Sep 14

Prototyping

Prototypes

1. “What Do Prototypes Protoype?” Stephen Houde and Charles Hill

Houde and Hill defined the  triangle diagram of prototyping in sections of: Role, Look and Feel, and Implementation, that are later connected by integration. These sections seem to be rudimentary for any prototype, the text seems to be quite dated actually, since it was written in the 90’s and in 20 years design and its application has evolved to include more complicated social and environmental consequences. If I were to redesign their diagram I would add more sections branching off the initial point they consider. For example in the Implementation section I would add a cost, environmental impact, approximate life, etc, for the Role section: educational value, service value, comparison to existing products, and prospective problems, for the Look and Feel section: performance, portability, transformability, and social relevance.
This article touches on some important aspects of prototyping design, and it brakes down the process as if there is a recipe for prototyping. I’m not sure if I agree with then completely, since every idea is different and a bit volatile. The important aspects of functionality of a service versus an environment versus an artifact have to be approached in various ways, depending on the most salient feature of the design. Even within artifacts one can find ideas that are not concerned with the role, since the role is the look and feel in itself. For the time period Houde and Hill did an exceptional job at defining some concerns within the prototype design practice. The conclusion of the article brakes up  the steps and importance of prototypes. Defining a prototype that arises the most important questions in the least amount of time, build many prototypes,  know your audience, and know your prototype by explaining to the audience what purpose your prototype serves. This last step, knowing your prototype, has some problems, prototypes should be engaging and self explanatory, though the conversation between the audience and the designer about what is missing, can be key for discovering new problems.

2. “Experience Prototyping” Marion Buchenau and Jane Fulton Suri

Buchenau and Fulton Suri’s essay was the most interesting of the three essays. This article explores the role of the designer as a social investigator and as an audience themselves. The separation between the audience and the designer can blur the objective of an idea, so when designers take the role of the audience they can better perceive its problems and potential solutions. In a more philosophical sense, the designer as a creator becomes a position of power that can ultimately distort the function of design in the first place.
In “Experience Prototyping” the authors have defined a major part of design that was not explored by the previous essay “What do Prototypes Prototype?” which is experience, performance, environment, social relevance, contextual, temporal, and sensory.  By acting out the natural situations in which their audience would be using their products, the designers managed to acquire a realistic perspective on the implementation necessities. Allowing the experiences around the initial role of the prototype to be the most important and first experimentation phase of design.
An important aspect of this essay is that it values experience as much as it values it’s analysis. The authors also take into account that every user’s experience will be different, so it is important to take a survey of functionality and average experience.  The only thing I don’t understand about this essay is the Kiss Communicator, they could have done without it. Though, I guess it was important to show a product that was difficult to present to an audience that would not use such a device. Either way, this product should not have made it out of who ever’s head, made on to a prototype, and written about in this essay.

3. “Cardboard Computers” Pelle Ehn and Morton Kyng

I was a little disappointed with this essay. I thought they were going to describe how they made working cardboard computers, but no, they were talking about mock-ups. Ehn and Kyng describe the experience of a news team changing to adopt new printing and editing technologies. The interesting thread through this experiment, called the Utopia project,  was to redesign a new working environment between journalists and typographers. The main goal was to implement a system where no one had to trample over each other’s tasks, but to have sufficient communication to collaborate in creating the best paper layouts possible.
At first they began with an office mock-up of chairs and cardboard boxes. The participants were to act out their normal work situation, in this instance the authors bring up the idea of role-playing and children’s games. Participants are to imagine that the cardboard box in front of them is a laser printer and based on this assumption they need to continue their colloquial work dialogue taking into account the new possibilities of easily printing single copies to see the actual proof.  Later on they move on to acually geting computers and screens, they determine the correct size, and find that some of the mock-up become so well designed that the participants are beginning to click on paper, and so on.
In my conclusion of this essay, it was unnecessarily long, and tedious. It did not bring any new idea or good point of departure for prototyping, as a matter of fact I thing that their process was so long that it made their prototype more a hassle than useful.   Marion Buchenau and Jane Fulton Suri essay “Experience Prototyping” was a much more dense and relevant study of performance, mock-ups, and play.

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/prototyping/

Sep 14

reading response week2

What do Prototypes Prototype?

Stephanie Houde and Charles Hill

Apple Computer, Inc.

Cupertino, CA, USA

s.houde@ix.netcom.com, hillc@ix.netcom.com

A Prototype of design is that we put draft, idea, layout and other considerations outlined in this stage, so that communication between the developer and user become more related. It is essential for developer to understand what exactly they design. As a result, prototype becomes crucial in this step to benefit developer for a faster feedback, correcting misunderstanding and improvement.

Designer should know where they are going.  At the beginning, it might take several steps to build one prototype. One has to put thoughts and organized them. As the article suggests, we should build multiple prototypes, know your audience and understand details of the prototype. Although I find it hard to understand how to measure the position in the triangle, the diagram in the paragraph clearly describes a relationship between implementation, role and appearance. It is brilliant to categorize types of prototype. I remembered I have read a book before describing a simple idea of the category.

The first one is low precision prototype. This types prototype can help evaluate multiple design concepts and user’s demand. It can be simple as a pencil drawing on blank paper. When building multiple prototype to understand user’s demand. There are also some disadvantages for designer to consider. A less accuracy prototype has less specific details, which will affect user experience and limit the function of prototype.

The other type of prototype can be high accuracy prototype. It is suppose to be produced as a similar final product. Since it is designed near the final result, designer can get test data that is close to the final project. We can also learn how users think in order to improve and marketing option. Finally, we can check the feedback and then getting back to see if the first expectation of the design is correct. The disadvantage of high accuracy prototype is high cost in time.

I think both methods have their own merits. There are several ways to present a prototype. Whether it is a static graphic to present a design or a film to show the interactive mode, prototype is required to present a solid definition including who are going to use, what it will be use, and a clear purpose.

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Experiencing prototype

Reference:

Sense Perception and Reality

By Rochelle Forrester

Published in 2002

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/rochelle.f/Sense-Perception-and-Reality.html

Through the article, now I learn more about prototype. At first, I think prototype as a component or model for a product. In fact, it’s more than that. Learning experience is much more complicated because it’s a dynamic, complex and subjective phenomenon. What we need to consider first is that how exactly we perceive the world in a manner when we can understand and to respond.

In a paper by Rochelle Forrester  (2002) Sense Perception and Reality,

“Our method of knowing about the world is primarily and perhaps exclusively through out sensory apparatus… This information, widely called sensations, lets us know the colour and shape of things… They allow us to be aware of certain qualities of the things in the world. There appears to be no way in which we can find out about the world external to ourselves, other than through our sensory apparatus.”

Through this paragraph we can view user experience as a response to our “sensor” so that we understand outside world and response accordingly. If we want to design a natural interaction mode, these sensors, as a result, will be viewed as important apparatus and be applied in possible manner. For instance, Nintendo’s Wii is a turning point in changing publics experience in playing video games. It certainly provides interesting experience and better interaction. There is also a similar example, the digital camera interaction architecture prototype, in the article. In another example is the role-playing experiment, what really value experience prototype is people always reflect in different manner. That is humanity: to change from the norm.

Experience prototypes should give clear direction to both designer and user.It is easier if shared experience can reflect personal life, that experience will be easy to understand when communicate. Experience prototype in this case, give us a better scope to understand that. It will greatly benefit to both designer and user if we understand the characteristic of user.

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Cardboard Computers

Reference:

Significance of Participatory Design in Offshore Software

Development Scenario

Design Research / Article 4.

Feb. 2008, HCI Vistas Vol-IV

Author: Atul Manohar

Source: http://www.hceye.org/UsabilityInsights/?p=88

Mock-ups, as article described, can be most useful in early stages of the design process. They encourage user’s active involvement so that user can feel more being accepted in the design progress.

With cardboard mock-ups it’s simple: the purpose is design, and the mock-ups are used to evaluate a design, to get ideas for modifications or maybe even radical new designs. Cardboard mock-ups provide a medium for collaborative changes.

We already discuss how experience can affect interaction. According to article, one of the reasons for the effectiveness of cardboard mockups is that user can enjoy the interaction process directly. Through this process, we can evaluate a design, to get ideas for modifications or maybe even radical new designs. More importantly, to have a medium for collaborative changes.

Source: http://www.hceye.org/UsabilityInsights/?p=88

While reading the article, I do not fully understand the meaning of Utopia project, so I try to look somewhere else. And I do find an article explaining participatory design which I think might help. We can see that through participatory design, we can have a better vision of simplified designing process instead of long discussion without conclusion. We must understand that interaction incorporate participant here. However, as the article mention, one of the hardest challenges for designer seems to be to create a design language that can communicate with the participant. I think that’s reason he mentions hands-on experiences and ready-to-hand usage. What we can achieve with cardboard is make a prototype more like a final product.

 

 

 

 

 

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/reading-response-week2/

Sep 14

7 in 7: Day 1: Fancy Coffee

I had to pick a disposable object that I use everyday and turn it into something reusable.

 

 

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/project-day-1-fancy-coffee/

Sep 14

1 Circuit Bending

Adding a jack and a potentiometer to a sound-making toy to control the volume, and amplify it. (In a way I want to distort the sound entirely instead)

For this 7×7 project I wanted to make a circuit or an electricity related experiment. Forrest Mims III is one of my greatest inspirations, since I was introduced to circuitry through his books. This particular task, though inspired from Mims, came from Maker Faire projects.

 

Pre Bent Circuit toy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWjFOZLjtQ8

Bent Circuit toy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojfOC8UXuJ0

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/1-circuit-bending-2/

Sep 14

week2 readings (prototyping)

The gist of the readings seem to be more or less the same; which is a discussion of what prototyping is, the language of prototyping and different types of prototyping.

What I found most interesting about all the readings – in particular, ‘cardboard computers’, is the near constant use of the word ‘tools’ (as opposed to ‘apparatus’, although cardboard computers does briefly mention it in terms of cinematic use) The word ‘tools’ strongly reminds me of Heidegger’s essay on ‘origins of art’ as well as his essay on technology (if I’m not mistaken, it was published in 1935) where he brings up 2 important concepts – tools that where ‘in hand’ and tools that were ‘at hand’. Tools that are ‘in hand’, he describes, are tools used without ‘concept’; as in they are so near and at readiness that we don’t really think about their use at all – in fact, in the example he uses (a pen), he describes it as an extension of one’s self (like an arm or use of hand) where the potential is constantly stored and ‘ready for use’…. I guess if you want to do a bit of class-crossover, you could even consider it in terms of Clive’s lecture about the Rhine and hydroelectricity where the nature of the Rhine is transformed from an abstract to an object in readiness.

In contrast, an object ‘at hand’ is one that an object is unto itself – where you view it as an object aside from its function (i.e. a broken pen is merely a pen in itself and not a tool used for writing) and here’s the interesting bit: most of the discussions centred around prototyping views the tools for prototyping to be always ‘in hand’, which makes perfect sense since the focus is on functionality and ‘making sense’ (to borrow the term from gary benett) – that is, to use ‘making’ as a form of ‘understanding’. However the completed prototype is one that is always ‘at hand’, because it’s not really meant to be fully functional but rather a representation of function; a method of observation so you end up with a kind of crisis?conflict? where what is fundementally ‘made’ is also fundementally abstracted.

This becomes even more complicated when you consider the apparatus used for prototyping. The readings don’t really touch on the concept of apparatus (a bit of a pity… especially since they narrow the definition to the cinematic variant) but consider Processing, which is typically used as a prototyping platform. Is it a tool? Is it an apparatus? What level of abstraction can you consider an object like Processing to belong in? I would cautiously place it as an apparatus since it’s beyond both 1st or 2nd order abstraction; and where it sits on a library of java wrapped in a library of APL wrapped in a library of binary- a black box literally. I would guess – that if a computer is an abstraction of the mind, and code is an abstraction of making reality (in the sense that you take an action and translate the said action as a verb) then a platform like Processing would be an abstraction of conscious understanding. Therefore, the question is: If you make a prototype on Processing, is it an apparatus as well? Can it ever reach the state of being ‘in hand’ or as cardboard computers say: ‘a computer that doesn’t exist?’

I don’t think you can really reconcile both concepts…. because the core of mechanisation *is* to create black box systems. It’s not just systems in terms of platform (i.e. OF or Processing) but systems in the sense of procedural rethoric and to some extent; the gamefication (or gamespacing?) of what we perceive to be ‘world’ as well. Heidegger harps a lot about alethetia and the truth of which is ‘making’/unconcealment, but such unconcealment cannot exist when what is revealed is merely another apparatus of which the current one is built upon. Perhaps what we reveal in such unconcealment is how much things are concealed, and that awareness of the power of apparatus helps us with what an ‘interface’ is. That what we create as ‘user experiences’ or ‘natural computing’ or whatever trendy academic term people come up with, is also a system of navigating through the black box – and perhaps – we do not make, but only make aware.

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/week2-readings-prototyping/

Sep 14

7×7: 1: How To Make Tea Using a Pulley

Incorporating an artifice into a mundane daily task.

Introduction: We have been reading a lot about technology “taking over” and about the “artificial” increasingly blending with our definition of the “natural.” I wanted to play on the idea of how our every day, mundane tasks can be taken over by a machine or some kind of man-made system. My goal is to create 7 objects in 7 days that somehow transform my routine tasks into a machine controlled activity.

Constraints:

-I must make a tangible object using something that is in my apartment. No budget!

-The final object must be incorporated into one of my mundane daily tasks.

-There must be a video documentation of me using the object.

Project 1: How To Make a Cup of Tea With a Pulley System

One thing that I do almost every day is drink tea. Making tea is a fairly straight forward, easy task that anyone can do. I wanted to explore how I can insert an element of an artifice, a mechanical object, into a simple act such as making a cup of tea.

Result: YouTube video below + screen shot of video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SDpZV6hvPA

Materials used and their limitations:

I used an erector set and elastic bands to set up a crane with a pulley system that would allow me to dip a tea bag into a cup of boiling water. As I have often experienced, erector sets are not very stable due to the poor quality of knots and b0lts. I had to improvise and use some wire to keep the object together. I also had to hold on to the base of the crane when it was being used so it didn’t lose its balance.

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/7x7-1-how-to-make-tea-with-a-pulley/

Sep 14

Day 1: 7-in-7

I chose two constraints for myself, the main one being mapping.  I wanted to experiment with how many different ways I could map virtually the same ( or similar) experience. I will basically map each of my days, focusing on a new perspective each time. The other constraint I made for myself was to use a single line as the basis for my projects, interpreting that in whatever way I see fit that day.  I am really interested in stretching boundaries of constraints, so the double constraint is really forcing me to think in a way I am not used to. With all of these projects I really want to just experiment and have fun.

First 7-in-7! I had some scanner issues (and still am), so I had to take a picture of my drawing which I then started to play around with. This is the first project of the series, and since we were given the assignment when my day was halfway done, I figured I would simply map my day through my artistic perspective.  I used my creative sensibility to envision a map in my head, and then draw it.  I wanted to pull out of my comfort zone ( which for mapping is usually Adobe Illustrator) and instead create a more personalized mapping that shows my day solely from my own perspective. For my line constraint, I basically used one continuous line and did not pick up my pencil while drawing this map.  I started experimenting with it further in Photoshop, but I also have the original drawing which I can bring into class.

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/first-7-in-7/

Sep 14

7 in 7- Project # 1: The Seeker App

 Introducing, the Seeker App

There are usually two things everyone looks for before they leave the house.  Their keys or their phone.  With some, they forget where they are which becomes a nuisance.  Hence the Seeker App.

Goal:  You can find your keys when you press the Seeker App on your phone.  Also, if you can’t find your phone, but you have your keys, you can use the receiver key chain to call your phone.

Instructions: Download the app on to your phone and make sure the receiver is linked on to your keys.  A beeping noise then goes off  which will help you find your keys much faster.

 

Constraints:
Seeing as to how I don’t really have the materials to make this, it’s rather hard and difficult at this point to figure out if it works at all.  I wouldn’t even know where to start and the scope, would be massive and costly.  So this is just a preliminary concept which I can propose to a company to carry it through their R&D team, so they can source materials, design, engineering and testing.   Also I’m not too keen on the key chain receiver’s design as of right now and would need more time to form a good aesthetic-wise.

 

 

 

 

 

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/7-in-7-project-1-the-seeker-app/

Sep 14

1st of 7 in 7

PICK OUT THE BLACK

The project is a simple processing tool that presents a few images of “black” people. The instructions say: “pick out the black,” even this very verbiage will cause some discomfort. With your mouse, as your scroll over these pictures the RGB vaules are picked out and the color is displayed in a box. Roll your mouse over a cheek of one of these people and see what color you get.

Simply put, with this project I am asking the question: what is blackness, what does blackness look like, and all the other racial inquiries that arise out of such an engagement.

Also this passage from wikipedia is placed right atop the image, but the opacity is tinkered with so that even further investigation and probing is necessary to read the text. This is an act that requires the user to make an effort. How many people will make this effort?

Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_people

“The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups. Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as “black”, and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a role so that relatively dark skinned people can be classified as white if they fulfill other social criteria of whiteness and relatively light skinned people can be classified as black if they fulfill the social criteria for blackness. As a biological phenotype being “black” is often associated with the very dark skin colors of some people who are classified as ‘black’. But, particularly in the United States, the racial classification also refers to people with all possible kinds of skin pigmentation from the darkest through to the very lightest skin colors, including albinos, if they are believed by others to have African ancestry and exhibit cultural traits associated with being “African-American”. Therefore, the term ‘black people’ is not an indicator of skin color but of racial classification.[2]”

Why am I asking this? Because we live in a contury with a strong racial “element,” woven within the seams of its very being.

The constraints I choose were color, and having each project illuminate or evoke some idea or issue around social justice. Also I am constraining myself to have these projects flesh out or articulate ideas explored in my Afrofuturism class. I choose these constraints because these are the ideas and themes that I will be exploring in my artistic practice and very heavily in the work that I intend to create within the frames of this program. They are very closely related to the themeatic aesthetic that I want to hone and explore.

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/1st-of-7-in-7/

Sep 13

Reading Commentary Week #2: What do Prototypes Prototype?

This has also been an interesting read because it’s been educational for me (someone who comes from print).  I learned a few terminologies along the way which I shall be using going forward.

What do Prototypes Prototype?  Well, what from I gather, I found it to be the following: feedback, guidelines and constraints and also serves as a base/foundation for a design idea.  It helps to figure out design issues, where they’ve broken it down in three cases: role,  experience and implementation (there were other triangles with internal parts, but this one spoke to me more).  To which maps out a best way to come up with awell-designed artifact.

This portion was particularly educational for me.  I wasn’t aware of the triangle model (or any for that matter) and what each corner represented.   The first point would be the role.  What  would the function of this design artifact do or its impact in someone’s life?  Second would be the look & feel.  What is the experience in a sensory manner?  The third would be implementation.  What are the the techniques and components, as in how would it work?  I had highlighted this as a tip and guideline for me when I’m about to present a design idea.  This would help me a lot because up until now, I haven’t really had any opportunity to design anything else beyond print.

It also mentions that it’s hard for for designers to communicate clearly when it comes to prototypes because of what it may involve.  Because some prototypes aren’t what they seem, a lot of them can be deceiving, which then can alter a precise feedback.  Some prototypes are more complex than others and would probably need a more “high-resolution”  type of a prototype to get an accurate feednack.  This part was particularly interesting to me because it wrote down details as to how to figure out what prototype would be appropriate.  This is actually another good tip for me.  It cuts down on the assumption that people will know what you’re talking about.  The techniques used were also fascinating, i.e. the benefits of role playing, storyboarding and high resolution prototypes must be used for certain contributing groups, because they may not understand right away, etc.

All in all, I think I learned a lot from the this article.  It opened my eyes and mind to how prototypes are important and how sensitive I should be when I attempt to design a product.

Permanent link to this article: http://interface2011.coin-operated.com/2011/09/reading-commentary-week-2-what-do-prototypes-prototype/