Final Post

1)  I found the Norman reading assignments most rewarding and interesting because it talked about everyday things in a unique way that I would never think about.  This new way of thinking that Norman brings in the article made them interesting and enjoyable to read and think about.  His readings were also rewarding to me because they were able to help me understand some of the other readings.

2)  The most important thing I learned from this seminar is to be able to look at things and think about them in a more critical and analytical way than normally looking at everyday things.  Also, I learned about how detailed the design process really is when designing certain products.  The correct way to design a power point presentation was also a useful thing to learn.

3)   I feel like what I learned in this seminar, I will use almost everyday because every time I see something I just might briefly think about the design behind the product.  Learning about the power point presentation I feel like will come in great use, especially in the near future regarding school.

The Secret to Turning Consumers Green

1)  I feel that the author's main point is that people tend to follow what other people do because of peer pressure.  The author talks about how there are very easy ways to get consumers to act more environment friendly in their consumer habits. 

2)  I think that I would be more influenced by advertisements promoting green rather than peer pressuring advertisements, because I try not to give into peer pressure and green advertisements are mainly just trying to help out the environment and I respect that.

3)  I bought the newer kind of sun chips bag because they made them more friendly to the environment, since they could be recycled with ease.

4)  Sun chips bag, electric cars, LED lights, ice mountain water bottles

Jennifer Steinhauer

1)  "an advertisement that features a shirt, jacket, hat and pants shows that the store sells many interchangeable separates..."  This quote relates to clothing advertising because like the quote says if a store is advertising more than one type of clothing then chances are that store is selling more variety of that clothing.  If the store advertises more clothing then they will most likely get more customers.  More customers makes the store more popular and could possibly have their clothing items to create its own identity for itself.


2)  Some examples of clothing companies that have iconic advertisements are Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Levi's.  file:///Users/drewbrown/Desktop/3217_main_image_1243626699.jpg  The picture shows that it is marketing to more "preppy" and "rich" kids.  They are selling upper body and lower body clothing, along with shoes.

3)  Brand image has only influenced my decision to buy certain clothing for only jeans and shoes.  Every other type of clothing does not matter to me as much, so i buy pretty much any brand.  I think that the clothes define the people, because you see the same types of people wearing the same types of clothing.

"Cookie Cutter Housing: Wrong Mix For Subdivisions"

1)  I feel that the main point that the author Harrison makes, is that the design of subdivisions are just becoming to similar.  This causes the houses to be very boring and bland, which people may get tired of seeing.

2)  I don't think that subdivisions are bad or hurting the city layout, but i do believe that they should start being more creative in designing the houses.  This way every house won't look the same and people won't get confused when looking for a particular house.  Even though this idea is more convenient, people don't want to keep seeing the same old thing, they want variety.

3)  I do not live in a subdivision, but however a lot of my friends do and i agree with the author's point on the new developments of subdivisions.

Biggest Mistakes in Web Design

1)  A website should only be intended for the customer, not the producer.  The customer really doesn't care about the website or the producer, they just want to be able to solve their own problems by using the website.  I agree with topic number 2 on the website, in that the website should be simple and if someone can't figure it out in like 5 seconds then it is a failure.

2)  I feel like one of the most important points is being simple.  Customers don't want to use a web site that they can't even figure out how to use.  Another important point is that the web site should be user-focused because the customer cares about solving their problems and doesn't care about the producer who designed the web site.

3)  simplicity
color
layout
font
no advertisements

The Future of Retail

1)  I feel that Negroponte does not explicitly state a thesis in his article.  If I were to write one for this article it would be:  The Internet has caused consumers to change they way they purchase items, by having them not go to stores for inconvenience.

2)  The article basically talks about how consumers can decide whether or not to purchase products in stores or online.  Norman's concepts of user-focused design come into play when Negroponte states that the consumer will pick which way to shop based on what is more easier and convenient for them.  For example, the article talks about how you can order books on Amazon.com rather than go to a bookstore and buy the book.

3)  Although the article was published in 1998, I feel that some of his ideas are still relevant today.  Today the internet has improved tremendously and had made purchasing products online much easier and faster.  One example that is not relevant today is how people have their groceries delivered to their house.  I feel like not many people still have their groceries delivered like back then.

4)  I believe that in the future many more people will result to shopping online, as that will most likely become the only way shoppers are going to want to shop.

Kalamazoo Downtown

1)  Overall I thought that downtown Kalamazoo was a great downtown area.  It was both welcoming and safe area.  The area featured plenty of stores and restaurants with variety in both.  The only really downside to the area was the narrow one way streets.  It made driving a little bit crazy and confusing in understanding of how to get around the city.

2)  In some parts of the town, there were more empty areas with fewer stores and fewer people walking around.  To solve this they should maybe think about building more stores.  Also this area seems to only appeal to older people rather than younger, so they should maybe add more stores or attractions to attract the younger crowd as well as the older.  They should also add more public restrooms on the streets.

3)  "There are many shifts."  We went during the day where it is not that busy, but if you go later in the evening it gets more crowded due to the shift in time and change in schedule for people.  Its all about going at the right time depending on what kind of crowd you want to see.

Whyte vs. Gibbs

1)  Whyte mainly talks about the aspects of the Main Street, whereas Gibbs discusses the design of cities as a whole.  Whyte talks about how congested traffic downtown, helps the stores with more sells because it causes more people to look into the stores.  Gibbs talks more about how the visual aspects of the main street help draw the customer's attention into buying products from the stores.  I find Whyte more convincing because I believe in his idea of congested traffic to help improve sells.

2)  I enjoy the urban setting where there are many people, but not too many as to where you cant move around freely.  I feel there should be at least a good amount of people because it makes you feel like you picked the right place to be since there many people along with you. 

City, Chapter 6

1)  I felt that one of the author's key points in this chapter was that to be successful, you have to be able to attract your customers to you.  If the traffic in a certain is more busy than another one, then the city with more congestion will have more success with the downtown stores.  Also, the window display is very important because the display can attract some window shoppers to at least stop and look at the merchandise, and this can later lead to one of those window shoppers becoming an actual customer of the store and purchasing something.

2)  Both Whyte and Norman seem to agree on the concept of visceral design.  They believe you need good display of items to be able to attract customers.  Such as the attractive window displays some stores put out.  They both think that a store should be behavioral because it needs to function well as a store.  However, Norman doesn't agree with Whyte on the idea that congestion attracts more customers.  Norman would rather have a clean, not busy downtown.

3)  window display
congestion
second story stores
size of sidewalk
store variety

Main Street

1)  "Generator" store
obstruction of view
parking
advertising signs
cleanliness

2)  Although malls have their advantages over Main Street, I think that Main Street should stay as it is and keep its individuality.  I feel that a lot of consumers are attracted to this type of shopping rather than a traditional mall, so there is no reason to take away something that people already like.

3)  Most important qualities:
security
cleanliness
variety of stores
price
parking
other consumers there

Wikipedia Post

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Basketball_Federation

retail analysis

1.  I observed the store Claire's, which is a jewelry store that is mainly marketed to girls.
2.  a) The outside of the store has glass see through windows covering the whole store.  The entrance is not very big since it is not a very big store.
b) The sounds that could be heard inside the store were the music being played and the conversations between the customer and worker.
c) The merchandise was all displayed on many white spinning cylinder racks.  On each rack, there were many jewelry items that were packaged with the signature light purple Claire's package.
d) The floor was mainly all white and was made out of tile.
e) The store inside doesn't have too many signs except for the big Claire's one on the outside.
f) The cashier area is placed in the center of the whole store.
3.  I feel that the business is trying to project sort of a girly look.  This is because all they pretty much sell is jewelry, but the jewelry is sold with colors like pink and purple, which are normally colors girls would like.
4.  Customers were able to look at many products within a short period of time because it is not that crowded or busy and the revolving racks spin around easy to get a good look at things.
5.  What I found interesting was that the whole time I was there were no men that walked in, which makes sense since the image of the store doesn't really appeal to men.

egg drop

I thought that the egg drop was very entertaining and interesting.  For our group, we first decided it would be a good idea to freeze the egg so i would not break as easily.  After a night of freezng, we put the package together, which consisted of a shoebox and a blanket for padding.  When we dropped our egg, the whole ice block it was in broke, but the egg itself didnt since it was hard as a rock.  Even the yolk was frozen into a yellow ball.  Even though are egg technically didnt break, its hard to determine if that was even fair to do, so for next time we should try something with alot more padding and no freezing of the egg.

http://jakubiksblog.blogspot.com/  John Jakubik
http://kzooseminar.blogspot.com/2010/10/egg-drop.html Keaton Adams

The Science of Shopping

1)  I felt that the main point of this article was that basically the buyer or consumer is very predictible when it comes to shopping for items.  Designers know this about consumers so they adjust their sale designs in a way to get the consumer to buy what they want so they can make money. For example, grocery stores are set up as to have the consumer to have to walk all arond the whole store before actually getting to what they need to buy, but by designing the store this way it allows for the possible of more unwanted items. 

2)  For me, the store's design does not influence me.  I don't really enjoy going out shopping and just looking for things to buy.  Whenever I do go shopping, I have what I want to buy in my mind and I just focus on going to get that.

3)  The first thing I would analyze in a store is the environment.  If the environment of the store doesn't seem to be welcoming, then chances are not as many people will step in.  This includes the lighting of the store, the colors it uses, and the attitude of the workers there.  The next thing I would look at is the placement of items throughout the store.  If the more popular items are in the back of the store, then that just results in more walking which is a turnoff.  Finally I would look at the location of the store.  A store downtown might be more busy than one not there.

Isn't it Iconic and The Power of The Box

1)  I feel that packaging is very important in marketing a product because it has to be able to catch the consumers eye so they will at least consider the product.  Its like judging a book by its cover, because your not going to want to read a book if the cover is not appealing to you at all.  When a product is put out on the market, the packaging of the product results in a hit or miss.  If the packaging is not appealing then its sells will be significantly lower and vice versa.  When I was younger I always wanted my mom to buy me Lunchables becaue they always looked so cool to me with all the different colors and pictures on the box. 

2)  When I think about Stacey King Gordan's five requirements of being a iconic package, I think of Gatorade.  For every flavor it releases, it uses simple colors so it is not too much to look at.  It also has a unique bottle shape that no other drink really has.  The bottle is very distinguishable from others because of the big G on the bottle.  Most importantly, the product inside the package tastes exceptionally good.

3)  Usability plays a pretty big role in packaging.  The product should look good, but also the package should be able to do its job and meet certain needs of the consumer.  For example, gum packages are made so that it easily fits in your pocket and so that you are able to grab a piece of gum with no difficulty at all. 

Know it All

1)  The article mainly talks about the fonder of the website and how it all got started and about how it still is progressing today.  Wikipedia is an online free encyclopedia that has information on nearly everything.  The article also talks about how the site is not always credible due to the fact that basically anyone can edit information on the site.

2)  "Wikipedia remains a lumpy work in progress. The entries can read as though they had been written by a seventh grader: clarity and concision are lacking; the facts may be sturdy, but the connective tissue is either anemic or absent; and citation is hit or miss."  I think that this passage is effective because it first states that wikipedia is a work in progress and after expands on that statement with a detail.

3)  The main difference between the two sites is that Encyclopedia Britanica only allows accurate information to be published so the site is more credible.  Whereas Wikipedia lets pretty much anyone publish any information, even if it is false.  Britannica is also offered as a physical book which Wikipedia does not offer.

Organization and Preparation Tips

1)  I think that the author's most important points are knowing your audience as well as possible, the content and getting ur poit across, and having confidece. 

2)  In my presentation i will defiently focus most on getting my point across to the audience.  I don't want to be talking just to be talking and not making a point to the whole presentation.  Reynolds talks about using criticizing questions when deveolping your presentation, so I will definitly try to use that skill.  Another point that Reynolds made that I wil try to use is the idea of getting rid of anxiety before you present by knowing your material front and back.

3)  When designers go into the design process for a product, they have to think about exactly what type of people they are going to sell to so it affects how that design the product.  This is kind of like preparing a presentation because befoer you start working on your project you have to take in to account who the group of people you are presenting to in order to have a sucessful performance.

Emotional Design cont.

1)  The passage i chose was "In the best of cirumstances, the visceral reaction to appearance works so well that people take one look and say 'I wasnt it." (pg 69)  I found this passage interesting because i always find myself doing this when i see something very cool. 

2)  I think that visceral and behavioral are very useful categories, whereas not so much reflective because I am still not sure as to what it fully means.  Visceral should be changed to visual because this type of design focuses mainly on how good the product looks.  Another name for behavioral should be functional becasue this design mainly focuses on how weel the product actually does its job.  I don't know another name to use for reflective because I am still confused on what it means.

3)  A designer can decide what type of design to use by thinking about what group of people they are going to try and sell to.  Younger children may just care about how colorful a toy is, so the designer would focuses on using more of the visceral design concept.  Adults would rather have things that work efficiently, so the designer uses behavioral when creating an object.  Products definatly have more of a type of design than others because different products are intended for different purposes and people.

Emotional Design

1)  The author's main points in this chapter were basically the description of the different design strategies.  The author provides the reader with an understanding of how different objects are created for different reasons.  The strategies he talks about are visceral, behavioral, and reflective design.  Visceral design focuses mainly on the style of the object and how it looks.  Behavioral design mainly focuses on how well the object works.  Reflective design deals with the actually meaning of the product. 

2)  In both of Norman's articles, he basically talks about the design of the many everyday objects in the world.  However, each article takes a different path on the idea of desgining objects.  In The Design of Everyday Things Norman talks about how many objects have problems with their design and how they need to fix the problem.  In Emotional Design, he talks about the different stategies of how to design an object in order to appeal to different cultures.

3)  I went to a very nice resteraunt one time and ordered their specilty steak.  When they brought it out to me i was so surprised at how good it looked, but when I ate it, it did not taste as good as I thought it would.  The creative presentation of the food demonstrates an example of visceral design because it was very appealing to the eye but didn't quite get the job done.  An example of behavioral could be a calculator because even though they are not the best stylish thing it still does its job very well.  An example of reflective design could be an iPod because of how high the reputaion that apple has.  No other company can really compare with apple and thus factors into the consumer's mind. 

the design of everyday cont.

1)"There are an amazing number o everyday things, perhaps twenty thousand of them." (pg 11)  This passage really stuck out to me because it is amazing to think about how there are so many objects in the world.  I dont think i have used anywhere close to a quarter of that number. 

2)  Even though Norman's book was published about 20 years ago, it still has contiued to be influential because designers have still contiued their habits of designing objects with many errors that limit the useability of the object.  After all these years it would seem that the designers would do something to fix this problem, but no they continue to make objects more difficult than they should be.

3)  On my checklist i would include factors such as durability, style, price, and easy use.  Most important is price because i would not even consider looking at an object if it is too overpriced.  Next is the object better be able to last for a long period of time so i am able to use it often.  An object should also need to be easily used or else the object is a waste since it can not be used properly without confusion.  The least important but still a good quality is style.  I think that an object should be pleasing to look at.

the design of everyday things

1)  I feel the main point that Norman touched on in the article was about how simple objects are designed too complex or just too poorly to be operated properly.  The author stresses that simple everyday objects don't need to be made complicated but simple enough so everyone can use it without confusion.  Another point the author makes is that sometimes objects are given with complicated directions that are almost impossible to read.

2)  An object that i have had trouble using before was a microwave that my mom had purchased one time.  The main problem i had with it, was i couldn't figure out how to open it.  The way the microwave was designed, made it look like there was no button or handle to use to actually open it.  The designers should have just labeled the open button or handle so it was much easier to figure out.

3)  It seems as though the designers of the iPod read Norman's article before actually designing their product because it adresses all the problems he talked about.  The designers were able to create an object that was both stylish and simple to use.   This was exactly what Norman wanted because he was tired of not being able to use products because of designer flaws.

the perfict thing

1)  The article clearly demonstartes the trial and error part of the design process, becasue the designers of the new iPod had to try any different ideas before they could find the perfect design.  This process resulted in numerous failures, in which they had to evaluate and evetually come up with a better solution.

2)  To evaluate a "perfect thing", i would use the factor of how efficient it is and how helpful it will be to the comunity.  Also, i would look at the style and see if it is appealing to all cultures.

3)  I feel that the strengths of the product are that it has the ability to hold a numerous amount of songs and gives the user the ability to scroll through all these songs with ease.  The only weakness i have is that you are not able to transfer music from your ipod onto the computer.

hey

Hey guys im cam lafayette, im in the design intelligence seminar at k college.  I am from troy, mi and went to troy high school but grew up in st. louis, mo for a majority of my life.  At kzoo i am planning to major in computer science and also i am playing football at kzoo.  From the class i hope to gain a new perspective on how various things are designed, as well as improve my writing skills.