Bad design

It feels like we come across instances of bad design all the time. Good design is often unnoticed because it is seamless and effortlessly makes our lives easier. But bad design really sticks out. Some examples from my recent experience include: my car, in which it is almost impossible to see the speedometer as you drive; my alarm clock/Ipod dock, in which the actually dock is so tricky to get your Iphone into, it requires two hands, lots of fiddling, and even more swearing; San Francisco public transport ticket machines, which have a bewildering and arbitrary series of limitations and "quirks". In all these instances you just sit back and wonder "what were these designers thinking", and "have they ever used the things they have designed?"

3 websites

Hi all,

Belatedly find my 3 websites below - they are all Webby Award winners.

Abstract thought - I love the concept and execution of this abstract web film.

http://thewildernessdowntown.com/

Aspiration - again, a cool website, showcasing the work of people who make our lives easier in small ways every day.

www.hidden-heroes.net

Aura - few people have had an aura like Mr. Johnny Cash.

www.thejohnnycashproject.com/

Hope you enjoy them.

Cheers,

Andrew

EDGE903 - Assessment 2

HI all,

Feel free to have a look at my response to Assessment 2 here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M_x4RXUvSwSknUut4SNr-gduR1JyV6eWwoiB8-2FBcQ/edit?hl=en_US.

Cheers,

Andrew

Assingment 1 - Visual Presentation

Hi all,

You can view my presentation at https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ddcxntbh_25ns9bfkcq&revision=_latest&start=0&theme=blank&cwj=true

Hope you enjoy it.

Andrew

Activity 2 - Iphone

The How Stuff Works website has an excellent explanation of how Iphones use accelerometers to change the screen orientation as you move the phone. (file:///Users/Andy/Desktop/HowStuffWorks%20%22What%20does%20the%20iPhone%20accelerometer%20do%3F%22.webarchive).

Basically, an accelerometer is a sensor that can measure movement and the speed of movement. The move and tilt of the Iphone is noted by these accelerometers placed in the phone, which allows it automatically adjust the visual orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape as appropriate. Accelerometers can also be found in Nike running shoes that work with your Ipod or Iphone to measure the speed and distance of your rtun. They are also found in Wii controllers.

In an Iphone this feature greatly improves usability because you can change the orientation of the screen just by turning it on its side. This allows you to read lists and websites in portrait view, or to move to landscape for videos. Landscape view also zooms in on any text, resizing to fit the screen, making it easier to read smaller text on websites. This feature can also be turned off if people do not like it. 

Thoughts on Patti Maes presentation

The device exhibited by Pattie Maes is obviously very exciting. It has both a significant wow factor (somewhat enhanced by the appearance of something very similar in a relatively recent science fiction film), and untold practical applications. It also seems relatively inexpensive and easy to produce.

Designers of interactive multimedia might take note of several aspects of the device, but there were two that occurred to me.

Firstly the use of gesture to control the device, which is something becoming more an more common, particularly in Apple devices. The Iphone brought touch screens and gestures like pinching and swiping to the masses, a process continued by the popularity of the Ipad. Gestures are now fully integrated into Apple laptops and desktop machines. As this method of controlling media becomes more ubiquitous a whole new language of gesture will develop.

Another thing that developers will need to think about is how information is filtered before being delivered to the user. With the amount of information available growing exponentially, almost from day to day, it is becoming more and more important to be able to filter that information to make it useful. The use of both automatic filter settings (based on user history and other biographical data) and user defined filters  will become more and more important.