LEARNING LOG 5:2. Situated Types

I loved this reading, connecting a global community with technology has always fascinated me. Here they talk about digital communications being used to share ideas through a global network. Touch screen technology,  surveillance, etc.. are elements that bring the word together in a kind of global cafe. 

But non-digital forms of meeting is also a topic. Weather it be in a cafe, bar, mall, at home, or in a workspace, we can gather and share ideas. 

Overall this reading talks about where we gather and what the space in used for. For example, right now, I am typing this blog entry in a cafe off Rittenhouse square. There are other people working on laptops, reading, talking, or writing. This is a type of space for information sharing a meeting.

As I sit here and read and write - it directly relates to the reading. Overall, this is about how humans function in different space, and how we use those spaces, either real or virtual.

LEARNING LOG 5: Service Design

I found that all of the variables of service design interesting. I don't normally think about how many factors go into a "Service". All of the intangible elements and time related fluctuations that account for a service are things that one would not normally think about. 

How the environment itself also creates affordances is interesting. This seems to me to be a crucial element that is often overlooked. The easier, more simple, and using less thinking to navigate through the environment all play a part in how we view and use that space. Research and analyzing the space before deciding on the final design is important:

Taking photographs, video, mapping all play a role in this research. Looking at all of these elements as a whole are good indicators of what can be done with that service space.

Designers must look at all the "Touchpoints" to make informed decisions: 

. Physical locations

. Specific parts of locations

. Signage

. Objects

. Web sites

. Mailings (e-mail and regular)

. Spoken communication

. Printed communications (receipts, maps, tickets, and so on)

. Applications

. Machinery

. Customer service

. Partners

All of these elments can come into play - It seems that service design can be more varied and in depth than one might think off the bat.

Also, something else that stuck out to me was the role-playing that goes into designing a service; ie, acting out and putting yourself into the role of a customer can be very important in making decisions about how that service will function.

Week 7 Log: Refinement

This refinement refers to the constraints of time, money, and resources. As well as knowledge. This chapter gets more in depth with how the process of design works. It starts with an idea a research. Then the work flow comes into play. The physical constrains, ie; materials, etc.. affect the process as well as the end product. Speaking in terms of physical controls, we deal with buttons, dials, switches, latches, and motors, ect... Digitally, we speak in terms of scroll bars, drop down menus, check boxes, ect... More advanced interfaces include, Voice, gesture, and presence. 

It can be very fun to design products or interfaces that use many or all of these elements. This chapter really got me thinking about project that I might want to work on in the future. 

Choosing the right elements to give the user the right feedback and affordance can be the creative part. But this can also give new uses for a product when a mistake is made during the design process. A mental model is great, but if a product does not do what we want it to do than the process can be a waste of time. Using research as well as storyboards, and web charts can be a clear way to get the process started. Once we decide to go in a certain direction, the design process starts. Employing all these design factors can make the process much faster and cleaner.

Week 7 Log: Design Research

Research is always a tool that I employ when I design something. It is important to see first what has been successful from past designs first, to make decisions on what I am designing. If I choose to design a web site, I first look at similar sites. While at Pratt Institute, I took a class called "Directed Research." This was exactly what we did in the class. Interviewing, shadowing, and looking, BEFORE designing. But also brainstorming and ideation were important factors that we used to come up with the final design. As it says in the reading, it is rare to find someone that does not have to do research on a subject before delving into it. 

When designing a product for a client, we would first follow them around for an entire day. The assignment was to design something that would improve their life. To do that, we would follow them in their daily activities and document this with photos, video, text ect.. As well as interviewing them and asking many questions. 

I often would think that I would know right off the bat what I wanted to design, but with just a little research, the design would only grow in its success and power. By immersing oneself in subject matter, we only learn more of what is needed and what is not.

Here is an example of a product I designed for a "Client": It was called "Fruity Pillow".  A series of biomorphic pillows that I actually designed and built myslelf. But before doing this, I also had to research HOW to build it. Employing the fashion department and a friend of mine to shwo me the process of sewing and designing a stuffed pillow:

The pillows in action

The pillows by themselves. 

My client was a painter that would do most of her work in her living space and would hang out with friends in the process. The idea was to make portable, modular, functional, and beautiful surfaces that she could use to accommodate herself and her friends while collaborating. 

Week 6 Log: Example of Color

The following are two examples of color. One is a very good use, the other is a failure:

This first site uses color in two very good ways. For one, it choose to use good organic contrasting colors that relate directly to the "Natural" or "organic" aspect of the site. Using a deep red and a vegetable green were good choices for the main image. As well as incorporating well photographed images overlaid over the woody background. It give a natural feel, while not making all of the colors the same, boring tone. This design can be seen as well thought out as well as making good use of contrasting and organic tones.

The second site dubs itself as the "Worst site in the world". It succeeds in doing this, with its horrible use of clashing colors and terrible layout:

The most terrible site in the world. The coral green against the puke orange background can only be described as atrocious. The dotted background and unclear use of colored links makes it very worse. 

SO, as we can see color can be used to both make a site beautiful and functional.

Week 6 Log: Uses of Color

Color can be used in both a design sense and as a means to show importance. It is more complicated than first thought. It can affect both phycological and physical areas of design. But as the reading say, the main problem is that it is UNDERUSED. I believe that people tend to underuse color because they DO NOT KNOW HOW. It can be complicated and requirer MUCH TRAINING and TALENT. Though, it CAN be taught. Deciding what colors go well with each other and what emotional impact they have is not a random act. It takes high levels of skill and time. I will show two examples of color in my next post. 

Color can be a universal object, but also a culturally specific one. As the web grows through every culture and aspect of the world, we will see cultural lines broken down, and a more universal one forming. Globalization and interconnectivity will help bridge the gap. For example, in some cultures RED mean stop. In others, it means GO! Nature tends to be a jumoing off point. Green can be though of a a universal color for the earth, but in some areas, brown might be what is thought of - for exmaple in desert regions. Blue can be though of a the sky- but for cultures living by the sea, it can be seen as the land itself.

Week 5 Log 2: Designing a better billboard

When looking at how we can make a site more usable, we can think of it for several different areas; Standardizing, grouping, feedback, and minimal-ization (My own made up word). When making something standard, we think of other sites that work and make sense for the user. Conventions that we see over a wide range of successful web sites. In grouping, we talk about breaking up a page into areas that have a similar subject matter. Users can then think less about where everything is, and more about what the material that they are looking at is saying. Furthermore, using feedback is making the site interactive, or making it easy for the user to navigate through the site. Finally, minimizing the noise, is to make the site minimal and clean. Getting rid of superfluous information. Using color, sound, and movment can be good ways to help the user navigate through a site. This can give the user feedback as to the flow of information.

I will show a good example of what is meant by this:

Wired.com is a good example of a well thought out design. The hierarchy is clear and the design is minimal. What is clickable is animated and changes when the mouse is moved over it. Also, the noise level is almost at zero, only what needs to be shown is shown.