operate like a tablet/phone.  She is perfect example as to what society has evolved into, and that it takes time for users to adapt to different operations.  Another idea that Kolko brings up is invisible manifestation.  As this is intriguing, and may help recent graduated students entering the job market by not having a potential job ruined by parting pictures/videos, it can definitely be dangerous.  This anonymity can foster hate, violence, and other societal taboos.  But, on the plus side, it may give people the freedom to be themselves.  Technology advances rapidly, and the delay between when it is finished and the availability in the marketplace can be a hinderance.  One issue I find with society, due to technology advancements, is that there is a lack of communication.  I would rather talk to someone on the phone or in face, but there are many people who can text someone all day, but put in a social environment cannot talk to others.  Technology has made it a lot easier for physical communication to phase out.  I really liked the point in the Discursive Design about designing a product it’s goal is for organic communication.  As my opinions of technology is that it is helpful and useful, I hate it as much as I love it.  One idea that I did not normally think about is that technology can be empowering, which Kolko even stated that it is not a common view.  I admire Kolko for stating that Interactive Designers need to “advocate for humanity at all levels.”  As I am happy blaming technology for societal problems of lack of communication, it is not entirely technology’s fault.  Society let it happen, because it is easier.  As much as designers need to try and incorporate social interactions in designs, society needs to be open to communicating with personal interactions again.

1. Ethnographic tools are used to determine how users experience a product and what can be improved upon. In the case of an online banking website, these tools could be used you can keep track of what features users are interacting with the most and which features they are having the most trouble with. It could also be used to predict some features that users might be looking for but don’t currently exist on the site.

2. In a way the design process is never truly done. It can always be improved upon with aspects being added or removed. However, a design process can be considered done once it is able to serve a user and offer a purposeful experience. Upon reaching that stage it can be sold and marketed.

3. A product family I use every day is drinks. I’ll usually reach for a water or a tea, but I will drink Gatorade if I am exercising or playing a sport. It has been branded as a drink to be consumed before, during, or after physical activity and I associate it with that type of experience.

What information can ethnographic tools give you to improve the interactivity of an online banking website?

Ethnographic tools can be used to improve the interactivity of an online banking website by providing the designer with information on things such as frequency of use, communication, and usability. If transaction history is buried deep within the site, but is the most used tool, ethnographic analysis could result in an updated layout featuring transaction history on the home page. These tools can also be used to determine if a new mobile deposit function is not communicating clearly to the customer, confusing them and minimizing the effectiveness of the product.

At what point is a design finished? What makes it a success? What is its purpose?

A design is finished when it creates a functional dialogue between a product, system, or service and a person. A successful design enhances the human experience, solves complicated problems, and resonates with an audience to create the highest value of a product for the user. A design’s purpose is to be interactive, desirable, and ultimately, user centered.

Identify a product family you use regularly. How has its branding effected your use, relationship, and experience with the product?

A product family I use regularly is EarthQuaker Devices, a guitar effect pedal company. I was first attracted to their pedals by visual aesthetic, and upon hearing an aural sample they perfectly matched with the functional features of device. EQD’s website is clean and easy to navigate, and unlike many other pedal companies, they create demo videos in house for each of their products upon release. Rather than sift through youtube watching self-indulgent guitar players “demo” a pedal, I know that I can rely on Earthquaker to create a visually pleasing, un-narrated video showcasing all of the pedal’s features the way I would if I was in a store. An EQD pedal’s knobs, jacks, and switches are laid out in an intuitive manner, creating modularity between their products and strengthening brand relationship. The company also stocks their pedals with small independent dealers, echoing their in-house demo philosophy and catering to users who avoid big-box stores such as Guitar Center.

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

Interaction Design is made up of constructing a compelling argument and inviting the audience to experience the work; the creation of a dialogue between a person and a product, service, or system. Interaction Designers can be Usability Engineers, Visual Interface Designers, and Information Engineers. However, developing systems and interfaces does not make one an Interaction Designer. Interaction Designers need to be shapers of behavior who’s greatest challenge is to change the way that people behave through elegant and compelling design. While Interaction Designers were previously looked at as the “final step” in the surface level design of an engineering project, the field has taken on a new role in shaping the what, how, and why of industry.

What is Interaction Design, how is it evolving? What fields does it draw knowledge from?

Interaction design is defined in the text as “the creation of a meaningful relationship between a product and a person, identified and created through ethnographic and other user centered design methods.” Interaction Designers differentiate product offerings by working to make them physically beautiful and emotionally compelling. Interaction Design draws from and builds upon several disciplines; Industrial Design and Usability Engineering primarily influence the field, but an understanding  of cognitive psychology, web design, art, business and more all play a heavy role. As more and more Industrial Design and Usability Engineering jobs are being outsourced, the role of the Interaction Designer is becoming exceedingly important. Successful Interaction Design has become a strategic differentiator for businesses looking to elevate their products to a new level, and these designers will be best equipped to take on project management based on skills in culture, creativity, and relationships.

1. Ethnographic tools can be utilized by an online banking website to show the growth in interest in an account, where your money is going, and the cores in your account(s). A flow chart would help the account holder see where their money is moving and what it is going towards, which could then help that person save money and be more aware of what they are spending.
2. In the text, it says design is an argument, “the argument has a subtle, nearly invisible, immediate effect on the audience.” Once that is achieved, and the design communicates clearly, it could be considered finished.
3. A family of products I use very often would be Jeffree Star cosmetics makeup. This piece about integrity made me think of his brand: “integrity to materials requires a sense of respect for both the natural world and the human-made world.” This stuck out to me because he has made all of his makeup vegan, which is respect to the natural world, while also adapting to the makeup crazed culture of today. The cosmetic company is heavily branded with bright pink packaging, and very innovative colors in the makeup world. Jeffree Star, the owner, has really encompassed his brand by being very unique, very pink, and always experimenting with different colors in his own makeup. The branding by the packing and by Jeffree himself has led me to use makeup differently and more creatively.

Ethnographic tools give developers guidelines for improving their technology and service. For example on an online banking website, ethnographic tools will observe the details and maintenance of their site, providing thorough analysis of any problem areas as well as an areas that in general could use improvement, just so that a user has a seamless experience trying to use their online banking.

Design is meant to be desirable and beautiful and elegant and appropriate. Almost everything we interact with in our day to day lives is the product of design. A design is never complete until the needs of both form and function are met. An object should meet its purpose, (eg: A chair should hold the weight of a sitting person) while simultaneously making the object easy and comfortable to use while looking aesthetically appealing.

My favorite cereal being Lucky Charms, I can only eat it at certain times or when I’m in the right mood because Lucky Charms has been branded as a fun and enjoyable cereal to eat for kids specifically that are “magically delicious.” By associating the cereal with fun, I tend to want to eat Lucky Charms if I am not quite in a good mood, with the goal that the cereal will cheer me up.

Interaction design is concerned with the observation of human behavior in every day life. Specifically, it is concerned in how people use the objects around them, and analyzing how people respond to what an object does. Using these observations, the interaction designer is to analyze how that object can be improved upon so that the user can easily understand how to use that object, and how that object can be more easily used in a higher degree.
Interaction design itself is the constant improvement of how an object can be used and better understood to users. This has led interaction design to make use of psycho-analysis in order to improve existing concepts and even add new attributes to that object to make it more user-friendly. Because of this, interaction designers also become information architects and psycho-social researchers, in that they have to order the information gathered from observing both individuals and society at large.

Ethnographic tools can help with relating to users and give a qualitative description of human social condition. In terms of improving the interactivity of an online banking website, ethnographic tools can help to identify different possibilities and instances that a user and the online banking website will share. By predicting these instances, it is easier to prevent issues so that the experience over all is that much more beneficial. While ethnography isn’t so helpful for retail and to try and understand buying habits, it can be helpful for a bank who’s main purpose is to make money transfers, deposits, etc, easy and hassle free to keep the clientele.

Personally I feel that a design is never really finished. There are always improvements and advancements that could potentially be made. However these potential improvements only come with the passing of time and with new discoveries. So although it can technically be limitless you can see that your design is “finished” when it is in its most simple form and can fulfill its function.You can tell when it is a success only through testing it. You must have actual people and users attempt to use and understand your product/design. If they can figure it out with ease and will continue to look at it rather than throw it aside, then it can be measured as a success. It is important to test for comprehensibility to tell if the user fully gets the design. A designs purpose is to solve a problem, whether it be usability, aesthetic, but mainly it revolves around function.
A product family that I use regularly would be Bath and Body Works Shea Butter. Over all it’s branding is a pretty strong name, especially in my age group. While I love the product anyway and have loyalty to it because of it’s quality and amazing scents, it is also a common ground among a majority of girls in high school and college about who owns which kinds. Because it is popular among my demographic it has that much higher of an image and is displayed as that much better verses generic scented lotion.