Salman+Hossain


 * __Tutorial #1

Apple - Three Articles__** 1. The unusual business model used in the iPod's fabrication as developed by Apple can be seen in the fact that the vast majority of the iPod design was done by outside companies. These companies were subcontracted by Apple to build the various components of the iPod. It hired PortalPlayer to do the sound engineering, because the highest quality of sound was designed according to experts in the sound industry. Instead of integrating the various components together, and create a strain on the hardware, Apple decided to purchase the best chips and other equipment as single units and then construct them together as one unit. The power management and battery saving technology from Linear Technologies were used, since they are known to be top of the line in the electronics industry. The memory chip wasn’t considered a vital component in the building of the iPod. Wolfson Microelectronics is considered to be also top of the line audio player reference design. 2. The main distinction between Ives and Jobs with regards to products designed by Apple lies in the fact that the former focuses more on the external look and feel of the product, whilst the latter engages in internal hardware/software development. Ives takes advantages of the different metals and plastics out there in designing a physical touch interface. Jonathan Ives focuses more on Industrial Design, and works on Research and Development (R& D) when it comes to the Materials, processes, product architecture and construction of various plastics and metals. As technology improves, along with the capability of forming new forms of plastics and metals, the peripheral design of computers can be developed and new approaches can be made to the art of product innovation. 3 Apple`s design team is very simple, yet very sophisticated. It runs from the top as a two man show – Jobs directing, and Ives implementing the bosses orders. Ives runs a team that includes high tech protyping equipment and a few select number of people who brainstorm and design things. There is a lot of room for creativity with new materials that are produced and processed. Thus, they are able to instantly convert a simple computer into a physical object of adornment – much like a sculpture. Furthermore, all the main internal components are compressed internally.

**__Tutorial #2

Apple - Three Articles__**

Definitions of Ergonomics Ergonomics (or human factors) is considered to be the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of the interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimise human well being and overall system performance. There are three main classifications of ergonomics: physical, cognitive, and organizational. Physical Ergonomics 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 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 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.

Instead of moving one heavy spool, the load of bags can be put in spools that weigh much less. Advice #9.

Ergonomically designed computer - http://www.google.com/patents?id=cFOpAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=patent:7277083&as_drrb_ap=q&as_minm_ap=1&as_miny_ap=2009&as_maxm_ap=1&as_maxy_ap=2009&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=2009&as_maxm_is=1&as_maxy_is=2009#PPA1,M1 Advice for Case #6: __** Tutorial #3

**__ **__5 Characteristics of Socially Responsible Designs__** 1. They must be culturally sensitive to an individual. For example, the Cross (X) according to North American conventions mean that it is something not correct. Thus terminologies are different and need to be maintained. 2. They must reflect the environment of the individuals that are using a particular device. The industrial and peripheral design may blend in with the landscape of the individual who is using the product. 3. They must be based upon the needs of a particular society. For example, areas with large numbers of people who are either quadruplegics or paraplegics due to the presence of land mines have lost a limb, or a set of limbs and are in requirement of a large number of prosthetics. 4. They must reflect the values of the people of a certain region on the earth. In some places, individuals are materialistic, wheras in others they are very ascetic. The asthetics of a product must reflect that. 5. They must be produced from metals and minerals from the particular region of the world. This is due to the fact that the third world is extremely rich in minerals. This will eliminate the excess costs of producing it in a developed country, whereas production would be in greater quantities if done from local materials that are modified, and thereby make it much less expensive for the locals to purchase it.

**__Tutorial #4 – Materials Economy.__** Annie Leonard defines the system of the “materials economy” in an extremely critical manner. She considers it to be exploitative. She criticizes the materialistic system – in particular those who are being exploited. Everyone in the cycle is exploited, except for the consumers who get cheaply produced material goods. Overall, this has a disastrous and negative affect on the vast majority of the world`s population, which live below the poverty line. Thus, she ultimately ends up criticizing predatory capitalists. The interactions are based on engaging with the viewers. The narrative is complete and wholesome, and fully immersing the viewers. The flow is also very clear. It explains all ideas and concepts in a consistent rhythm. The aesthetics in the diagrams, pictures, and presentations of information is also very concise and detailed (without being over the top). There are also very limited presence of colours that can be misidentified by those with coloured blindness (mainly red and green). In terms of accessibility, there is also a proper balance in the colouring, images, transitions, transformations, and voice-over narrations. It helps evoke emotions and stirs up the social consciousness. In many ways it is a bit simple, not overly complicated, and yet very perceptible. It is very easy for the viewer to comprehend the message that Annie is trying to send out. All the animations between images and icons were very important in sending out the message. A complicated subject matter is basically paraphrased and simplified for the general public. The movie seems to be a little difficult to design due to its multiple simultaneous complicated animations which had a live person narration that was super-imposed upon it. The cost of designing such an elaborate presentation is probably quite expensive, considering the application of complex transitions and motion and/or shape tweens.

** Tutorial #5 - Body-storming **
The classical definition of brainstorming is a technique sometimes used in interaction design or used as a creativity technique. The idea is to imagine what it would be like if the product existed, and act as though it exists, ideally in the place it would be used. The classical definition of brainstorming is a technique sometimes used in interaction design or used as a creativity technique. The idea is to imagine what it would be like if the product existed, and act as though it exists, ideally in the place it would be used.
 * 1) 1 - Visual disability felt disoriented and dependent. When doing tasks, she had heightened use of her other senses in order to cope with her blindness. She mentally mapped the location of the stairs after crossing the street. She was able to use multi sensory approaches such as sound and touch.
 * 2) 2 – To simulate ADD for those with cognitive disorders, participant #2 had to correctly recite a telephone number while correctly solving a math problem. The participant reported difficulty in performing the task and his constant cycle of frustration negatively affected his self esteem. Clear narration will assist the user with enjoyable yet challenging activities in order to improve attention.
 * 3) 3. To decrease mobility, participant had hands and wrists fastened. Gloves were then placed over the hands to reproduce the feeling of chronic arthritis. Participant #3 reported constant fear of injury, which made him extremely apprehensive even in undemanding conditions. By expending more energy, his body temperature rose adding to his anxiety. His experience provided information on using accessible routes, passing space, and tangible objects composed of safe materials to decrease the fear of participation. In addition, in order to empower the user and enhance interactions, speech recognition systems should be further researched.
 * 1) 1 - Visual disability felt disoriented and dependent. When doing tasks, she had heightened use of her other senses in order to cope with her blindness. She mentally mapped the location of the stairs after crossing the street. She was able to use multi sensory approaches such as sound and touch.
 * 2) 2 – To simulate ADD for those with cognitive disorders, participant #2 had to correctly recite a telephone number while correctly solving a math problem. The participant reported difficulty in performing the task and his constant cycle of frustration negatively affected his self esteem. Clear narration will assist the user with enjoyable yet challenging activities in order to improve attention.
 * 3) 3. To decrease mobility, participant had hands and wrists fastened. Gloves were then placed over the hands to reproduce the feeling of chronic arthritis. Participant #3 reported constant fear of injury, which made him extremely apprehensive even in undemanding conditions. By expending more energy, his body temperature rose adding to his anxiety. His experience provided information on using accessible routes, passing space, and tangible objects composed of safe materials to decrease the fear of participation. In addition, in order to empower the user and enhance interactions, speech recognition systems should be further researched.

__Tutorial #6: Adoption of Technology__

First stage of Adoption is that of the enthusiast. They love and appreciate the technology in an ascetic way. They also love to exploit the technology, which is difficult to use. That makes it fun. The 35 mm camera used by Astronauts in the 50s made it difficult to use, since one needed to be knowledgeable in optics. They were difficult back then. Enthusiasts love the product to be exploitable based on capabilities. The next stage is the developmental aspects of it. Once there are enough enthusiasts who have their hands on the technology, they are going to develop and modify it if they see it beneficial in their everyday use. It became used by professionals and the controls of the product stabilized. The controls were initially manual. As one can see, most of the controls eventually became automatic. This includes reading the film speed, setting the exposure, setting the flash, and everything can be done by even a chimpanzee. The business user wants it to say look at the productivity of the technology and how it can change one’s activities. The third phase is the consumer phase. The prices became cheaper as it became practical for consumers to buy. These were regular people, neither scientists nor professionals. Thus as demand grew, so did the supply, and the price thus dropped. The product is supposed to make the consumer appreciate the item, to use it, and enjoy its capabilities. The modern day computer has undergone the exact same process in more complicated ways. It was once used by very few people, only with special qualifications. Then it became used by the business owner. As more and more people saw the benefits of it, it became used by everyone. Once it was extremely high priced, but then the prices dropped as the technology developed over time, and many more people were able to use it.
 * David Liddle’s definition of Adoption is based on the three stages: the enthusiast, developmental aspects, and the consumer phase.

__Lab #7__**

Interaction/Information architecture is some extensible series of rules that would allow not only one camera to be created, but rather a group of cameras. In addition to that, the design had to be experiential, based on the user centered design – which would be better communicated to the user. It helped customers realize how it would feel. Thus, new cameras would be created based on the basic frame and layout as laid in the design. Tabs were set by Rikako in order to make it easier to navigate through information and images. Thus when the user enters actions, there is a transition animation from one section in the software to the other. This thereby enabled the organizational improvement of information output. It was based on the real life examples of how people drag photos. Leading questions compel the individual interviewed to answer not in a subjective form, but rather objectively. In other words, a precise answer may be preferred to be given. Errors are thus made in the answers provided. Since it is close format, a whole range of responses must be provided that are equally distributed throughout the range. On the other hand hypothetical questions are asked based on certain answers that are derived from the leading questions. For example, a leading question will produce an objective answer from the choices given. This in turn should allow the question to be posed based on an assumption that a certain answer is given (i.e. conjecture).

Jan Chipchase’s role in defining the role of cellphones in the developing world for Nokia is to see how other users have exploited the rise in technological devices. The information he attains is often sent back to the company’s designers and engineers. For example, he will look at locations where groups of people gather at in order to find out ways through which humans communicate, whereas the apparel that individuals possess reveal their identity, thereby resulting in the fact that the cell phone is becoming an aspect of both individual and collective identities. The best case would be that of the Tamil family that had to always make sure that their phone was dry from the rainy and wet weather, as well as find space above the ground in order to protect it from theft and water. This type of information gathering is important for user centered design, which allows companies the feasibility to code software, build laptops or cellphones that the regular individual can make use of. Thus, anthropologists are required in order to investigate the peculiar characteristics of each potential customer demographics. The challenge is thereby to make cellphones for illiterate people, who live at the poverty line.
 * __Tutorial #8__**

Despite the reality of global poverty, cell phone usage is proliferating at a rapid pace. Over 3.3 billion people, or more than half of the world’s population uses cell phones, with more than two thirds coming from developing countries. Thus, most people also live within the range of a cellular network. Towers are thereby increasing at a rapid pace and are expected to outdo landline networks which are often expensive to build and maintain, and provide excellent quality service in a developing nation. Other usages were for the development of rural businesses in places like Nepal and Bangladesh. Thus, even the poorest people end up spending their little wealth on information communication technology (ICT) according to Al Hammond, according to World Resources Institute – a Washington-based environmental research group. This is because of the simple fact that these communication technologies can be a life-saver for people in the developing world. These technologies also provide individuals with greater personal freedom and power. In addition to that, it helps to boost the incomes of the under privileged and poor. Cell phones can also keep the anonymity of people – like sex workers and private investigators. Grameen Phone was thus created in order to give greater telecommunications access to women, thereby increasing individuals’ wealth and freedom. Nokia was also involved in creating Grameen phones. Thus, by engaging in detailed analysis of cell phone use and design, Nokea’s market shares and production had increased rapidly many times.

__Tutorial #9__

He considers it a collaborative process by including participatory design. The perfect type of example would be to integrate surgeons of ear nose and throat surgery into a design project. The design team became much more effective because it was really working with the people who were going to use the design. The designers in a brain storm decided to grab a film canister, a marker, and a clip and put them together and showed a way how they could hold it in their hand. The surgeons preferred it to their old approach. You can involve people also in the research and design process as well as the results – which will prove whether people are enabled by the design or not. Another example would be that of the American Red Cross which was to try and encourage more people to donate blood. It was done by publicly displaying the profiles of the individuals who give blood, and the reasoning behind it. Another example of the personal product is by Apple – which is a touch interface. However the new project is to look at the impact of obesity on personal health. Another example is the cubicle which requires multiple people to build it and test it out. [] However, the most famous product which utilizes the principles of collaborative design is that of the Sling media. The Slingmedia allows for the placing the audio and video place shifting technology. This includes many products like the Slingbox, and the SlingCatcher which allow users to go watch TV from a laptop or another TV from anywhere in the world if they have access to the internet.**
 * Collaborative process is when multiple disciplines get together to design new concepts and make them a reality by working together.

__Lab #10__
The UltraCane is basically a high-tech device for people who have vision problems using sonar like technology – just like the way bats travel through the dark by sending out sound waves ahead of the individual who is carrying it. Once the waves are sent, physical objects are sensed and detected and warn an electronic and tactical warning through the obstacle’s location in the cane’s handle. The Ultracane was created by Sound Foresight – a small company in England. Extremely helpful to the blind. The bullet train also known as the Sinkansen bullet train is designed based on the aerodynamics and partial physical imitation of the owl – an extremely quiet bird. Serrations like the ones on owl feathers are used to reduce the noise created by the train’s pantograph which is connected to wires above the train, noise is eliminated. Biomimicry is most obvious when the train’s nose cone resemble’s a kingfisher’s beak – this allows the train similar to the bird to flow through the tunnel through the least amount of resistance – eliminating the sonic boom sound waves that happen whenever a train gets out into the open air. Extremely environmentally friendly. The top speed of the train is 200 miles per hour. The speed is only second the Maglev train. The Skeleton key is used to design the frame of physical objects. The strength is concentrated in building the frame based on the solid structure of bones – which are partly hollow but extremely strong. The polished aluminum chair is created using software and materials that resemble the procedure through which bones grow over time. This principle in designing physical objects has allowed a variety of products to be designed. A perfect example would be that of General Motors, known for its heavy cars – had actually designed a set of car parts that is in fact much lighter than components made traditionally – and is strong as that of cars and trucks made from the traditional parts.

Lab #11

I would describe web accessibility as being in its initial stages. Although there are Assistive Technology devices that are used in assisting people, it is becoming more and more universal. This is because not every individual necessarily has the same set of disability as other individuals. This is particularly true for the reason that some disabilities are much more difficult in dealing with than others. If a person is blind, then a Text to Speech program will read out text or perhaps take in voice commands from user, whereas if they are deaf, closed captioning will do the job. However, if the individual is suffering from some sort of mobility impairment like paraplegia, then there would be the need for purchasing Augmented and Alternative Communication (AAC).

The people who benefit from accessibility friendly websites tend to be individuals who are predominantly visually impaired/blind and/or audio impaired / deaf. There is also the need for most Canadian websites to have accessibility features added to its site. This includes most business websites - especially for big companies and large franchises. Without these business websites having accessiblities, at least 5 - 20% of potential customers may not be able to make purchases. Thus revenues are lost, and business is not generating as much profits as they could be doing. Smaller, non-profit websites may not consider updating themselves with Assistive Technology needs if they see no likelihood that audio or visually impaired individuals are likely to make use of the information, features and services contained in it..

Yes, my blog or website should be accessible with at least Text to Speech and Direct Captioning for visually impaired/blind and/or audio impaired/deaf individuals. As for mobility issues, websites can’t deal with that. Cognitive disorders can be dealt with the implementation of interactive text and/or image mapping. Yes I personally believe that all websites should be accessible.