-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
/
r2b.html
55 lines (53 loc) · 7.11 KB
/
r2b.html
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>Katie Soldau - Reading 2b</title>
<link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>
<body class="page_readings">
<div class="container">
<div class="content">
<div id="top"></div>
<div class="name">
<p>K<span class="smaller">ATIE</span> <span class= "taller">S</span><span class="smaller">OLDAU - IS4300</span> </p>
<p class="email"> [email protected] </p>
</div>
<div class="navigation_bar_container">
<div class="navigation_bar">
<ul class="nav_options">
<li><a href="index.html">about</a></li>
<li><a href="readings.html" class="current">readings</a></li>
<li><a href="homework.html">homework</a></li>
<li><a href="team_project.html">team project</a><li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<!-- for navigation -->
<div class="readings">
<!-- R2 -->
<div>
<h1 ><div class="h1_text">Reading 2b</div></h1>
<h2>Rapid Prototyping Tools</h2>
<p> I have experience with HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, and a tiny bit of Javascript (just started trying to learn it on my own). Last semester I used these tools to create various websites in a class called Interactive Foundation. If I was going to prototype something for this class, I would probably choose to use Axure to prototype anything on the web and the Google/MIT app inventor for anything on a mobile device because these could provide a quick way to produce a prototype. Axure would allow me to create an interactive website wireframe without actually having to code anything, so this could save a lot of time and let me test designs quickly and efficiently before going full steam ahead. Using HTML/CSS could help with making s design look and feel more like the polished product, but I think it would be too time consuming if full functionality isn’t needed. If I was making a mobile app I’d use the app inventor because it seems like a fairly easy-to-use service and it allows you to download what you create onto a mobile device, which could help with testing. Although I don’t think I would necessarily use it for class, I’d like to learn more about Java Swing and other swings because I know absolutely nothing about them. Since I already know Java (not at an expert level) it seems as though they could be valuable tools for creating programs with GUIs.</p>
<h2>The Design of Everyday Things, Chapter 3</h2>
<p>In chapter three of Norman’s book, The Design of Everyday Things, he says people behave in ways determined by internal knowledge, external information, and constraints. Precise behavior can arise from imprecise knowledge because information is in the world, great precision is not required, and natural and cultural constraints are present. He says there’s a tradeoff between speed, quality of performance, and mental effort and that people use two kinds of knowledge to function: knowledge of (facts and rules) and knowledge how (procedural knowledge). To complete tasks, people are also aided by strong constraints that reduce the amount that must be learned.</p>
<p>
Norman says there are two major classes of memory: short term and long term. It’s also important for us to know the three categories for how people use their memories and retrieve information: memory for arbitrary things, memory for meaningful relationships, and memory through explanation. Memory for arbitrary things is just remembering information without knowing why or how. This is how we’re frequently forced to learn, which creates problems because this method is difficult and inefficient. Memory for meaningful relationships is when the items to be retained form meaningful relationships with knowledge we already have. Memory through explanation is accomplished through understanding. Though having an understanding is helpful since mental models are formed, it takes up time and mental resources. Reminding is another important aspect of memory. In order to reduce the amount of information that must be remembered, designers can exploit natural mappings. However, there’s a tradeoff between knowledge in the world and in the head. Knowledge in the world can be its own reminder, easier to learn, and more difficult to use. Knowledge in the head is efficient, but requires more effort to learn.
</p><p>
I don’t entirely agree with Norman’s idea that there’s always a tradeoff between speed and quality of performance and mental effort. For example, in elementary school, once I learned how to type I found that my speed increased dramatically and that the more I practiced the less I had to exert mental effort. However, I didn’t notice any drop in my quality of performance; it’s not that I suddenly was making tons of mistakes, I was just typing at a faster speed. In class I’d like to talk about how designers, usability engineers, or others in the area of human-computer-interaction work with psychologists. This chapter dealt a lot with memory and seemed very rooted in psychology so I’m wondering if designers work with psychologists and, if so, to what extent.
</p>
<h2>The Design of Everyday Things, Chapter 4</h2>
<p>
In Chapter 4, Norman discusses how affordances and constraints can limit the difficulty of a novel situation. Affordances suggest a range of possible courses of action and constraints limit the number of alternatives. There are four seemingly universal classes of constraints. Physical constraints limit the number of possible actions. Semantic constraints use our knowledge of the situation and world to control set of possible actions. Cultural constraints limit the number of possibilities based on accepted cultural conventions. Logical constraints also limit number of possibilities through provided by natural mapping since there’s a logical relationship between components in a system.
</p><p>
Mappings and constraints are crucial, but so are visibility and feedback. It’s important to make sure relevant parts are visible and that people are able to understand the effects of their actions. Although not commonly used, sound could also help provide a vast number of clues and should be more widely applied by designers because sound can inform us about important pieces of invisible information.
</p><p>
I didn’t quite agree with Norman’s tone of annoyance in regards to designing for aesthetic purposes. He seemed to scoff at aesthetics, but I think it’s possible to create both usable and visually pleasing designs. In class I’d like to talk more about this to see how important or unimportant it is to blend aesthetics and usability. Although it wasn’t discussed much in this chapter, I think it would also be neat to talk about when and how to utilize sound when designing products.</p>
</div>
<!-- end of R2 -->
<!-- for content -->
</div>
<!-- for container -->
</body>
</html>