This was the last class of the semester. It was more laid back and very enjoyable. We were separated into small groups of four or five people and we each had to to teach the others a skill during five minutes. It was very interesting and I learned cool little things like reading faster, communicate better, or how to make a molotov cocktail (you never know when it might come in handy). I also got to teach the alphabet in sign language, something that I just recently started to learn myself.

Looking back at all the topics that were covered, it is a little hard to believe that all of that was packed in a single semester. There was a very nice variety of topics that I am sure will be useful in my career as a designer.

The last presentation of the semester dealt with speculative design. There were some interesting topics such as the relation between design and art. There were also some useful explanations about the differences of terms such as design fiction, design thinking, speculative design, etc.

Speculative design itself was well defined. It was also interesting to learn about engagement and interaction.

I like the topic of Speculative Design. It is a practice that motivates creativity and thinking outside the box. As someone who loves consuming and creating fiction it is nice to be able to apply that to design, connecting it with reality.

This week's presentation was about innovation. It is a complex topic since it is not as straightforward ad one may initially expect. The presentation was useful in looking at things for a different perspective and had a lot of very useful advice for designing better.

In a related topic, the second part of the presentation was about the information and its role when innovating. It talked about how information can be attained or what can be done with it.

Innovation is a strange topic. As designers we all wish to innovate, however if our efforts are solely focused on innovating, we won't achieve much. The focus should be on designing things that work, that serve their purpose to best of their ability. True innovation must come from looking at things from different angles, from being creative when solving a problem. 

This week's topic was Visual Abstractions. Once again two students made a presentation on the topic. The presentation also dealt with data, how to interpret it, how to represent it, and how to use it in design. Multiple examples were provided that helped visualize the concepts.

Sometimes we can concentrate so much in trying to research and get data that it is easy to overlook what the data is actually telling us. That is probably my big takeaway from this week's presentation. Not only is the data by itself important, but we must also know how to interpret it and how to communicate it. Misuse of information can be a dangerous thing, it is important for us designers to keep that in mind.

After a number of weeks without class, we returned on the 27th of April for the class. This day the presentation was all about evaluation.

It is of paramount importance to be able to evaluate a product or idea during the design process. The presentation was a useful summary of what needs to be part of evaluation and how to go about it. There were a couple of exercises and questions meant to help the content of the presentation.

I appreciated the presentation on the topic. When you are working in a project there is always the question of how to make sure what you are doing truly works. 

We some times grow too attached to our work, and it is important lo learn how take criticism and re-evaluate what you have done in order to get the best possible results.

This week came my turn to make a presentation. It was done in conjunction with a fellow student. My half of the presentation dealt with storytelling and its relationship with design. 

Telling stories is one of the most basic forms of human communication. It is an ancient practice. Everyone, in one way or another, tells stories. People are naturally attracted to stories. It is easier to focus their attention on specific topics using stories. In design, stories can serve to gather information on users, to create more empathy, to encourage innovation and collaboration, share ideas, provide better understandings, and persuade of the value of each contribution. Stories can also be a driving force behind innovation. It is important to keep them in mind when designing.

I also spoke about ways to get an idea through inside an organization. There are multiple levels taken into account: the organization's strategy, politics, culture, and emotions. 

I also briefly touched on the concepts of planned obsolescence, circuit bending, and zombie media. I emphasized the value that can come from looking at old or outdated things and bringing them to a more current context. As the world and technology continue to change, going back and picking some media from the past can prove to be useful in current times.

There is a practice called 'alternative present' that I also explained. It is a practice that looks at technology of the present under a new context. You alter an event from the past and speculate how that would cascade to today's technology. his can offer a fresh perspective on the challenges of the present.

The second presentation focused on Tangible Bits and Radical Atoms, which are visions that aim to focus on the physical side of the digital.

I love stories. I am a big consumer of movies, books, TV series, comic books, and video games because I like to experience different stories from all kinds. I believe stories and important for the way we interact amongst ourselves. They are a universal language, a way to empathize with others or just to be closer to someone. 

I think it is important for us to learn how to tell stories and how to listen to stories, not only as designers, but as people.

During this session, the topic of the day was 'Prototypes'. In the presentation given, there were definitions for the term, different kinds of prototypes, the differences between low and high fidelity prototypes with situations in which to use each, and examples of prototypes. It provided an insight into the importance of prototypes and the role they play in the design process.

Prototypes can be used to test different aspects, such as appearance, functionality, data, interactivity, and structure. There are a variety of tools and methods that can be employed to create a prototype:

- Sketching

- Storyboards

- Role-plays

- Digital prototyping

- Cardboard, foam, 3D printing

Depending on what one wants to make the prototype for and what one wants to find out, different methods and tools can be used.

The topic of cybernetics was also touched upon. It was described as "a way of prototyping in which the product regulates itself to a defined goal."

As part of the presentation, there was a small exercise in which we were asked to make a prototype of a paper structure that could hold a pen.

After designing for some time, one becomes used to the idea of prototyping. It is practiced often with different projects. But perhaps we can become so used to doing prototypes, that we seldom stop to think about the different kinds of prototypes we can make and what is the intent behind a prototype. A lot of today's presentation was about topics I already, but I did not exactly know that I knew since they were things I normally do not think about.

This week's topic was all about experience and user experience. The presentation was divided in two. At first, the presenter talked about what experience itself is, and how we live experiences. They can be physical, mental, emotional, social, etc. Experiences vary significantly depending on where you are and the culture you live within. 

With all this established, the topic of user experience proper was explored.

When gathering information on user experience there are different methods and different factors to pay attention to. Methods can be remote, in person, moderated or unmoderated. Some of the factors to look at during a test are the abandonment rate, the error and success rate, the task time, the average order value, and the number of clicks.

The second part of the presentation focused more on cases that show different user experiences. These examples mainly show how intimacy between users is achieved. Some examples that were shown include Facebook's poke function, the Yo app, and the Caru smart sensor. 

User experience is of great importance as it defines many aspects of how something is designed. There is a question of how to best gather information on user experience. Tests and interviews are common and can be helpful, but since the user knows they are being observed, the results may not be 100% true to a real day to day scenario.

As designers we must have an acute sense of observation when testing a project. 

Computer-Human Interaction (HCI)​​​​​​​

Today marked our first class online and a presentation was given on Computer-Human Interaction. It started with some historical background on computers and moved into the evolution of HCI, its origins, and it's uses today. 

HCI is of great importance to interaction designers. We need to know how people interact with technology and design for those people. 

It felt strange to switch from a normal class given on site to a class held online. I will still need to get used to it. However, I think this was handle pretty well, particularly if we take into account that this was the first online class. The presentation was well structured and covered the topic in a clear way.

As Interaction Designers we work with computers and technology all the time. It is imperative for us to understand the relationship people have with technology since that is the area we work in. We must remember to be observant, and to look at things that we normally would not look at.

There were some interesting concepts that were brought up in the readings as well as the presentation, such as bodystorming and improvisation design. These are ideas that I think can help us get closer to the users and to understand them better.

There was a presentation given by students. The first half of it was about the influence of Science Fiction in Design and the relationship the two concepts share.

Science Fiction:

- Characters in stories

- Meant to entertain

Design:

- Personas in scenarios

- Meant to function

There were examples given of real life interfaces and how they can be compared to interfaces found in science fiction movies. The presentation focused particularly on volumetric projections and gesture-based interfaces. 

As a huge fanatic of science fiction, this topic was very interesting to me. I found it very insightful to learn how real life design mimics fiction and how both work in a cycle. It is my believe that science fiction, more than other genres, allows a deep exploration of humanity, making us think and reflect about a myriad of topics. One such topic is the speculation of what the future could look like; and some aspects of the futures we have seen in movies or TV shows have already become a reality. As a designer, it is encouraging to think that I can find inspiration in the things that I love. Watching Star Trek, Blade Runner, Doctor Who, Firefly, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Tron, or any other great science fiction property can actually give me tools be a better designer.

The second part of the presentation talked about the concepts of defamiliarization, everyday, and home. 

Defamiliarization:

- Used to get a new perspective on something

- Used in design, literature, art, and more

- Take a step back and look at something in a new context, stripping away the definition or use that that something normally has.

Everyday:

- Daily routine

- Day to day things (Commuting, work, showers, food, etc.)

Home:

- A place

- A house

- A refuge

- A people 

What I find most interesting about these topics is that they ask of you to step back and look at things you had not even thought of looking at before, or look at things in a whole new perspective. A lot of the most creative solutions can come from looking at things differently or just stepping back from it all.

The presentation I also really enjoyed. It was very interactive and engaging.

Daniela Rosner and Jonathan Bean. “Learning from IKEA Hacking: “Iʼm Not One to Decoupage a Tabletop and Call It a Day.” Proceedings of  CHI’ 09.

- Interviews with IKEA hackers (people who re-purpose IKEA products to make them more their own.)

- IKEA hackers range from different professions. 

- They do it because they find a certain satisfaction to it. It also offers something different. Since IKEA products are not that expensive, people feel more at ease tinkering with them.

- "alter it to feet your needs."

- It is original, creative, innovative, and helps its practitioners express themselves.

Shedroff, N. 2012. Make it So. Rosenfeld Media. 

- An interaction design books that uses Science Fiction films to talk about inspiration and innovation for design can come from those movies.

- Science fiction can be a conceptual approach to design.

- Science fiction and design have a relationship, if somewhat distant. They sometimes tackle similar issues. Science fiction can particularity be helpful to interaction design or interface design.

A presentation on this subject was given. It was divided in three main parts.

Computer Control:

- We were given some background to programming, such as the IBM punch cards, and it was even related to earlier machines before computers, such as weaving machines.

- What was once achieved with big machinery has now been reduced to something more affordable, such as 3D printing.

- Everything comes from something.

Computer Interface:

- We were shown interfaces from the past, such as what Xerox used to do, which led to what we know and use today.

- We were also shown the evolution of the mouse throughout history.

 

Design Rules and Unruled:

- William Morris used to say that there are already too many preachers in the world and what we needed was audiences. 

- Designers must be allowed to design.

- There are rules, but those rules must be bent sometimes. Otherwise, design is confined.

- In the past, there have been examples of biases in design. One example is the bias there has been against women when considering the user of a certain product, like a police body armor that was made for the male body and left women more exposed to attacks. Designers must take everyone in consideration. Design is for everyone.

When reading it is important to look beyond the text in order to get the full context of a reading. An author's gender, background, and nationality, the year of publication, the related work, can give you a broader view of the subject at hand and provide you with better tools to analyze a certain text.

Dreyfuss, H. S. (1955). Designing for People. (26-­43). 

 

- "The most efficient machine is the one that is built around a person."

- Design goes beyond the object itself. It is important to research the users, pay attention to how they feel and what needs they have.

- The human form is important. Ergonomics matter.

- Dreyfuss describes two hypothetical persons that they use for design: Joe and Josephine. They are thought of as real people. They have been given realistic dimensions and proportions. They have a day to day life. They have things they like and dislike, things that make them uncomfortable. They have plenty of problems, not all of which can be solved.

Kolko, J. (2011). Exposing the Magic of Design: A Practitioner’s Guide to the Methods and Theory of Synthesis (Oxford Series in Human­Technology Interaction) (1 ed.). Oxford University Press, USA.

- We all solve problems. This is an example of decisions people make every day. When faced we a problem, many times smaller problems can be found within it.

- Problems are structured in order to be solved.

- When making choices, we sometimes do it because of a hunch, an instinct. This intuition can come from previous knowledge and experience.

- Humans make decisions in different ways: Based on a hunch, through judgement, using partial information, or breaking constraints.

- In design, our own past experiences form an important part of making sense of a complicated problem.

- People look at things through different perspectives, or frames.

Dubberly, H. ­(2004). How do you design? Dubberly Design Office.

- In one way or another, everyone design. Whether they are actually building something, planning, etc. The processes followed are similar.

- Dubberly collects various definitions of design process. Some are very similar, other vary more.

- Investigation

     Confront the topic, literature, related work

- Play

     Prototyping, learning skills, trials & errors

- Everyday

     Real World, pop culture, observation, discourse

- Tensions

     Art v. Design, individual v. team, compromise

- Enactment

     Talks, demos, workshops, documentation, submissions

- Dissemination

     Legacy, deliveries, sharing lessons learned, survey, entrepreneurship