I have attended some fairly cool lectures and talks while being in school, but perhaps one of the best ones so far was done by a woman named Mary Coleman. Mary is Senior Creative Development Executive at PIXAR Animation, and she was here as part of an invitation extended to her by a friend in the Drama Department. I being a fiendishly obsessed about Pixar, took this opportunity to see the strings behind the magic of one of my favorite companies and one i consider home to some of the most creatively sensitive people in the world. Why creatively sensitive? Because these people bring out the best in the work that they do, its not only technologically savvy, its not only visually rich and beautiful, its fun, it has heart.Mary Coleman @ CMU

I have been actively thinking about my thesis, and I have been struggling to talk about why designers are good at what they do… or better yet, why emotional content is so important to anything we design ( which is why i think designers contribute as much as they do). And the way that that gets achieved as designers is by developing that sensitivity which is not taught in school, it comes with personal reflection and and understanding that whim, magic and the unexplained, is as much part of human need as money , or food or task accomplishment. In another recent lecture by Haakon Faste, a HCI prospective faculty, I saw a lovely hierarchy system which caught my attention. It was a way of ordering human needs based on manslows views.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a succinct and incredibly simple way at seeing how our world works. Every major product that you have ever owned falls into one of these categories, and in some cases the higher you go up in the pyramid, the less the needs manifest themselves as something physical and the more it becomes something intangible. How does all of this wrap to Mary Coleman’s lecture? Simply put, at Pixar , story is king, and where does she work? she works in the department that develops these stories. And why do stories matter so much? well because the reason Pixar is so powerful in my eyes, is because they are in one of the higher places in the hierarchy of need, yet their impact emotionally on me is much grater than my need of having a piece of fruit or bread. Of course if i was a foodie you could argue that food could produce a similar high as a Pixar’s movie emotional charge.

I have always been incredibly curious as to the process by which these ideas get developed at Pixar, I had always envisioned brilliant minds coming up with these genius ideas by themselves in a dark room with a sketchbook, and a candle. Yet i was surprised to find that the majority of story ideas start out as one line pitches that plant a seed, and then get workshopped with a group of story developers to find the potential. And with time (almost 2 years) as a team they refine a carefully crafted story that has happy moments sad moments, humor beauty magic, but most importantly heart. Other major animation studios have tried to equal Pixar on many aspects, and in some cases I have seen movies that have come incredibly close (Kung Fu panda is at the top of my list. ), but for the most part they seem far from achieving the quality of emotion portrayed by Pixar.Mary Coleman @ CMU

Mary was simply fun, because she engaged us on the idea that Pixar is not a one man creative band its a iterative process ( also a trait heavily shared with design), but while entertainment may need to deal with emotions in a more explicit way, whats to say that our experiences and interactions should not carry that type of power an weight? Whats to say that what we do in prototyping is not equivalent to workshopping a story idea, and whats to deny that our goal should not be to improve an experience but to induce and experience….? who knew this would come out from a lecture about animated movies….

Image from Pixar's UP (Images TM & © 1986 - 2010 Pixar. All Rights Reserved.)

It all comes full circle because heart ( not love, but warmth and that positive vibe you get from movies with heart) is perhaps on the least important sections of maslows pyramid. My research is about the emotional value of design, and how we can consider it an equal or weighty aspect of the work we do. Pixar’s story development environment fascinated me because the exploration to find that string that pulls at your empathy nerve, is something that should be equally matched by designers, perhaps not in the final product, perhaps in the creative process perhaps even as a means to understand the problem, but it should be prominent rather than perhaps simply a sensitivity.

Article Source : Mary Coleman @ CMU

This is a 2 to 3 page paper, and it must follow the paper template provided on blackboard.
Students will turn in a preliminary draft for comments. They will then produce a final draft.

First Draft: ( my crazy musings on the topic) Project 1 - What is Interaction Design

Wrapping it all up
Of all the definitions I have managed to read, I seem to wholeheartedly agree with this one, if simply as part of my theoretical definition of the field. Why? Simply put, because I think Humans are at the base of the Interaction designer, perhaps more so than in any other design practice, and perhaps uniquely different than how humans are centered in say people who work in human factors or psychology. The practice of design is based in the ability to provide choices. All design works with the mentality of providing not a sole and perfect way of doing or solving something, but in multiple ways of trying to do something while improving it. Interaction design in practice is based on taking multiple types of approaches tiered through various stages of development to achieve a balance. Its not only about improving the controls on a device, but its looking as to how the controls tap into the emotions of its user and how the pleasure acquired from this leads to connecting and ultimately communicating with said object. Interaction design is the sum of the parts of the practice aspects, aimed at achieving this balance. It is as Nathan Shedroff states, a sensorial approach, as well as a calculated researched approach, it is as important to digital products as is it to analog ones, and while perhaps our current times seem to exert Interaction design most in the development of devices, interaction design is by no means limited to the intangible environments, quite the contrary, many interaction design problems exist outside the domain of computational environments and live and breathe amongst us, as they are inherently problems based in human nature.
What this all means to me, is that interaction design is the process by which we make these multiple problems of human needs come together and become solved by the combination of various methodologies. The interaction designer is well versed in the various methods that address the multifaceted aspect problems that arise out of the human condition, and has a strong sense of understanding how to solve for them not just through one branch but through multiple branches serving as a connecting bridge for addressing these complex varied needs and ultimately still functioning with a design mind, keeping in check the idea that a problem has multiple solutions and outcomes.
References
1. Buchanan, Richard, Design, Making, and a New Culture of Inquiry. The Innovative University 10, 2 (2004), Chapter 12, Carnegie Mellon Univ. Press, [Books]
2. Shedroff, Nathan. Information Interaction Design: A Unified Field Theory of Design, In In Robert Jacobson, ed., Information Design. (1999) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 267-292. [Books]

Project 1: Paper on “What is interaction Design?”
Based on what we have read and on your own experiences, offer your voice to the ongoing
conversation on what interaction design is. Pick a specific audience you want to address:
incoming grad students in interaction design, HCI practitioners, interaction designers, other
designers, product managers, company executives, your parents, etc. Offer a narrow definition
and work to connect this with some of the themes we have discussed. Also consider focusing on
what is was, is and will be.

All text is Copyright © Juliana Diaz 2010Project 1 - What is Interaction Design

What is Interaction Design?
Introduction
When I began thinking about the nature and history of Interaction design, it was hard to get a clear definition of what it is and what its not. It seems that very few people seem to agree on the limits of what its not, and somehow most seem to be far too inclusive as to what it is. This was simply confusing, and hard to manage. Everyone’s interpretation of the types of skills, the practice and the platform, is so varied, that right of the bat I could claim that almost all forms of design have an influence or basis in interaction design. Which really only ends up contributing to the nebulous nature of the term.
I could end the essay quickly by simply stating that everything is interaction design, but that clearly feels like some quick solution to a much harder question. In the end, after having spent some time doodling and sketching arrows and ideas and thoughts, I stumbled on some clarity. While perhaps it does little to contribute to limiting which areas of practice fall under interaction design, what I believe the clarity I obtained does is, it helps me accomplish perspective; and more importantly a method of approach as to how to deal with the question of what interaction design is.
Some basic thoughts
Lets start with some foundational thoughts. I know interaction design is directly correlated to us humans, to our existence as living and breathing beings, to our behaviors and thought processes, and to our emotions. I know this because it is the activity of communicating amongst us and what we do on our day-to-day lives, which generates the questions on how to better improve these communications. I know interaction design is also about relationships between humans and their context. I say this because context is far more inclusive than say just saying technology. I believe interaction design occurs, even when we choose to interact with things that are not strictly computational.
A two-path definition
So what is interaction design? Depends on how you are trying to define it. The clarity I mentioned earlier occurred, because I managed to create small distinction in my head, I realized the meaning would be slightly different if I was asking the question from a practice perspective or from a theory perspective. If I was trying to grasp what interaction design was at the practice level, I would basically list a set of methodologies by which designers can potentially solve Interaction problems. And at this point the definition include things like information architecture, graphic design, visual design and other design practices which together can be used to solve more area specific problems. Similarly I can also include more scientific methods like those practiced by the HCI community, as part of a recipe to a much larger goal. Sadly this perspective does little to quench the thirst of those of us seeking to truly identify the skills of the Interaction Designer because under my current practice definition I need to be well versed in all these fields in order to be a good Interaction designer.
But as I mentioned earlier, one of the moments of clarity was thinking about what Interaction Design was not only in practice but also in theory. This is where I think it comes together and allows me to at least grasp what Interaction design truly is. While scouting for some additional material about the history and definition of Interaction design, I stumbled on this little set of lines, written by Richard Buchanan in a 2001 essay “Design, Making and the New Culture of Inquiry”.
“…Interaction design is about people: how people relate to people, how people relate to products, and how people relate to each other through the mediating influence of products…”

Article Source : Project 1 - What is Interaction Design

Due Date:
Mo, March 1 — present lit in class. Submit slides via Blackboard
Project 3: Role of Prototyping
Discuss the role of prototyping in the practice of interaction design. Address the value
designers/participants might get from this activity and how it connects to the larger goal of a
design project. Connect your view of prototyping with the readings we have done in class and with
your own experience Grad Seminar II

Project 4: The Big Paper
Write a (8 to 10)-page paper (+ references) dealing with a research topic related to interaction
design. The research topic you select must be approved by the instructor. Talk to the instructor as
early as possible.

What Is Interaction Design? Set 2
 David Wroblewski (1991): The construction of human-computer interfaces considered as a craft. In
John Karat (ed.), Taking Software Design Seriously, Academic Press, 1-19.
 Jonas Lowgren (2008): Interaction Design Considered as Craft. In T. Erickson and D. W. McDonald
(sds.), HCI Remixed, MIT Press, 199-203.
 Craig Marion (1999): What is Interaction Design and What Does It Mean to You?
http://www.chesco.com/~cmarion/PCD/WhatIsInteractionDesign.html, accessed January 2005.
 Jonas Lowgren and Erik Stolterman (2004): The History of Interaction Design. In Thoughtful
Interaction Design, MIT Press, 147-153.

The reading lists below are still a work in progress. Throughout the semester the lists will be
updated and students will be sent an email informing them that a change has been made.

Focus on crafting a pointed enough argument that you can fully address it within the 3 page limit.

This paper will only have a single draft. This is a 2 to 3 page paper, and it must follow the paper
template provided on blackboard. For example, you may want to focus on
 how the purpose of prototyping has changed over time
 how prototyping distinguishes roles within a multidisciplinary team
 who should prototype in a design process and why
 when it is best to prototype
 how prototyping connects to sketching and how both activities connect to reflection in
an on action
 … something else

All papers need a strong motivation that convinces the reader that this is a topic of importance to
the interaction design community. They also need evidence to support the claims the author
makes. Finally, you need to select a specific audience you wish to address with this paper.

Project 2: Literature Review
You will need to conduct a preliminary literature review for your final paper. Choose a topic and
investigate to see what information is known about it. Look at many sources. This is a cursory
review, so initially focus on just reading abstracts, introductions, and possible conclusions. Use
this to refine the focus of your research topic. You should have somewhere between 20 and 40
articles for your topic. Think of book chapters the same as articles.

project 1: 15%
project 2: 10%
project 3: 15%
project 4: 40%
class participation: 20%

Work is due at the beginning of class. Work that is late will be decremented 10% for every 24
hours that pass.

Course Structure
The class consists of the following four projects.

What Is Interaction Design? Set 1
 Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott Miller (1999): Period Styles. In Design Writing Research, Phaidon Press.
 Bill Moggridge (2007): Languages of Interaction Design. In Designing Interactions, MIT Press.
 Bill Moggridge (2007): Introduction. In Designing Interactions, MIT Press, 1-14.
 Nathan Shedroff (1999): Information Interaction Design: A Unified Field Theory of Design. In
Robert Jacobson, (ed.), Information Design, MIT Press, 267-292.

Criteria for grading include the following:
 Participation in discussions and assignments
 Ability to summarize readings
 Good use of class time: attendance, discussions, and insights
 Iteration on constructing and articulating an argument
 Quality of reflection and communication about an issue

Spring 2010

Topics
This course will address the following topics at a rate slightly slower that 1 per week. There is a set
of readings associated with each topic.
 What is interaction design?
 How did the field emerge?
 A broad view of the field
 Threads of interaction design: engineering
 Threads of interaction design: HCI
 Threads of interaction design: participatory design
 Threads of interaction design: narrative and communication
 Threads of interaction design: experience design
 Current and future themes in the field
 What is design research outside of research in the practice of design?

Project 1: Paper on “What is interaction Design?”
Based on what we have read and on your own experiences, offer your voice to the ongoing
conversation on what interaction design is. Pick a specific audience you want to address:
incoming grad students in interaction design, HCI practitioners, interaction designers, other
designers, product managers, company executives, your parents, etc. Offer a narrow definition
and work to connect this with some of the themes we have discussed. Also consider focusing on
what is was, is and will be.

Instructor: John Zimmerman
Office: NSH 2504F
Office hours: by appointment (feel free to stop by)

Due Dates:
Mo, Jan 25, 2010 — preliminary draft for comments. Submit via Blackboard
We, Feb 10, 2010 — final draft. Submit via Blackboard

Grading criteria
Work and performance in the course will be evaluated on a weekly basis.

Readings
Readings will primarily take the form of handouts available on blackboard. These will serve both
as reference materials and as a beginning to an interaction design library.

Due Dates:
We, March 24 — Draft of introduction. Submit via Blackboard
Mo, April 26 — Madness presentation. Submit slides via Blackboard
We, April 28 — Final papers. Submit via Blackboard

Time: Mo and We from 10-11:20a

You will need to give a brief (5 minute or less) presentation on your literature review. This is
basically a pitch for your final paper topic, so you need to tell us up front who the audience is and
what your framing of the content will be. Provide an overview of the “conversation” taking place
within a research community. Pitch how you plan to add your voice and insights to this
conversation.

Half of the students will present on March 1 and the other half on March 3.

This course explores the literature surround the practice and research on interaction design.
Through a process of reading, discussing, researching, and writing, students will develop their
own vision of what interaction design is and where it is going. This class is intended to prepare
students working towards their masters in interaction design to develop a research
project/theme they can carry in to their thesis work.

Due Dates:
Mo, Feb 15 — Come to class prepared to pitch your topic and get feedback on your framing
Mo, Feb 24 — Final paper due via Blackboard

Students will receive a grade at mid-term and again at the end of the semester. Assignments,
timely attendance, and in-class participation are a critical part of the grade. Bringing examples
from outside of the class is considered to be an assignment and is also important. In addition,
the process of exploration is as important as the final product, so it is important that students
manage time well and devote time to reading, writing, and thinking about the content presented
each week. Grad Seminar II

The course has on textbook that unfortunately is not available at the bookstore:
Moggridge, B. Designing Interactions. Boston, MA: MIT Press, 2007.
It is important for students to learn to quickly read and extract information from books and
articles on interaction design. When reading, please keep the following questions in mind.
Answering these questions will most likely require that students do a bit more digging than just
reading the article.
 Who is the author?
 What is the gist of what they are saying?
 Why do they want to communicate this?
 When are they saying this? What is the state of interaction design at this time?
 How have the developed their argument?
 Is it effective? Is there a more effective approach?

Goals
By the end of the course, students are expected to demonstrate the ability to:
 Critically read and discuss design and design research literature
 Demonstrate a knowledge of the history, influences, and emerging themes in interaction design
 Conduct a literature review
 Discover and scope a research problem/question
 Construct a concise argument that advances the discourse on interaction design
 Clearly articulate design ideas in writing
 Summarize complex ideas into short presentations (oral and written)

This is a 2 to 3 page paper, and it must follow the paper template provided on blackboard.
Students will turn in a preliminary draft for comments. They will then produce a final draft.

Article Source : Grad Seminar II

01. Idea Generation
Initial Concepts and DebatesProject - A4 Voice User Interface

Kaya Voice User Interface from Juliana Diaz on Vimeo.

02. Getting Started with Kaya
The Huila Training Model

Grading Criteria
Process
• Did the students follow a rigorous design process and demonstrate how that
process informs their final designs?
• Did the students select an interesting task and (socia) context for their
design?
• Did they do a good job of generating design implications from the readings
and integrating them into their designs?
Solution
• Is it believable that users’ lives would be significantly improved through the
proposed solution?
• Does the proposed solution take an appropriate form and provide
appropriate feedforward and feedback?
• Does the proposed solution take into account the social setting in an
appropriate way?
Craft
• Visual appeal of interim research artifacts and presentations
• Visual appeal of final presentation
• Production quality of the video sketch
• Visual appeal of process materials
Presentation
• Motivation for design
• Rationale for solution based on process
• Communication of the concept
• Great pitch and dramatic finish

The idea behind Kaya is that this system cuts down training to only a week, as opposed to a process that takes an average of 2-3 weeks with competitors. This would greatly cut down on the cost of training per employee, and reduce employee turn-over greatly, because the process would be much less stressful for trainees.Project - A4 Voice User Interface

1. Coffee Shop Ordering System
* PROs:
o Speeds up the ordering process
o Expedites the training process
o Automated system is able to queue up orders and distribute them among available baristas
o Reduces lines
o Voice recognition allows for personalized experiences
o Can translate to food-ordering processes in general
* CONs:
o Potentially dehumanizing
o Menu relies on visual support
o Addressing a person with no prior knowledge
2. College Campus 4-1-1
* PROs:
o Call number accessible to people on the go, when needing information but aren’t in front of their computers (and no smart phone)
o Easily able to access data that isn’t on GPS systems (specific room locations, office location, people’s contact information, etc.)
o Comfortable conversational system to a young user group
* CONs:
o Lacks structure as an interface (relatively uninteresting design problem)
3. Diabetic Status Tracker
* PROs:
o They are usually supposed to track blood sugar levels to show doctors, and they dont
o System that stores and reports results
o Voice input is good for user group
o System analysis of tracking trends and possible recommendations if levels are not where they are supposed to be
* CONs:
o Because the system is technically a machine, it can be scary in terms of trusting the system too much
o Later: found out a very similar project had been done by a CMU Service Design team in Spring 2009
4. Foreign Language Tool
* PROs:
o Tool to help user understand English better
o Helps with understanding pronunciation
o Helps with meaning
o Define, usage, possible pronunciation
* CONs:
o Accents and how to deal with pronunciations becomes increasingly complicated
o Is it about the user with learning a word or knowing the word?
o How to handle initial input– written or spoken?
o Lack of structure in system
5. Kid Reading and Learning Tool
* PROs:
o Tool can help kids read through text
o Can detect if word is mispronounced
o Can be a reading practicing tool
o Track kid’s improvement by how fast he or she reads though a page
* CONs:
o Dehumanizing
o Later: found Project LISTEN– far too similar concept

In this assignment, we will prototype a voice user interface (VUI) that accounts
for the social setting. Designing a visual interface is not necessary, but you may
link yours to an existing product, such as a mobile phone with a keypad.
Students will conduct initial research on auditory displays and voice user
interfaces, will generate design implications from that research, and will design
and evaluate an information architecture and demonstrational vignettes of a
conversational usesr interface that reflect this knowledge. The prototype can be
designed for one of three contexts of use:
• Training. A VUI system assists a user or users with a work procedure (for
example, working in a fast food restaurant, filing medical claims, etc.
• Providing service. A VUI system assists a user or users in a service transaction
(for example, airlines, health insurance, hotel reservations, etc.)
• Object management. A VUI system assists a user or users in managing and
processing physical objects (for example, warehouse order picking, car parks,
dry cleaners, etc.)
In all of these contexts, you should design for either 1) one user with other
people present, thinking about privacy and managing side conversations, or
2) multiple users engaging with the system (thinking about multitasking, user
identification and feedback about who is doing what).
The goals of this project are as follows:
• to conduct research on speech and conversational user interfaces;
• to generate design recommendations for conversational user interfaces;
• to explore creating information archtecture for a VUI system;
• to test assumptions and initial designs with speed dating;
• to create demonstrational vignettes and prototypes, using a video sketch.
The deliverables for this project are as follows:
• summary research document with design recommendations (one for the whole
class);
• IA of how the system works
• scenarios of use that demonstrate 1-2 vignettes of the system;
• findings from a speed dating session of your concept;
• video sketch featuring scenario and demonstrational prototype for key
functions in your system.

Design Process
Teams will follow a design process that includes:
• You will select a target context and audience. You are encouraged to find a very
narrow application range and to focus on a user group you have easy access to.
You will need to access your target for research, validation, and most likely your
video sketch. You can develop your own strategy for conducting user research.
You should construct a plan based on the information and insights needed to
complete the project on time. In some cases, this may mean constructing find-
ings from your own past experience as an employee or a recipient of a service.
• You must also understand the state of the art in terms of technology that you
will be developing. Each member of the class will conduct some aspect of a
literature review, and use what they find to create design implications for how to
design a VUI system.
• You will distill a set of functional, social, emotional, and aesthetic needs based
on their user research. You will engage in ideation, generating multiple concepts
that articulate a preferred state. The goal is to identify the most critical needs
and the issues surrounding these needs. You will generate a small set of
concepts (3-5) that capture the reduced set of needs.
• You will conduct a speed dating user enactment session to assess the validity
of your concepts. The goal is to find the overlap between the observed needs the
team has identified and the needs users perceive in themselves, and to test the
flow and usefulness of your perceived solution.
• You will generate a video sketch consisting of a 1-2 vignettes that document
how the VUI improves the quality of people’s lives for a task within the chosen
context.
• You will produce a web process document that details your design process,
research methods and findings, insights, final design solution, and rationale for
this solution.
• Social setting: How does your design account for the social setting?
Design Considerations
• User-driven or system driven: is the interaction initiated and managed by the
user(s) or the system? How do people feel in control, and know who is managing
an interaction at any given time?
• Acquisition of skill: Do people desire to acquire a skill or do they just want to
complete a task? For example, spelling checkers are designed to help people
produce error free documents, not to become better spellers. What about some-
one in the workplace? What are the meanings and values connected between
the activity and the skills people desire?
• Change in needs cver time: Should systems and services adapt as people
use them over time? For example, those who ride a bus route daily need to only
know how many minutes late the bus might be. New riders will need to know the
route times and locations.

When starting the project, our group generated ideas for interesting contexts and users for Voice User Interfaces. We discussed the pros and cons of each idea.

Kaya works in a cyclical flow, with a cashier taking in orders from the customer and inputs it into a register, which then goes to Kaya, who delivers these orders to available or able Baristas, who make the drink and give the order to the customer.

01. Kaya Flow
The Flow Model

Article Source : Project - A4 Voice User Interface

123456 things that matter when applying for a job.
what separates me from the rest jon kolko @CMU

Can everything be one click away ( sprint ) where usability was the focus, but its about the magic behind it.

Last week Jon Kolko came through CMU to do a lecture for a very packed room of designers in both undergrad grad HCII and School of design programs.

Th HP touchsmart – help up make computing magical. – something that resonates something magic. How do you capture magic. wire framing . Visual design exercises, moved in to the shiny noir language , the magic comes from simulations. Manage the experience of a day to day feel like , the subtlety of how things change over time

Frog specified all of this stuff though code- xaml c# toolkit that you could – allow the dev team extend their work beyond frogs initial vision, rather than forcing the client to settle on that you hand them a partnership. Last longer than the software that ends up getting designed. how do you control the finite detail of those partnerships. Dreaming aesthetics, beauty poetry vision culture emotion behaviour passion humanity magic.

It no longer about making things pretty, well that’s obvious but why? Because people have understood that the problem is less specific and broad reaching. Its not about just making it pretty, it about competing, surpassing the competition and changing the world.

Speak with confidence and passion
Your personality displays what you audience to feel. Energy is contagious: so is apathy

Think broader about what design means, pragmatic solutions vs ecosystems.

There is more to design than usability. Its ok to sacrifice the usability if it delivers on the overall experience, how do we make it powerful to make it engaging and make you choose.

Know your tools.
Your work is most constrained by the amount of time you have available. get faster at execution so you can spend more time thinking.

the subjectivity is intimidating , the higher up

Behavioral shift of usability. We are not making things easy to use, but making things last longer.
How can technology improve the checkout process. How do you apply it in a high level store like prada.
World health day is a course of dreaming – dissemination of a message and people to connect, write stories to a website that get broadcast on times square.

Know your methods
The names of the methods aren’t enough , you need to understand the underlying philosophical and psychological principles that make them work. You are a strategist, and intellectual, ( does it really matter? in the end ? )

Craft us really really important
Its all about details.Alignment font color spelling grammar tone composition.
We are getting taken more seriously.

While I do not believe he said anything new that would dramatically change the way i see design, he was exceptionally good at highlighting valuable points about how to present yourself as a designer and grasp the things one needs to focus on to fully succeed in your quest to become a better designer

*Here are some notes on his talk. (i plan to expand them into coherent paragraphs but, not just yet!

“Its never been a better time to be a designer ”

Former models include a set budget and a list of task oriented goals that need to be delivered, vs and exploration of how to see the vision of a company in the future. What do you give them… ? road maps, experience architecture, knowing how to shift companies as a massive entity. A problem like the turbochef, that deal with not just changing the paradigm of the look and feel, but the interface and ultimately the behaviors of the user who needs to understand the changes of cooking in less time. jon kolko @CMU

Frame the larger context
Don’t just tell what you did- explain why you did and why you learned.

Show work YOU did
Team projects are great but make sure you include work that you can claims as yours-entirely

Article Source : jon kolko @CMU

I began this project thinking about current controls which feel overly complicated for the type of function that they provide. Initially i have always had a major issue with payment consoles in grocery stores. The flow and structure of them seems overly unnecessary for the type of task you are trying to achieve. But it seemed more like a software and information architecture problem than a control problem. Similarly intercoms to residential or office buildings also provided a sense of distress for me. They felt overly structured and not intuitive, sometimes simply presenting too many options or not enough.Project - A1 Controls

Students will design a new control that greatly improves the interaction of a
selected product.
Design issues: Problem selection, user intent, context of use, feedforward,
feedback. Deliverables: Deliverables: Mounted poster and labeled CD with
pdf file.

Final

Concepts:

This is the final result of the project. As you can see the final solution is based on developing a touch screen navigational system that allows multiple types of browsing for tenants of a specific building.

Sketches & Process: Project - A1 Controls

Final Project File

Article Source : Project - A1 Controls

Business Week magazine takes a stab at how Design thinking brings creative techniques to business. The only problem? No one can agree on how to teach its methods
Read Article Here
Is this the trend? Can it hold or is it just a fad?


Design Thinking

How to Nurture Future Leaders

I am sure this is a topic worth expanding on a bit more than just the link I am about to post, but for now this will have to do

Design Thinking

Article Source : Design Thinking