Mohammad+Asad+Iqbal


 * Tutorial 1**

Interestingly, Apple used a lot of outsourcing and development by other companies to create and build its iPod. The platform and design were created by PortalPlayer in 1999. After getting the initial design down pat with PortalPlayer, Apple allowed PortalPlayer to outsource the rest of the design as well, after getting an agreement that everything would be kept a secret. PortalPlayer and Apple sought after four key criteria about the selection of other companies to help in the iPod build. They include: highest sound quality sound, off-the-shelf components, cost, and time to market.

Jonathan Ive cites three major things in what makes Apple stand out against the competition. Firstly, he says that the design team is a small team with major investments being made in ‘tools and process,’ also, the environment they work in helped create a ‘collaborative’ atmosphere. Secondly, Ive cites Apples ‘fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff’ – the attention to detail. Apple wanted simple but useful design, less clutter, less energy means more efficiency. Finally Ives talks about the research and development with plastics. He talks about different methods of moulding with plastics and how metal and plastic can now be bonded together.

As mentioned earlier, the design team at Apple is very important but a very tight-knit group of individuals. The atmosphere Apple creates promotes working together and giving the design team space to develop their own ideas without much constraint. Microsoft, Dell, HP and other companies are creating their own design teams.


 * Tutorial 2**

Physical ergonomics is concerned with human anatomical, anthropometric, physiological and biomechanical characteristics as they relate to physical activity. The relevant topics include working postures, materials handling, repetitive movements, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, workplace layout, safety and health. Cognitive ergonomics is concerned with mental processes, such as perception, memory, reasoning, and motor response, as they affect interactions among humans and other elements of a system. The relevant topics include mental workload, decision-making, skilled performance, human-computer interaction, human reliability, work stress and training as these may relate to human-system design. Organisational ergonomics is concerned with the optimisation of sociotechnical systems, including their organisational structures, policies, and processes. The relevant topics include communication, crew resource management, work design, design of working times, teamwork, participatory design, community ergonomics, cooperative work, new work paradigms, organisational culture, virtual organisations, telework, and quality management. Source: [] Case study 3: Lighting at work Proper adjustment of monitor setting such as brightness and contrast helps relieve the eyes from working hard to concentrate on the screen. http://www.ergoindemand.com/laptop-workstation-ergonomics.htm
 * Physical Ergonomics**
 * Cognitive Ergonomics**
 * Organisational Ergonomics**


 * Tutorial 3**

List five characteristics of socially responsible product design.**
 * Choose a country on the web site's map, and read through the description of the products designed for that country.

Currently there are seven projects taking place within South America. The AMD Personal Internet Communicator, which is similar to the One Laptop per Child, are both being developed within South America. The AMD Personal Internet Communicator and One Laptop per Child initiative attempt to bring cost-effective computers and computing technologies such as the Internet to third world countries which otherwise would have never had access. Both these projects are improving the accessibility and arguably the quality of education available to the public. Another project which is being implemented within South America is the Solar Aid. According to its creators, the Solar Aid is a rechargeable battery package for hearing aids. Because of the expense and lack of power in developing countries this eliminates the need for a conventional power source. This product is using a renewable energy source and decreasing the reliance on traditional non-renewable energy sources. The Sugarcane charcoal is also an alternative technology. Again, this technology is helping citizens move away from harmful burning methods such as wood charcoal and moving towards Sugarcane charcoal. Sugarcane charcoal is made using waste materials, and in turn, prevents deforestation because of the less reliance on wood charcoal. This product is reusing what was normally garbage and preserving the forest. Although expensive, the Aquastar Plus is providing the ability to have clean, drinkable water from almost anywhere in the world. Purchasers are expected to resell their product to local residents to provide safe water.

Characteristics of socially responsible product design:
Source:
 * 1) ====== Improved the access to education. ======
 * 2) ====== Using material which is durable and cheap instead of using expensive materials that maybe more aesthetically pleasing. ======
 * 3) ====== Using a renewable energy source/ low power consumption devices. ======
 * 4) ====== Re-using waste material / finding new uses for waste material. ======
 * 5) ====== The AQUASTAR Plus system provides safe water and provides a small business opportunity. ======

http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/


 * Tutorial 4**

Annie Leonard describes the ‘materials economy’ as the current economy and its emphasis on material goods and consumption. Annie Leonard discusses the current condition in which material goods such as I pods, computers, televisions are created and disposed of, especially the unhealthy and environmentally unsafe procedures and tactics used in the production. Mrs. Leonard points out that the current ‘materials economy’ is not sustainable. In her words it is a “linear system in a finite planet” and it “cannot run indefinitely” alluding to the fact that this system is simply unsustainable in the long run.

Mrs. Leonard breaks down the ‘materials economy’ into five different categories: extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. Extraction is the step in which natural resources are mined or extracted from the planet for later use in the production of goods. Here, Mrs. Leonard notes that as economies exhaust their own resources they will travel to other countries and exploit their natural resources. The production step involves taking the natural resources and adding labour and other resources to create goods. This is where most of the pollution is created according to Mrs. Leonard. Toxins are used in the production of goods and as a result the products themselves are toxic and harmful to users. Distribution is the practice of selling the manufactured goods to the public. Consumption is the use or over use as the video put it, over consumption of goods by today’s society. Disposal is the step in which all the products bought are thrown away to make room for, what is perceived as, better and newer products.

The video breaks down the harmful effects and processes involved in the ‘materials economy’ and how it is harmful to the public and the environment and is clearly unsustainable in the long run. The extraction of materials is often exploited from third world countries, and what’s worse is that the materials extracted are often not used in the most efficient method, wasting most of it. The production cycle is creating and releasing deadly chemicals into our air and water, let alone producing toxic goods. Distribution channels heavily rely upon trucking to move products around, creating more pollution. The movie discusses and important idea called ‘external costs’, which the movie exemplifies with the $4.99 radio. People are exploited to create goods that are cheap so that other people can buy products are cheaper prices. The disposal step creates even more pollution when waste is burned and buried in the ground. A statistic which is simply shocking is that after six months only 1% of what people buy is actually kept, 99% of peoples purchases are thrown away or break and replaced. This statistic is shocking and a clear indicator of today’s mindset of over-consumption and the blurry line of needs and wants in today’s society. Sources: http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html


 * Tutorial 5**

Body-storming is when physical constraints are applied on a situation to make it behave as if there was an actual constraint there naturally. For example – to simulate blindness researchers could blindfold someone who has vision and observe their behaviour as a blind individual. “...bodystorming is the transformation of abstract ideas and concepts into physical experiences.” (http://www.spaceandculture.org/2004/11/16/play-and-bodystorming/) Bodystorming allows researchers to enact certain scenarios to gain a knowledge and understanding in hopes of educating people or for research and development of aids to people suffering from problems.

Visual impairment – Blindness The researchers described the participant as feeling disoriented and dependent (assuming she was dependent on other people and her walking aid.) The participant also depended more on her other senses than usual to compensate for the loss of one sense. The participant started to use mental mapping as a strategy to guide herself on different terrains such as stairs and uneven ground.

Cognitive – Attention Deficit Disorder The participant in this activity got frustrated and it negatively affected his self-esteem. He wasn’t able to concentrate properly because his mind was trying to focus on too many things, the TV in the background, computing mathematical questions and at the same time trying to recite a phone number. The researchers learned that clear narration and slow present challenging activities to the person to build their confidence.

Motor – Chronic Arthritis The participant showed the researchers about the importance of accessible routes and the use of safe materials in household appliances and items. This would allow the participant to use everything and not be worried about hurting themselves or others. They also suggest that further research should be conducted on voice recognition to help people suffering from chronic arthritis.


 * Tutorial 6**

Enthusiast Phase These people generally ‘love and appreciate’ the technology. The camera was complex but this did not discourage enthusiasts from buying and using the technology. David Liddle explains that in this stage the technology is ‘exploited’ and used to its full extent.

Professional Phase David Liddle explains that this phase begins when someone discovers how they can use the technology in their work. In this phase the technology goes through standardization, the controls all become normalized so if you can use one brand of camera you can pick and use a different one as well with minimal difference in the technology. This stage is about productivity.

Consumer Phase After the professional phase the technology has usually come down to a price point which is reasonable for consumers. In this stage David Liddle claims that most of the important controls that are used in the technology become automatic. For example, the camera will read the film speed automatically and the exposure automatically and set the flash automatically.


 * Tutorial 7**

Interaction architecture can be described as the method of communicating with an object, which in this case was later developed to be the Kodak camera. In the interview with Mat Hunter interaction architecture is defined as “an extensible series of rules that would allow a whole series of cameras to be designed” when talking about his work with the development of the digital camera for Kodak. He goes on further to say “and how we communicate that” and in the case of the digital camera they didn’t write a booklet or instructions instead they made a prototype that was more “experiential.” This prototype allowed the team to study how people would use the item and how they can make it easier to use and what works and what doesn’t.

The author of the article “Questionnaire Design” defines leading questions as “one that forces or implies a certain type of answer.” The author gives a couple examples of poor questionnaire design which involves heavy leading questions. For example a question such as “Isn’t this the best product ever” doesn’t provide the researchers with any useful information but it also are clearly a leading question and could be worded quite differently. Also, multiple choice answers that are created with the following answers: a) It’s the greatest product ever! b) Excellent product c) Great product d) It’s ok, don’t offer a large enough range to capture what someone may think of the product. The range of answers should extend to both extremes of the possible answers.

Hypothetical questions are ones that are based on “conjecture and fantasy” as described by the author of the article. Hypothetical questions make respondents think about questions they may have no thought about. They may provide an answer which they are not too sure of, which is any researchers worse nightmare because the answers they are getting and reporting on are incorrect. Accurate data is very important when conducting questionnaires and the researchers should do the best in their ability to make sure they can receive the most accurate answers. The author advises not to include any hypothetical questions in any survey. An example of a hypothetical question may be: If your car was stolen and you received a tip telling you of its location what would you do?


 * Tutorial 8**

Cell phones usage has become so saturated that cell phone companies and providers are starting to market their services to demographics that would usually not be able to afford such conveniences. Jan Chipchase, an ethnographer hired by Nokia takes a different stand; he claims that the convenience of a cell phone is actually a necessity and has become a part of our ‘fixed identity’ and is a “fundamental right”. Jan Chipchase travels to third world countries and studies how illiterate, poor and other demographics use cell phones and the usability of them. He uses the ethnographic form of conducting surveys, that is, to observe people in their use of cell phones. He takes photographs and conducts interviews and sends all his research back to Nokia for further analysis.

Jan Chipchase is an example of a usability expert but his expertise is in the field of cellular phone technology. For example, through his research while in India, he discovered that people living in areas where flooding is frequent put their cell phones in plastic bags to protect them while traveling in rain. This lets Nokia know that selling a waterproof cell phone in this region maybe very viable. The article calls this type of designing ‘human-centered design,’ technology is designed and built to fit into a certain lifestyle or context. An individual living in a location where flooding is often would purchase a phone that is waterproof whereas an individual living in a desert atmosphere wouldn’t really benefit from such a design quality. Another example of usability design was the charging mechanism for cell phones. The target for Nokia is the poorer, less-educated individual. Individuals living in these conditions certainly do not have access to a reliable energy source to charge their cell phones, in response to this limitation Nokia has developed a hand charger- a charger which charges by converting human energy into electrical by the turning motion of a device. It claims to charge a cell phone with just 15 minutes of use.

Jan chipchase believes that cell phones have the ability to improve living conditions for individuals. Research has shown that individuals with cell phones in certain conditions will earn more than individuals in the same field of work without a cell phone. Giving less-fortunate individuals to such technologies is improving their life in a dramatic way. Cell phone companies have created entrepreneurs by selling cell phone units to individuals who then resell air time to other residents who cannot afford to buy their own. Although Nokia will benefit from selling phones better equipped for users of certain areas individuals will also benefit. This isn’t a case where the large corporation is exploiting the customers for profits but Nokia is genuinely providing a product that is useful and is improving the lifestyle of less fortunate people.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/magazine/13anthropology-t.html?_r=2&emc=eta1&pagewanted=all


 * Tutorial 10**

High-Speed Train Whats interesting about this development of the train is that it is modeled after owls for their quietness. By using the features and characteristics of owls the bullet train was kept quite even at speeds of 200 mph. The design of the nose and is taken after the ‘kingfisher’ after observing the kingfisher’s ability to dive from the air to water effortlessly. Every aspect was evaluated before developing the train, noise pollution was also taken into consideration and the design of the train reduced the sound created by a sonic boom.

Skeleton Key This design was furniture design based on the structure of bones. Graphical modeling of the way bones grow over time was used to create furniture that is aesthetically pleasing but also very strong. This type of design also transferred over to the automobile industry where car parts were make that were lighter and stronger – saving money and improving passenger safety.

Leaving No Trace – Self-cleaning Paint Lotus leaves were researched and noted for their ability to repel water and implemented it in the use of car paints. The paint was able to repel water and as a result any water that touches the car will clean the car instead of mixing with the dust or dirt and cake onto the paint. This is a very useful product considering the number of vehicles and the new ‘green’ movement. Less pollution will be caused by cleaning agents and a lot less water will be used for cleaning cars.

Source: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/02/0209_green_biomimic/index_01.htm