Ames' syllabi

• What information can ethnographic tools give you to improve the interactivity of an online banking website? (pp. 48-54) Ethnographic tools can help to identify user needs to may have not been yet made. Testing for marketing demands so they can make products are not on market yet. Also they can search for opportunities to expand through differences that between them and there competitors.
• At what point is a design finished? What makes it a success? What is its purpose? (pp. 54-62) A design is finished when it has met all of the goals and astheicly can not be improved. It is then a success once it has met the goals for the user and the user doesn’t even think about the design because it make sense that it is that way and no other way. The purpose of design is to make something pleasing to the eye and as simple as possible for the user.
• Identify a product family you use regularly (can be anything from technology to consumables except for coffee). How has its branding effected your use, relationship and experience with the product? (pp. 78-84) A product that I use every day is my truck. The branding of the vehicle has not had as much of a effect as the quality of the vehicle. However, because of the quality my relationship, experience and loyalty has been excellent.

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

Ethnographic tools are used by observing, interviewing, and analyzing people in a social setting. An online banking website could use this to better understand its users. This understanding would ultimately create a better, more wholesome experience.

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

A design is finished when the designer(s) feel as though their work is done. Now, whether or not a design is successful or not is subjective. Everyone has their own metric of success. To one,  it may just be whether or not the design makes a profit. To others it may just be whether or not it is well liked and/or useful. A design’s purpose depends on the person using it. A user may find a purpose that wasn’t initially intended by the designer.

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

Google has run my life for the better part of a decade. I have an android phone that runs on Google software, I use google chrome as my default browser, and, obviously, I use Google’s search engine whenever I have a problem or question of any kind. I use google because it’s efficient. All of their products work well and fast. Also, the connectivity is very important. I can save a file using google drive on my MacBook Pro, then open it up on my Motorola phone or Samsung tablet.

Ethnographic tools help interaction designers better recognize their audience. They help you gather data about your customer base to help improve your design and the components surrounding it. These include things like how much a person would pay for your product, or what colors, shapes, textures, and things of that sort impacts the user.

Designs are finished at different stages depending upon the particular project or how the designer sees fit. When the product accomplishes it’s goals and the designer is happy with the outcome and it is finished. Although, some would argue that a design is never done. We talked in class about the Iphone, which is a perfect example. It has been re-releasing a new version with updates every year now and sees no sign of stopping, but I would argue that sometimes for the big corporations it’s about the money. The Iphone hasn’t had any ridiculously major upgrades that have completely changed it from the very first, just updated specs and some cool new features.

A product I use often that I am loyal to is actually the opposite of an Iphone, it’s my Droid Turbo. I am a Motorola fan an always have been. Their version of Android is very straight to the point and not loaded with a bunch of useless features. They also consistently have the best specs, and on top of that I have dropped it many many times with no case and no damage has occurred after a year except for some minor scratches. Unfortunately, Motorola’s phone division is set to be bought by Lenovo, so the future of the brand is unknown at this point. Hopefully with the success that Lenovo has had in the computer industry they can take the technologies developed at Motorola Mobility and make it better, but I wouldn’t be opposed to switching to a Google Nexus.

Upon first glance of the cover of Thoughts on Interaction Design, it seemed like I was in for an wacky read that was going to dive into some really crazy ideas of design that were going to be really foreign to me. But as they say, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, and that was the case with this book. Most of the ideas were pretty simple, but important to know in this industry. The first very important thing the author brings up is one that is often forgotten amongst new designers. It is the fact that all ideas have to begin with a scenario or a problem. Another important thing I picked up on that I often forget myself is that we often give the aesthetic look to design the front seat while the actual functionality and purpose sometimes takes a back seat.

The book took an idea from some designers at Carnegie Mellon (which I’m actually headed to tomorrow to tour their design facilities!) that broke it down into six parts: defining the problem, discovering wants and needs, synthesizing, constructing, refining, and reflecting. There are a lot of challenges that are faced in todays design industry, especially now more than ever. The problem is that the world is rapidly evolving, and with that humans change in personalties and what they want and need. An interesting tidbit about interaction design is that it’s actually multiple fields of employment combined into one. Things like engineering, mass production, and marketing are just a few things that go into design.

Chapter 6 starts out by explaining cultural norms pertaining to technology. The way we use technology whether it’s speaking loudly on the phone or spreading Internet memes, we are making cultural norms. In a somewhat recent culture shift, it has become acceptable to explore technology and to understand that it’s for everyone to use. Designer’s main focus though is the users usability of the design, although there’s more to design than that. Designers also have to look for a unusable solution for the given design problem based off of what people expect out of it and the given information. In the end it’s up to the designer’s philosophy and the client’s demands that challenge cultural norms. Through mass production, a designer’s design can be experienced by millions of people. This design can also have a meaningful impact on the user’s life without them knowing it. A design can also go through a delay be the public sees it. Even if the world’s views have changed, the product will still come out with its previous motive. The design is also diffused with all the other external influences on people, but it can still have an impact on larger decisions. The chapter also discussing rejecting usability because designers learn the basics and easy ways to solve problems but to accurately solve a user-centered process, one must have a complicated solution. Then the book mentions discursive design, which is perceived as design provoking public communication. This makes the design more social by constantly changing human behavior. Toward the end of the chapter, the book explains the positives and negatives of the “digital age” and how negative behavior has shifted through design. This is explained by how much we as a culture are dependent on technology to get through the day, complete simple tasks, and unfortunately decline in knowledge. Designers will still design things that might not be needed, and there will always be a job to do and a problem to solve.

 

Chapter 6 of Thoughts on Interaction Design, “Judgement and Shifting Negative Behavior,” discusses the different decisions that a designer must make and the elements of society and culture that need to be taken into account when making these design decisions.  Although usability is an integral part of a design, there is much more to the creative process than designing for optimal usability.  Essentially, people must look beyond the surface of the design and the surface of the function and usability in order to grasp its significance.  Thinking about the deeper meanings of what is occurring in he world will lead one to creating something that challenges both the designer and the user in profound ways.

The chapter also discussed discursive design, in which a design is intended to provoke thought and spark discussion among people.  Ultimately, this transforms what the purpose of design is, for it becomes a form of commentary, something to be picked apart and analyzed rather than acknowledged and dismissed.  This kind of design is much more interactive on the part of the user and is an important stage in the evolution of design as something larger than itself.  Design becomes a catalyst for critical thinking and analysis.

Ultimately, the chapter reflected the ideas that design is a complex process and way of creating that alters based upon the ever-changing world and people around us, which makes it so challenging to define and pinpoint.  The designer takes on a number of different roles in the process, and the user must adapt as well based on changes in the design presented and how it should be responded to, thought about, and discussed.  This intricate web that has been weaved of designer, user, and design will only become more complicated as time passes and society progresses.

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

Ethnographic tools can provide some insights on the ways in which people live and what they value.  If an online banking website can use these tools to better understand the lifestyles of their customers, they can improve the interactions between the user and the interface.  Studying people can reveal how they respond to particular prompts and situations, and understanding this is part of the design process, for an effective design will be built upon the research in order to best serve the user/customer.

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

One could certainly argue that a design is never truly finished.  However, when someone feels confident enough that the design does its job in an efficient manner, it can be considered finished for the purpose of the job.  If the designer can see that something should be tweaked, he or she should tweak it before considering it done.  One way of measuring both whether a design is finished and whether or not it was a success is by seeing that an outsider can understand and use the design in the way it was intended by the designer to be understood and used.  Ultimately, the design’s purpose is to solve a problem and make life easier.  If it can do both, it has fulfilled its purpose.

Identify a product family you use regularly (can be anything from technology to consumables except for coffee). How has its branding affected your use, relationship and experience with the product?

One product family I use regularly is Apple products.  Its branding has affected my use with their products in that they all work in much the same way and are easily connected with one another, so the uniformity that is part of their brand has simplified how they are used.  I feel almost connected to the brand because of Apple’s presence in my life; I am even using an Apple product to complete this assignment.  They are involved in many aspects of my life, which has resulted in a positive relationship with Apple.  As a result, my positive associations with the products help to promote generally positive experiences with the brand and offer it a favorable position in my mind as the consumer.

I was tasked with trying to figure out a new way to open a door using only your foot.  I think that this would be a cool and sometimes useful invention to make.  I had a couple of ideas for this project. The first idea I came up with was making just like a hole in the door that would be big enough for a shoe to fit in.  This hole could have a fabric liner so that it would not scratch your shoe of your foot if you are barefoot.  For this product, all the user would do is insert their foot into the hole and simple turn their foot up or down to grasp the door. Then the user would simply just pull their foot back until it opened and then remove their foot.  The door would have to have some sort of spring on it so that once you start pulling it open it would open the rest of the way.  Then it would stay open for a set period of time or until you pull it back shut with your foot.  The next idea I had for this product was using a part of a saddle.  My idea is that you could attach the foot holder from a saddle onto the bottom half of the door.  To open the door,  the user would simply place their foot in the foot holder and pull their leg back to pull the door open.  My last idea is similar to hotel rooms with the key card slot.  My product would have a sensor on the bottom and another sensor that would go in or on your shoe.  The shoe sensor would just have to be waved in front to the door sensor to tell the door to open.  having the sensor in the shoe would make it so that the door would not be opened due to an animal or pet running in front of the door.  I believe that these ideas could all be useful, but all would need more work on them to make them ready to be produced.

Chapter six talks about judgement and shifting negative behavior.  Norms are behaviors that are common for people within a certain culture or group.  If someone thinks that one a design goes against the norms that they believe in then they tend to have a judgement of  the design which could resulting a negative behavior.  Judgements can cause a cultural shift in society if the judgement is spread wide enough throughout the viewers.  This chapter also talks about discursive design.  This is a category of design that treats products as ideas rather than just “instruments of utility”.  The last thing talked about in chapter 6 is shifting negative behavior through design.  Negative behaviors can be shifted by making people rethink their stance on a product. Also,  negative behaviors can be shifted by changing a product and re-introducing it to the negatively influences customers.