CCT333+Tutorial

__**LAB 3:**__

Prior to quitting his job at Nokia, Dan Chipchase was a chief usability researcher at Nokia. His main goal and dominant focus of his research was to observe and understand the ways in which technology works in different cultures. From the articles we read, his specific focus was on the impact of mobile phones across the world, especially in 3rd world countries, i.e, the remaining 90%. He traveled around the world and visited many countries, most specifically India, China and Japan, and took teams of designers, psychologists, usability experts, and ethnographers with him to conduct his research.

While at Nokia, he identified himself as a "human-behavior researcher". He described that by stating that he studied common traits that occurred between individuals, families and communities. He often claimed that one of his first ways of approaching a new community was by going through different individual's bags and personal belongings, trying to decipher what is most valuable to each individual. He did this mostly in third world countries, because he mostly tried understanding what it was that those who lived in poverty cherished and valued the most. He believed that if he managed to understand that, then these communities can be helped and their lives could be improved in drastic manner.

Also because of his personal and very cared for approach to his research "subjects", he was named a "user anthropologist". This title proves that he met the individuals within the community, tried to identify the problem and reach a solution.

__**Communication**__

Probably the most prominent use of a mobile device. Communication is a vital tool for humanity, and it is a way to bring people together and strengthen their bonds. Jan Chipchase referred to the cellphone as a device that can transcend time and space. That means that people across the globe can commuincate instantly with each other (time) and send messages out to each other (space) without having to be close by.

__**Emergency**__

Having a mobile device on you could also help a whole lot when it comes to all sorts of emergencies. An example would be of an individual who happened to beout and witnessed an event which required the help of the local police. That individual can now simply pull out their mobile phones, dial the police's number and have aid come to them as soon as possible. The same example could be applied to a health related issue, where in some emergencies, medical assisstance could be needed.

__**Affordability**__

Affordability usually refers to the value created by a product, and if the customers precieve this value to be worth the cost they paid. As technology excels, our devices are becoming smaller, more compact and more efficent. The amount of applications and options we have on our devices surpass any of those that existed in similar devices, less than a decade ago. Along with all of these new and enhanced features, the value of these phones have decreased immensely due to the rise of competition amongst cellphone providers. This all indicates that cellphones have now become, in a sense, more "affordable".

__**Mobility**__

Another incredible perk the cellphones carries. People can now call each other at their own convenience, and not have to be at home to make a phone call. It allows us to move around without "disconnecting" from the world, and it enables us reach other during all times. It is also incremintal for those who are usually "on the run" or busy workers who aren't fixated in one particular station.


 * __LAB 4__**

Extraction:

Extraction is the first point in the material's economy linear process. It is the stage in which us humans tend to tear down all our natural resources, (like taking down trees and burning them) and use them to move on to the next stage of the process; production. According to the video, we have been exhausting more resources than we can actually afford, and at this rate, we would probably be running out pretty soon. In the last 30 years, we have used up more resources than ever used up before, which should be an eye opener. Most of the resources we have tearing down and using up belong in countries where poorer people usually depend on these resources. The bigger corporations usually go to these fields, and claim that the native users do not have the "right" to acclaim that these are their lands, since they have no contracts indicating so.

Production:

After the resources have been obtained, they are sent to be produced and developed into usable products. The video mentions that in this stage, these natural resources are mixed with highly poisonous and dangerous chemicals, that ease the productions of these products. These chemicals are both hazardous to us humans (some are carcinogenic and lethal), and to the environment, where is has been proven that they are one of the main causes of massive air pollution. The workers in this stage are also greatly effected by these chemicals, since they tend to deal with them on a first hand basis. On the long run, their health is exposed to continuous harm, and they often tend to work in companies which do not abide by any sort of health regulations.

Distribution:

It is in this stage where the completed products are shipped out to be distributed worldwide. The most important point raised in this section was the reasoning behind the low costs we face everyday. A lot of the companies try to compete with each other by offering the lowest price to sell the most amount possible. When Annie Leonard mentioned the extremely cheap radio she saw at the store, she pondered how it could cost so little when its production costs must have cost much more. That is when she came up with the term "externalized costs", meaning that the costs of these products are paid by the health of the workers that helped produce it, along with all the efforts put by the individuals to distribute this product. Since they attain really low wages, and live with nearly no health or safety regulations, then it is they who pay these costs.

Consumption:

Leonard proposes that this stage is the most important one of the whole process. People are continuously being taunted and pushed to buy products that they do not really need. The whole material's economy linear process depends on this very stage, where consumers need to be constantly fed with false advertisements that convince them to keep on buying worthless products that they barely every benefit from. On average, the amount of goods we actually keep equal to around 1% of all the goods we have consumed. The big corporations try to push for this cycle to keep on going, because if it were to suddenly stop or reduce somehow, then the cycle's harmonic flow would be halted. The way they keep this cycle going is by introducing two methods that ensure continuous consumption: planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence. The earlier refers to daily objects that we use and dump immediately, such as plastic cups, forks and knifes. Meanwhile the latter refers to objects such as computers, where only a small part of the processor needs to be changed, but cannot be done due to it not fitting with the old device.

Disposal:

The final stage of the process. After the consumers have bought their soon to be obsolete items, they must be disposed of somehow. Currently, the most predominant methods of disposal entail either burning the junk items, or digging massive holes in the ground and burying the junk in them. These methods are obviously extremely hazardous and cause massive amounts of pollution. When these goods are burnt together, their different chemicals combine and bond to make what Leonard refers to as supertoxins. These supertoxins cause even more pollution than most toxins in the world, and have a huge impact on the environment, which could eventually lead to climate change. Recycling was also touched upon, and Leonard reiterates its importance, but also states that recycling alone is not enough to do the deed. The reason behind that is because not all materials are recyclable, and not a lot of people take recycling as seriously as they should.

Possible Solutions?

Leonard proposed a bunch of possibly solutions along with recycling, and those entailed concepts such as Zero waste, Green Chemistry and Local Living Economies. Zero waste is an educational approach which tries to teach people about the vital importance of recycling, and why we should incorporate it in our daily lives. Green Chemistry is a chemistry approach to try and develop chemicals that do not form supertoxins or any sort of toxins for that matter, when used. Local Living Economies aims to enhance the living standards of the locals which have their natural resources taken away from them in the extractions stage of this linear process. Other solutions articulate using renewable resources such as water and air to generate energy while causing minimal or no pollution

__**LAB 6**__

Avian Element:

The Avian Element mimics certain traits that occur in various members of the avian fauna, and apply them to real life objects. The examples mentioned on the website entail designing small saw-like shaped objects similar to those on owl feathers that help reduce the noise generated by the train's pantograph. The other example was the taking the shape of the kingfisher's beak, and designing a train with a similar shaped front. This allows the train to become more aerodynamic while facing less air friction and pressure, therefore allowing it to travel faster and smoother. Such technology can also be incorporated in any device that requires dealing with generating energy from air or wind, such as windmills. I find it very interesting because air pressure can always pose as an encumbrance when dealing with objects that travel at very high speeds. Anything that can allow that hindrance to be mitigated would always be useful.

Stanch the Bleeding:

Inspired by the platelets in the human blood, Brinker technology developed similar platelets that could be injected into oil pipes. When a leakage occurs, these platelets can detect these leakages and block any further siphoning. They are also equipped with radioisotopes which can guide the engineers to the point of leakage. The first example that spurs to mind is what happened in the Mexican Gulf with the oil spillage caused by BP. If such technology was implemented earlier, then a lot of the damage that occurred could have been controlled.

Leaving No Trace:

German paint company Sto. worked on developing paint that would naturally repel water whenever in contact- just like the lotus leaf. The company's scientists studied the leaf's surface closely, and worked on creating a non-toxic chemical that mimics the leaf's behavior so that whenever water comes in contacts on a painted surface, it would be repelled. This also means that any dirt on the surface would be washed away completely, leaving no trace. This would work perfectly for tall buildings, where rain could possibly wash away all the dirt off these buildings and maintain a cleaner environment. Similarly, this would also work pretty well with all kinds of automobiles. Instead of having to take the car to a car wash, simply rinsing the car would wash away all the dirt and keep the car clean.


 * LAB 7:**

Design as a collaborative process pretty much explains itself clearly. Bill Moggridge argues that effective design does not stem from one origin or principle. People of several backgrounds, ideologies and theories must all work "collaboratively" to create design. He also touched upon "participatory design", which pretty much sends out the same message as the earlier concept. In order to attain greater efficiency and adaptability among different regions in the world, designers must incorporate many different theories from different backgrounds.

One of the earlier examples mentioned regarding including end users in such operations, was the ENT doctor. When the designers wanted create a better surgical device for Ear, Nose and Throat doctors, they decided to bring an ENT surgeon onto the team. They believed that this would help them tackle their problems in a more efficient manner, and it would open them to better insight from an experienced user. This would generally enhance both the designer's experience in dealing with different individuals, as well as the surgeon's medical needs.

The other example entailed a more personal experience. Individuals who donated blood to the Red Cross were encouraged to write about why they were donating blood on cards. By including all these cards from many different donors, it allowed them to connect and compare different reasons for why they were donating. This was also launched in order to try and encourage more individuals to donate blood.


 * //__Example of a product: Google Wave__//**

Google Wave is a software framework centered on online real-time collaborative editing, previously developed by Google. it is a web-based computing platform that was designed to merge many key features of media like e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking. Communications on the system entail using both synchronous and/or asynchronous means of delivery, depending on the preference of individual users.

One of the most prominent features of this software was sadly a major flaw; complex and incomprehensible usability. The user interface was extremely hard to navigate and understand, due to the many features and perks at hand. Although that may be conceived as being a bonus, it ironically turned out to be quite the opposite. The reason behind that is because this was the first generation of this software, and no one had any previous experience with such a program. Regardless of its complexity, the wave was praised by critics for incorporating and converging many different forms of communication into one common software, and for its potential future uses.

In terms of user input, any participant of a wave can reply anywhere within the message, edit any part of the wave, and add participants at any point in the process. Recipients are notified of changes/replies in all waves in which they are active and, upon opening a wave, may review those changes in chronological order. In addition, waves are live. All replies/edits are visible in real-time, letter-by-letter, as they are typed by the other collaborators. Multiple participants may edit a single wave simultaneously in Google Wave. Thus, waves can function not only as e-mails and threaded conversations but also as an instant messaging service when many participants are online at the same time.

Link: []

__**LAB 8**__

What I found most interesting is Natalie Jeremijenko 's peculiar, yet intriguing means of helping and healing people. She firmly believes that people can be cured and healed by changing their surroundings and environment. She states that our environment has a huge effect on how we operate and on our general well being. Her solution to helping people feel better is not through prescribed medications and doctor visits, but it's more about creating a healthier environment since that is where we catch any viruses or diseases.

Some of the examples she mentioned about enhancing a healthy life style was by simply increasing interactivity with birds. She suggested setting up sensors on certain parts of a building that when touched by a bird, would ring a bell and notify people about the presence of a bird. This would drive the people to visit these birds, feed them and pamper them. Overall, this helps sooth an individuals general well being, and encourages humans to interact with the animal life and take care of them. The example of having marshes placed next to fire hydrants is also a good one. Natalie believes that since not all hydrants are utilized fully due to their existence in abundance, using them to set up marshes would help clean air and enhance the environment's overall quality.


 * GUITAR**:

First off, several high quality woods are imported from around the world and rough cut. These rough cut pieces are then laser cut using pre-programmed templates precise to around 0.001 inches. In most cases, all the cutting and drilling is done by automated programmed machines. The reason behind that generally lies in the fact that hand made guitars are very time consuming and require special hand work. The front pieces for the guitars are then strengthened with computer modeled braces. The curved sides of the guitar body are made by curing the wood in curved frames, a process that takes several days in order to maintain the curved shape. Necks that used to be carved from one piece of wood are now made by joining two pieces at an angle, in order to reduce the amount of wasted wood. Necks are held in place by suction power because clamps damage the wood. Finally, strings are added to complete the guitar.


 * AMERICAN FLAG:**

Interestingly, a big number of American flags are produced in China. The first step of the process is crafted by an automated machine which places the 50 stars on the blue area of the flag. Most parts from this point onwards require specific human labor. Such activities entail attaching the rest of the flag together, sewing/tailoring, adding grommets and finally, packing the whole flag.


 * __LAB 9__**

Just like how experts and users work on trying to enhance product design; service design requires just as much attention. In the modern era we live in, it has become normal of us to expect our products to deliver a certain service along with it. The ratio of efficiency between the products and services always differ depending on actual product, but we nonetheless expect it to perform certain tasks or services. According to the UX honeycomb design, user design articulates making what we do "useful, usable and desirable" for the users, while making it more "efficient, effective and valuable" for us.

A big part of service design lies heavily within the traits that exist within the customer experience. In a sense, we can say that it greatly depends on cultural studies and understanding what these certain cultures need and how they tend to operate. This allows the producers to understand how to go about this project, and just how they can make this a "useful, usable and desirable" service. In order to achieve such feature, the producer must place themselves in the user's shoes, and try to understand what they expect and what they need. This will allow them to critically asses their product and try to modify it accordingly.

The main tools for service design mentioned entail many different areas that need to be tapped into in order to deliver the best possible results. Ethnography, user studies and personas tools study the user carefully, and try to map out what they could possibly want and need, and how that service can be delivered to them. The customer journey map essentially "maps" the user's usage of a certain product or service, and their general experience and feelings about this product. Service blueprinting is the "quantitative description of critical service elements" such as time, logical sequences and processes. Everything that occurs during the "time and place of the interaction" with the service and beyond the user's visibility is recorded in this "tool". in ideation, context mapping and participatory design, the user's conscious needs, abilities and expectations are explored during specific supervised tutorials. The last tool, service prototyping, is an activity where real life scenarios are acted out using different means such as storyboards, movies and story telling.

__EXAMPLE:__

The example I find most suiting to this concept is my experience with the Apple store. They have a very simple lay out, and offer their products to the general population to explore and use, and they encourage other individuals to ask questions and try out their many different services. I always found these features to be very inviting, and generally create a positive ambiance within the store, where the customer generally feels comfortable to tamper with the Apple products, and always has assistance available when needed.

I feel that the service tools mentioned previously apply greatly to the techniques that the Apple store has been implementing ever since it launched. They took a while to have an actual physical store, but they studied what the customers generally seek from an electronics shop like that, and what they generally expect in terms of assistance and services. They also offer amazing customer service, and are very prompt in responding to their users and in fixing any pending problems. The most interesting event I witnessed occur within the Apple store was the tutorial sessions they hold every few hours. They gather around individuals who are not very familiar with a certain Apple product, and have an expert demonstrate the product thoroughly, along with answering any questions. Many of these features work hand in hand with the tools mentioned in delivering the proper "service design", which could explain just why Apple is so successful.


 * __LAB 10__**

Ergonomics is the study of designing means of enhancing human interaction with daily objects, and trying to facilitate that interaction and make it more adaptable and easy to use. It has been taken up as a subject of study in order to avoid certain injuries and traumas that can be attained from repetitive maneuvers. It's ultimate goal is to cater to the overall human well-being, and trying to create a comfortable environment for them to work in.

In order to clearly understand how the logistics of this study work, ergonomists visualize an individual's interaction with their surroundings. This helps determine the possible pain points, and what different demands the individual could ask for. The video shown in class of the good and bad work desk designs is an example of how a thoroughly studied work space would redesigned to enhance the worker's well-being. Everything ranging from seats adjustments, lighting, arm positioning and the computer's screens have been studied and tested. The results prove how very little changes in the worker's environment can be make the biggest difference in their general productivity and comfort.

Generally, the main aim of ergonomics is to develop better designs that make our interactions with objects seamless; it is very much like designing an intuitive object. If a door has to say "Push" or "Pull", then that means the design of the door is bad. The same theory applies to ergonomics, where the individual's comfort and satisfaction with an object should be a given, and is not something that needs further improvement. Ergonomics should also cater all different types of measurements, such as tall, short, obese and disabled individuals.

__Gilbreth's system of motion analysis:__

Gilbreth constantly watched workers having to pick up pieces of brick off the floor, and placing them up on the newly built walls. She believed that this constant movement was inefficient and would cause serious back pains and injuries on the long haul. She then decided to time the workers and they picked up the bricks, and how many times they had to bend down to do so. The final results showed that on average, a worker would have to crouch down 250 times in an hour, and such movement has its obvious negative implications. This led her to come up with an idea to have the bricks placed higher up next to the workers, so they wouldn't have to bend down continuously. Efficiency increased by 200%, and the workers were left in a better state of comfort.

__Henry Ford influenced by Taylor:__

At first, Ford was producing around 200 cars per day, but it still was not enough to keep up with the customer's demands. Ford needed to find different ways to increase production efficiency, and this is where he turned his head to Taylor's efficiency theory. Taylor had done earlier research by timing workers, and trying to see how much time it takes them to perform a certain task. He then inferred that by dividing up the work further more, the different parts of a procedure can be done in a more efficient manner. This made the work much more technical, and the employees didn't require any prior skills to perform the task.

Ford believed this theory would fit perfectly for his firm, and decided to bring the parts of the car to the workers, rather than have the workers go to parts. In order to make that happen, he introduced the assembly line (to delegate the tasks between the workers) and the conveyor belt (to get the parts to workers from all around the workstation). This increased the company's over all production rate immensely, and created many job opportunities since workers had left earlier due to job's initial physically exhausting conditions. Ford also took the opportunity to increase wages, since the firm was yielding greater profits. This also meant that workers at the firm were easily replaceable, since the jobs were very tedious and easy to learn. Those who complained were easily replaced, which could be viewed as an unethical way of dealing with the situation.

Macdonaldization:

1. Efficiency 2. Predictability 3. Calculability 4. Non-human technology