Readings

Week 11:

Dam & Siang, Personas

This article describes the importance of personas in design, which are fictional characters that represent different types of users and their needs. They are created from actual data, which ensure that they are human-centered. This helps during a research process and also helps build empathy while presenting to stakeholders on why your research/idea matters and why it is necessary in our current society and how it solves problems.

Methods to Help You Define, Synthesise And Make Sense in Your Research

This article describes the different types of user experience research methods that help the designer define, synthesize, and help make sense of of our research. these methods include affinity diagrams and empathy maps which help understand the user’s needs. Other methods such as personas, user stories, and POV help create an in-depth view of how users experience their problems. “How might we” statements are used to brainstorm questions that would deliver solutions for the user’s problems.

Week 10:

Dan Saffer, Designing for Interaction I

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Houde & Hill, What do Prototypes Prototype?

This article discussed the context of the difference between qualitative and quantitative research and how they each play roles in design research. Qualitative research is more in depth than quantitative research, and it provides richer details and insights that delve into the minds of users and their behaviors. It also describes how research helps create prototypes. It emphasizes the importance of the design’s role, look, and how it feels. It also mentioned the importance of knowing your audience and iterating the prototype multiple times to make sure it’s right for the user.

Hanington & Martin, Universal Methods of Design

This book covers a bunch of research methods for design purposes. It consists of methods such as surveys, interviews, walkthroughs, workshops, card-sorting, and think-aloud protocols. It simplifies complex topics like this with clear visuals. The most important for me to read about was the walkthroughs, which really help build empathy skills to see users in their natural environment.

Week 9:

The Promise of Empathy: Design, Disability, and Knowing the “Other” by Daniela K. Rosner

Empathy is the human ability to understand the experience of another person and their emotions. It is commonly used in human-centered design. Designers often do empathy building activities such as field work observations and interviews. The goal is also to help designers understand the experiences of people with disabilities. Empathy is also seen as privileging certain forms of storytelling and how we relate to other people. There should always be continuous empathy building being done to make sure we create inclusive design.

Gaver, Dunne and Pacenti, Cultural Probes

This project is about foreign designers being introduced to a project involving cultural probes that deal with engaging elderly people to 3 different European communities. These probes include postcards, maps, cameras, and diaries. These were used to create inspirational responses from this data. The goal was for them to understand each other better. The goal was also to bridge any gaps (location-wise/cultural) through these materials and learn to think differently from pre-conceived notions.

Hanington & Martin, Universal Methods of Design (browse selection)

This book covers a bunch of research methods for design purposes. It consists of methods such as surveys, interviews, walkthroughs, workshops, card-sorting, and think-aloud protocols. It simplifies complex topics like this with clear visuals. The most important for me to read about was the walkthroughs, which really help build empathy skills to see users in their natural environment.

Week 8:

Zimmerman et al, Lab, Field, Showroom Chapter 1

This reading taught me a lot about iFloor, an interactive floor design in Denmark. This creation was considered “beyond research through design.” Instead, they considered it as “constructive design research.” Constructionists believe that knowledge and society are constructed rather than organized functionally. Designers are known to be trained in reframing ideas rather than only solving known problems, which I think really breeds innovation.

Understanding the Problem: Design Research, Chapter 2

This chapter taught me a lot about the importance of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Qualitative research methods teach a lot about user behavior and helps us understand user needs. Surveys and field studies can be used to show insights of how people naturally behave with their surroundings and what types of problems they encounter. This ends up helping us figure out what the goal is and how to help users achieve it. On the other hand, quantitative research, such as surveys, are better at helping us understand opportunities in the market.

Chris Frayling, Research in Art and Design

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Week 7:

Understanding Comics Ch 4 & 6 by Scott McCloud

I believe this was a very unique type of reading. I have never come across a reading that was explicitly written in the format of a comic. It also included different comics in the main comic. The addition of the different comics within the main comic was a great example of not just explaining how to create a comic, but also showing how to create it through the drawings. For example, I learned a lot about how to draw different features of how to show how time passes through art. I learned a lot about different types of lines and where I should draw them. I also learned a lot about how different countries had different ways of depicting time and space through each drawing style. I also learned a lot about how words are used in comics too. Some words are capitalized. Others are in bold. Some of these words were italicized. I also like how a comic artist could start creating a comic by writing the narration/dialogue in each rectangle/box before they start drawing the scenery/characters. Due to this, it is easier and more flexible to create drawings based on the dialogue, but be able to draw specifics of each dialogue/narration. This was a very helpful reading on how to create proper comics.

Week 6:

Paper prototyping: Chapter 1 by Carolyn Snyder

This reading taught me a lot about the importance of paper prototyping. I found the example to be very interesting. It engaged me as a reader. In the e-commerce example, I like how tape is used to be able to quickly change text. The tape can be written on, them removed and replaced with another tape for different text, which is useful when displaying a cart function in an e-commerce website/app. I also like the concept of having a lot of freedom with paper prototypes and how you can easily use real screenshots and mix them with your hand drawn prototype to get a mix of both. I liked how the author mentioned what paper prototyping is and isn’t good for. It is good for content, layout, and functionality. It is not good for scrolling, colors/fonts, technical feasibility, etc. It is good to know when and how to use a paper prototype.

Week 5:

Sherry Turkle, Evocative Objects

For this reading, I chose “Stars” and “The Yellow Raincoat.” For the “Stars” chapter, I found it interesting how the author, Mitchell Resnick, found the importance of having an “obsession.” He begins the chapter by mentioning his time star-gazing. However, he claimed that his fascination did not come from looking at stars themselves, it actually came from looking at the space between the stars. He mentioned that he started to wonder about space and if it goes on forever. He started to major in Physics during his undergraduate years and thought of the Ultimate Paradox: a universe that does not go on forever but also does not end. When he entered graduate school (majoring in Journalism) he realized he had lost contact with his obsession of the fascination behind physics and space. Eventually, he had a new fascination about evolution, stating the importance of order coming from disorder and complexity coming from simplicity. His main insight that he gathered was that the computer itself is not an evocative object but can be used to create more evocative objects. He took his fascination and created it into the Papert turtle and started working with the Lego company for children to learn in a fun educative way to see how complexity can start from simplicity. 

The next chapter I chose is called “The Yellow Raincoat.” This chapter was very interesting because it mentioned the metaphor behind a raincoat, which is ultimately protection. He used the metaphor of being immersed in the world’s chaos/flood but having the raindrops roll off him and remaining dry. He mentions that his childhood sensitivity between himself and the external world, as well as having a brother with autism, led to his adult life of studying autism, including sensory reactions. I like that he mentions that people with autism all share the same normal desire to control their surroundings just like people without autism. It is just heightened. I really like this comparison because most of the time, people with autism are described as “different” but we all have the same feelings about certain sensory environments and just have different reactions.

Elizabeth Chin, My Life with Things (p. 37-41)

This reading was very eye opening. It mentioned a lot about the world we live in and the effects of capitalism. I found it interesting the way capitalism was described. Many people just live in this world without thinking twice of the structure of our society and economy, but the way capitalism is described in this writing as “devaluing people and investing value into mere objects” shows the lack of humanity that capitalism is and creates more of. I agree with the author when she states that material objects are worth nothing without the memory attached to them. The memory and emotion behind them is what brings value to them.

Week 4:

Dan Lockton et al, Metaphors & Imaginaries

I think a lot of people do not realize how much design impacts us and our world. Design is not just something we see in art, it is seen everywhere. It includes technology, architecture, food, and even our daily mundane tasks of brushing our teeth/taking a shower. I really enjoyed learning about the process behind the Life Landscape project. The students did an amazing job at constructing that physical model. This was a great step at materializing a mental model into a physical one. It helps create an idea into real life. I believe using these types of techniques and methods will help humanity as a whole in better communicating different dimensions of different experiences. 

Nothing About Us Without Us, Design Justice Chapter 2, by Sasha Costanza-Chock 

I think this was a really interesting take. The truth is that all people design but only some are known to have the title of designer. There is a lot of inequality in the design world. I learned a lot about human-centered design as well and how it includes better matched affordances and user experience. It is important to note that there is a lot more work to be done for design to be considered human-centered. There needs to be acknowledgement of community accountability/control and distribution of benefits. Design justice includes participatory design and codesign as well. Design justice is important because it emphasizes the need for accountability in the design space for all people/types of designers, no matter how big or small their project. Design justice helps guide us in the long-term for betterment of institutions. 

Week 3:

Bill Gaver, Technology Affordances 

This article really opened my eyes to the different underlying themes of affordance and technology. What blew my mind was when Gaver said that affordances occur whether or not they are perceived, but overall it is because they are inherently about properties that need to be perceived. There is a graph with affordance on the x-axis and perceptual information on the y-axis. When there is no affordance but perceptual information, then it is considered false affordance. When there is affordance but no perceptual information, it is considered perceptible affordance. If there is affordance but no perceptual information, it is considered hidden affordance. When there is no affordance and no perceptual information, it is considered correct rejection. Separating affordance from the perceptual information around them allows us to be able to differentiate from rejections and different types of affordances. Overall, I think considering affordances in design would improve usability. I think it offers the opportunity to think outside-the-box and be able to notice products from a different perspective rather than just their obvious function.

Bret Victor, A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design

I like how this article starts with simplifying the definition of a tool but also making the reader think of it more. He states that a tool addresses human needs by amplifying human capabilities. I think it’s so impressive that we are able to work with tools that make us better and better. I like how he mentioned that a tool has both sides: a side that fits the person and a side that fits the problem. I find it interesting that he mentioned how users using a phone/ipad is not natural. The way we use our thumb/finger to swipe through glass is not a behavior that is similar to anything else that we naturally do in nature. Hands manipulate things and hands hold the key to our future technology.

Week 2:

Bill Buxton, Sketching User Experiences

I found this article to be very useful. It really changed my point of view on sketching. To be honest, I have never cared much for sketching. I would make a rough drawing and rush to physically create it. But now, after reading this, I have a different perspective on it. Sketching can be very useful if seen in a more positive light. I appreciated how the author emphasizes that sketching should be seen more as a conversation with the artist rather than just a simple drawing. As each drawing becomes reiterated, it makes sense that each one says something different. I like that each step showcases a different “sentence.” For example, the first iteration will say that it is not sure of itself, while the second iteration will be slightly more defined, and so on. I also enjoyed learning about the different types of drawing: sketch, memory, presentation, technical, and description. It is important to grow skills in drawing each type of sketch because it helps in the business process as well as the overall design plan.

The Miseducation of the Doodle

This article really opened my eyes to how we were brainwashed to think doodles were a bad thing. For most of my life, I have been discouraged from doodling by parents and teachers. I was told that doodling was a waste of time, especially since (as a beginner) my drawings were not that good. It was so looked down upon. Now that I look back on myself at that age, I think to myself “was it really that necessary to discourage kids from doodling?” I think doing anything is fine as long as it is not causing any harm. And now, I think of who I would have become if I was encouraged to doodle more. I had a very big imagination as a kid and doodling would have been a good way to express that. Sure, there were times where I would draw, but I would look up drawing tutorials to draw specific things, and if I wanted a better picture of something, I would resort to printing out pictures and making my own research with whatever project I was interested in at the moment. I think my doodling skills, as well as critical-thinking and problem-solving skills would have been a lot stronger if I had doodled more as a kid.

Sketching: the Visual Thinking Power Tool

I like how much this article emphasizes the importance of doodling. Once again, I believe it should have been encouraged more in our education system. The author states that sketching is not about being good at art or artistic. It is about being functional. It is about exploring and generating new ideas, that would make our society more and more modern with new free thinkers. It can also help solve problems and communicate with others. Sketching is not about creating good art. It is about thinking visually. There are so many benefits of it, including fostering better discussions. Innovative companies around the world use sketching as a tool to get ahead in the world. We should be doing the same.

Week 1:

The Creative Process – James Baldwin

I found this essay to be a valuable explanation of what it feels like to be an artist in America. An artist is usually seen as someone who does not fit into society, and because of this, artists often have to deal with the feeling of being alone. Baldwin mentions that this feeling of loneliness helps with creative pursuits and makes artists realize that their art can be used to make people more aware about the flaws of society. Baldwin also mentions that society should not only be seen as a whole, because ultimately it comes down to individual people and since artists have had the alone time to do some introspection on their own characteristics, they can also use their art as a tool of reflection to make others do their own introspection, which ultimately opens everyone’s eyes on the atrocities of the way we are living while blindly following authority figures. Baldwin encourages artists to motivate change through their creations. 

Design for the Real World – Victor Papanek 

In chapter 1 of his book, Papanek defines design and how much it impacts the world. When the word “design” is mentioned, many people think of physical aesthetics, like its form, but he mentions how function and form go hand-in-hand. He goes into detail about how method, use, need, telesis, association, and aesthetics go into designing. He gives examples of context too. He mentioned how the tatami mat design become popular in America for a bit, but it did not make sense for it to belong in America because it was made in a Japanese context with the consideration of how the rest of a Japanese home and culture comes into play. He also emphasizes the importance of designing sustainably and urges designers to think of the impact of their design and gives examples of how plastic packaging has led to devastating consequences in the environment. Overall, Papanek writes to convince designers to think critically before making design decisions because even the most mundane decisions can wreak havoc or just simply not be suitable.