k_hui



 toc

** Week 1 **
1.  Apple’s assembly methods for the iPod are very unusual because different parts of the design are done by outside companies, and not Apple itself. The iPod platform and reference design are done by PortalPlayer which guarantees the highest sound quality. Reverse engineering is done by Portelligent Inc. The battery is from Sony, the harddrive is from Toshiba, stereo digital-to-analog converter from Wolfson Microelectronics, flash memory chip from Sharp, firewire interface controller from Texas Instruments, and a power management and battery charging IC from Linear Technologies Inc. Apple then assembles the different parts together to create the iPod.   By using designs from other companies, it eliminates the need for Apple to start from scratch and wasting time on experimental trials with mock models, knowing that the parts already available to it are top quality and function well. The risk of creating a faulty piece of technology is reduced by using PortalPlayer’s standard platform. By getting parts from all different sources, it allows Apple to buy materials more cheaply. Imagine if they did purchase all their parts from one company and that company realized its monopolistic power, and started charging Apple more. But by having many sources, Apple has prevented itself from falling into that situation.

2.  Jobs and Ive took Apple back onto a path of design and innovation. Apple’s products are the children of technology and art and ease and simplicity are their speciality.   They can see the potential their inventions have, going beyond the traditional functions. This type of attention to detail has grown into this desire for the user to automatically connect, understand and interact with the design.   Advancements in polymer plastics are enabling new design opportunities. The ability to mold plastic to metal has become possible, creating new functional and formal design options. Laser welding and the ability to join metal to adhesives are other advancements that are leading to different designs.

3. Apple’s design team is so exclusive, a  nd secretive that it is like an intense version of a cult. The team is individually selected, so Apple has the best working to make the best. These individuals reflect what Apple has become known for “ <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">casually chic, elitist and with a definite Euro bent <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> ”. They are not just designers, they also help with the production of their products, working with the engineers, marketers and manufacturing contractors. By doing so, they can learn about, and understand about what new advancements in technology mean for advancements in design. <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; msofareastlanguage: EN-CA; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; msofareastlanguage: EN-CA; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> Other companies are beginning to understand what having a design team can lead to, so they’re trying to vamp up their own, in hopes of scoring some of Apple’s success. However, most companies are not interested in the supporting products that look very high-end (such as Apple’s products), so their design teams would be faced with many restrictions, both in terms of creativity and financially. They see disadvantages to Apple’s small, elite team (such as being able to only come out with a small number of products) so they will most likely not copy its exact formula. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">

**<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Week 2 **<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Ergonomics is the: <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; msoansilanguage: EN-US;">
 * <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.
 * <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">science of work, and the attempt to make work better
 * <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; msoansilanguage: EN-US;">science of arranging and adjusting the work environment to fit the employee's body

<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Case 5 <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. Creating elevated walkways (ie. islands) so that pedestrians would know where to safely walk. <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, the elevated ground can prevent cars from hitting unsuspecting pedestrians on street level, because the island would serve as a bump guard. <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Ergonomic Keyboard with article - [|See it!]

**<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Week 3 **
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 characteristics of **socially responsible product design**: 1. Cost-effective --> design has to use money wisely, and keep costs farily cheap since these products are marketed towards the poor <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Give them marketable skills --> with new designs, it should give people marketable skills and knowledge that can be used to generate income, and get themselves out of poverty

3. Minimum environmental impact --> because these countries depend a lot more on their environment around them <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Improve health care --> should give these people a chance to improve their health, lead longer, healthier lives <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Encourage/advance education --> so that the people can have the education/knowledge to improve their lives, and be able to seek a better life <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Another socially innovative designer - [|Sustainable Everyday Projects]

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Week 4
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 11.5pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">We've always been told that the materials economy process starts with production to consumption to disposal. But the truth behind the system is hidden from the masses. This linear process cannot function because we live on a finite planet. The materials economy begins with extraction, production, distribution, consumption and then disposal. This way of life that we’ve become accustomed to, began after World War II, as a means of reviving the economy. Since then, it continues to dictate the way most Western economies <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">are run. <span style="font-size: 11.5pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Currently the natural materials we extract come from third-world nations (because we are running out of natural resources back at home). The extracted resources are taken to factories to be produced into products we buy. Because harmful toxins are often used in the factories, the health of the factory workers is sacrificed. The products that come out of the factories are also full of toxins. The distribution level occurs in the stores we make our purchase. The golden arrow of consumption is the thing that motivates us to constantly consume. For instance, it is through advertising on TV that we develop the constant need to buy new shoes, just to keep up with the current trends. We fill our houses to the brim with things someone else tells us we need. Once we bring the products home, we throw them in the dump, which is the last step in the materials economy. <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Using  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">planned and perceived obsolescence (“designed for the dump”) explains why the lifecycle of products like computers and shoes are so short. They’re designed to become out-of-date and thus obsolete the moment you pay for it, so that you are on this constant cycle of working (to earn money to buy things with), watching television (that tells you what you need to buy) and shopping. The value of our contributions to society isn’t measured by how great of a person we are, it’s measured by how much we spend in the economy, and contribute to the golden arrow of consumption. Our purpose in life has become to consume more goods. <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 90%; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Annie Leonard brings up a point about the cheap prices on big-ticket items such as electronics. How can it cost only $4.99 for a radio at Radio Shack? The truth is that the people behind the production of the radio are the ones paying for the discounts passed onto consumers. They don’t just pay with their meagre wages; they pay with the loss of their natural resources and environment, their lack of education and health insurance, and their overall health.

We’re better off consuming less, for the sake of the environment, third-world nations, and our own sake. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">

**<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Week 5 **
<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bodystorming is the technique of physically moving around (acting, imagining) to work out a scenario/problem. It is like brainstorming, but with physical interaction instead of sitting around a meeting table. This way, participants are not passive and have some interaction with the studied environment.

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Disability #1 – Blindness In this scene, the participant, had to rely on her other senses to orient herself around her surroundings. When walking up the stairs, she would count the number of steps so she could create a mental image of her surroundings to orient herself around. She depended on sound and touch to “read” buttons.

Disability #2 – ADD Here the participant had to recite a telephone number while doing math problems. His inability to do said task negatively impacted his self-esteem. To prevent any further disadvantages, it is important to speak clearly, and present fun but challenging activities to practice and improve attention.

Disability #3 – Chronic Arthritis In this scenario, the participant constantly feared self-inflicted injury because the lack of mobility in his joints. This and the extra energy he had to use caused his body temperature to warm up and his anxiety levels to rise. His limited movement shows a need for more open space, and things to be made of safe, durable materials to decrease fear of injury and promote more participation. To assist the user, voice-automated devices would be a useful tool as they could reduce the number of actions or tasks a person has to do.

**<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Week 6 **
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">David describes three phases for the adoption of a new technology. The first is the **__enthusiast stage__**, when the technology is first exploited. These are the types of people who love and appreciate the atheistics, and enjoy things that are hard to use. At the beginning, the camera was this incredibly complex gadget that astronauts used in the 1950s.

Second is the **__professional__**, when the technology is developed to help people work. The technology has become stabilized and controllable, and the process is understandable. Photography became an occupation, and people who were not as skilled in the usage of their camera could come to professionals to get their pictures done.

Third is the __**consumer phase**__, when the technology is developed far enough for people to enjoy at an accessible price. It becomes practical for the everyday consumers to buy, as the price is affordable. Suddenly everyone was familiar with how to use a camera. The knobs and dials that controlled the flash and film became automatic, making the process of taking a photograph that much easier. All you had to do was point and click, and you could take photos. It has become even easier with the evolution of the 35mm camera to the modern day digital camera.

Another technology that has greatly changed is the computer. Computers have gone from being gigantic calculators to household, personal desktops. They’ve gone from having command-line interface, graphic interfaces (so they’re more user-friendly). At the enthusiast stage, the computer was used to calculate complex algorithms and other mathematical puzzles. Then as computers became less technical, people were able to use it in their occupations, to create documents and be organized. Now everyone has a computer (and some people have more than one). The computer has become the ultimate all-in-one machine. It allows you to upload files, view files, edit files, type, play games, access the Internet, etc.

** Week 7 **
1. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mat Hunter – Interaction architecture is a set of rules that allowed people to cameras to be designed. With the introduction of the digital camera, and its ability to review photos, delete and send them to other people, it was essential to help users adapt to these new features. It is important to note how these rules are communicated through the user’s experience. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Rikako Sakai – Interaction architecture is used to make communication with users easier and less cumbersome. Photo stitch makes it possible to snap a long panorama picture, by “stitching” multiple shots together. However, the software was not easy to use and there were too many tasks for the user to do. Sakai redesigned the software so that structure was visible to user and the steps the user had to take were simplified and visually incorporated into part of the interface. She decided to use simple animations to demonstrate how to accomplish certain steps. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Leading questions – are questions that imply a specific answer. These also apply to biased questions/answers. All answers should all be likely (and without subjection), and there should be an equal range of possibilities to choose from. There should be an equal amount of negative answers and positive answers. <span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; msobidifontweight: bold;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hypothetical questions – are questions that have no relation to reality, and often make people use fantasy to answer. Because they have to think of something they’ve never had to consider before, their answers are not true reflections of their opinions so the answers that they come up with are not valid data.

** Week 8 **
<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Jan Chipchase is a human behaviour researcher for Nokia. Because he is constantly travelling the world, going to underdeveloped areas, his cell phone has never been more important or useful in staying in contact. By going to these places, he can see first-hand, how the technology is being used, for what reasons and use this information to give suggestions to Nokia about future developments that will benefit these people.

He understands their needs and uses this knowledge to help Nokia create the perfect phone that will succeed in the developing world. By shadowing and communicating with the locals, he is able to get a first-hand look at how they use the cell phone in their everyday life. In the example with the shoe salesman, he saw how important the phone was to the family, and how they would go out of harm’s way to protect their investment. By seeing the need to keep the phone away from the ground, he was able to suggest to Nokia to design hooks for phones. These types of observations are what will set Nokia apart from its competition, because it looks like Nokia does care about its customers, and it is dedicated to providing the best product and service it can.

It is a wise choice to market their phones according to different cultures. This way Nokia can address the concerns that one culture has with phones, and adapt it to work in another culture. By getting to know their customers, Chipchase ensures that Nokia knows what exactly to design, so they can almost guarantee a successful product.

Week 9
1. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“Design as a collaborative process” is the process of working with various groups of people to design a product. By working with the people you design for, it enables you as the designer to know the needs of your audience, and know exactly to address those needs and create something successful. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Two examples of how <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">creators involve their audience <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">are **Nike’s sunglasses** and an **ergonomically-designed office chair**. The design of sunglasses require designers to know physical human attributes such as the size of your head, distance from ears to nose, etc. The design of an ergonomic office chair must account for how the spine works so that the chair will seat the user comfortably for hours of work. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

2. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">[|Numico baby food]

IDEO designed the “Feeding for Life” campaign to promote Numico as the producer of the world’s best baby food and its excellence in nutrition value. <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Research was conducted with mothers and families with babies. From speaking to their consumers, IDEO and Numico learned that the most important thing about nutrition was how it affected the baby’s growth and development so it is important to describe the nutritional benefits rather than the science behind the products (which is of course how many products are often marketed).

Week 10
1. <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The UltraCane helps visually impaired people get around without the fear of bumping into things. Using **sonar technology** that bats use, it can sense objects in front of the person and the cane handle will give an indication to warn the person. 2. <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Bone furniture is designed to **mimic the structure of bones and the skeleton**. Similar to how bones are hollow but strong, the hollow aluminum “bones” are also very strong but lightweight at the same time. The idea behind bone furniture has inspired many other products to be made with structure similar to bones.

3. <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The inspiration behind self-cleaning paint was a **lotus leaf'**s ability to repel water. The toxic-free paint is designed to have a similar surface as the leaf, so that the paint is waterproof and the rainwater can be used to clear the dirt off the paint. <span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">