Reading Response #5

In Chapter 2 of Norman's The Design of Future Things he revisits some earlier material by discussing the three levels of processing in the brain: the visceral level (most basic, automatic/subconscious level which is determined by our biological heritage), the behavioral level (based on learned skills, mostly subconscious level), and the reflective level (conscious, self-aware, the home of self and one's self-image). One of the quotations that stood out for me in this chapter was "The future of everyday things lies in products with knowledge, with intelligence, products that know where they are located and who know who their owners are and that can communicate with other products and the environment. The future of products is all about the capabilities of machines that are mobile, that can physically manipulate the environment, that are aware of both the other machines and the people around them and can communicate with them all." (p. 44) Norman also discusses the possibility of a symbiotic relationship with machines, in particular cars and their drivers. Norman continues to hearken back to the horse+rider relationship as an analogy of what future car+driver symbiotic relationships might look like, with "loose rein" and "tight rein" control that a horseback rider can exert over the horse. Norman thinks that this possibility of "loose rein" and "tight rein" control might be applied to the future car+driver symbiotic relationship with the car and its driver splitting up the visceral, behavioral and reflective levels. I don't think I agree with Norman's wishes for the future of automobiles. I like driving, I like being in control. I like modern advances in automobile technology such as power steering, anti-skid brakes and the various electronic controls and monitors of my car's engine, but I don't think I'd like to have to share control of the vehicle's actual operation with a machine. Certainly, it may be commonplace in the future to have vehicles drive themselves, but I would still want to exercise control, or have the ability to opt out. The last thing I'd need is a cautious car or worse a skittish car. I've seen horse jumping competitions where the horse "refuses" to jump and the rider gets dumped off the horse. I think that Norman has sort of romanticized the horse + rider relationship. Accidents still happen with horses and their riders even though we've been riding them for hundreds of years.
I was also a little bit disturbed when Norman mentioned the "handshaking" that might occur between machines and systems, with your refrigerator conspiring with your weight scale and your doctor to prevent you from getting eggs out of the fridge. I think there would be FOIP issues involved in Canadian law with regard to sharing medical records and private information electronically.

Reading Response #4

The Use of Animation
Why is animation a useful tool?
The appropriate use of animation is a powerful tool for the classroom teacher. Typically, classroom teachers don't have the time to create their own animations, due to inadequate professional development time or skill sets necessary to learn animation-authoring tools. There are several basic options for teachers to use, typically they are Web 2.0 applications that allow for quick and easy animations to be created within a matter of minutes (for example, Go!Animate or xtranormal). Animation can allow teachers to emphasize certain key points or understandings in the curriculum and illustrate them clearly for their students. Personally, I don't make my own animations, very few teachers do, due to lack of time. However, it's easy to find great examples on the Internet. For example, in my Social Studies 30-1 class I show students the following video on the American electoral college system for electing a president. I'll probably also show my Social 10-1 students videos from The Story of Stuff project, like the one below.


Depending on your subject area, there are usually lots of animated online movies that could be used to help students understand key concepts. A simple Google search for "chemistry animations" yielded over 800,000 results, with the following looking very promising: chemistry Flash animations.

The Use of Animation on Prezi

Project Proposal and Storyboard

Here is the link to our Prezi that outlines our project proposal and storyboard:

Spry Werx's LaunchPad on Prezi

SpryWerx's LaunchPad Project Proposal and Storyboard

Reading Response #3

For this week's reading response I'll be looking at Chapter 14 in RBWD&U entitled "Graphics, Images and Multimedia". As the website's PDF points out "when used appropriately, graphics can facilitate learning". With our LaunchPad product we will definitely need to be aware of the rules and guidelines suggested by the Usability website. In Chapter 14 they state that the use of graphics, images and multimedia must follow the rules below:

• use simple background images
• label clickable images (the American Memory website that is used as an example is presented first without labels for the pictures and in the second picture there are descriptive labels to go along with the images. This applies to our product since when we did our user testing we found that people didn't necessarily understand the intent of the icons in our navigation system)
• ensure that images do not slow downloads
• use video, animation and audio meaningfully (in other words, use video, animation, and audio only when they help to convey, or are supportive of, the website’s message or other content. Any use of video, animation and audio should have a strong intended purpose, and not be used if it's going to be distracting for users)
• include logos
• graphics should not look like banner ads (this shouldn't be a problem for our product, as it is ad-free and optimized for smartphones, not a website with annoying ads in place)
• limit large images above the fold (large graphics that dominate the front page may lead readers to think that there is no text below the graphic)
• ensure website images convey intended messages (once again, this is applicable to our project, as we have to make sure that the images that we use are appropriate and have the intended message. This connects to our usability testing of our icon navigation system once again as we thought that the icons were easy to understand, but they weren't by our users)
• limit the use of images
• include actual data with data graphics
• display monitoring information graphically
• introduce animation (this is applicable to our project because we will be using animation as part of the LaunchPad. We need to make sure that we have introductory information for any animations that appear in our product)
• emulate real-world objects
• use thumbnail images to preview larger images (this is a good idea to do when you have large image files on your website and want it load faster. Most people have high-speed Internet access today in North America, but it is still something to consider)
• use images to facilitate learning (in other words, use images whenever possible to replace text)
• using photographs of people (in some cases it might be beneficial to have photos of people on a website. Given our focus of our project, this may not be necessary)

I also really appreciate the link to the LIFE magazine Google images link in this week's links. It might be useful to finding images for my teaching practice. I really like the Boston Globe's feature called "The Big Picture" which covers current events from around the world with amazing photojournalism.

Reading Response #2

Over the course of the Winter 2011 semester, we will be reading Donald Norman's The Design of Future Things. Here are some of my thoughts on the first chapter of the book entitled "Cautious Cars and Cantankerous Kitchens: How Machines Take Control." A few of Norman's assertions jumped out at me when I read Chapter 1, especially when he states that "we're giving objects around us more initiative, more intelligence, and more emotion and personality" (p.2), which I think is true. We also humanize the objects around us in our daily lives too. I do agree with Norman when he states that "so-called intelligent systems have become too smug. They think they know what is best for us." (p.9) He goes on to discuss how navigation systems for cars tend to pick the routes that are the shortest distance between point A and point B, and sometimes it doesn't account for local traffic conditions (on-going construction here in Calgary) or even the desires of the driver who may want to take the scenic route. There are other "so-called intelligent systems" that around us everyday like DVRs (digital video recorders) or PVRs (personal video recorders) that have the capability to learn the type of TV programs and movies that you like to watch and take it upon itself to record it for you. My Shaw TV Motorola PVR doesn't do this but TIVO does. Which could lead to situations such as the one below.

(I was actually looking for a clip from the TV show King of Queens where Patton Oswalt utters the almost identical line, but this TV show does a nice job of illustrating the point)

As Norman puts it, "the conflict between human and machine actions is fundamental because machines, whatever their capabilities simply do not know enough about the environment, the goals and motives of the people, and the special circumstances that invariably surround any set of activities." (p.15) Who knows why the character chose to record "Will and Grace" and the Ellen Degeneres Show, but by making those selections TIVO made some assumptions about its owner.
There are other recommendation systems out there that do a better job, probably because they have access to more data. These recommendation systems can analyze past selections of the user, search for similarities to other items in their databases, examine the likes and dislikes of other people whose interests appear similar to yours (p.20-21). You can see examples of this when you do some online shopping at Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or even when you have Genius recommendations turned on in your iTunes account. Sometimes these recommendations are really good with iTunes. For example, I downloaded Vampire Weekend's entire first album from the iTunes store (it's great, you should check it out), and the Genius recommendation was for me to check our Ra-Ra-Riot, which introduced me to another really cool band that maybe shares some musical similarities to Vampire Weekend, but they are not clones of one another.

Another tidbit in the first chapter that jumped out at me was the part about the future of advertising and how it may mimic the style that it is in the movie Minority Report. There is pervasive advertising around us all the time and the message of what they want us to buy is there but it's not as intrusive as it is depicted here in the movie.


I thought that I would also take a quick look at "Page Layout" from the RBWD&U website, since I thought that it might pertain to our project more than some of the other links for this week's readings. From this reading I've pulled out a few of the important usability rules:

• avoid cluttered displays (this connects to one of the later rules with the use of white space)
• place important items consistently (navigation menu in the same place on every single page)
• place important items at top center
• structure for easy comparison (comparing payment programs)
• establish level of importance (hierarchy in the design)
• optimize display density
• align items on a page
• use fluid layouts (to accommodate people that have their monitor displays set at 1024 x 768 pixels or higher; for our project, we'll have to have our icons optimized for a smartphone display)
• avoid scroll stoppers
• set appropriate page lengths (don't have users scroll through pages of information)
• use moderate white space
• choose appropriate line lengths
• use frames when functions must remain accessible

Reading Response # 1

I wrote what I thought was going to be my first reading response for the Winter 2011 semester, and then I looked at the course outline and found out that, in fact, I was supposed to start at the back of Donald Norman's book The Design of Future Things. In the "Summary of the Design Rules" Norman states the following design rules:

Design Rules for Human Designers of "Smart" Machines 
1. Provide rich, complex, and natural signals.
2. Be predictable.
3. Provide good conceptual models.
4. Make output understandable.
5. Provide continual awareness without annoyance.
6. Exploit natural mappings.

Design Rules Developed by Machines to Improve Their Interactions with People
1. Keep things simple.
2. Give people a conceptual model.
3. Give reasons.
4. Make people think they are in control.
5. Continually reassure.
6. Never label human behavior as "error". (Rule added by the human interviewer.)

From a design standpoint, as designers of a product that we wish people (and textbook companies) to use someday, we have to cognizant of the design rules that Norman has laid out for us here. We need to provide rich, complex and natural signals (which Norman details in Chapter 3 when he discusses the sound of a kettle whistling) in our product. We also have to not assume to much of our target audience that they will intuitively "get it" and there doesn't need to be as much explanation as to how our product will work.

Portfolio Design Rationale: Mission Statement or "Better Late Than Never"

First off, I can't believe I missed this course requirement from the course outline. As a result, I'm kind of writing this backwards, after I've already made a bunch of postings. At any rate, here's what the intent of this blog was all along.

Portfolio Design Rationale: Mission Statement

This e-portfolio has three main purposes. First off, it will be a place to post information related to my group's project. I've been able to upload a few links to uploaded documents using a website called Scribd. One of the drawbacks of Blogger is that it doesn't allow you to post PDF or Word documents (or PowerPoint presentations for that matter), you have to use a third party to do this. I've been able to post some elements of our design project, but I freely admit it is a bit scattered around the Internet. Some of this is out of my control, since the main prototype of our product is housed on Stephen's webspace on the CBE project server.  The second purpose of this blog will be to post my thoughts and reflections from the course readings. Another purpose for this blog will be to try new things as a 21st century learner and become more comfortable with digital technologies and try new things. I think over the course of the semester I tried using different Web 2.0 tools. It's something that I'll continue to do in my future Graduate classes.  

The target audience for this blog is for my recording and reflections. I invite my professor and classmates to view this blog and join me on this journey through the course. This blog is meant to document my goals, challenges and reflections on my learning journey. 

My overall goal with this work is to develop a deeper understanding of user centered design and course content, enhance my understanding of digital technologies and grow as a teacher and learner.

Some thoughts on Norman's Epilogue for Emotional Design... 

I want to begin my last response post by saying how much I have enjoyed Norman’s book. It constantly made me think, make connections to other things that I have read or seen, and nod my head with approval and understanding. I am passing it on to my sister,  I think she’ll enjoy it because of her background in interior design and architecture.
I would like to emphasize a few concepts that Norman discussed in this chapter, specifically personalization and customization. Norman asks questions like, “how can mass-produced objects have personal meaning?” and yet for many people that already do, without the need for any customization. Some people love objects that have been mass-produced, and they form personal attachments to them. Take for example, Pottery Barn, or any other company similar to them. They sell what appear to be unique curios, but really many of your friends and neighbors might have the same apothecary table. Are there truly unique products out there in our mass-produced mass-consumed culture?
Although there are customization services available to consumers for some products, there really are a fixed number of choices, styles, colors and materials. I hope that Norman’s idea of “mass customization” becomes more commonplace, and will extend to everything. Currently, computer manufacturers like Dell employ a “just-in-time” manufacturing model. Items are only manufactured after they have been purchased, so there’s no stockpile, which, in turn, reduces the cost of inventory. On a very related note, in Thomas Freidman’s book The World is Flat, he discusses in great detail the manufacturing and supply chain operation of Dell’s operation. Here are some interesting facts about Dell’s operation which I am taking from Friedman’s book (pages 515-519):

• Dell has six factories around the world: Limerick (Ireland), Xiamen (China), Eldorado do Sol (Brazil), Nashville (Tennessee), Austin (Texas), Penang (Malaysia)
• Orders are sent by e-mail to the various factories
• parts needed for every individual order are sent to supplier logistics centers (SLCs)
• around every Dell factory there are SLCs, owned by the different suppliers of Dell parts
• in an average day, Dell sells 140,00 to 150,000 computers
• those orders come over the phone or through Dell’s website
• as soon as the orders are taken, the suppliers at the SLCs know about it
• every two hours the Dell factories send an e-mail to the various SLCs telling them what parts are needed and the quantity
• parts are delivered 90 minutes later
• all parts are unloaded in 30 minutes and bar codes are entering into a tracking system
• Dell has multiple suppliers for most of its key components

In his book, Friedman goes through all of the various parts and components and their origins (where they were manufactured) because he wrote the book on a Dell Inspiron notebook and wanted to know all of the global connections that made this piece of technology “tick”.
Norman also discusses how we, as individuals, are designers in our every day lives, because we manipulate the environment in which we live to suit our needs, we select items to own, we build, arrange and restructure. Through our designs, we transform houses into homes, spaces into places, and things into belongings. In my everyday life I maintain a personal website and weblog for both myself and one for my son (my wife has one too, although she doesn’t update it very often). These are also, according to Norman, to be personal, non-professional design statements. But how individualized can they blogs be when they come with pre-packaged templates that everyone uses? Where is the personal customization? This is something that I wish blogging services like Blogger would offer, far greater customization and personalization of blogs. This blog does have some elements of customization and if the user has greater knowledge of CSS they could really make the template their own. It is fairly user-friendly though with drag and drop features and elements that you can choose to include or not include on their blog.