Week 3. SLIP

I was absent this during week 3 therefor couldn't complete the task in class, however I retrieved the work information and did it on my own time.

During that week we were supposed to read the next chapter in The Laws of Simplicity but since I haven't purchased my own copy yet I had to find a .pdf version online which was more convenient in my opinion.

What does SLIP stand for?

Sort, Label, Integrate & Prioritise.

What does Maeda say is only a pinky away?

The quick path to simplicity.

Why is this important to us as designers?

It's important for designers in order to structure and organise.

What are the principles of Gestalt psychological theory?

The principle of the Gestalt psychological theory states that humans developed skills in identifying patterns and can be used to organise  objects as such.

Where might one find the aesthetics of blur?

Possibly with effective logos.

Why is blur important with interactive design?

To make certain objects or words stand out more.

Why do good designers squint when they look at something?

To identify what's being emphasised in the design they're looking at.

The majority of the population don't realise that more than 90% of communication isn't coming out of our mouths, according to statistics, experts have researched on social behaviour and discovered that 60% of all human communication is non verbal, body language, 30% is tone.

THINKING GAME

When a person nods their head

- Approval
- Acceptance
- Listening to music
- Mentally/physically challenged

Lower lips trembling
- Nervous
- Scared/Fear
- Sad
- Cold

Person smiles slightly
- Depending on the situation it could be a sarcastic smile
- Remembering something funny or a happy thought
- In a good mood
- Slightly Amused

Person yawning

- Sleepy

- Bored 

- Possibly annoyed

- Still tired after waking up

Shrugging shoulders

- Boredom

- Confusion

- Stretching

- Not in the mood to answer the question

Inhales quickly
- Surprised
- Out of breath
- Exercising
- Smells something

Week 9. Trust Issues

Being away for a week didn't feel very different at all, the wedding and music festival I attended while I was away still had me in holiday mode. Snapped back to reality when I walked into class today, arriving late as usual but I didn't feel so bad when I walked in as there was only 4 of us... I wasn't late!!! 

Being behind schedule I read the chapter before hand and got a brief outline of what was needed to be done today. 

Today's topic was about 'Trust Issues', the class got organised quickly and shared stories about having trust issues in our lives such as my story. This happened last year when I attended the biggest Euro dance festival in Australia called Defqon.1, I entrusted a friend that lived in Queensland with organising our tickets which cost $150.00, now if he didn't deliver me and my friends would miss out on something big, luckily he pulled through.

1. Provide an example of a situation where you have to have trust?

This one incident I remember quite clear simply because it was the most amazing feeling I've ever felt, absolute adrenaline rush! SKYDIVING! For my 19th birthday my ex girlfriend spoiled me by taking me to New Zealand and took me sky diving, of course I was with a professional but the chances of something going wrong, the chute malfunctioning or any of the mechanisms fail could result fatal. I had to entrust that person that he knew what he was doing and what he should do should anything go wrong.

2. Where in our exhibition do we need to instill trust?

For me its the equipment and the crew, neither can function without the other. Double checking the equipment that all is functional is a must and entrusting team members to attend accordingly and put equal amount of effort in order to achieve this.

3. What strategies are used to instill trust?

Positive energy and motivation from the team members is key, if members of the group display negative energy then the tendency of people not wanting to work together is very probable.

4. If you could "undo" any aspect of the preparation for the exhibition to-date, what would you "undo"?

We discussed this with our groups and my group seemed pretty happy with the decision's  we've made. However I would undo our lack of motivation and time management, excluding our student life majority of us have other things to do such as work and associates we need to attend.

5. HOMEWORK: How are you using the laws in relation to your contribution to the student exhibition?

Week 5. LEARN & BRAIN

• Describe the relationship between teaching and learning according to Maeda?
  
  Describe the importance of the use of metaphors in learning?
  
  What does BRAIN stand for?
  
  Describe a situation where you have been required to teach someone a skill?
  
  
  
  
  

Week 2. S.H.E/IDEO

More than several weeks have passed and I have yet to set my blog up properly, I didn't quit understand at first as I thought we only had to blog about the questions and answers. After submitting my first blog my lecturer gave me and other members of the class some examples we could learn from, only then I knew what I was doing wrong. We had to blog about everything we did in that class, from lectures to the activities we did.

Retracing my steps back I reread the information given to us to make sure I was doing the right thing. The class started reading John Maeda's: The Laws of Simplicity and questions were given out that needed to be answered.

What does S.H.E mean? 

Shrink, Hide and Embody

In your own words define 'human technologist'.
I think that humanist technologist is a person that centres themselves around technology, or technology that  surrounds the interest and wellbeing of humans.

How can you apply the notion of reduce to your own design process?

An example would be reducing the complications on today's DSLR's by cutting down the number of buttons it has and keep a few that does the same things that all the other buttons do like ISO, shutter speed and setting the aperture.

Explain the relationship between simplicity and complexity?

Everyone wants to live a life of simplicity but don't understand the complexity they themselves bring into their lives. People want an item to appear delicate and simple yet we also want it to do everything, for example is the smart phones of today, we've reduced the size for the phones to fit in our palms and they can do so much more that phones couldn't do 8-10 years ago such as built in mp3 player, HD camera and internet access that allows us to do things on our phone which we usually do on a computer. Another example is from John Maeda's book of Laws of Simplicity, he explains that the computational power of a machine that weighed around 60,000 pounds and covered 1,800 square feet has been reduced to the size of a silver metal the size of our pinkie nails. Babies and infants are another example of complexity, although they are small they require constant care and attention, appearing fragile and delicate they can create chaos in ones house hold.

The class played a game shortly after working on our blogs, it was a game based where everyone paired up and needed to communicate to each other non verbally. It was quite interesting, in my opinion people in the class were so used to talking that some of us struggled using body language to communicate with one another. With so many words to express in the dictionary it's quite difficult to express each word using body language, instead we managed to communicate with each other by performing the body movements as if we were doing it with the objects that we normally use, for example answering a phone one would hold their hand to the ear and mouth soundless words as if talking, or at a circus we would pretend to be clowns and act wacky. If the whole world was mute I believe we would still be able to communicate with each other just as fine.

The class then watched a presentation from an organisation called IDEO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM

IDEO is primarily a product design company that specialises in redesigning products from other companies to improve the product and make it more beneficial and convenient than it was before. To do this they employ a number of people each with a unique set of skills to benefit the project given such as engineering, literature to biology, these are just quick examples of the difference they have.

What type of Organisation is IDEO?
IDEO is a product design company that specialises in redesigning products from other companies to improve the product and make it more beneficial and convenient than it was before.

What are the different processes they employ in design research?
they employ a number of people each with a unique set of skills to benefit the project given such as engineering, literature to biology, these are just quick examples of the difference they have. By inputing their personal experiences to guide their design plans, with each member of the group being different each idea is also different which could be used to benefit the project.

How did they define the range and scope of the problem?
They questioned users of the product and retrieved opinions as well as the creators of the product.

How could you apply their methodology to developing a concept for your exhibition piece?
By thinking outside of the box and allowing opinions from each member of the group and utilising each idea into one piece.