Manvir+Mann

 ** Week 5

As part of 'Experience Prototyping', bodystorming has been developed as a method of enquiry for interactive design. Research the definition of 'bodystorming', and write a paragraph describing its characteristics. ** Bodystorming is a method used to gain insights of a products design and use. It is conducted by the designers of a product usually a new product, unlike brainstorming, bodystorming allows for the transformation of abstract ideas and concepts into physical experiences. For new products the idea is to act as if the product exists in the place it would be used for. The advantage is one can physically work with the product instead of just sitting in a board room and coming up with ideas or predicting its effects as the designers can act out issues, techniques and interfaces.


 * After viewing the video 'Part 1: Bodystorming Experiencing a Disability' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyE5bDqaSwc** **describe the information revealed to the researchers in the three different case studies for one paragraph each. //You should have a total of four paragraphs for this tutorial.//**

In the video, “Part 1: Bodystorming-Experiencing a Disability” it displays bodystorming information about three types of disabilities in three different cases, which are visual impairment, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and chronic arthritis:

1. Visual Impairment = The female participant in this study had to bodystorm a person with visual impairment. While physically performing the tasks given to her, she felt disoriented and dependent. It is reported that she relied heavily on other senses to make informed decisions, such as touching for buttons and hearing its sound. She also used mental mapping when she was going up the stairs as she counted her steps to mentally map the location of the stairs. The conclusion made from the case study was that products for people with visual impairment should include multi-sensory approaches such as sound and touch.

2. Attention Deficit Disorder or ADD = In this case, the male participant was given instructions to bodystorm a person with attention deficit disorder. The task given to him was to correctly reset a telephone number while solving math problems. He reported difficulty in performing the task and was constantly frustrated, which negatively impacted his self-esteem. He gave wrong answers and could not concentrate. The conclusion was to make sure that clear narration is provided to assist user and present enjoyable yet challenging activities to improve attention.

3. **Chronic Arthritis** = In this last study, the male participant had to bodystorm a person with chronic arthritis by taping pencils to the hand of the participant and covering it with gloves. During the whole study the participant reported constant fear of injury. This constant fear made him extremely apprehensive even in undemanding conditions, such as cutting cucumbers or lifting utensils. To the point that his body temperature also increased adding more to his anxiety. Through the insights provided by his experience, it was stated that accessible routes should be used when passing spaces and tangible objects composed of safe materials as such ideas would decrease the fear to participate. And it was also concluded that to empower the user more and enhance interaction, speech recognition systems should be researched more.

Week 6 In the interview with David Liddle at [], he defines three stages for the adoption of a new technology. **

What are his definitions for these three stages of adoption, and how did he apply them to his case study of a camera? Write one clear paragraph for each of his definitions, listing their attributes in relation to the development of the camera. Can you think of another consumer product which has undergone similar developments? Name it. **

The three stages of adoption of a new technology as outlined by David Lidddle in his interview are the enthusiast stage, the professional stage and lastly the consumer stage. 

The first stage of the process is the Enthusiast stage. This stage is marked by user exploration of the technology, in which they come to love and appreciate its aesthetics. They accept the challenges of learning the new technology and find it fun to solve. Thus it can be clearly seen that their goal is to exploit the technology in the hope of finding better productive ways of using it. To illustrate the importance of this stage, Liddle offers the introduction of the 35mm camera as his example. He states that in the 1950s it was initially very complex and difficult to use and thus only used by astronauts who had PhD’s to take pictures of planets. The second stage is the professional stage. In this stage the technology has developed to the extent that enough people are starting to use it. Thus this stage brings out the usefulness of a product as people begin to see the value in it and see the practicality in using it in their work. However, it is a stage in which the technology is still not as affordable and only used by individuals that can afford it. Thus, when applied to the camera Liddle describes how the camera went from an alien tool to being used by professional photographers to take pictures for other people, who did not have the ability to use it. Also this is the stage in which the camera began becoming universal and its functions became easier to understand by everyday people. Last but not least is the consumer stage, in which the technology is now stable enough to be used by the masses. This stage is characterized by mass production of product, drop in prices and making the product practical and attractive for uses to buy. Thus, the main goals are to make the technology financially feasible and user friendly. This can be seen in the example of the camera as its important controls generally become automatic as it reads film speed, exposure, light conditions all automatically and without any user involvement.
 * Enthusiast Stage: **
 * Professional Stage: **
 * Consumer Stage: **

Another consumer product that has gone through a similar process is computers. In its enthusiast stage the computer was very complex, big and not made accessible for the everyday user and only used by the military. Next in the professional stage, it filtered into being used by big companies and academic institutions. And finally in the consumer stage, the computer went through many changes in its look, features and size and made to be accessible to the consumer market so people can use it in their daily lives.

Week 7
 * Write a description of interaction architecture as defined by Mat Hunter at** [] and Rikako Sakai at [] **in relation to their work with Kodak in 1995.**

In addition, as you will be creating a questionnaire for your major assignment, read the article at [] to help you formulate the question. **How does the author define 'leading questions' and 'hypothetical questions'? Write a paragraph each to define these terms.**

Mat Hunter describes interaction architecture as an extensible series of rules that would allow a series of cameras to be designed. In order to understand how to best fit digital photography and user acceptability, a user experience prototype was created. This user experience prototype would allow them to understand how the user interface felt so that they can transcend that to the interface for the new Kodak camera, which could delete, review, share, email or order prints on the camera itself.

Rikako Sakai describes the changes she made to the PhotoStitch software. The main change that she made was using tab user interface instead of step by step process. Rikako used a clear structure of tabs and actions that are clarified by animations to design the screen behaviors for the PhotoStitch software. In order to understand the problems with the old programs, she used test subjects in her department with the result showing the problem was that the architecture of the program. The instructions were not visible to the user, which is why she implemented the tab interface instead.

A **leading question** in the article is defined as, one that forces or implies a certain type of answer from the reader. The mistake often arises in the choice of answers given to the reader, thus it is important to supply answers which are equally likely and cover a range of areas. An example of answers is:  And an example of a question given by the Questionnaire Design website that shows the negative effects of a leading question is a Yes/No question that asked: In this question the user may not agree with the answers provided but has to pick the one that best describes their answer.
 * 1) Superb
 * 2) Excellent
 * 3) Great
 * 4) Good
 * 5) Fair
 * 6) Not so Great
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is this the best CAD interface you have every used?

Next, the article defines **hypothetical questions** as being positively based on assumptions or imagining ability of the reader and negatively left hanging on fantasies. (Questionnaire Design). An example provided by the Questionnaire Design is: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This forces the respondent to think about situations which have probably not occurred to them prior to the questionnaire and might never occur. Thus, these questions should not be asked as they do not provide accurate or consistent data as there is no real opinion. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: rgb(0, 255, 255);"> Week 8 [] very carefully.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">If you were governor, what would you do to stop crime?
 * Read the online article 'Can the Cellphone end Global Poverty?**' at


 * In three paragraphs, describe the role of Jan Chipchase in defining the role of cellphones in the developing world for Nokia, and the benefits of analyzing cellphone use and design in different cultures as part of their market expansion.**

According to the article Jan Chipchases's plays a prominent role in defining the role of cellphones in the developing and changing world for Nokia. He is known as a “user anthropologist” as he utilizes an anthropological approach to dealing with the people he is analyzing. Basically Jan Chipchase travels to rural areas in "under developed" countries to compile research on the needs of the people living there. He is good in listening to what people want and what would make their life easier and then reporting the information back to Nokia. This is supposed to help everyone in gaining access to cellphones and for Nokia to be the supplier.

The obvious benefits of analyzing and defining cellphone use is that cellphone companies can cater towards their clients, find out niche markets and make cellphone use more accessible to them. By analyzing cellphone use one can pinpoint what is needed in a specific community especially in under developed countries to make cellphone use possible as companies can set up special methods catered to the situation. For example, this can include using solar panel outlets or charging stations for places without electricity. Jan Chipchase pays special attention to what users consider to be an attractive or good phone as he asks people to draw what they want their cellphones to look like. This method is especially good when it comes to understanding what is important in cellphones for consumers in different cultures. This also shows companies how they can effectively market their products and what their products should strive towards.

Also one needs to not only analyze and define cellphone use but need to pay attention to design in different cultures as this will help to expand to a global market. In a global market companies can sell their products to nit only developed but lesser developed countries, where competition is less. As a result this opens up a whole new market for phone companies to make profit from. Nokia is one cell phone company that is creating massive brand loyalty and a relationship to consumers in these countries which is created by sending individuals like Jan Chipchase to talk to them. However, it is important for Nokia to not forget that they are responsible for those billion dollar loyal consumers who depend upon them for all their cell phone needs and offer them a profitable market. In Jan Chipchase's report on what cellphone companies are doing to aid third world nations is positive, there are other viewpoints who may not be as positive as he is on the globalization of cellphone usage.

<span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(0, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(255, 0, 255);">Week 9 <span style="color: rgb(255, 71, 165);">Design as a Collaborative Process
 * View the video of Bill Moggridge**. The founder of IDEO, at PICNIC08: Design as a Collaborative Process at []


 * Describe how he defines 'design as a collaborative process', and cite two examples of how creators involve the people they want to create for in their work, according to Bill Moggridge's lecture.**
 * Find an online example of a product which utilizes his principles of collaborative design, add its URL, and describe its design in three sentences.**


 * (Hint: Bruce Mau's Massive Change web site also presents examples of these principles of using 'a shared mind'.)**

Bill Moggridge believes design is a collaborative process because designing in the 21st century internet connected world requires creating good physical attributes, a simple human interface, something that has a meaning or story and last but not one has to take into account different cultures. Thus, Moggridge bealives a indivividual designer cannot tackle a design that must watch out for or intergreat all the features listed above, as a result he or she must work in a team. Working in teams is more effective as it brings together people or expretise from different backgrounds and experiences to the table to design a product from multiple perspectives. Moggridge places alot of emphasis on brainstorming with a team that bealives that a shared mind would be more effective that the sum of their individual minds.

Two examples of how creators involve the people they are creating for as mentioned by Moggridge would be the participatory design and in the results aspect of design. Participatory design involves getting the people who the design is for directly in the design process and getting them to help in coming by with better products. This idea of getting people who are going to use the product involved in the design process is very effective because the participants feel as if it is their project and they play a crucial part. The example he provides to illustrate the participatory design is the Ear, Nose and Throat surgical tool which actively involved the surgeons in the design process and was successful because the surgeons felt as though they were having a direct impact on their field as a result felt enthusiastic about the new tool.

Furthermore, Monggridge believes that involving people in the results aspect of design is also effective because people feel as though they are enabled by the design which is an asset. Moggridge provides the example of the American Red Cross Donor Program whereby people were able to post their picture with an explanation of why they give blood which other people can read and is meant to inspire and provide more reason to give. It also gave the process a more humanistic approach as people are able to see the donors and the reason they give blood and made people feel connected to the gift of giving blood.

An example of collaborative design would be the new Messenger Plus!: The Windows Live Messenger Extension, this software application is an extension to the basic msn messenger which it has built upon from past versions and most importantly from user input. The new extension adds tons of new features and extras to the software such as a new tabbing system, a new look and interface, conversation logging, messenger skins, quick texts, custom sound and colour, messenger lock, and etc. All of these new features come through user input such as surveys, and are created by keeping in mind the diverse array of customers from kids to adults. And last but not least the Messenger Plus! Live provides its own scripting environment to developers who want to add their own features to Windows Live Messenger, which allows for more ideas and better features.

Source: http://www.msgplus.net/features/