Interface Design

Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman.

My picks based on the books-

Good Design:
The flash drive - that little chapstick sized, all powerful god of 'you just saved my butt" superman, saving the day kind of power. I have had many instances where I have come alive and died a little inside because of this mini mighty mouse of a drive. It is a very goo design because when you go to insert it into a computer (and whether t he computer reads it or not is another discussion,) there is only one way that it will fit into the USB port.

There is a place holder on one half of the port on the computer that will accept the flash drive and vice versa for the flash drive.

So really there is only one way that the flash drive can be inserted, no mistakes and no problems, unless it doesn't read or you don't eject it properly.

Bad design:
The speed dialing function on my Motorola Razor cell phone. Every time that add a contact to your phonebook, the phone will assign them a speed dial number. That's fine and generally it works...for the first 8 contacts. The #1 slot is reserved for voicemail, but all you have to do is press and hold down one of the numbers (in this case 2 through 9)until the phone begins to call automatically. The problems begin when you have contacts that are assigned double digit numbers. I've pressed 1-0, 1-6 holding down the second number...nothing. I've typed in contact number 2-3 then hit the call button and I get an error recording, not enough digits for that phone numbers. I know that, but then how am I supposed to speed dial that person without having to go the phonebook? I've call myself reading the manual, because I'm one of the few who don't mind doing that, but it a lost cause. I don't get that, bad design, booo!

Interface Design Critique - EDU 2.0 website

So this website definitely had a lot going on, that was the first thing that struck me, it was very busy and very blue.

Information Design:
I understood that the potential users were for teachers, but I couldn't tell if students could use the site as well. The page says an 'easy way to teach and learn online,'so i assumed the learning part was directed towards students, not that teachers aren't students as well. I felt that the information on the page seemed to be grouped "chunked" together well with large headings and graphics that made it clear what the section was about. Everything on the page was consistent with teachers teaching and learning.

Interactivity:
What I did find off putting and distracting was that fact there wasn't anything clickable on the page. It took me a few seconds to realize that you can't access anything until you sign in, even then you have to create an account. So I'm think there has got to be some top secret info behind the scenes, but really it's a community for teachers with information that is specific for them.

On screen Design:
The initial page was too blue and green and needed some more contrasting colors, but once you log in the other pages are not as overwhelming. The colors are more pleasing to the eyeballs and the user can navigate around just as easily.

Web 2.0 Technology - Freemind

I had put this slideshow up on the Social text site, but I don't know if anyone knew that it was there. I would call myself a Web 2.0 technology fledgling because you have to really take the time to learn and embrace it, and that depends on the individual user. So this was my fledgling attempt to understand Freemind mind mapping software.

Freemind

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Would I use Freemind for my mind mapping needs?
Probably not for the daily things that I might need to brainstorm about. It does take a minute to understand all of the functions and getting them to work in the way that you need them too. For instance I had an issue with moving the location of the mindmap.
I would use it for large scale brainstorming, like if I was going to storyboard a video project, plan certain activities, or to breakdown info.
Overall, it s a helpful tool. I liked that you can color code certain nodes and all of the other decorative changes that you can make to personalize your mindmap.

Final project Slides

Here's the slides to my show.

ITEC 830 Final Spectrum Bios

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So I sped through my presentation and I know that I left out some important points. I was nervous, I needed water and I was trying to be in two places at once. Anyway, a major point that I don't think I brought up about the need for the bios is the fact that the number of women with careers in the fields of science, math and engineering are far fewer in numbers than men. However, those numbers are increasing, which is great, but it doesn't represent everyone. There are even fewer women of color with careers and teaching positions in the field of science. So the the SEPAL department created the Spectrum program as a means to brings science into the many schools (and lives) of many young girls, who may not have felt like they can achieve or aspire towards this type of career. The video bios help to provide a visual supplement, in the form of the stories of these women who have 'made it possible' to overcome and achieve the impossible. Using Youtube the clubs can have access to these bios with the hopes of encouraging, inspiring, and activating the interests of young girls, all with the click of a mouse.


I enjoyed this class and I learned a lot about Web 2.0 technology, more than if I was on my own. There are a lot of really great and inspiring projects and I expect that we will be hearing about or using some these projects in the future. Congratulations to the fortunate people who are graduating and the best of luck to everyone in the class.
DEiDRE