Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Learning Log 5 Pt 2 by Tyheim Kennedy Concluded

After I finished my VCS homework, I decided to go to the website called thinkgeek.com. I went to this website because I wanted to see what new interfaces are out there. As I look through the current interfaces on the website, I spotted one that sparked my interest. The interface was called the Wi-Fi Detector Shirt. This interface turns the wearer into a walking Wi-Fi signal detector. I think this is a great interface because the wearer doesn't have to open up his or her computer just to find a signal. The wearer only needs to look down at the shirt to know if he or she is near a signal. This interface can also be beneficial to your friends and family. The saling price of this interface is $19.99.

Learning Log 5 Pt 2 by Tyheim Kennedy

Learning Log 5 Pt 1 by Tyheim Kennedy

This week I read the book called, Digital Ground by Malcolm McCullough. The book informs the reader about different places and their specific purposes. For example, in Chapter 1, Deliberating(places for thinking), the author describes places for thinking as places that are secluded and tranquil. Some of the thinking places that the author names are churches, cubicles, and conference offices. Most of these "thinking" places contain a door because it helps the thinker to block out all of the outside noise. The thinker needs a lot of concentration and less distractions in order to come up with ideas. Another example of how places express a certain purpose in their form are museums. A museum's purpose is for observation and studying artifacts. The reason why I know the purpose of a museum because it contains priceless antiques that are sealed up in protective glass so that the public can see them and not break them.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Project 1: Redesigning a piece of hardware

The two pieces of hardware(or mouses) that I am comparing was the Logitech Nano Vx and the Logitech Bluetooth V470. The pros of the Logitech Nano Vx mouse is that it has a quick search button on top of the mouse. This button is use when a person has to find a certain picture or document in a hurry. Also the Logitech Nano Vx is great for left and right hand users with it's even curves. And the last features that the Logitech Nano Vx has is two scroll buttons. These buttons help the user go through documents without wasting anytime. The con of the Logitech Nano Vx is that it has a USB receiver that you need in order to use the mouse. The reason why I consider this a con because what if the user loses the receiver, then the mouse is useless. If I could make one improvement to the Logitech Nano Vx mouse, it would be to make the receiver bigger. This way people would not lose it so easily. The pros of the Logitech Bluetooth V470 mouse is that it has bluetooth wireless connectivity. This means that you don't need a cord or receiver to use this mouse. All you have to do is connect the mouse to your bluetooth that's on your computer. Another feature that this mouse has is side to side scrolling that goes along with the scrolling button. The con of the Logitech Bluetooth V470 that it needs 2 AA batteries for it to work. The reason why I say this is a con because the batteries are not rechargeable. So that means every time the batteries die, you will have get new batteries. And who feels like doing that every single time the mouse dies. If I could make one improvement to the Logitech Bluetooth V470 mouse, it would be to have rechargeable batteries for the mouse. This way users' mouses will not run out of power.

Logitech Nano VX Mouse picture 2

Logitech Nano VX Mouse picture 1

Logitech Bluetooth Mouse V470 picture 1 color blue

Logitech Bluetooth Mouse V470 picture 1 color white

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Learning Log 3 Pt 2 by Tyheim Kennedy

Another point that Norman discuss in Chapter 3, was that some people use an specific organization system that helps them. Every person in the world has their own organize method. I guess it is just easy for them to keep track of their things this way. For example, one day I went into my grandma's bedroom to look for a pen. I moved some of her stuff around in order to find a pen. I found a pen at last, but I couldn't remember where her things were currently placed. So I tried my best to place all her things in their correct places. After I left her room, she decided to go into her room to get something. She yelled out my name with anger and rage. I came running to room, and ask "what's wrong?" She said to me that if you are going to take something out but it back the way you left it. That day I learned that people become angry when you disrupt their organize methods.

Learning Log 3 Pt 1 by Tyheim Kennedy

My thought about Chapter 3 is that people gain more knowledge when seeing things. Rather than writing things down as a reference. These type of people obtain knowledge from visualizing pictures because it is simply an easier way to store memory. I am one of these people who learn things by seeing them. For example, let's say I have a class at the Terra Hall building, and I don't know what street it's located on. For a person like me, I only need to know what the building looks like in order to get there. It would be harder for me to use a map in order to find the building.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Learning Log 2 Pt 2 by Tyheim Kennedy

Norman also talked about in chapter 2 of his novel,"The Design of Ever day Things" about how people blame their selves for technical problems, when the technology or device is the one to blame. Everyone who's had or have a problem with a device knows first hand to use the instruction manual to get around the problem. But sometimes the instruction manual confuses the viewer even more, this brings forth new problems and frustration. The true is that this is not the person's fault, it is the designer or creator's fault because they never think about the unimaginable. The designers put all their creative energies making the device look sleek and futuristic, rather than doing further more tests on the device to discover new faults. I can remember the same thing happen to me a long time ago. The event took place when I was in 9th grade when I wanted to print out a research paper for my American Studies class. After I typed my research paper, I used the school's printer to print it out. So I proceed to click the "print" button, but the printer did not print out my document. I was so mad that type the paper for nothing because the printer refuse to work. So I remember that I had a flash drive in my book bag that I could store the document inside of it. So I did just that,and I would print the document at home. The next day I found out that the school's printer was out of ink put how could I or anyone discover that problem. Unless he or she look inside the printer to find out it was out of ink. This example proves that designers never can put in the effort to make a device easy to navigate, or easy to see errors within the machines.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Learning Log 2 Pt 1 by Tyheim Kennedy

My response to chapter two in the novel,"The Design of Every day Things", was that Norman is dead on about how people use self blame as a scapegoat,when dealing with a problem or dilemma. My suggestion to these people who blame their selves or devices on problems that can't be solve by them are to seek help from another person or a reliable source. Help is not going to come to you, you have go to it. The reason people use self blame because it gives he or she a reason to quit or to dismiss the problem. There is only one problem to this method it is inevitability, and when it kicks in the person will come across the problem again and again. Until he or she finds a solution, the problem will become impossible to escape from. But some people are afraid to ask for help because he or she does not want to be embarrass by their friends or peers. And sometimes don't want their friends to find out that they lack the knowledge on how to solve their problem.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Blog

Hi Tyheim,

don't forget to send me the url to your blog. what you sent to me in
the last email, was an email address, not a url.

see you tomorrow!

~ katherine

Katherine Bennett
Assistant Professor, Multimedia
College of Media & Communication
The University of the Arts
Office: 1211A Terra
http://cmac.uarts.edu
www.uarts.edu
www.katherinebennett.net

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Learning Log 1 Pt 2 by Tyheim Kennedy

I can remember another experience when I had a problem working with every day objects. One day my friends and I were having lunch at a mall. So after we had lunch, I had to stop by the restroom for a minute. After I got done using the toilet, I wanted to flush the toilet but there was no lever. The toilet I used was a motion sensor toilet that require the user to do a certain type of movement to make it flush. I tried everything to make it flush from waving my hands up to the toilet's sensor, and I even pressed the sensor bar continually. I was about to give up, until the toilet flushed on it's own. The reason why it took the toilet a long time to flush because every time I press the sensor bar it took the toilet longer to give out the command. Another thing I found out about the toilet is that it has an auto flush system. So that means I really could of walk away from it because it was going to flush automatically. This is another example about how designers put in all their time to make something new and inventive,but forget to add directions. I had find out the directions of the motion sensor toilet by trial and error.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Learning Log 1 Pt 1 by Tyheim Kennedy

I thought this chapter"Psychopathology of Ever day Things" brought forth great examples on how people could have difficulties when working with every day things. I think the reason why people have a hard time with every day objects is because the designers put in all their time creating something beautiful, but they forget to add easy directions. My experience with this type of problem was when I first started washing clothes. As a kid, I thought washing clothes would be easy. I just have to add the soap powder, throw my clothes into the washing machine, and press the "start" button. So I did just that, but before I could push the "start"button I had to select a few more settings. I had to choose the size of the wash, the temperature of the water, and the time that the wash would run. I was so confused that I had to ask my mom for help. But I wouldn't need to ask my mom for help if the designers would put in the equal amount of time developing simple directions as they do with their creations.