Author: Patrick Callahan

Listen to what they say about what good design is:

Good design is simple, understandable, clear, and pleasing. It makes people think, “of course it is that way.” It’s making something that becomes of deeper meaning. There was a speaker in the video that used the example of, “the chair dad sat in.” This is the job of designers.

What is a designer’s purpose today? What is their job?

Designers need to make sure the things they make are clear and understandable. Designing is the search for form nowadays. It is about making stuff that people want to buy. In addition, things aren’t forever and companies want lots of new ideas. Designers need to ask themselves, “Am I making something that is a change?”

What should designers do?

Designers should make one thing do multiple things. They need to create an environment where others feel comfortable. Designers should think about what is going to happen, not what has happened already. Design with this in mind: would you buy this?

Do you agree/disagree with any of their statements?

I agree with making things simple and efficient. I believe this goes hand and hand with a really good user experience. I agree that things should feel better with use, as the product is being worn in.

Did they say anything that changes your view on design?

It really got me thinking when the man said about things being extremely hard to design that get better with use. Also, early in the movie a speaker said about worrying about extremities of whatever you are designing, and the middle ground will be taken care of automatically. This was honestly the exact opposite of what I thought designers would do. Additionally, the comment of good design being as little design as possible was a new thought to me.

What is design?

My definition of design is having ideas to improve daily life without users thinking about it.

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

Knowing the norms of a certain culture or cultures can help create a more welcoming website, meaning that if the online services look reliable and secure because the designer understood what is accepted from cultures than people are more likely to interact with it and come back to use the services again. It creates a more holistic website experience for the user.

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

I think a design is finished when the designer is happy with what the product has done for people, and that is also when it is considered a success. Even if the product does something the designer did not originally foresee, if the user finds a way to use it effectively then the designer should feel accomplished. The purpose of the design should just be to help something or someone in a positive way.

• 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)

I think Apple has influenced the way I look at certain things. When I was looking for a new phone recently I found myself tied to the iPhone because of familiarity. They make all their products so intertwined that when I go out for a new product I think about the connectivity to my current Apple products and how they will tie in. This is why Apple has such a great user experience for me.

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

Some challenges include selling to your boss that it is going to take several weeks to write something, not having a budget for discovery, expertise makes it hard to remember what a novice feels like, finally, creating deep designs with the fourth dimension in mind.

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

Interactive design draws from the written word, but it’s also bringing in information from so many other places to evolve. Designers use ethnography tools to figure out why people do things. They are similar to marketers because both are interested in human behavior. Interactive design also pulls from storytelling.

• 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.