Blog 7 - Stephen Miller

I AM NOT AN I300 LOSER.

I am NOT an I300 LOSER!!

Steve Flockenhaus is not

an I300 loser!

Blog Assignment#7

I am not an I300 Loser

Evan Samuels - Blog post #7

I am not an I300 Loser.....

....but I know I can do a little better!

Enrique Pérez Blog 7

Kym Pagel - Blog 7

I am not an I300 loser.

Chris Hall - Blog #7

I am not an I300 loser!

Bethany Hufford - Blog 7

I am not an I300 loser!

James Berghoff-Week 07

I am not an I300 loser!

#7 - Nik Spurgetis

I am not an I300 loser!

Week 07 Blog Assignment

This is a very easy assignment.

I want you to take a look at the way points are distributed for this course. See pages 8-9 of the syllabus. Look at your grades in the Oncourse gradebook and enter them into the Personal I300 Gradebook (it's an Excel file that you can download from Oncourse resources; it's at the bottom of the resource list of files).

If you think you’re in trouble, please make an appointment to see me. I will help you recover through the “Professor Siegel’s Academic Recovery Stimulus Package!” Note, however, that the stimulus package will not be available throughout the semester. This is a mid-semester correction. So take action now if your grades in this class need a bail-out.

If you’ve calculated your personal grade and decided if you need to make an appointment with me or not, then all you need to do to get 15 points on this blog assignment is to write a post simply with the words “I am not an I300 loser.” Feel free to say more, but this assignment only requires you to do this. That’s it!  

blog 6- Janelle Velkoff

I am choosing to look away from project 4 for a moment since it's also heavily incorporated into project 5... I decided to look at the site Pandora Radio (mostly because I was already using it when reading this assignment and thought about how simple it is) and the section of chapter 5 that talks about one click interfaces. When opening Pandora and creating a new station it literally can be done in two steps, type the song or artist you want to listen to and click "create". It's so simple and takes no prior knowledge of the site to get started. If you mess up just click "hey that's not what I wanted!" and it takes you right back to the beginning. I can't think of an easier to use website, they completely take advantage of the one click interface and it really works for them.

Mark Rodriguez - Blog #6

I went with www.ebay.com, and their sign up screen. It helps you through Up-To-Speed Aids throughout the sign up process. At the first screen it gives you little hints about how easy it is to sign up and exactly what you're signing up for. Also under each of the fill-in boxes it tells you what you can and can't fill in each of the boxes. This helps the unexperienced users with knowledge of how to set up their accounts, what they're signing up for and what they end up using the service for!

Evan Samuels - Blog post #6

Chapter 5 was very interesting because right away I could relate the concepts to a a few well known applications-- twitter and YouTube. With twitter, I got hooked about a year ago. I was a early majority user and found out about twitter from some professors and I tried to use it. My intent was to follow some celebrities and also some authors of books I enjoy. However, my main goal was to use it for useful information like info for around IU, news, tech updates and more. How this story relates to chapter 5 is that I initally got hooked by a video and started using the application. However, there was nothing to keep me hooked and wanting more- I wanted to become a more advanced user, but there were no features or feedback that helped accelerate my expertise. It is hard to critique twitter because I feel that twitter's most useful audience is people who are connected-- scholars, professors, journalists, celebrities, protestors, government.... so on. I am just a college student and being connected to the "real world" is coming more and more important, but right now my own interests are a bit incompatible with twitter. As I start my career, maybe twitter will become more useful to me.

With YouTube, the story starts out similarly, but it is a different concept. I recently became a YouTube user and have spent a lot of my time watching Bob Dylan and The Band singing "Forever Young" at the Last Waltz Concert. Just like twitter, when I initially started, I was hooked and I commented and rated a few of my favorites. A month or so later, my experience is still based on watching the same videos. This may be because enjoy listening to the same music, but it also is evidence that YouTube needs to work on moving users from intermediates to experts and allow users to experience a wide variety of videos, not just ones they see all the time. One way you tube can do this to provide a more personalized welcome screen. Currently, YouTube's welcome screen displays random videos that people have recently watched. Because these videos are irrelevant to my interests, I immediately search for my favorite videos and I am not provoked to explore YouTube. Even a little relevant information on the welcome screen could keep me hooked and allow me to explore more videos than just my favorites.

Jeff Lewis Blog 6

For this assignment I chose the website www.youtube.com . I chose this because I think they did a good job with Designing for information. They cover all four principle ways that people search for content. The first principle is "Known Item", and is when the user knows what they are looking for. Youtube covers this search by implementing a search box on the main page. The second principle is "Exploratory", and this is when the user knows what they want but can't find it. Youtube covers this by showing you related items to the one you searched. The third principle, "Don't know what you need to know" , this is when users are just browsing the web for information. Youtube captures this audience by showing you a list of things being viewed right now by other users. This is a good way of showing up to date information. The last method is "Re-finding" which is when users are trying to find something they've already viewed. Youtube covers this by allowing you to mark a video as a favorite while watching it.

Blog 6 - Stephen Miller

I’m going to return to my personal favorite, www.bikely.com. Bikely is designed so that even a user who has never interacted with the site and has only cursory knowledge of digital map applications can make use of the search function and the route builder. Both features expertly utilize good defaults, instructive hints, and tips to ease the process. No part of the process is bogged down and none of the helpers obstruct the use of the application. A box in the upper left hand corner of the screen accents the route builder application – this contains the prompts for the user’s interaction. They direct the user towards what would be the most effective next step; however, if the user is experienced, the box is easily ignored and is relegated to its dual role as a toolbox. Each step also contains instructive hints that are quite helpful. For instance, the box where the user inputs the city where the route runs is prefaced by “Find a city:” followed by the text box.

Blog Post 5

The Twitter Sign Up page utilizes some of the technique mentioned in Chapter 5. For example, when the user clicks to enter his/her name to create an account, the site prompts the user with "Enter your first in last name" which falls into the "give instructive hints" technique mentioned in the book. They use this method for each one of the input boxes, and for the email box it says, "We'll send you a confirmation" which informs the user to look in their inbox for the account creation confirmation. Using these helpful tips and reminders make it easier for the user to begin using an application like twitter quickly and easily.


Tanner Sheridan

Bethany Hufford - Blog 6

In Chapter 5, Hoekman talks about using up-to-speed aids. Hoekman gives multiple examples of how users are typically shown how to first use a web application such as wizards, getting started guides, and video tours. These ways are typically ineffective because they do not allow the user to use the application while also seeing how the application works in the tour or guide because it uses two different windows. An effective way of getting users up to speed is shown on StumbleUpon. On the first page StumbleUpon allows you to pick your interests and then 'Start Stumbling.' Once you click this button your first page pops up based on your interest. Stumble then teaches the user how to use the site by displaying a tip on how to navigate to new websites using the toolbar across the top. The user can then hide this tip and it won't be shown again after they being using it or create an account. This gets the user up to speed quickly on how to use the site by actually using it and following the tips.

#6 - Nik Spurgetis

Up-to-Speed Aids can help immensely in turning newbies into proficient users of your service. The new Google Wave project may be confusing to many people, but from the home page, you are only a click away from the support page which has a clearly-labeled link to a ~5 minute video which tells and shows you exactly how to take advantage of 15 of the features of the service. By providing this primer/crash course/whatever you want to call it, the designer(s) have been able to launch a fairly complex product without leaving users in the dark.

Many software applications attempt something similar, by showing a small window with a randomly selected "tip" upon startup, informing the user of something they may not have known.

Ryan Cortese - Blog 6

I really felt that Chapter Five gave a very cool insight into designing for the user. As informatics students we all have been very technologically literate in a sense and would have the intuition of how to interact with new forms of technology and problem solve on the spot to meet our needs. By having the idea that your user is not someone who is an expert or of relatively the same skill level as you in this particular area we can develop new process of how we might design with this source of information in the back of our mind. For example with my project four, I might find it useful to use the card sorting technique to full develop how certain aspects of the key chain might be used and which processes they will connect. By physically seeing this with a deck of notecards, it can become simple and illustrated physically to me the designer what aspects need to be co-related and often part of each other in the design. This would give a definitive example and also be easy to have around for a usability test for a projected user.

Chris Hall - Blog #6

Given my groups design choices for project #4, I am opting to review a web application for this blog assignment. The site that I chose is drop.io. This site allows you to create a personalized 100 MB file drop, which can be made private or public, at the user’s discretion. The aspect of this site that I am focusing on is the creation of a new file drop. When you first load the page the welcome screen is divided into three parts, the new drop creation (left), the log in feature (top right), and the intro video (bottom right). The new drop creation menu is simple and to the point. Like Hoekman says “users tend to quickly learn what they need to know in order to become proficient with the application…” which is just what this design allows them to do.

When the page is first loaded drop.io automatically generates a name for a new file drop, or allows the user to input a name of their choosing. The great thing here is that if the name the user inputs is to short, or already used, drop.io changes the color of the box to red, and provides a very brief explanation below the input box. The color change offers a visual cue to the user that something is amiss. The explanation is usually 1 or 2 sentences long and provides a suggestion as to how the user might correct the error. These explanations are a great example of the types of tips Hoekman talks about in his book. Hoekman says that “tips should be short and to the point. The object is the help the user not interfere with their work flow”. If, on the other hand, the name of the drop is acceptable the box turns green and the user is allowed to proceed.

The last thing about the new file drop creation menu that seems to follow Hoekman book, is the grayed out text example around both the input and file upload boxes. This grayed out text, as Hoekman says in his book, gives the user an idea of what belongs there, without disrupting their workflow.

Blog Assignment # 6

One technique in Chapter 5 I chose is card-sorting which might be applied to my project #4. Basically, card-sorting exercises help us organize features and uses. As stated in the textbook, card-sorting is “typically used by information architects to help determine an understandable navigation scheme within an information space”. Not only I believe this technique can be applied to web sites, but also I believe that card-sorting technique can be applied to certain designs. For instance, I chose the refrigerator for the project #4, and by having stack of index cards with all the features I planned to build for the refrigerator, I can hand the stack off to some users and ask them to sort the cards into stacks according to how they think the features should be organized. The user will allow me to get basic idea which features should be prioritized in designing.

Kym Pagel - Week 6 Blog

I'm looking at an online application, Yahoo new user registration. Since I went to the registration page of many different sites trying to find on that implemented instructive design, I was surprised to see that Yahoo is using some of the tools that Hoekman mentioned in his book.
For example there are default values in a medium gray tone to indicate which values should go into certain fields (First Name, Last Name, Day, and Month).
Also, when a user clicks into the text box to enter that information, two things happen. First, either (1) an explanation for why the data is required by Yahoo, or (2) instructions on what to input, appears on the right. I'm not sure if the first is necessary but its certainly nifty. The second thing is that when the user clicks on fields that have strict requirements, like the password field for example, the requirements are listed below the text box.
There are even little check marks displayed next to correctly inputted data, much like the example in Hoekman's book.
I have to complain though about one thing that isn't entirely correct. Under the security question it states to give an answer of at least four characters, but will actually also accept one, two, or three characters.

Week 06 Blog Assignment

This has been a busy week with a major project due and the first exam. But we need to keep moving forward in our book, Designing the Obvious. I hope you’re enjoying it and that you agree it’s better than reading most textbooks. Please let me know!

For this week, we turn to Chapter 5, “Turn Beginners Into Intermediates, Immediately.” It’s an interesting topic with a number of challenges. A user can be naive about a new application but an expert in something else. Or a user can be naive in general about technology.

For this assignment, select one of the techniques in Chapter 5 and show how it might be applied to your Project #4. OR… if you’re tired with Project #4 (!), find an online application (tell us what it is and provide a link) and explain how one or more of the techniques are used effectively in that site. (Do not choose one of the examples in the chapter.)

Andrew DeVoe - Blog Post #5

The user's mental model is the way the user perceives it to function for their needs. This differs from an implementation model because the implementation model does not incorporate the needs of every individual. It is simply a rough idea of what would be 'ideal' in the design, but it doesn't have everything that's needed. It may include fancy tech features that aren't needed simply because they can be added, but it doesn't match up with the needs of the users.

Enrique Pérez Blog #5

In thinking about how mental models relate to project 4, I agree with Hoekman in that users attach meaning to objects they use that reflect themselves. However, inanimate objects with personalities do not exist. Therefore, a users mental model for interacting with a device that has a personality is themselves or another human being. On the other hand, an implementation model for project 4 would be technical, focusing on abilities rather than personally interacting with the user.

Ryan Cortese - Blog 5

The users mental model is something that user thinks that might happen if they are to use a feature of the product. They think soley based on their needs and what they would intuitively think might happen when they used a product in a certain way.

The implementation model of the programmers is much more widely based. They cover all aspects and uses of the products and simplify them down to individual functions and often times can over think what needs to happen for each one. This creates a stark contrast to what a user simply wants, is something that works.

Blog 5-Steve Flockenhaus

A user's mental model is what a user thinks a particular object can do for them; nothing more, nothing less.  For instance, many people often simply use a broom for simply just a broom. However the personality of a broom is far broader than just sweeping the floor.  A broom can be used as a means of floor hockey or whiffle ball.  A broom can be used to reach a high object or sweep up a mess.  A broom doesn't have to just be a broom.   

A user's mental model can be specific to just one user.  Multiple users will very rarely have the same mental model of what something can be used for, especially in programming.  That being said there is bound to be conflict between the mental model of a user and that of a programmer.  Often times programmers design with the needs of a user in mind, but the needs of one user are not necessarily the needs of even one other user.

Mark Rodriguez- Blog #5

A user's mental model is one that is envisioned by the user in an aesthetically and intuitively pleasing way. They don't have to know exactly what it is they're doing, but if what they're doing does what they think they want to be done then this is the mental model they have portrayed about using the program, refrigerator, keys etc.

On the designer side of things, they aim to design something for it's primary purpose of the product. They design things from a standpoint where they know exactly how everything is manipulated in the background. They know the process that is going on in order to carry out the command that they're looking to finish.

Numero Cinco - Nik Spurgetis

With respect to an object's (in the case of Project 4, this will either be keys or a refrigerator) personality and surrounding interactions, a user's mental model is that it will, to the most feasible extent, act as if it has a personality/emotions. In other words, it will react and communicate positively or negatively in response to various stimuli in such a manner that human users will experience some degree of pathos toward the object with the ultimate goal of changing or maintaining certain behaviors.

In contrast, the implemenation model that a programmer of such an object might have is a detailed picture of integrated components--logistical concerns such as power; mechanics by which stimuli are received (cameras/RFID/etc.), and communication achieved (lights/speech synthesis/etc.)--as well as the underlying programming to manipulate said components to create the illusion of a human personality.

blog 5- Janelle Velkoff

1.) What is the user’s mental model with respect to an object’s personality and surrounding interactions?
The users mental model is how they personally perceive the object to work before they really know anything about it. It's what a user initially thinks an object will do without anyone explaining exactly how it works. Just looking at the object and assuming its function.

2.) How might this mental model contrast with the implementation model of the programmers?
I think the mental model would probably contrast the implementation fairly strongly, since the programmers are thinking of the object and exactly how it works. It seems like the programmer's implementation model would be very detailed and specific as to how the object work and what they are capable. Since the implementation model of the programers would include their knowledge of how the object actually works, I think it would be quite a bit different than how a user thinks it might happen to work. Knowing how something is designed gives you a much different picture in your mind.

Blog 5 - Jeff Lewis

The user's mental model is how the user thinks the product works. The user's mental model of a refrigerator is a box that gets cool when you plug it in and it keeps your food fresh. The know to store food in this box and take it out when they want to eat it. On the other hand, programmers think in more detail with an implementation model. They would think of every detail of how the refrigerator gets cold and stays at that certain temperature.

Blog Assignment 5

When my team started project 4, we realized that a refrigerator is more than just a cold box that holds food. When a user looks at a refrigerator, yes, the top-level mental model is of a cold box with food inside, but there are layers of implications packaged within that model. A fridge is a staple of most established households, and thus a symbol of a certain level of achievement in life. This is important, especially in approaching a project where we intend to imbue a product with more than its usual physical attributes (i.e., a personality, interactive capabilities). Any personality would have to be designed to assist and build upon this mental model. If a refrigerator is also an affirmation of a certain status, its personality should follow the same lead.

For a designer, the concern with a refrigerator would be more on the functional side of the product’s implementation. First and foremost it is to be a cold box that holds food. Everything else is a secondary consideration. Luckily for the designer, a normal refrigerator comes with the status affirmation inherent in the product’s existence. However, for an interactive refrigerator, the designer would have to be careful to not design a personality that would be out of character for a refrigerator.

Blog Assignment 5

In order to be understood as having a particular kind of personality, the keys we are designing for project 4 must fit the user's mental model for this personality type. The mental model is composed of the particular kind of traits that distinguish a personality type: we must first understand these traits in order to transfer them into our keys.

The programmers implementation-model often focuses on covering all of the bases rather than designing with the user in mind. Programmers can often get to carried away with one aspect, or miss the target of fitting the users model all together. Often times the implementation-model can come out cold, rigid, and to abstract to fit the user's mental model.


Tanner Sheridan

James Berghoff-Blog Assignment 5

The users mental model of an object is what they feel the object does for them. It is how they think the object will work when they use it in a certain way. Like the thermostat example, a user feels that cranking up the temperature will make them warmer faster, however the "personality" of the object does not work in that way.

This model contrasts with the implemenation because, the designers do not create the object to the exact needs of the users. They do not know how every user plans on using the object and in what way. Also, if the user is unaware of how exactly the object works, then their theory of how it works for them is different than how the design was made.

Blog Assignment 5

A user’s mental model with respect to an object’s personality and surrounding interactions can be explanations of a user’s thought process about how things work in the real world. The user’s mental model is generally what people experience and what people see or use. Simply, it is just what people feel of certain object. This mental model can contrast with the implementation model of the programmers because the implementation model is what programmers feature while everyone’s mental model can differ. While the implementation model can cause confusing features or features that do not make sense to some people, the mental model won’t have problems like those due to different perspectives of people. There is a little chance of the programmers having the same understanding as that of the users for certain product.

Chris Hall - Blog #5

For an object with a personality that one can interact with, the user’s mental model will be how they think the object works or functions. In other words their mental model will be like a picture of how the object works. As Robert Hoekman says “it doesn’t have to be the truth, and usually isn’t, it just has to settle our heads enough to let us sleep at night”. This means that most users’ mental models of how something works will not be accurate, it just as to make since to them.

In contrast an implementation model is designed, as Hoekman says “usually, to please the geeks that create them”. This means, as Hoekman describes in his book, that they require much more knowledge of how the object works compared to a mental model. Indeed this extra knowledge also has to be accurate in order to accomplish your intended task. That is not to say that implementation models are bad, just that for the majority of the population they are not very useful.

Bethany Hufford - Blog 5

A user's mental model is what they believe to be true, based on experience, that helps them understand what something is and how to use it. For our project we choose to use the keys. A user generally doesn't believe that keys have a personality. However, they do interact with doors and other objects by allowing them to open and lock or unlock. The largest contrast with the programmers model is the aspect of a personality. Keys don't talk or generally give information and users will not have a mental model formed for this, but a programmer designing it will.

Evan Samuels - Blog post #5

For project 4, the device I am designing around is the fridge. When using a fridge, context is very important, but it ought to focus more on the users' mental models instead of on a rigid implementation model. As Hoekman said in the book, the device shouldn't focus on everything, just the most urgent items that are most relevant to the user's experience.

When people put food into their fridges, they usually just put things into the fridge and let them sit until they feel they need to eat them- they do not always eat the food they put in there right away. If an implementation model is used, the fridge would track every item of food and report as many stats on as possible on each item of food (healthiness, total time in fridge, freshness, recommend similar foods, ....).

However, the fridge needs doesn't need to focus on all the items in the fridge , but it needs to focus specifically on what is most important to the user. Because fruit and vegetables are important parts of a human's diet, but go bad easily, the firdge would analyze these more closely so that they don't go bad and the user can eat them and get their nutrition. Another example is if the user doesn't eat enough breakfast, breakfast foods like oranges and milk should be the items that are reported on more than other items. If the fridge has a playful personality, it may report on more sweets and comfort foods and may ignore more healthy foods instead of reporting on all foods.

Evan Samuels - Blog post #4

When reading everyone else's blog 4 posts, they all say that comments from individual users are not important. To an extent, I agree with this because we are learning that designs need to be as simple and easy to use as possible. However, design is as much about usefulness as it is simplicity. Sometimes the most simple design is not the most useful. Granted, like Hoekman said in the book, you must scrutinize each and every feature, stripping everything down to bare bones. This allows you to focus on all of the features that all most important to the task, and then you can start considering what other users find most helpful and useful, while always keeping simplicity in mind. In conclusion, clean your slate and start off with pure simplicity and once you have all of the necessary things out of the way, only then can you consider other helpful features for the rest of the users.

For project 2, the way I would redesign the exercise bike is take away everything and keep the only necessary functions to support the intended task, which is working out for a set period of time at a set resistance. I would take these two functions the main focus and allow the user to change these as needed. All the other workout options, calorie count, and heart rate are unecessary can be combined into one button to clear space. If the user wants to choose a specific workout or check their calories or heart rate (or other options), they can press the respective button that leads them to other options. However, time and resistance are the main focus.

Week 05 Blog Assignment

First, let me say that most of you responded with insight to Week 04’s blog assignment. I appreciate that you took the assignment seriously! Well done!

For this week, we turn to Chapter 4, “Support the User’s Mental Model.”

As you begin to think about project #4, what is the user’s mental model with respect to an object's personality and surrounding interactions? 

How might this mental model contrast with the implementation model of the programmers? (Don’t get too involved with this one.) 

A short answer (a few sentences) for each question should suffice. (Obviously you can read the answers of other people and paraphrase what they wrote, but that doesn't help your understanding very much. TRY to answer these questions before looking at the responses of your peers.

Andrew DeVoe - Blog #4

Firstly, no, the user is not always correct. Nor are they incorrect. Designers look at what the users needs are, and from there they base what features should be added out of necessity. In most cases simple is better, and just because a user requests a certain feature does not mean it would be beneficial to all users that that feature is included. This is how Hoekman views this.

Interface surgery:

Honestly, when our group redesigned the stationary bike, we already had the 'less is more' philosophy in mind. It's about as basic as you could get a machine such as this without making it cease to function. However, if I had to change one thing, it would be to add an 'advanced options' menu so that you aren't limited to just biking to a set amount of resistance for a set amount of time.

blog 4 - Janelle Velkoff

No, the user is not always correct. The user is always someone you should listen to and a starting point, but just because it comes out of a user’s mouth doesn’t meant that it is the correct thing. New features that users would like could be great, but at the same time they could be worthless. As a designer you need to remember that –you- are the designer and not completely lose focus of your vision while talking to users. The user is always correct however in telling you how they use the product and what they feel about it. That’s not up to the designer to determine.

I worked on redesigning the elliptical machines at the SRSC in project two. I would eliminate the extra specialty program buttons from the panel. They really aren’t necessary and most people don’t seem to use them because you can set the machine to do a more custom workout without them. In the case where “less is more” they are definitely not worth keeping.

Blog Assignment 4-James Berghoff

1. No, the user is not always correct. The user really only makes complaints and suggestions on issues that relate to them or on things that they feel would better work for them when using a product. This is not saying that all things that users would like to change about something is bad, some ideas are very good and taken into consideration.
2. No, the designer should only add features that they feel will benefit the overall product and its use. A feature that one user might like to have added may not be a feature that another user might like to have.
3. Yes, users always have a chance to give feedback on products and services. Companies are always concerned with customer satisfaction and have people standing by at all times to hear about users experience and anything else they have to say about a product that may or not improve or imply that these suggestions will further help users. However, whether or not all ideas or suggestions are actually taken into conisderation is unknown.

4. One thing I would eliminate from our project 2 design is all the options on the interface. Yes, it is nice to have so many options to work with, but it just seems too cluttered and allows for easy mistakes. Not that I would not like to keep the options, but maybe just come up with a different approach on how too use them and have a different style for how they are placed on the machine.

Mark Rodriguez- Blog #4

I believe that one user is not always correct, and not even a lot of users are always right. Some users make suggestions that are very trivial and would sometimes ruin the mindset of programs or websites. I don't think designers always should or do implement something a user or users want because there'd be a lot of changes and a design could be completely changed. Designers should make changes only if users suggest something that can really help the flow of a website.

On my project 2, I worked on the bike machines in the SRSC. What I didn't like about the design was that there were too many buttons. They had the numbers 0-9 on there, and thought that was too much. So we proposed 4 buttons that controlled up and down in sets of 1 and 10 to control speeds and calories. And now that i think about our redesign there seemed to be too many buttons controlling different workouts, instead I think there should be an interface to scroll through different workouts.

Steve Flockenhaus-Blog 4

Any user can never be totally conscious of all of his/her needs.  If a user is always right, what need would we have for designers?  The point of a user is to give feedback and input about their needs for a product.  The "user-centered"-ness Hoekman talks about is a compilation of user's needs.  It is not the intention of a designer to appeal to the needs of every user, the intent is to make a product easy and simple to use that can accomplish the tasks advertised.  Many times users think about how convenient one aspect would be in one situation and not about how that aspect will change other aspects of the design.

Regarding the stationary bike from project #2:

Interface surgery

(1) remove number pad so as to eliminate the cluttered look of the panel and simply use the scroll arrows

(2) change various exercise buttons to simply "select exercise" and then use arrows to navigate through various workouts

Jeff Lewis #4

The user is not always correct. There are times when an individual user wants something that would not be beneficial to the majority of the users. This is true in the instance where one or two users want more features. More features should not be added unless its what the majority of the users want or could benefit from. Too many features clutters the product and distracts you from what features are necessary. There is a larger user centered focus when designing because you want the product to benefit the majority of people.

I would redesign a few things with the interface on the workout bike. I would start by eliminating the numbers that stretch across the interface. I think that they are unnecessary and cause clutter. I would also eliminate the three buttons that are used for display settings. They could be accessed through the options button and are more unwanted clutter.

Yong Hyun Kim - Blog Assignment #4

I’m opposed to the statement that the user is always correct. I believe that the users can be one of the most useful ways to find out useful and important information, but the users cannot provide the right ideas all the time. What I am saying here is that the users are and can be both correct and incorrect on certain situations. Each individuals have different perspective and personality, where one cannot determine that who is correct and who is incorrect. So the fact is that not everyone can have same thoughts which conclude to statement ‘correct’. Because someone can be correct, but others might think it’s not, designers shouldn’t always provide new ideas to fulfill each individual’s request. Indeed, there is a larger “user-centered” focus which Hoekman advocates. Hoekman advocates that “people should focus only on the features that are in the most demand, the ones that are most important.” For win-win situation, people should be able to see from the world of marketing which trends are being valued highly in present days. Also, Hoekman says, “simplicity makes the point clear” to support how a designer can always accept every idea from every person.

As for my project two, my partner and I chose treadmill. As for my interface surgery of redesigning my treadmill design, I noticed that relocated number pads (buttons) made the design look little messy. I might eliminate these buttons since then it would add more simplicity. Also, the number buttons can be inside the digital panel, so that number buttons are useless.
Small list of what I might eliminate:
- Number buttons: It can be moved to into the digital panel, so it can look more simple and more easy to use since the digital panel will be able to show description about what buttons do what on the screen.
- HRC picture at right side: It completely does nothing, even no description or what it stands for.

Bethany Hufford - Blog 4

Is the user always correct? Not at all. Designers should provide features to fulfill a specific need of the user. Just because one or more users asks for a feature doesn't necessarily mean that it will fulfill a necessary need. Designers also shouldn't ignore what users ask for. If the majority of a population is asking for a specific function, it may be necessary for them to complete the function your software was designed to do.

In Project 2 I redesigned on of the bikes in the SRSC. Based on the new sketch I would get rid of the audio buttons. I have never seen anyone use them and I'm not even sure what they are for. I would also get rid of some of the preprogrammed options that have their own buttons. A lot of them seem unnecessary and until you have use the bike it is very unclear as to what most of them even do.

Chris Hall - blog #4

Is the user always correct? This really depends on the situation and context. Yes the user is correct when responding for themselves and how they use the product. But the individual user is usually not correct when we focus on a larger group (say all those who use the product).

In my opinion designers should not add features just because one or more users ask for them. Users might be able to tell you what types of feature they themselves would like to hive but that does not mean that those features would be desires by all users. Having said that, it is not impossible for a user to come up with an idea for a feature that would be widely accepted by the majority of other users. It is just improbable. Designing the obvious devotes an entire section in chapter 3 to “dropping the nice to have features”. In this section Hoekman points out how several people have made the point, as Hoekman puts it, “simplicity makes the point clear”.

One could make the case that Hoekman is advocating for a more “user-centered” focus, but I think that’s quite it. I think he is pushing for “user-centered” focus by way of simplicity. Meaning that, as designers, we should make our designs more user-centered by making them simpler. We should focus on the essential tasks that the users will be doing with our design and less on all the “nice to have features” that we can cram into the design.

As for project 2, my partner and I chose to redesign a treadmill. Based on our revised sketch I would eliminate some of the pre programmed features (ones that are not often used). The second thing I would do I merge the numerical key pad with the few reaming preset button and position that collection at the bottom of the control panel. The reason I would remove the preset buttons is that most of them seem to be simple derivations of the same workout. By stripping the presets down to just the basics, we could simplify the control panel and provide more room for the displays. Even though my partner and I debated about removing the numerical keypad all together, we kept it because we realized that an occasion might arise were it would be needed. For this interface surgery I feel that moving the keypad toward the center would draw the user attention to it and might make it a more useful feature.

Week 4 Blog Kym Pagel

Of course the user isn't always correct. Sure users can come up with good ideas, but they don't necessarily know what 's best for the overall design of a product. Hokeman asserts in his book that the design is not entirely user-built, but user-centered. A designer should take note of what users say, especially if more than one asks for certain features. If a great amount of users come up with the same idea for a new feature then chances are that the feature in question is actually important. As Hoekman says "focus only on the features that are in the most demand, the ones that are most important" (72). However, the desire for a feature does not mean that a feature is useful or even needed at all. A major point in Hoekman that I cannot leave out is the need for simplicity in design. So even if these features suggested by the users are viable, that doesn't mean that they should or will be implemented. A "nice to have" is simply that: nice to have, not necessary.

For Project #2 I redesigned one of those exercise bikes, and in retrospect I could and should have removed a lot more of the extraneous options. I left the level select screen in there when it could easily have been integrated into the display and inputted using the number pad. The current setup is necessary it just takes up too much space. I didn't edit the selections for exercise type (warmup, manual, hill, alpine pass, etc). At this point it looks like I could have just omitted those selections entirely. It might be nice to have these options available but they are simply excess and taking up too much space. These options also increase the amount of text that the user has to look at when they first see the equipment. I am not sure if the users actually use the fan very much, but most (if not all) of the exercise rooms I've ever been in I think have large powerful fans at the front of the room. So, if this accurate, then the fan can be removed. This takes out not only a little panel on front display but some hardware as well.

Enrique Pérez Blog #4

In chapter 3 of Designing the Obvious, Hoekman does not assert users are wrong or right. Users have needs. Designers work to develop programs or what have you to meet users needs. However, meeting users needs is difficult. If a designer tries to meet all users needs, their design(s) will undoubtedly fail because they are too complex, often leading to frustrated users because a desired task cannot be carried out easily. Design should be task focused not feature focused. A designer should design what is most important for the largest percentage of the user population and maintain a simple and focused design, or as communicated in the chapter, design 20 percent of the features to meet 80 percent of users needs. Therefore, most users needs will be met and be easy to use.

Project 2: "Interface surgery" for "less is more"

- Remove the numerical key pad

Clutters interface with unnecessary buttons

- Remove prompt and smaller display screens

Clutters interface with displays that could be integrated into one

- Remove time button

Clutters display and is available in options

Blog Assignment #3

Last time I chose to use Google.com as my reference site. I believe that shadowing would be the most beneficial technique that could be used in order to improve this site because it takes a handful of users and has them interact as they normally would with it. In this way, the designers could get a better understanding of how people use it, and because one person could technically use google.com in a different way than another, it would be beneficial to see all the different things its used for and then could be adapted to better fit a broader range of users.

Week 04 Blog Assignment

Chapter 3 of Designing the Obvious may appear to be contradicting what we’ve been saying about users and paying attention to user needs. Is the user always correct? Should the designer always provide new features because one or more users ask for them? Is there a larger “user-centered” focus that Hoekman advocates? Address these questions in your own words. There are many good ways to address these questions.

Then think about Project #2 (the project where you needed to redesign the work-out machine). Perform “interface surgery” on that device. What might you eliminate and why? Do not re-sketch the device, just provide a small list of what you might eliminate and justify your list in light of the guidelines presented in chapter 3, where “less is more.”

[Addition: Focus on your redesign vs. the original design. That is, say what you would eliminate from your redesign.]

Blog 3 - Bethany Hufford

In my previous blog, I discussed the obvious design of IU's Umail login page. I think the best way to gain insight on any improvements to be made would be to survey users. A quick survey could reach a very large number of students and faculty that use umail. A website such as SurveyMonkey could help find out if students are satisfied with the way the website works and if there are any changes they would like to see.

Mark Rodriguez- Blog #3

I used pricewatch.com last week for my blog assignment #2. I think contextual Inquiry is one of the best ways they could find out how to make the site better. It is when the user, or customer, take control of the site and the web developer would be sort of an apprentice and be being taught how to use the website.

The site is already simple to use, but some users might want to show that they don't know how to utilize some of the search methods for their web-site. It really seems like the most rational and logical way to get a better design to a web-site, especially if some usability tests are made to better understand certain aspects of their site.

Blog 3 - Stephen Miller

In order to better understand the users of www.bikely.com and be able to take the users' opinions and improve the site, I would recommend the use of surveys to the site administrators. Bikely.com's users vary widely in location, ability, interest, and style. This renders techniques like shadowing and contextual inquiry impotent. A survey would be an effective way to gather up disparate data into a context in which it could be useful.

Surveys for www.bikely.com would be most effective if they included questions addressing the individual cycling habits of those surveyed. Also, it would be beneficial to learn more about how users interact with bikely.com. Do they know about all of the nifty search helpers present on the site? Or do they just struggle through the general search box? Is the map/route information easy to understand and use? All of these questions would provide useful information to the administrators of bikely.com. I am certain that the use of surveys would provide useful information to www.bikely.com's administrators and help them to improve the user experience for the many already happy users.

Blog 3 - Janelle Velkoff

The site that I chose to look at last week was tumblr, in my opinion the best technique for understanding the users of this site is a use survey. This method would be a quick and easy way to see what people are really using the site for the most and what they want to get out of it. I personally post photos for the most part, but there a lot of different things that you can put on tumblr and a use survey would show what users find to be the most important for them. By asking even just a few questions, a lot of feedback could be gained about what users like and dislike about the website. SurveyMonkey makes it very simple to create a short survey that could really help designers see what aspects of the site are the most important. If you don’t understand your users then ultimately your site will fail and this is an easy way to see what people are really thinking.

Jeff Lewis - Blog 3

The website that I wrote about last week was www.lids.com. I believe that the easiest way to gain information about this site would be to use a survey. I chose this technique because the website is pretty simple and by using a survey I would get answers such as what the user liked the best and least about their experience with the website. I think the best way to go about conducting the survey would be through SurveyMonkey.com. After someone would make a purchase I would ask them to take a quick survey for an additional percentage off of their purchase. This would get a definite response from the users I believe.

Week 3 Blog - Ryan Cortese

In my previous post I discussed the properties of www.liog.org a Dave Matthews Band streaming music website. I think that in order to further improve the design of the website I would propose using surveys to gain information on the tendencies of the visitors and members of the website. By having a faithful following of users to the website, it would be easy to convince them to take a short survey and find out using the data the desires of what they want out of the page. This would be able to help design the page putting the most popular aspects in very easy to find places. For this reason I believe the survey would be a very profitable technique to the website.

Evan Samuels - Blog post #3

The site that I analyzed for blog 2 was www.bobdylan.com. In blog 2, I talked about everything on the site, from searching music to getting news updates and and exploring media content on Bob Dylan.

In order to focus my analysis of this site, I would create two different personas to guide me. One persona would be a young college age person who is just discovering the music and the name of Bob Dylan. For this persona, the music would need to be the focus (this is the main goal of the site), but there also needs to be some room to explore Bob Dlyan as a person. I could do this through media clips, a biography page, a timeline page of Bob's life and music, and links to other sites.

My second persona would be for the older crowd who grew up with Bob Dylan in the 60's and has known and loved him ever since. Again, the focus here is the music, but there is a more historic aspect here. To accomplish this, a timeline and links page would be helpful.

To get some information from my users, I would set up a usability session where they would explore the site for themselves to add to my own judgements. I would first allow them to explore on their own and see what features they liked and disliked. I would then ask them which of my features (time line, links, media clips) they would think as useful and interesting only after they are familiar with the site. This usability test can be done in person as a contextual inquiry or remotely, depending on my schedule and the users' schedules.

Week 03 Blog Assignment

https://cas.iu.edu/cas/login?cassvc=IU&casurl=https://umail.iu.edu/CasLogin.aspx?ReturnUrl=/Login/Default.aspx

For my week 02 blog I described the simple design of the Umail login page. To better get a grasp on the redesign ideas, I feel the use of a survey would work really well. Through the use of survey monkey, I could send out a survey to all students and faculty asking questions based on there attitude toward the umail login page and what they would and would not change in terms of redesigning in order to better fit the needs of the users.