Etc.
Wireframe Sketches Templates
Mar 29th
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/03/29/free-printable-sketching-wireframing-and-note-taking-pdf-templates/
Scenario Example
Mar 24th
Spring Break Inspiration
Mar 23rd
This Spring Break I made my way over to the San Francisco Bay. I ran across some inspiration-because that area (especially Berkeley) is FULL of “foodies.” I also ate at Chez Panisse- Alice Water’s restaurant. I made my way to the SFMoma and thought it was funny to find they offered a “mobile tour,” where visitors could check out a mobile device and headphones to guide them through the museum and learn about the art.
iPad Application Design
Mar 12th
This is a long article, so I’m just going to add the link.
I post this primarily because of this section below. Maybe Apple didn’t create the iPad to fit an existing market, but to create a new one and form new opportunities. A leap of faith, but maybe they saw that people would want to experiment with this new technology and had a market there.
It’s not just a big iPhone
The iPad may be a larger version of the iPhone in terms of the hardware and operating system, but treating it as the same device would be foolish. It turns out that increasing the display size of touch-screen hardware can transform it into an entirely new class of device. The iPad is a productivity platform in a way that the iPhone rightly never tried to be. (And it’s officially OK to charge $9.99 per app.)
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad, he did so in a very specific way:
The iPad is in the middle, between the iPhone and the Mac. This isn’t just an acknowledgement of relative display size or processing power, it’s also a strong indication of the market position of the device and its software.
The iPad is a target for apps from the desktop, not just from smartphones. There are some very interesting opportunities here.
Prarthana Panchal Presentation “Interaction Design”
Mar 2nd
Books
Designing for interactions, Dan Saffer
Sketching User Experiences, Bull Buxton
Mental Models, Indi Young
URLs
http://www.brockcraft.com/tag/interaction-design/
http://tdd.elisava.net/coleccion/25/gordillo-en
http://isomorpho.us/phd/proposal/http://theresaneil.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/iphone3g-design-resources/
http://www.dubberly.com/articles/middle-out-design.html
http://www.uxmag.com/
http://www.uxbooth.com/
http://celestinechua.com/blog/2009/02/25-brainstorming-techniques/
http://www.louisrosenfeld.com/home/
http://fallinginlovewithmedia.wordpress.com/
http://blog.semanticfoundry.com/
http://www.welie.com/patterns/
http://www.konigi.com/interface
http://theresaneil.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/iphone3g-design-resources/
http://wireframes.tumblr.com/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/01/35-excellent-wireframing-resources/
FIRST INTERVIEW – In shape, non gym goer.
Mar 2nd
For the first of my two interviews (the second one is on the way) I interviewed Amber Heaton, a junior at UNCW majoring in Mathematics.
Amber is in reasonably good shape but this is derived primarily from her not eating much.
Amber has never been much of a gym goer. As a matter of fact, she has only ever been once in her life because her roommate, freshman year, pressured her into it.
My goal in this interview was to find out why Amber doesn’t go to the gym and if she doesn’t go to the gym, then at least how she could be motivated be active.
Even people who are “in-shape” are recommended 30-60 minutes of physical activity per day according to the American Heart Association.
Physical appearance is not the only factor that need be considered when measuring one’s overall fitness…
SOMEONE WHO IS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE and YOUNG.
• Why don’t you go to the gym?
Lack of motivation. I’ve never really worried about my weight and I ride my bike every day so I get exercise that way.
I would feel awkward around a bunch of sweaty people running in place.
• What would make it seem less awkward for you?
I like privacy, so gyms aren’t really my thing. I’d much rather just do it in my room or at home with people I know well.
• When you exercise by yourself, do you feel like you are gaining anything from it or are you just doing it because it’s “something to do”?
Well I’m not sure that i feel like I’m gaining something from it, because I dont think I do it regularly enough to actually gain something from it. but it does make me feel better about myself that I did something productive with my spare time; something other than staring at facebook.
I do think if I could convince myself to make it a part of my regular schedule that I would feel like I was gaining something though.
It’s not like I think its a waste of time.
• If you had something to remind you to do it, do you think it could more easily become a habit being as you are in shape and you don’t have a big, fat gut sticking out letting you know you should move around a bit?
Yeah, I guess a reminder would probably help. even if it was just like, a friend that i did it with
When I’m at home just seeing the Wii Fit sitting around is enough of a reminder. I pretty much play it like I’m addicted to it. But that might just be because I like unlocking things in video games
• So, if exercise was more of a game and less of a “duty” you would enjoy it more and possibly become “addicted ” to it?
Yeah, probably so. If there were specific goals to meet and I got ribbons or something, or unlocked cool outfits for sure.
• So a virtual reward is enough to motivate you?
Yeah, remember Farmville? Totally enough to keep me interested.
• Thanks a lot!
No problem!
Emily and Jeremy Case Study
Feb 28th
This weekend I joined Emily Millette and Jeremy Purser for cooking dinner in their home, Chana Masala. They were very helpful in answering some questions I had prepared for them (and made me a delicious meal). Here is a snippet of our conversation:
Me: “How do you usually begin to find recipes?”
Emily: “I usually go to epicurious.com, but sometimes I really just don’t like what I’ve spent all that time making.”
Me: “So do you think it would be helpful to have some sort of recipe generator, where you fill out a profile to begin with foods you like/dislike, and then get recipe suggestions from your profile…kind of like pandora for recipes.”
Emily: “Yes, definitely, I really like the pandora-like idea. It would be nice to do a thumbs up or down option at the end, maybe create a rating system that way. And the profile idea also sounds helpful. You can think about people with food allergies as well.”
Me: “So how do you feel about an option to generate recipes by either choosing to shope for supplies, or use supplies already in your home?
Emily: “During the week, by the time I get home from work I don’t want to go out and get things. If I were good I would go to the store and buy things for everyday of the week but I can’t really think that far ahead.”
Jeremy: “Yeah, and we don’t really like eating out a lot. We usually try new recipes on weekend.”
Emily: “Yes, we like using things we already have, but go shopping for new recipe supplies on weekends. We use CSA so we try to keep that as the bulk of things we use in our meals, so it would be nice to have something that could show me the things I could make using what I already have. Just something to surface an idea of what I can make.”
Me: “So what are some problems you run into while you are cooking where you feel like you could use some sort of visual aid?”
Emily: “I often look up how to weigh things, like how to weigh a cup of packed brown sugar. Or conversion charts. I do have a book called Cooks Illustrated that has really good illustrations of how to cut up complicated things, like Artichokes or pineapple. I’ve learned a lot from this book. It also has things like complicated skinning, like cabbage is a difficult thing to understand how to cut. It helps to see it in the illustration”
Me: Do you ever look up videos of how to cook things, or cooking shows in general?”
Jeremy: “Not usually, maybe if I happen to be watching a cooking show where they are making something I might like I might look up a recipe from there. But I don’t think it would be very helpful to be referencing a video while cooking, because you’d want to keep pausing and rewinding.”
I continued to observe and ask questions as they were cooking. I thought it was interesting that they kept walking back and forth to their computer to follow the recipe, and reading it to each other out loud. At that point they agreed it would be helpful to have that reference in the palm of their hand. I thought the illustrations in the book she was showing me were very clear & helpful-something I’m sure someone who was a novice at cooking could really appreciate.
The idea was brought up that it would be helpful in the beginning when you choose to go out and shop for your supplies to have a grocery list on your mobile device. This meal also took a little big longer to make than expected, so they brought up the idea of having an accurate indicator that shows you how far away you are from completing your meal. (Dinner Time.)
When the Chana Masala was finally ready, we just had to garnish it with some basal and wala! A delicious meal. At this point we discussed how we would rate the meal…maybe using forks up/down, or having a way to start bookmarking recipes and sending them to friends to share.
Not to mention I got my Karl Fix!
A very useful article about interface and web design
Feb 24th
www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/24/10-useful-usability-findings-and-guidelines/
SERVICE OUTCOME///Goals
Feb 23rd
SERVICE PURPOSE+
To teach kids and elderly people how to fold origami.
SERVICE GOALS+
To stimulate brain activity and development.
To engage how the user interacts with the folding process. First time users will be prompted step by step with sounds and rewarding stimuli to help engage them. The recurring (expert) users will be rewarded as well as prompted to recall missing steps. Memory and speed will be the primary touch points of rewards.
OUTCOMES+
As a person becomes more engaged in the interaction on the app. they become better origami folders. The faster they can understand a fold or know which fold comes next the further advanced they will become. The further advanced the user becomes the more familiar they become with the different folds and can interact more with the levels of folding.
Service Objectives
Feb 23rd
How to create a typeface…
Purpose- to create a typeface (a working system of units with rules and exceptions)
Goals-
1. observe the history and anatomy of type
2. development of initial modular typeface system
3. complete the puzzle with a complex system using illustrator and type tool
Outcomes- Developing a sense of comparing type, observing working and broken systems, conquering type in illustrator and type tool
1. The user should know how to create a system using parts that fit together in a readable context
2. The user should be able to appreciate the applications illustrator and typetool, pushing themselves to create and solve more complex creative typefaces
3. The users should be able to understand the difference between different typefaces, how they were made, and possible identify type in real space.
4. Over all the user will be able to understand simple type, create their own system, analyze and revise their own work, and have the ability to critique and analyze type around them. Avoid using horrible type … ever again.