Joe+Sala

**C A S E S T U D I E S ! ! !**

 * WEEK 1: The iPod**

• 1. Describe the unusual business model used in the iPod's fabrication as developed by Apple. o For the iPod, Apple used their trademark concept which they apply to all of their products; simplicity. What makes this design different than most is that it was designed from the outside-in. The iPod was known for its organization for keeping an entire library of music in a compact device. What was most unusual is that Apple found the most successful quality of sound at the time, a company called Portal Player, as well as allowing input from other companies to assist and work with Apple for the design processes. This, in turn, created a portable mp3 player like no other. • 2. What distinguishes the work of the team of Jobs and Ive in relation to products designed by Apple? What new materials are enabling different design? o Vice-President at Apple, Jonathan Ive and President Steve Jobs believe in creating products that were imaginative to look at and easy to use. This started with the original iMac, which was a very smart concept since there was no computer at the time that looked anything like it. For the iMac, they molded different plastics and metals as the casing for the computer. They created a small design team, each having the opportunity to work in their own, and they everyone would collectively exchange ideas. • 3. Who is Jonathan Ive? o Jonathan Ive is a man who believes in finding wrong things about a design in order to discover new improved ideas. He has a very small team which he call’s his ‘craft of design’ team, who invest a great amount into prototype equipment. • 4. Describe the importance of Apple's design team. Are other companies trying to compete with Apple by creating their own design teams? o Apple is one of the few companies, which their design team is the key successor. o Apple pay’s their base salary towards the design team an average of 50% higher than industry standards. This shows how important the design team is to Apple o Apple’s design team is allowed to work on a personal level with marketer’s and other engineers, and are given privacy regulations to safeguard the design of Apple products o Due to such a high marketability risk, other companies have not followed Apple, such as their narrowed product lists, smaller staff, and other companies don’t see them as a threat because of their small product line.


 * WEEK 2**

o **Physical ergonomics** is the human body’s responses to physical and physiological workloads. Repetitive strain injuries from repetition, vibration, force, and posture fall into this category. o **Cognitive ergonomics** deals with the mental processes and capacities of humans when at work. Mental strain from workload, decision-making, human error, and training fall into this category. o **Organizational ergonomics** deals with the organizational structures, policies and processes in the work environment, such as shift work, scheduling, job satisfaction, motivation, supervision, teamwork, telecommuting, and ethics.
 * o 1) List the three definitions of 'ergonomics'.**


 * WEEK 3

o List five characteristics of socially responsible product design.** o Continent: ASIA o 1) They are less costly. o 2) They are more efficient o 3) They are based on information o 4) They are the product of a participatory design process o 5)


 * WEEK 4: The Story of Stuff**

o **1. Write 3 paragraphs on how Annie Leonard defines the system of the ‘materials economy’ and describe its interactions** • Anna Leonard attempts to remove all distractions by simplifying her animation and also using black and white. She takes an educational approach showing world-problems, using the United States of America’s economy as her example. The model that she refers to is comprised of 5 stages; extraction, production, consumption, distribution, and disposal. • She argues that a typical ‘linear’ system is not practical in a finite world. She also points out how the government tends to favor only larger corporations, who also tend to be extremely harmful to the environment. • Extraction talks about a mistreatment of our natural resources in order to create produces we use. Production discusses how we use energy and other toxins to create products which are in most cases abused by people. Consumption, is as is, the stage which we buy and consume the product. Distribution discusses all the ways, which a product is made available, and finally, the stage of disposal, which Anna says is the most harmful stage, is disposing of those toxins back into the environment. • Therefore, Anna Leonard attempts to create a formula for better living, and use a circular system instead of a linear one, based on the idea and concept of recycling.


 * WEEK 5: Bodystorming**

o The term ‘bodystorming’ involves the research of concepts in a real-life setting. Usually lasting around 3 hours, a participant would use artificial props in interact with and deal with particular situations. o It goes beyond brainstorming, by creating physical forms of idea’s and acting out on situations o It is designed to reveal how modes of exchange between things and people effect different ideas


 * WEEK 6

David Liddle’s 3 Stages of Adoption (the 35mm Camera)**

• **Enthusiast Stage:** this is the first stage, and is adopted by those who love and appreciate the new technology, and are looking to exploit it. Even though it may be difficult at first, it may be an amusing challenge to learn. For example, with the birth of the 35mm camera, it was nearly impossible to use. All the functions were manual, and there were no set controls, and the product was extremely expensive. • **Professional Stage:** this is the stage created after enough enthusiasts use the new technology, one of them decides that they are able to use this technology in their field of work, and therefore create something very practical with it. The product then becomes stabilized, for example with the 35mm camera, the shoot button became standardizes (on the top right), focused in a particular way, etc. • **Consumer Stage:** After a product has built up enough volumes through the professional business phase, that’s when, a price point is created practical enough for consumers to buy. One thing that we always see is that most important controls become automatic. Now, 35mm cameras do all functions automatically, such as focus, flash, and zoom. o Another consumer product that underwent similar developments is the personal computer, or more so, the laptop. The laptop came out as a condensed, portable computer, which began at an extremely high price with very little functions, to just being used by certain businesses, and now is at a consumer price-point level, with standardized features, and a price that most people can afford.


 * WEEK 7**

• **Write a description of interaction architecture as defined by Mat Hunter at and Rikako Sakai in relation to their work with Kodak in 1995. o Mat Hunter • Defines interaction architecture as an extensible series of rules applied to a full line of a certain product. Kodak created a User experience prototype in order to communicate the results of their work: it was able to take pictures, delete them; expressed what was going on and how it felt. Kodak took this concept and turned it into the DC-10** o **Rikako Sakai:** interaction designer • Did 4 years of testing using in-house people • At first there were too many steps to stitch • Use the tab rather than stitch method; created a software to manually drag images to stitch together in order to provide a better alignment of images • **Leading question**: a leading question forces a certain type of answer. A closed format question must give answers that no only cover the range of responses, but that are also evenly distributed throughout the range. It is easier to make this mistake in the choice of answers rather than in the question • **Hypothetical questions** are based on make-believe, which forces the respondent to give thought to something he or she may have never considered. This usually doesn’t produce consistent and clear data representing real opinion
 * o How does the author define 'leading questions' and 'hypothetical questions'? Write a paragraph each to define these terms.**


 * WEEK 8: Human-Centered Design Case Study of Cellphones in Developing Countries**

• Jan Chipchase is a British native who works for Nokia as a human behavior researcher. His role is to travel to different parts of the world and learn about people’s live and how they use Nokia’s products, if they could use them, or how they could better use them. For example, he see’s how one man needs to keep his cellular phone hung on his wall to keep it safe from floods and monsoon waters, so he reports this to the company and they will create a product suited for people in that area. He also uses photographs from certain areas to help the companies design team. After analyzing all factors in each area, he goes back to report to Nokia with an attempt to increase their product efficiency and sales. The whole idea of this is to analyze Nokia’s potential customers, so that Nokia can gain information vital to creating a successful product, before they market it.


 * WEEK 9: Design as a Collaborative Process

• 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.**

o Bill Moggridge is the founder of IDEO, and his job considers the key aspects of design throughout the world through their processes. He claims that successful factors towards design are changes, and working with people targeted by the design, using the example of sunglasses, and how in order to successfully create sunglasses, it is important to consider physical characteristics of people. When designing an interface, you must think beyond physiology, but rather designing around how people think and how the brain works, and also taking into consideration cultural differences, cognitive psychology, anthropology, and sociology to see how people connect towards new design practices. o For the best result in a design, people should work together, incorporating people of all different disciplines. Collaborating these positions will effect all aspects of a design, and implies the significance of sharing opinions and idea’s. The most important people involved though, are the potential customers of that design, because ultimately, those are who the product is being designed for.


 * WEEK 10:

• Read the article 'Using Nature as a Design Guide' about Janine Benyus, creator of the burgeoning "biomimicry" movement. • Look over examples of her biomimetic principles applied to products in the slideshow and write a short, one paragraph synopsis for each of your three favourite product designs.**

a. Most if not all household cleaners are contain toxins that are harmful if consumer, on if there is too close of an interaction between the used and the cleaner. This concept allows for a cleaning product to be toxin-free allowing for much more health benefits, and environmental benefits, because toxins are usually put right back into the earth when disposed of. a. This concept takes into consideration the structure and growth of human bones, and is applied to furniture, or more specifically a chair. Even though it is hollow, it forms a strong, architectural matrix of support. The benefits of this, beside health, is that it is lighter, and requires much less material than most conventional chairs a. This design for Japan’s 500 Series Shinkansen bullet train is to take into consideration the features of an owl, for reducing noise, and for the front take the design of a kingfisher’s beak, which is made to cause minimal amounts of resistance when the bird flies from the air into the water. This design reduces noise pollution and the sonic boom created when the train passes from a tunnel back into open air.
 * 1. Self Cleaning Paint:**
 * 2. Bone Furniture:**
 * 3. High-Speed Train:**


 * WEEK 11:

Glen's asking a series of questions to usability professionals in interviews - his abbreviated list is below. Answer the below questions briefly in consideration of the material on these two websites:**

a. Web accessibility ensures that all web sites are accessible and usable by all people, with or without disabilities. a. People who have trouble or certain disabilities that make Website access difficult for them will benefit most. For example, those who are blind can get access to audio versions of newspaper, or those who cannot speak can use public chat rooms and blogs a. I think that personal blogs or websites should be created with an intended audience in mind, and when it comes down to it, I believe it is a personal preference of the creator. On the other hand, all Canadian website should be accessible to everyone in every way possible. a. I think the biggest challenge is taking everyone and their specific needs in to consideration. Technically, there is no such thing that can be applied to fit ‘everyone’s’ needs, and I think that more consideration must be taken in regards to everyone’s need as opposed to only the majority.
 * 1. How would you describe web-accessibility**
 * 2. Who do you think benefits from accessible websites and how?**
 * 3. Do you think your website/blog should be accessible? Should all Canadian websites?**
 * 4. What do you think is the biggest challenge of making a website accessible?**