MOOD BOARD


John is a 75-year-old retired carpenter who still enjoys hikes in national parks and ridding his Harley-Davidson. He looks forward to the local club raffle and a catch up with the boys on a Thursday evening. He also enjoys playing bingo, listening to local radio and watching old western movies with his wife Jill. As he gets older and has to visit the hospital more often, he prefers quick and efficient healthcare with simple, bold instructions and hospital signs. He aims to enjoy the rest of his life traveling a little and spending time with family, especially his grandchildren.
Location: Hobart
Toaster Usage: Unfortunately Johnny has never used a fancy new electric toaster
Computer/Internet Usage: PC, Occasionally browses the Internet with the help of his grandchildren.
Computer Skill: Novice user. Finds things too complicated on the computer to use. Has an email but doesn’t know how to use it properly.


TOAST - Storyboard


This is a rough story board of 2 steps when making toast.

TOAST - Flowchart


TOAST - Step by Step Text Description


These are some steps for making toast.

  1. Place the toaster on a hard, stable, flat surface such as table or the kitchen bench.
  2. Plug the toaster power cord into a wall power outlet.
  3. Turn the wall power outlet on.
  4. Insert 1-2 pieces of bread into the toaster.
  5. Find the cooking settings on the toaster. This is usually in the form of a dial on the side of the toaster.
  6. Turn the dial until the cooking setting is on medium.
  7. Is the setting on medium?
  8. Depress or pull down the leaver and wait for ejection.

INFORMATION/INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN - Examples


Below are some examples of excellent Information Design
  • Dizza Gregory M Graph - http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs16/i/2007/195/7/d/DIZZIA__Gregory_M___PDF__by_dizzia.jpg. This is a graph created by Gregory Dizza which documents all his significant amorous relationships and what they did (e.g kissing), and the positive attributes of the person (e.g nice eyes, good listener). This Information graphic is a great example as it a graph but is interesting and has illustrated information in a clear, understandable way without being boring.
  • Hidden Cost of War Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OT5uw1Fb_0. Below is a video i found on YouTube created by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilme that illustrates the true cost of the Iraq war and where the Three trillion dollars that the goeverment spent has gone. It presents this information in a clear, understandable yet interesting and unique way. It presents all the relevant information, facts and figures without boring the viewer.

INFORMATION/INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN - Definition

"Information design is the visual method of explaining and interpreting complex information and data to help the user achieve a particular objective"
Saul Carliner 2002


Information design is about simplifying complex information so that it's easier for people to understand and use. it focuses on users and users systems and business processes to promote it's products and in this way achieve its objectives. information design considers how effectively information is transfered as it simplifies complex information. it is about presenting information on a subject in such a way that it appeals and meets the needs of the target auidence.



R.E. Horn states that "there are three primary objectives of Information Design. They are as follows:
  1. To develop documents that are comprehensible, rapidly and accurately retrievable and easy to translate.
  2. To design interactions with equipment, that are easy and natural.
  3. To enable people to find their way around a three dimensional space with comfort and ease in both real and virtual contexts." - R.E.Horn, Information Design: Emergence of a new profession pp15-33; Information Design, edited by R.Jacobson, 2005.

INTERACTIVE DESIGN - Examples



I have found some great examples of interactive design. Some of these are:

  • Adidas - www.adidas.com.au
    This is a website for the sports wear brand "Adidas." Here the user is very involved in controlling the information they view on the webpage. As we scroll our mouse over different pictures boxes appear and shift around the page. The user feels as though they are in control and are heavily involved in what they view.
  • CandyStand - www.candystand.com
    This is a website that has numerous arcade, sports, puzzle and card games. These games are all interactive and are flash games. The users can be in control of a car or shoot a gun with a click of the mouse.
  • DDB - www.ddb.com.au
    DDB is a adverting and design studio that is worldwide. They have worked on many ad campaigns such as "clean up australia day" and many more. Their website is an example of Interactive Design. The user can even customize the side menu settings in order to make their navigation of the site as easy as possible.
  • Apple iPhone - http://www.apple.com/iphone/
    The apple iPhone is an excellent example of interactive design. The user controls just about everything by touching the screen. not only is the i phone interface an example of interactive design but the applications, games and podcasts you can download are also. The phone also has a GPS system, so one can navigate their way whilst driving, walking or even riding a bike.

INTERACTIVE DESIGN - Definition


Interactive design is essentially communication between people. The aim of an interactive design is to facilitate interactions between humans. It is simply about making connections between people. At the centre of the interaction design is the product, its behavior, how it works and the systems that enable a user to interact with the product. The aim of interaction design is to create an interaction between the product and then user of the product, to make the experience of using the product a convenient and pleasurable one. It is a user-centred design and takes into consideration the wishes of real users - there goals, tasks, experience, needs and wants. The interaction designer approaches or creates his design from a user centered perspective. In doing so they balance users needs with business goals and technological capabilities. As ixda.com states "interaction designers provide solutions to complex design challenges, and define new and evolving interactive products and services. The successful promotion of a product depends on good interaction design." Ixda.com goes on to state that "a good interaction design has the following characteristics:

  • effectively communicates a system's interactivity and functionality
  • defines behaviors that communicate a system's responses to user interactions
  • reveals both simple and complex workflows
  • informs users about system state changes
  • prevents user error."
Interactive Design has shaped the way the society operates and functions. Who would have thought that when playing our Playstations, using our mobiles and surfing the web, we are engaging in forms of interactive design.

WEB 2.0 - Examples


Web 2.0 websites include a number of features and techniques. These techniques involve search, links, authoring, tags, extensions and signals. Some examples of the use of web 2.0 technologies by various organizations are as follows:
  • Twitter - www.twitter.com
    "Twitter is a social networking and micro blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets." - Wikipedia Definition.
  • YouTube - www.youtube.com
    Here anyone can upload and share videos of any kind. Content varies from music videos, comedic videos to informative video's. Users can comment on other peoples videos and give them feedback.
  • Facebook - www.facebook.com
    A
    website that allows individuals to create a profile which other users can view. Users can add friends, write on their "walls" and tag them in photo's. applications within Facebook also exist, such as Superpoke.
  • Myspace - www.myspace.com
    A social networking page which allows users to create profiles and connect with friends all around the world. Users can control a variety of aspects such as creating unique layouts, uploading pictures, videos and music.
  • Flickr - www.flickr.com
    "Flickr is an image and video hosting website, web services suite and online community platform. in addition to being a popular website for users to share personal photographs, the service s widely used by bloggers as a photo repository" - Wikipedia definition.
Social Networking websites such as Facebook and Myspace allow users to connect with government authorities as well as famous celebrities and musicians, which would have otherwise been impossible.


WEB 2.0 - Definition


Many people argue that there is no such thing as web 2.0, however while there is no simple definition for web 2.0 it can be said that web 2.0 is a paradigm shift in the way the Internet is used. Web 2.0 involves a more open approach to the Internet, in particular user-generated content that, Blogs, Podcast, social media, review sites, Wikipedia ect. The term web 2.0 was coined by O'Reilly media in 2004. Generally it describes a new wave of web applications that are vastly more interactive then "traditional" web applications. Tim O' Reilly has been the great proponent of web 2.0. He says "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the compute industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules of success on that new platform"