Organization and Preparation Tips

1. To me, the most important points the author makes are how important it is to be aware of your audience's expectations, keeping your presentation simple, and having confidence. If you know what it is your audience needs to know, you are less likely to miss any of the bases you need to cover in order to persuade them; likewise, these concepts apply to having a simple and proper structure. If you know ahead of time what to say, and in what order, the presentation will make the best sense and be the most marketable to the consumers or heads of a company. However, perhaps the most important component to use is confidence - if you are not confident in the product or concept you are presenting, why should anyone else be?

2. I think all of Reynolds's advice is valuable when preparing a presentation. He helps identify what a presentation needs to include, as well as strategies and tactics for mapping out the presentation in order to make it as simple, comprehensive, and successful as possible. I would be sure to utilize the points mentioned above within my own presentation, as well as also being sure to map out the presentation before diving into the project  and remembering to appear personably in front of my audience.

3. I feel that both product and presentation design are key in advertising and selling a point, most especially a point about a marketable product. Perhaps if the product and presentation have similar angles and similar design techniques, they appear one and the same and the flow makes the presentation and product easier to sell and buy. Many of the points that Reynolds mentions in his article have to do with knowing the product and presentation from the inside out in order to be successful. Therefore, the presenter must make as many connections as possible in the presentation to the product being presented; thus, the audience understands the point and the premise, and the product is advertised to the best ability possible.




In response to the second half of this assignment, I am very interested in advertising and modern product design. I love exploring photography, graphics and typography in design publications, especially these are used when to sell products; and I am quite partial to spending far too much free time dinking around on design blogs seeing the cool products people come up with. (t-shirt tea bags? eco-friendly, reusable, leaf-shaped cord keepers? yes please!)

Emotional Design (Part II)

1. "Just as the scary rides of an amusement park pit the anxiety and fear of the visceral level against the calm reassurance of the intellect, the Diesel store pits the initial confusion and anxiety at both the behavioral level and reflective levels against the relief and welcome of the rescuing sales person. in both cases, the initial negative affect is necessary to set up the relief and delight at the end.... But there is a difference between these two cases.... One is natural, the other not. Guess which will last over time."

I thought this quote was really interesting in how it provides a clear comparison between emotive design and emotion inspired by real-life events (at least, real-life events that aren't shopping). It describes a true scenario in which design (here, of a company and a marketing strategy) can influence people to act a certain way that eventually leads to buying their products, but most importantly causes a mental reaction related to the product in any way at all.

2. I find the phrases Norman uses in this chapter to be very straightforward and descriptive. While at first I had trouble understanding Reflective design, I feel it is key to realize that the term covers a lot of bases and ideas in design, something that is very different for Norman who tends to like to keep things simple. If I were to make a suggestion to Norman, I may suggest having even further subcategories of Reflective design depending on what each product's purpose serves as far as reflectivity goes (does it influence the way you perceive yourself? Does it define you? Does it cause you to act a different way? Does it cause a change in thought process?), but, depending on the reader, this may only make things more complicated.

3. The type of design a designer focuses on when developing a product lies between the decisions for target consumers and the purpose the product serves. If a designer focuses on visceral design, it is likely a product a person would buy to give off a certain image more than for its utility (like the example given of a plain white t-shirt versus a plain white t-shirt with Gap written on it seeming like two completely different products). Visceral design aims to impress the consumer, who aims to impress everyone else. A behavioral design focuses on the utility, and so may be targeted at consumers who value function over form and/or focuses upon a product that doesn't necessarily need to be pretty (like an industrial-size waste receptacle, for example, or a watch that can withstand more water pressure than any other). A designer will focus on reflective design when developing a product or concept that aims to draw a reaction or emotion from its customers. Reflective design also incorporates visceral and behavioral design while playing off of the mental conditions that may already exist, such as fear and excitement brought on by visual and physical cues. An example of this might be a roller coaster, as mentioned in the chapter, which looks and feels intense, but does not serve its purpose if a person's logic centers vastly overcome their fears. A truly good design incorporates all three; but the focus of a designer may lie in one or two more so than the other(s) due to the type of people and purpose the product is most likely to serve.

Emotional Design

1. This reading focuses on the idea of how we respond emotionally to designs: how we use products, what makes them easier or harder to use, and what causes us to like or dislike using them. Visceral, behavioral, and reflective design play into the marketing and marketability of a product. (These types of design and marketing strategies activate the senses, selling based upon what is sensually attractive, serves a certain purpose, and ) If something is attractive under these types of marketing, does it sell better? (The answer, according to Norman, may is yes, due largely to what society and culture dictates is attractive, necessary, or , and thus, what people are inclined to buy.)

2.  This chapter covers a much wider range of topics than the first chapter we covered by this same author. In "The Design of Everyday Things," Norman examines ideas of what a product needs to be or have or do in order to serve its purpose as an item we can feasibly use to serve everyday purposes. "Emotional Design" goes in depth to discuss designs we appreciate, reasons why we appreciate them, and the structures and theories by which we understand what makes a design we want to buy and keep using for some time. These types of design include visceral (a design that stimulates the senses), behavioral (the function and purpose of the design and how well they are served), and reflective (the "message, culture, or meaning of a product or its use").

3. My USB splitter that I bought for my laptop works very successfully as a visceral design. It plugs into a single USB port but branches into five, so that four devices can be plugged in instead of one. The reason it is viscerally attractive is because it is shaped like a stick figure, which sounds really stupid but in real life looks like a clever idea, and thus attracted me to buy it. A successful behavioral design would be my parents' plasma screen TV, which is crazy functional and noticeably superior to the older tube-televisions in my parents' house. I would say a reflective design success would be, for an example, a building or location with a sleek and stimulating interior design: one mentally reacts to being in this restaurant, and reflects upon being in a place where one should dress or act a certain way. Perhaps an example of this would be the basement lobby of Radio City Music Hall in New York City, whose carpeting, columns, and wall decor all contain dark colors, mirrors, and diamond shapes  to the psychology that these things make the room seem bigger and darker, thus influencing its customers to act quieter and more refined. Each thing is successful as its type of design due to the focuses of the designers and the success they found due to research, modeling after trials and failures of other products, and successful marketing.

The Design of Everyday Things (part 2)

1. "The user needs help. Just the right things have to be visible: to indicte what parts operate and how, to indicate how the user is to interact with the device. Visibility indicates the mapping between intended actions and actual operations. Visibility indicates crucial distinctions.... It is lack of visibility that makes so may computer-controlled devices so difficult to operate.

The reason I chose this passage to examine is because I feel it very clearly states the overall idea of the chapter (book in general): That a good design does not take overt amounts of effort to operate and understand.Visual cues are necessary in a design to ensure the user knows its functions and how to utilize them to the fullest extent. (Also, I thought it was funny that the ultimate scary/complicated device mentioned is the VCR.)

2. Norman makes a clear and obvious point when naming elements of design that should be obvious and key elements to designers, but often are not. For example, the visible symbols and cues that lead to functionality of a device are so important for designers to keep in mind when considering their target consumers. If a device is too complicated, most users will never figure out its full capacity (if it has too many buttons, or you must go through a long and detailed process to achieve a particular function, no one will want to waste the time). If it is too simple, like the slide projector with one lone button, actions and reactions will be difficult to link and it will be near-impossible to learn how to use the device without poring over a manual. These are clear and easily-understood basic elements of design that designers should keep in mind, according to Norman, when creating a product that is both usable and successfully serves its purpose; and this applies to all products, regardless of what time period in which it is invented.

3. I would, as a designer, be sure that the design of a product does not sacrifice simplicity of use for a minimalist design. Something should be as easy to use as it is to look at; and visual cues should indicate quite simply how the product is put together and how to access its functions (for example, a door needs a plate to show what side it opens on, and there is no reason why a plate should lessen the visual attractiveness of said door). All the pieces and parts should work together toward the common goal, sacrificing neither visual nor operational simplicity.

The Design of Everyday Things

1. The key points in the first chapter of The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman (obviously) focuses on  objects we use everyday and how utility designers create objects for everyday use. Things designers must keep in mind are, among other things, visual cues on the objects' purpose and method of use. In simpler terms, designers of everyday things must remember to make objects simple to use, and the objects must have distinct and individual purposes. A failure of a product is one that does not serve its purpose, or worse is designed in such a complex way that it becomes far beyond ordinary and takes too much work to figure out how best to use it.

2. About a month ago, I bought a new Android phone in the mindset that, because my plan limits me to a phone only every new years, I should buy the newest and best-developed phone available. However, it has taken me as long as I have had it to figure out how to use even the most base functions. I believe this is because the functions of the phone are many and useful, but the sheer number of functions make it complicated to do a simple task. Even after consulting the included manual and looking up tech hints online, the phone is far too complicated to learn and use simply.

3. The designers of the iPod seemed to take into consideration a lot of the factors that Norman considers necessary to create a functional, simple product. They are visually simple to use: practically all one must do to use it is click the proper buttons and voila, it plays the song or opens the app you want. There are not too many functions and the functions available do not interfere with another's ability to work (like the impossible teapot with a handle and spout on the same side or the picky slide projector button). It was designed with a simple purpose with simple steps to reach the desired result, with little to no need for visual cues and indicators beyond what it was originally designed with.

The "Perfect Thing"

1.     What elements of the design process does this article illustrate?

This article ("The Perfect Thing" by Steven Levy) focuses heavily on how much work goes into an extremely successful product. Designers (specifically of the iPod) come together to incorporate a mass of ideas that work toward development and improvement of a product that is in-demand, easy to use, functional, and visually (and otherwise) appealing to consumers. Apple hired/consulted programmers, designers, and software and hardware developers all to contribute to an ultimately successful design of the product called an iPod. They used a trial-and-error system of finding exactly the right functions and necessary elements to make it a successful product, using opinions including the size, weight, ease-of-use, sleek design, physical strength, and then-unparalleled functionality.

2.     What factors would you use to evaluate a “perfect thing”?

I would use exactly the factors listed above to describe the “perfect thing”: a product that people want to buy, which serves a great purpose (whether as a novelty or a necessary object), doesn’t break or die easily, is functional and easy to use, and (preferably) is aesthetically pleasing.

3.     Whether you own an iPod or not, you probably have some opinions of this product. What do you feel are its strengths or weaknesses?

I have been a true fan of iPod products for a long time. I first owned an original Video, now classified as Classic (the kind with a plastic body, not the metal body) and now have a third generation iTouch. I feel this product has a sort of batch of bugs or design flaws that comes with each new model, but all are such successful designs in other realms that the flaws generally get overlooked.

For example, my first iPod was made of a metal back with a soft plastic front. And unfortunately, the plastic was so soft that the screen got scratched just by sitting on a dusty table. However, the quality of the programming and design beneath all the scratched-up surface more than made up for how terrible it looked after just a few weeks. (Plus, this flaw was improved and phased out with the next generation, whose front casing was a much more durable metal sheet.) I adored the click-wheel function of the product and the navigating ease it provided, and every little detail was perfect from the On-the-Go playlist function to the way the music paused for you if the headphones were unplugged. And while I heard and read many negative reviews on the product’s durability and battery life, mine was excellent beyond its warranty: Back when I bought it, it stayed alive seemingly forever and it never broke or even skipped a track when dropped. Nowadays, the front and back pieces don’t always stay together, the battery is plenty weaker, and it was probably dropped a couple too many times since the library is a jumbled mess; but it still generally works properly over five years past the day it was supposed to die permanently.

In contrast, my new(ish) iTouch is practically a miracle of a product. It is amazingly durable, and the glass screen seems practically invincible (the only tiny, barely-visible scratch is from an unfortunately-placed car key). The screen quality and sleek design are just gorgeous. The advertising statement, “There’s an app for that” really is true for almost anything. And perhaps the best improvement over my old Video was the fact that I didn’t have to re-format the OS to download music from both my own Macbook and my family’s HP PC. The only thing I miss is the old On-The-Go; the new program on the iTouch makes it so hard to add songs out of a library of thousands that it is no longer worth it to use that function. Still, one single complaint about the entire product seems insignificant.

Because the obvious attention to detail and consumers’ needs that Apple seems to implement in every product, the iPod is a product that clearly dominates (almost monopolizing, even) the digital music player market. I personally believe there is no question as to why. My current iPod isn’t even the most recent installment in the iPod line, and I couldn’t be happier with the now-outdated product the way it is. It doesn’t seem unlikely to me that this product is as close to the “perfect thing” as this market may ever see, as each new iPod seems only to improve upon something that was even a great product in the first place.

Intro

Hello! My name is Anne and I am a first-year student at Kalamazoo College. I made this blog specifically for my Design Intelligence seminar, and hopefully one day it will be full of intelligent words about design. (It only makes sense.)