Pearl+Desa

=Week 1= Apple relied on a platform and reference design created by a third party, PortalPlayer for the I-pod. Once Apple and PortalPlayer became design chain partners, PortalPlayer then selected other design chain members and managed the design process. The I-pod contains bits and pieces from these different chain members: a dedicated MP3 decoder and controller chip from PortalPlayer, a Wolfson Microelectronics Ltd. stereo digital-to-analog converter, a flash memory chip from Sharp Electronics Corp, a Texas Instruments 1394 firewire interface controller, and a power management and battery charging IC from Linear Technologies Inc.This is considered different from Apple's other ventures, mostly because they usually do things solo.
 * Describe the unusual business model used in the ipod's fabrication as developed by Apple.**

**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?** His core team is small and invest significantly in tools and process and work in a physical environment that reflects and enables that collaborative approach. Materials, processes, product architecture and construction are huge drivers in design.Twin shooting materials - moulding different plastics together or co-moulding plastic to metal gives have a range of functional and formal opportunites. The iPod is made from twin-shot plastic with no fasteners and no battery doors creating a design which was dense completely sealed. Metal forming and new methods of joining metals with advanced adhesives and laser welding is another new methos his team is looking into using.

The small team of Job focus on only what is important and limit the number of projects they work on at a time in a large amount of secrecy. the team has a deep understanding of how a product is made: its materials, its tooling, its purpose. The team, made up of thirty- and forty somethings, has a definite international flair, which gives the team a variety of views to work from. The team deals mainly with designing for apple- making and remaking models to visualize new concepts. Other computer companies aren't very particular about the design of their products, and even if they try it only seems to be a copy of apple.
 * Describe the importance of Apple's design team. Are other companies trying to compete with Apple by creating their own design teams?**

=Week 2= **Ergonomics** is the understanding of the interactions among humans and other elements of a system, by applying theory, principles, data and other methods to design products to optimize human well being and enhance their performance.

The three different kinds of ergonomics are
 * Physical ergonomics** deals with human working postures, materials handling, repetitive movements, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, workplace layout, safety and health. Physical activity’s impact on the human body allows them to create products that reduce the strain of the above mentioned activities.
 * Cognitive ergonomics** deals with mental workload, decision-making, skilled performance, human-computer interaction, human reliability, work stress and training as these may relate to human-system design and the impact mental processes, such as perception, memory, reasoning, and motor response have on human interaction.
 * Organizational ergonomics** deals with the optimization of sociotechnical systems, including their organizational structures, policies, and processes. It involves aspects of communication, design of work and participation as well as crew management and work

[|Case Study # 2 - Hospitality and serving food.]
 * Advice** – Place sideboards on all the walls of the restaurant at a height that is easily reached. This will give plenty of space as well as easy access to the dishes.

[|The ergonomically sound chair]. Typical office chair but explained in terms of ergonomics.

=**Week 3**=
 * Characteristics of socially responsible product design**

1- The product must be made by inexpensive, locally available materials so that it can be easily created, replicated or fixed by the users. Eg. Bamboo Treadle System, Pot in Pot Cooler.

2- The product must have some sort of social benefit like improving the standard of living through education and health development towards the people that it is designed for. Eg. Kinkajou Microfilm Projector and Portable Library, Jaipur Foot and Below-knee Prosthesis.

3- The product should help people in their work, so as to enable them to maintain or better their livelihood and income. Eg. Solar Home Lighting System, Pot in Pot Cooler, Drip Irrigation System, Moneymaker Hip Pump.

4- The product must enable future progress of the society it is introduced into. Eg. One Laptop per Child, Solar Home Lighting System, Internet Village Motoman Network.

5- The product must be environmentally friendly but shouldn’t compromise the lifestyle of the people. Eg. Solar Home Lighting System.

=Week 4=
 * "Story of Stuff"**

According to Annie Leonard the system of the ‘materials economy’ has five major steps: extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. The current system can be considered a crisis because the ‘materials economy’ is a linear system that is working on a finite planet. Leonard states that since the system interacts with the real world components like societies, cultures, economies and environments there is a lot more going on to the 5 steps. And the missing component is people, especially the ones that matter the most like government and corporations.


 * Extraction** (trashing) is where we use resources to satisfy our wants. This is the first limit of ‘materials economy’ because resources are finite and so we are running out of resources. **Production** is where energy is used to mix toxic chemicals in with natural resources to make buyable products. People who work in factories have a high risk of having health problems from this stage. **Distribution** is where all the products get sold through low prices which ensure that people buy and keep the inventory moving. Products can be sold at low prices by keeping the worker’s wages down and even cutting down on health care. **Consumption** is the heart of the ‘materials economy’ that keeps the system alive. The economy’s ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer goods. Advertisements persuade consumers to buy stuff that is “in fashion”. Planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence are the two strategies used to brainwash consumers. **Disposal** is the last process in the ‘materials economy’ where consumers dispose the stuff that they purchased not. This causes pollution in the air, land, water and also creates more toxins leading to further health issues.

Recycling helps with reducing disposal and even extraction. But recycling is not enough because there is a lot of stuff produced that cannot be recycled due to containing too many toxics or having a design that prevents it from being recycled. All these limits make this system a system of crises. Leonard says that when people get united thy can transform this linear system into something new that does not waste resources or people. A new system, that focuses on sustainability, equity, green chemistry, zero waste, closed loop production, renewable energy, and local living economies must be created. And Leonard believes that since people created the system of ‘materials economy’, they will be able to create a new system.

= **Week 6** = = = **"Three Phases for the Adoption of a Technology**"

According to Liddle, the three stages of adoption are the enthusiast stage, the professional stage and finally the consumer stage.

The enthusiast stage refers to people who love exploiting the technology and those who appreciate the product aesthetically. Enthusiasts try to find new ways to use the technology in a more practical and useful fashion. The enthusiast wants the product to say “exploit me, look at my capabilities.” In his example of the camera he spoke about the 35 mm camera in the 1950s which was initially used by astronauts and required them to have a PHD in optics to operate them. Eventually this changed as the camera went from being very expensive to being used by professional photographers i.e) the professional stage.

In the professional stage, people only use the technology when they feel that the technology has evolved enough to help people work. This stage makes it easier for people to use the product because it has a straight forward. Business users want the product to say “look at the productivity I can give you and here’s’ how I’ll change your activities.” Liddle says that the camera became stabilized when the viewfinder was fixed in one place, or the pictures exposed by pushing with your right finger, the film had to be wound with the lever, and etc. Even though the controls were all highly manual they had been stabilized from the enthusiast stage.

The final stage is the consumer stage, “when the technology is developed far enough for people to enjoy at an accessible price.” Here the product is changed by making more of the important controls automatic. In the case of the 35 mm camera, the flash and exposure are set automatically. The consumer wants the product to say “look at how I fit in with your style and here’s who you are if you use me and enjoy my capabilities.”

The telephone is another example that has undergone a similar process.

= Week 7 =
 * Interaction Architecture and Designing a Questionnaire**


 * Mat Hunter** specifies the development of interaction architecture in relation to digital camera. Digital cameras could review images, share with others, delete, e-mail, and even make voice annotation. Hunter determined that the most successful way to create a new, successful digital camera was to start at the beginning and map out the needs of a digital camera. A “user experience prototype” had a big box with a security camera attached to the front, a cord going to a mac computer and ran from macromedia director. It was a more hands on approach in determining what people sought in a camera instead of simply writing up a detailed report with instructions that would have had the same information.


 * Rikako Sakai** talked about the processes of the Photo Stitch software which was initially developed by Canon software engineer, Kenji Hatori. Sakai, who also worked at Canon for 8 years, started with the version 3, tested version 2 and also checked version 1. By analysing human factors and testing subjects, she found that there were too many steps for users and all versions had bad structure and were really complicated. In terms of the interaction architecture, she tried to make it simpler and easier for the users. She decided to use animation to help beginners understand and manage the steps and found that simple animations to illustrate the drag and drop, or the matching of photos together simplified things for the user.

A **leading question** is one that forces or implies a certain type of answer or response. It is easy to make this mistake in the choice of answers. The question can be a phrase of itself or a selection from possible answers, like a multiple choice question. A closed format question must supply answers that not only cover the whole range of responses, but are equally distributed throughout the range and the answers should be equally likely.

A **hypothetical question** is a type of question that is based on conjecture and fantasy. It forces people to think about impossible and never considered scenarios before. The responses are usually unclear and meaningless and does not produce clear and consistent data.

=Week 8=

Jan Chipchase is a “human behaviour researcher”, an anthropologist basically, for Nokia who travels around the gathering information and knowledge about people’s lives. This information is sent to a team of designers, technologist and marketers to re-design Nokia cell-phones that are appropriate for their customers. He listens to what people need from a cell-phone and photographs the actual circumstances of their daily life to inform its design.

Different cultures have different needs and priorities so Chipcases’s research is effective in finding the differences among different places in order to make cell phones that people will like and find useful. Chipchase analyzes cell phone use not only people for in developed countries but also for people in developing countries. When he was in Mumbai, he realised that cell phones needed to be modified to protect it from the wet weather. This leads to the idea of creating a phone with come sort of hook to life it from the floor.

Cell-phones, being highly accessible to potential customers around the world, are important communication technology that influences countries. Chipchase’s investigations have played a role in the microfinance movement in Nepal. By analyzing different people and cultures, Nokia can expand their market. By creating affordable cell phones that are useful to people in developing countries Nokia can improve its productivity and enhance the lives of the people in those countries.

=**Week 9**=

Collaborative design, according to Bill Morridge, is a design process that includes a combination of inputs from many different parties for a target audience. Input includes ideas from different disciplines and influences. This allows the design to be tailored to a range of needs that comes from a wider base of people. He states that it is important to have the intended users of the product assist in the designing process as designers usually neglect this factor and design products according to their own needs.

An example used by Bill Morridge is the design of The Chair which involved experts in human physiology in the collaborative design. The project required human interface to predict the end result of the product being used by different users. Another example is the American Red Cross change to get people to donate more blood where they redesigned the sterilized carts. The donors felt appreciated for their efforts through this design as they were pictured and allowed to write about their motivation for donating blood.

An online example of collaborative design is the story of “The Fuel of the Future” on the [|Massive Change in Action] website. Since oil reserves are estimated to empty within the next 20-40 years, there is a need for new sources of fuel, especially renewable and eco-friendly sources of it. Hydrogenics Corporation is trying to manufacture the Stuart Energy Station that’ll allow drivers to use hydrogen fuel, which will be converted to electricity, for their cars.

=**Week 10**=

The UltraCane created by English company Sound Foresight, seems like the perfect device for the vision-impaired. It mimics a bat’s sonar navigation and uses the sonar to prevent collisions. The cane sends out sound waves ahead of the person holding it and senses upcoming objects from the returning sound waves. The cane provides a tactile warning of an oncoming obstacle's location through the cane's handle.

Anything self cleaning would be considered worthwhile since it reduces amount of work we have to do and the time we spend on it. The idea of creating self-cleaning paint, created by German company Sto, is based on making use of the hydrophobic surface structure. The lotus leaves have microscopic structures that enable them to repel water, even when completely immersed in water. Giving the paint a similar surface structure allows it to repel water which allows it to clean away dirt on the paint surface.

Columbia Forest Products has developed an ultra strong glue that contains no harmful toxins and can be even be used to stick wood pieces together. It mimics the composition of the secretions mussels use to cling to wet surfaces of rocks, etc.

=Week 11=

1. How would you describe web accessibility? Web accessibility refers to having online content that can be used, perceived and enjoyed by a wide range of people including people with disabilities.

2. Who do you think benefits from accessible websites and how? It is most beneficial to people with disabilities like colour blindness, people who are deaf, etc. It also helps normal people in certain situations, like when someone is watching a video without the sound. It is also useful to organization that develop accessible products. Accessibility is created through simple steps like choosing a good colour scheme that has contrast or having text that can be read out loud.

3. Do you think your website/blog should be accessible? Should all Canadian websites? Most definitely. For one thing, making websites accessible allows the website to gain more visitors. The main aim for making a website is to communicate with others and making it accessible is the first step to building up good networks for communication.

4. What do you think is the biggest challenge of making a website accessible? The challenge would be to make it accessible to everyone. There are a wide variety of problems and disabilities that require different methods of fixing. This would take time that people would be unwilling to take especially since websites are all about making things quickly and putting them online as soon as possible.