home

=CCT333 Lab Assignments. = ===**CCT333 Tutorial #5 Wiki Questions: Bodystorming** As part of 'Experience Prototyping', bodystorming has been developed as a method of enquiry for interactive design. Research the definition of 'bodystorming', and write three paragraphs describing its characteristics.(3 paragraphs)===

Bodystorming is a form of participant observation where the deisgners of a new product or process enact how their product will work with the public and hereby see which complications may be involved.

Bodystorming has been used in 3 main ways. The first way is by going to the place where your design will be used. while working there, you will see all the challenges you will need to overcome. The second method is "strong prototyping" where the designer will replicate the place where their design will be used. Here, the designer can see the important aspects that they will have to pay attention to in the real environment. The third method is the "use-case theatre". Here, there will be actors and props used in a replicated setting of where the design will be used. The actors will play scenarios which will show the designer any challenges or implications he/she needs to overcome or improve on in order to get a great working product.

To make sure that these methods are not limiting answers since they are in simulated environments, the designers don't just think about the scenarios possible, but have them played out so they can monitor them. Bodystorming prevents over thinking and helps think of great designs that include: a product that is user-centered, product-design driven, focuses on physical problems, and has empathy towards users.

===With a partner, develop a use-case theater scenario and describe how you would use bodystorming and video to help you analyze the design of an artifact. This artifact is a medicine bottle for a woman who is 80 years old, arthritic, partially blind and partially deaf, and the system to design is the system whereby she finds and takes her medicine. ===

For this exercise I worked together with Carine Abouseif. We decided to first monitor the lady in her own environment to find out what she needs. We then thought of the first step. How will she get her medicine in the store? Since she has a bad memory, we thought of a bracelet that shows the medication needed. She can show the pharmacist the bracelet and the pharmacist will give her the medication. Then again, the lady needs to remember to go to the store, so we thought of a system where the pill dispenser will have contact with the pharmacy and the pills can be homedelivered. To have the lady remember to take the medication, we thought that we could use that same bracelet. the bracelet could beep and that will remind her. Then we remembered that the lady is partially deaf, so we decided to have the bracelet vibrate. The bracelet will vibrate until the barcode on the bracelet is being scanned by the dispenser of the pills. The dispenser of the pills will dispense a pill only when the bracelet is being scanned, since the athritis might prevent the lady from opening a regular bottle properly.

Write six paragraphs, one on each stage of the 'materials economy', and define its interactions. (6 paragraphs/one stage each paragraph)
There are 6 stages in the ‘materials economy’; they are extraction, production, distribution, consumption, disposal and “another way”.

__Extraction__ – Extraction is using the earth’s materials for our own purposes. In order to make a product, we need resources to build them out of. Examples of these resources are wood, minerals, water, plants etc. Leonard tells us that we are not extracting in the right way, in fact we just take and take until nothing is left and then go to other countries to take the resources from. This is dangerous for our environment and the health of the people.

__Production__ – Production, the second stage is the actual making of our products. Nowadays says Leonard; our production has a lot of toxic chemicals in it. Since we add toxic chemicals in the production of our products, there is no other way then to conclude that these toxins will also be in the end product. This is also a great health concern, especially for the factory workers and also for the people using the products and even for babies since there are now toxins in the mother’s breast milk! These toxic materials will also end up in the environment and a lot of it in the water…making this water unusable.

__Distribution__ – Distribution is the stage where the made product is dispersed to the customers and stores as fast and cheap as possible. Leonard here comments on the fact that the prize tags don’t actually symbolize the true costs. We might think that it is cheap, but really we give a lot away like our health benefits and minimum wage in order for the product to be this cheap.

__Consumption__ – The actual using of the product is what this stage is all about. However nowadays the big corporations and the government want a lot of money. So they make the people shop. The way to do this is by changing fashion every year; therefore new clothes have to be bought every year to match the fashion style. Moreover, objects are now designed for the dump says Leonard; they are designed so that they will be broken easily and so the consumer has to consume more. This however is very bad for the environment because it also means more trash. This brings us into the 5th stage, disposal.

__Disposal__ – What happens to our waste? It gets disposed off in landfills or burned and disposed into landfills. But this is not healthy at all, the burning releases lot of toxins in the air and the landfill lets a lot of toxins into the ground. Therefore we need to recycle more. But this is not enough is what Leonard tells us. She says that it has to start in the design and making of the object and don’t use toxins at all so they don’t end up getting wasted.

But there are other ways to do what we are doing now. And this that is now the 6th stage should actually be our first thing we think of.

__Another way__ – Other ways to do this whole cycle is by zero waste and green chemistry, where we don’t just consume and throw away and consume more. If we at least all start to recycle the planet would already be a lot better of!

** Tutorial #3 Wiki Questions: **
=== **1. Describe Jan Chipchase's prior job (he now works at frog design [] ) in relation to his work at Nokia. What are the two names he is given in the article? (3 paragraphs)** === Jan Chipchase worked as a researcher at Nokia looking at human behaviour and how these behaviours could give him clues about how Nokia's product should be changed or adapted to suit these behaviours. This ties in with one of the names given; human behaviour researcher. Chipchase is also named a user anthropologist, which makes sense since he studies human behaviour by joining in and observing, and specifically users of Nokia in this instance. The way that Chipchase does this research is mostly by pictures and showing these pictures to the world. So other people can learn and try to understand the needs and wants in the world. Jan’s work has been very important and let to the bettering of other people’s lives by making them able to connect with others.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">** 2. “It’s really quite striking,” Hammond says. “What people are voting for with their pocketbooks, as soon as they have more money and even before their basic needs are met, is telecommunications.” (World Resources Institute) ** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">** In the spirit of this quote, describe four instances of how owning a cell phone enables users to better their lives. (4 paragraphs/ one for each instance) **

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Identity <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Like in the articles about Jan Chipchase, it has been proven that cell phones are now part of the identity of people. These people can now be reached whenever and wherever they go. This concept of connectivity is very important to the feeling of inclusiveness for some people <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Emergencies <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">In emergency situations, the cell phone has become very useful and even a lifesaver. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Prices <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The prices of a simple cell phone are now relatively cheap and users are able to afford them. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Usefulness <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Phones are now not just phones anymore, they are cameras, email devices, game systems and are very convenient for example as maps for phones that have Google maps etc.

**Tutorial #2 Wiki Question:**


 * Choose a country on the map 'Design for the Other 90%' and read through the description of the products designed for each country. **


 * 1. Which product interests you the most, and why? (200 words) **

__ Water storage system __ Water storage systems are systems in countries that experience high fluctuation in very wet and very dry seasons. An example of one if these countries is India; When India experiences monsoons the water will be caught and stored in the water storage systems so it can used when the dry season comes and it is too hard to find water for crops or drinking purposes. These water storage systems really interest me a lot since I believe that people should not have to struggle for water. Water is one of the most important life necessities and should be readily available for everyone. These water systems are defiantly a great way to help to capture the water when the season is extremely wet; the water will be free and there will be too much of it. However, when it�s dry season this same water is very useful. This particular solution to the problem of water shortage is very easy and relatively cheap. In fact, for farmers who cannot afford ferro-cement tanks to save the water; these huge plastic bags kept in hand dug pits are really a convenience. If I could help out with the installation and supplies of these bags I would do that, because water is definitely of great importance and should never be hard to find for anyone.


 * 2. Which category would interest you to research further for your group project, and why? (100 words) **

__ Education __ I would like to research Education more, since I think it’s interesting to see how much the learning experience is influenced with the upcoming new technologies. Questions I would try to answer is if an e-books for example would make a great difference versus an actually printed textbook; or writing on a chalkboard versus an overhead sheet influences the learning procedure. I come from the Netherlands myself, and have therefore seen a great difference between the learning style there and here in Canada, I would like to hear other people’s opinions on it and see what would be there better style.

Review the Tutorial 1 movies, and describe Jonathan Ives and his theory of 'undesign' in relation to his work at Macintosh. (200 words)
Jonathan Ive, the Senior Vice president of design at Apple, is a very passionate and successful British designer. His name became famous when he became the head of design at Apple in 1988. The iPod and iMac are two of his most famous creations. Ever since he was little, he was interested in how things where made, and when he ended up using one of the first iMacs (a large gray box looking computer) he loved how it was very easy to work with. His theory of undesign is an interesting theory that people don�t really look at. Usually, when you are using something, you might think: why is it like that? With apple this is different; Ive�s solutions are very subtle and calm, and only the features that need to be included in the product are there. An example is the indication lights that are only there when they are indicating something. With a lot of his designs, he looks at the basics in nature and converts it into his products. Examples of these are the sunflower that helped with a screen design and the indication lights turn on and off in the cycle of human breath. To conclude, Ive�s designs have been very inspiring and belong to some of the most must-have digital objects of many years.