Final Textbook Journal
Robert Krause
May 28, 2008
Introduction
The textbook Interactive Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction is a recent work describing the history and advances of designing products, websites and their interfaces. It itself is a clearly written interactive tome with an interlude format. This comes from the breaks in the text provided by suggested activities, invitations to websites for further information, and sidebar style boxes providing elaboration to the specificities of the text.
The overall format is attractive, broken down into easily digestible segments clearly noted, i.e., “3: Understanding Users, 3.1 Introduction, 3.2 What is cognition?, 3.3 Cognitive frameworks.” Such a format provides clear upfront content as to the subject matter to be gleaned, and the direction intended by the authors.
While the subject matter is advanced in nature, the author’s style is extremely clear, and the book was actually quite pleasant to read, a far cry from many similarly orientated texts.
Journal of Chapter Readings
Chapter one seems clear and fundamental in its introduction to the subject at hand, interaction design with true user functionality in mind. The sidebar which explains the title and subtitle in particular, “Beyond Human-Computer Interaction,” seemed quite open about the desire to design a complete user experience for a variety of products and systems, versus merely dealing with interactive computer systems.
Overall it provides a thorough introduction to the topic and the four basic interaction design activities to be dealt with: identifying needs and requirements for the user, development of alternative designs, building interactive versions of the design for assessment, and evaluation of the process and user experience.
Regarding chapter two, I find it interesting that the nature of designing computing products and screen relationships first takes into account the physical world. With a first consideration of how humans interact with literal items, the attempt is made to consider these items virtually. Yet, the text rightly points out that virtual items are allowed to behave quite differently than tangible items. Virtual objects may be stretched or shrunk, may have their color changed or removed, and may be treated to a host of other effects not possible in a real world or in a real time. Consequently, this may yield great allowances for product choice or design interactions.
I occasionally wonder if any thought is given to product design at all. On a daily basis, members of one of my libraries pay ten cents a page for their print jobs. The payment machine, a Today’s Business Solutions product, allows payment with either coin or cash. While the coin drop is conveniently located at waist height on the top of the machine, those who elect to pay with dollar bills are forced to insert them at a slot just below knee level. For anyone other than a small child, the angle of one’s back to bend over and insert the bill is ergonomically painful. Truly this is a case where great benefit would have resulted from conceptualizing this machine’s design space.
It becomes clear that the design of software applications employing direct manipulation as proposed by Shneiderman was rapidly accepted by Microsoft. Employing “physical actions and button pressing instead of issuing commands with complex syntax” describes not only the popular Windows environment, but effectively describes the death knell of MS-DOS. It is somewhat interesting to consider how rapidly the world of computers changed following adoption of direct manipulation techniques. From being a process involving what seemed odd and arcane text commands (rmdir? xcopy?), the Windows concepts of dragging and dropping, and of right or left clicking have allowed even very young children the means of computer and software exploration.
Chapter three presents a clear introduction to the topic of cognition in terms of brief analysis of specific types of cognitive processes.
I appreciated the author’s sidebar discussing a “universe of diversions” which are available today, particularly for individuals working on internet connected computers. I am routinely bombarded with in-house emails and IMs to such a degree, I wonder if it would be worth the increase in production to be temporarily out of the information loop. Yet, much of the communication seems to require on-the-spot responses, so much so I can’t really avoid it.
I don’t find it surprising that Carroll’s studies revealed most people prefer to learn by doing. I remain in the small minority who tend to prefer learning most new tasks by following a set of instructions given in a manual. Computer technology seems to have created a major shift in how people work with new information, becoming more GUI and icon orientated rather than scanning text. My initial thoughts as I’ve seen this become more pronounced through the years were fear for the future, and a feeling of dread. This has abated somewhat, but I remain concerned regarding the future generation’s ability to analyze in depth. I also am unsure of the upcoming generation’s ability to deal with archival texts which haven’t been digitized. However, a recent New York Review of Books article by Robert Darnton points out the value of not necessarily accepting historical documents at face value, highlighting the fact that the nature of misinformation may never disappear. Perhaps manipulation of icons will ultimately allow greater focused truth with less option of erroneous interpretation.
I greatly disagree with the author’s contention, “the sentence `Computers are a wonderful invention’ essentially has the same meaning whether one reads it, speaks it, or hears it.” While the read sentence should probably be taken at face value, I’ve heard this sentence spoken with wildly differing nuances, suggesting sarcastic irony, mournful disdain, and sincere joy. As transient as listening may be, it can easily provide genuine information unavailable in text format.
While most of the chapter four information seemed interesting, it essentially left me cold. Perhaps it’s more revelatory about me, but I tend to enjoy working alone, and note my pursuits for the most part are solitary in nature, reading and writing for example. Yet I found I could appreciate the concept of awareness mechanisms, particularly in regard to my history as an electronics instructor. It’s nice to know I had an intuitive ability to note group observations peripherally, maintaining positive contact somewhat with the entire classroom. Even so I recognize social collaboration methods and their current technological vogue are not my forte. I only recently bought a cell phone, to use exclusively for automotive emergencies. My take is that the phone is poorly designed.
Yet, I do see great value in establishing these groups and communication methods for those who desire them. I imagine a chat room consisting of cancer survivors of a specific type may yield great reward and comfort to the participants.
Chapter five’s discussion of the affective impact of website design seemed relatively pedestrian, until I started thinking about the persuasive technologies employed in advertising on the web. I’d never really considered how much goes into attempting to seduce me into clicking just that one more click to make me go to a new site or purchase that well displayed item. The impromptu nature of finding one’s self at many websites and their advertiser’s sites must generate great revenue for those who can best manipulate the visitors.
When chapter six began discussing GUIs and their history, I was taken by their illustrations of various styles. I don’t think I’d ever considered the nature of the icons available on my computer. As I look merely at my toolbar, I note twelve separate active applications. Of those, I recognize the functions of only five. The broad smiling face of my Yahoo Messenger seems particularly well crafted. Even though small in the toolbar, I recognize it clearly, and I remember seeing the same face becoming engaged and enervated when my sign in is activated. Merely because I use it daily, I recognize my Short Keys icon; however, only by placing my nose on the screen am I able to read the word “Short.” The only other GUI I’d consider to be well designed is the blue “Q” with a second hand used by the QuickTime player. It also expands when the program is launched. The “Q” for quick seems as well thought out as the second hand provokes a memory aid symbol for time.
I’d never considered the thought that went into these designs. Knowing that I only use a limited number of programs, I wonder how successful I’d be in guessing the purpose of someone else’s set of icons. I also wonder if the ones I would be able to guess would be overall the better designed product, employing their screen estate to the maximum.
One of the main benefits of having a textbook from 2007 is that is can truly discuss modern technology. I note the text casually mentioning that almost everyone has a cell phone nowadays. Yet, I can clearly read that I’ve got major catching up to do in the field of digital interactions and technology, particularly if I want to remain relevant at my workplace. While I’ve held an Ipod, I have no idea what to do with one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Blackberry. Though not yet mentioned by the text, I’ve never used a PlayStation or Xbox, and would have no idea how to do so. Perhaps I would be an ideal candidate for helping designers create wearable computing fabric, interactive installations and mixed reality games. This portion of the text has been eye opening to a great degree.
Once again the use of newer technology reveals to me how extremely out of date I am. Chapter seven’s notion of keeping survey data recording by virtue of camera incorporating perhaps both audio and video is not an idea I would have had. My limited thinking still brings me back to pencil and paper, where circling or dotting the best response creates a paper record of the desired information. Clearly, an audiovisual record is no longer an expensive option, and could of course be extremely revelatory, depending on the depth of information desired.
Critical Evaluation of the Text
I would not say the textbook merely supported the course. For me, it provided the course in its entirety. It shaped how I was to go about thinking of programs and design in terms not of expediency or necessity, but rather in order to assist and heighten the user experience, a concept I probably would never have considered. I truly appreciated the depth of consideration that might go into software design, even to the point of providing a positive emotional response from the user, a characteristic again I wouldn’t have considered.
I truly appreciated the stylistic makeup of the text itself. Noting how well the book broke down its information into chapter portions made it an easy progression into some very detailed work. The figures were well presented graphically, and the numerous comparisons and contrasts of good and bad examples made their points with no mistake. The insertion of activities made much to keep one interested, and often demonstrated with clarity and ease the points the authors were suggesting. All these combined with the sidebar nature of the Boxes suggested the authors were taking their own advice on how to make not only a user friendly text, but also one which automatically shared its own essential ideas by design. One could gain a sense of positive interaction and comfortable familiarity with the entire book.
Again, by virtue of its own merits in demonstrating designing for positive user interaction, for me, this text was the course.
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