Brittany's+Personal+Page

toc

=WEEK 11 =
 * Web Accessibility **


 * How would you describe web accessibility?**
 * Web accessibility involves making the Internet open for use by all people, despite any disability they may have. Web accessibility is about including everyone, and accommodating special needs.


 * Who do you think benefits from accessible websites and how?**
 * The WebAim article estimates that up to 20% of the population has some form of disability that could inhibit them from using the Internet, whether it be because they are deaf, blind, or unable to use a mouse or a keyboard. These people benefit from accessible websites, and ultimately the webmasters do as well as more people are able to access their site and use it effectively.


 * Do you think your website/blog should be accessible? Should all Canadian websites?**
 * All Canadian websites should be accessible, as no one should be excluded from the right to gain and freely access information. Excluding these people would be an infringement of their basic rights, and in the cases of schools and government centres, it is actually against the law.


 * What do you think is the biggest challenge of making a website accessible?**
 * The biggest challenges would be captioning videos for the deaf, as it is harder for computers to be able to transcribe this kind of information. Someone would have to go through each video and record the dialogue. Ultimately though, this needs to be done as a) it increases the audience of the web site, and b) it is immoral to deny someone with a disability the right to freely access and gain information.

=WEEK 10 =
 * Biomimicry **


 * I was fascinated by the idea of the "echolocation cane," created by Sound Foresight. The cane is made for visually-impaired people, and users sonar similar to the way bats to when they're flying in the dark. The cane sends out sound waves that bounce off of upcoming objects, and when something is in the person's way the cane provides a tactile response which alerts the user through the cane's handle.
 * Also, Briker Technology has developed a system in oil pipelines which mimics platelets in the bloodstream which are able to seal wounds in humans. Basically, specially designed platelets flow inside the oil pipelines, and are able to seal against the pipe wall in the case of a leak. It also contains a radioisotope so that engineers can easily locate a leak in the oil pipeline when it occurs.
 * Finally, Columbia Forest Products recognized that the glue that they used contained toxins, so they took the natural route and by observing how mussels secrete natural glues to cling to surfaces underwater, they created an ultrastrong glue with absolutely no toxins.

=WEEK 9 =
 * Design as a Collaborative Process **

> As you can see from this site, Twitter has utilized the idea of collaborative workspaces and open-minded design. This page describes their workspace, and a collaborative theme is clearly evident.
 * Bill Moggridge stresses the idea of collaborative design, and emphasizes team brainstorm. He believes that a shared mind can be more effective than the sum of individual minds, especially if they come from a variety of different backgrounds and disciplines. There needs to be an intimate relationship where people are willing to go into the same room and brainstorm together, and stresses the idea of "project rooms" where people can leave and come back to an intimate environment where all of their information is in the same place.
 * Moggridge also stresses the idea of "participatory design," or including the clients in the actual design process. It is easy for designers to simply design for themselves, and participatory design prevents this. He uses the example of Gyrus, a company of ear, nose and throat surgeons, and in this example the design team integrated the surgeons into the design process. This way it makes them feel as if it is their own project, and it was more effective because they worked with people who could actually use the design.
 * http://twitter.com/jobs

=WEEK 8 = **Can Cell Phone Use End World Poverty?**
 * Jan Chipchase is a human-behaviour researcher at Nokia. His job is to visit members of different third-world regions, and to observe their behaviours and cell-phone habits in order to feed helpful bits of information to designers, technologists and marketing people at Nokia.
 * Analyzing cellphone use in these regions is beneficial because the cell phone is often one of the only fixed parts of our identity, and it's important to know how different people use them so that in the future they can be designed more accomodatingly. In the Mumbai slums, a man carried his cellphone in a plastic bag and also hung it from his wall so that it wouldn't get wet from monsoon floods and seasonal rains. This bit of information is beneficial to Nokia because it shows what people look for in a cell phone, which is considered a lifeline in regions such as the slums in Mumbai.
 * Chipchase gathers information directly from the users, which is known as human-centered design. Chipchase acts as an emissary rather than a marketer, listening to people's needs and letting that inform Nokia's design.

=**WEEK 7 **=
 * Interaction Architecture and Designing a Questionnaire **


 * **Write a description of information architecture as defined by Mat Hunter and Rikako Sakai in relation to their work with Kodak in 1995.**
 * Interaction architecture is defined as an extensible series of rules that could allow for a series of cameras, for example, to be designed effectively. In the case of Rikako Sakai, she created a series of steps for the "Photo Stitch" so that it was easy for users to understand step-by-step.
 * **[|In this site], how does the author define leading questions and hypothetical questions? Write a paragraph each to define these terms.**
 * __Leading questions:__ Leading questions ask for a specific, often one-word answer that are not open for interpretation. For example, "not good" or "excellent" would be the possible answers to a leading question.
 * __Hypothetical questions:__ These questions are opinion-based and should not be used for quantitative measure, as it does not require a closed answer. The answers can often be abstract and therefore are harder to measure.

=**WEEK 6 **=
 * Three Phases for the Adoption of a Technology **


 * The three stages of adoption of a new technology are the **Enthusiast Stage**, the **Professional Stage** and the **Consumer Stage**.
 * The enthusiasts love and appreciate a product or technology in an aesthetic way. The enthusiast wants the product to say "exploit me!" In the case of a 50mm camera, when it first emerged it was extremely complicated and people practically needed an optics degree to operate it, but it gained a following all the same. Enthusiasts enjoy exploiting a product or technology, and find that its difficulty adds to its fun.
 * Once enough enthusiasts have their hands on a product or a technology, one of them will say "I can use this in my work," and find a practical use for it. Prices slowly drop, and the technology becomes more practical. There is a stabilization of controls. In the case of the 50mm camera, buttons were moved and adjusted so that it was easier to reach them (like the flash button) while taking a picture. Basically, what the professional user wants the most in a product is productivity.
 * Once a product has built up big enough volumes, the third Consumer stage begins. The product reaches a price point where it becomes practical for consumers to buy it. The most important controls become automatic -- in the case of the 50 mm camera, over the years it became completely automatic and even a chimpanzee can take a decent photograph. Basically, the consumer wants a product to fit in with his/her style or sense of identity.
 * In the case of an mp3 player, the mp3 format was created. Enthusiasts began to flock to the idea of portable mp3 players, and expensive mp3 players began to emerge. Professionals began to widdle down the idea to a more economical and efficient model, and the iPod was created which revolutionized the industry. Today the iPod is the most popular digital music player.

=**WEEK 5 **=
 * Bodystorming **


 * For the first case study, the participant was blindfolded and provided with a cane. She felt disoriented and increasingly dependent on others, and reported a heightened use of other senses and increasingly relied on them. She counted her steps mentally to map her position for future reference. It was found that other senses like sound and touch were increasingly important, and should be emphasized for visually impaired users.
 * For the second case study, a participant had to perform math problems while memorizing a phone number. He reported difficulty in performing tasks, and his frustration negatively impacted his self-esteem. The researches found that clear narration was needed to assist the user, and fun and entertaining ways to increase his attention were recommended.
 * For the third case study, a participant had pencils taped to his knuckles, and had a glove put over his hand. He had a persistent fear of injury, and was apprehensive in undemanding conditions. His body temperature also rose due to increased exertion and anxiety. The researchers found that accessible routes, and tangible objects composed of safe materials were needed. Also, they noted that speech recognition systems should be further researched to aid users with physical disabilities.
 * I will definitely bodystorm to help analyze the design of my major project, to see if there are any potential difficulties for impaired users. Other possible bodystorming ideas to test are hearing impairments, wheelchair accessibility and left-handedness.

=**WEEK 4 **=
 * The Story of Stuff **


 * Annie Leonard defines the materials economy as the following five stages or processes: extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. The materials economy is basically the process that the materials that we use are produced -- from extraction to disposal. The first stage, extraction, is gathering natural resources -- whether it be wood, metal, water or animals. The problem with extraction is that we are running out of resources, and although America only has 3% of the world's population, it is using 30% of the world's natural resources.
 * The second stage is production, but the problem with production is that we are mixing these natural resources with toxic contaminants and then putting them in our homes or in our bodies. Studies show that one of the foods that has the highest toxic contaminants is human breast milk. This fact alone proves that we need to stop the process of including toxic materials in the production process.
 * The third stage is distribution, and companies want to move these toxin-contaminated products as quickly as possible. This is done by keeping prices down by externalizing the costs -- by not paying their workers enough, and not giving them insurance. The fourth stage is consumption. We have become a society of consumers, and we have been deliberately been raised by the media to shop until we drop so that we continue to consume. Products are even made so that we have to buy a new one every year just so we can keep up with the latest technology. This is called "perceived oblescence," which convinces us that we need to throw out products that are perfectly fine. There is also "planned obselescence," where products are made so that they will break quickly and we will have to go out and buy a new one.
 * Finally, there is disposal. We burn a lot of our garbage in incinerators, which create super-toxins like dioxin (which is the most toxic man-made substance). Also, for one garbage can of our home waste, there is 70 garbage cans worth of the waste it took to create that one garbage can of waste in our houses. Therefore, just recycling our goods will never be enough -- we need to fix the situation that companies are making as well**.**

=**<span style="color: rgb(105, 34, 195);">WEEK 1 **=
 * <span style="color: rgb(124, 21, 193);">Behind the iPod, Jonathan Ive **


 * 1. Firstly, Apple ensured a non-disclosure agreement between any companies or firms that it worked with for the iPod. As the article states, "The nondisclosure agreement between Apple and Toshiba precludes the disk drive maker from describing its design chain role. However, a source close to the design chain says Toshiba did contribute to the overall design." Also, Apple used the same philosophy with the iPod as it did with the original Macintosh computer, and the new MacBook: make the product interface consumer-friendly, no matter how high-tech or complex it might be.
 * 2. Jonathan Ive developed the iMac while working closely with Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple. Since the 1970s Apple's philosophy has been to be "an intersection of technology and the arts," and for its products to convey "ease and simplicity." Moulding different plastics together and co-moulding plastic to metal is a material that has enabled new and different design, as well as "twin-shot plastic with no fasteners and no battery doors" which allows for a product to be completely sealed with no seams or openings, and gives Apple products a closed concept.
 * 3. The design team of apple is so important because Steve Jobs' vision is so cutting edge and perfectionistic, they have a lot to live up to. Apple's design team is relatively small, with more money being spent on equipment than on more designers. Other corporations have struggled to emulate Apple's feel for design, but most "have neither the focus, the skills, nor the appetite for risk to build mass-produced products that feel as if they were made by high-priced boutiques in New York or London."