Lee Mellon Blog

Final Post

2007-05-30T09:47:00.002Z

Here are links to the project and other useful pages;

The program demo Demo can be found on the desktop as Mediastream.exe

Mobile Demo

To Load the Mobile Demo application on the phone simply turn on the mobile phone supplied

Select "Start Phone"

Hit Menu option

using arrow keys move the circle to the folder icon "File manager"

push down on arrow keys to option "other"

Select "open"

Select "view"

Allow to demo to load, this is a simplistic version to test and give an idea of what it looks like.

Mediamax

My Curriculum Vitae

Enjoy the work!!!!

End of show profile(100 words)

2007-05-23T19:08:00.000Z

I wasn't sure what to write to feel this gap on the wall, so I will leave you with this. The main piece of work that I was interested throughout the course was the User centered design module and how people interact with software and products. This gave me a new perspective on design and an interest on the concepts by Jakob Nielsen and Donald Norman 2 Usability Gurus. I enjoyed the course and hope to find a job within the design industry hopefully looking at the usability and web sector and designing around this.

ORISON Swf2Go

2007-05-23T10:35:00.001Z

Swf2Go allows the use of flash to implement programs for new mobile phones and helps professionals create programs quicker and easier. If this was released earlier it could of helped me majorly in this project. It could help in the future to get this project up and running.

http://www.orison.biz/products/swf2go/
Cost $69.95

PP: Final Showing

2007-05-23T08:16:00.000Z

The ideas that i have for the final show, as we have gone for a 'idea's lab' them i am thinking about placing post it notes of relevant work on and around the monitor to give it more of a difference. I am also going to create a few buisness cards and interactive CV's for people to take away so they will have some reference to me from the show. The idea's i did have was to bluetooth the program to people so that they can see what i made on there phone but with some phones not having flash i feel this could be dangerous for them to open them so im thinking of making a bluetooth buisness card that way it will really get peoples attention.

New technology

2007-05-15T09:46:00.001Z

EDGE is getting faster by 2009

http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/mar_07/news_7723.shtml

Vodafone alone hit 10 million 3G users

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4813534.stm

PP: Final Project Overview

2007-05-10T08:09:00.000Z

Ok the project is complete and hasnt gone as i planned. It has taken longer to implement coding into the project and means that the full working model isnt complete. I believe this is mainly my fault as i under estimated the time constraints. I feel that the working model is ok but not as good as it could of been. Throughout the project i missed a number of deadline dates and stressed towards the end because the project was not yet finished.

I enjoyed doing the project and my knowledge of flash, Device central and flash lite has vastly increased in both design and coding. What i didnt take into account is that its all well and good making something completely ashetically appealing but when loaded onto a device it can have mixed results in my case text size and text font were unreadable. I found the work load really heavy and this could of been down to my time management. With the number of projects on top of this i found it difficult to concentrate on all of them and spent the majority of the time and other projects and this till last.
This was the wrong thing to do and i realise this.

I love the concept of this and with this technology rapidly coming into the market i believe that i can get a working model going over the next year. The idea is to get the model working and see if anyone is interested in purchasing. Streamload would be the obvious choice to approach but if it came down to i would look at other options. With programs like mobizine coming it shows that it is possible. I need to improve my coding knowledge and look at other coding languages such as .asp, php and java. I enjoy using flash and believe it is an extremely powerful tool.

The majority of hardware with GUI are starting to implement flash lite. Designing the software for this would be job i would enjoy and looking at the usability aspects and the User Centered Design. This was one of my strongest modules and would like to go down this path. This project is centred around this aspect and will help in the future. People like jakob neilsen and donald norman have inspired me throughout this course, considering i had not even heard of them at the beginning of the course. Overall a success the program has a demo version and shows the aspects behind it but needs more work on the functionallity. I could of done better in the time that i had and will look at this in the future. I know how i am going to implement the functionality and how it is going to work.

PP: Project Vs Jakob Neilsens principles

2007-05-07T08:08:00.000Z

Jakob Neilsens 10 Usability heuristics and does this comply and if not why;

Visibility of system status
I have created a loading menu that will be implemented when it is needed to inform the user that the system hasnt frozen and that it is still in progress of loading.
Match between system and the real world
I have used the same buttons that you find on basic household items like video recorders and CD players so the association is already there.
User control and freedom
I have made the mapping as easy as it can be so the user can navigate using the joystick and entering with the middle button. The back button is also mapped to the top left hand button so that it easy to associate as going back to the menu.
Consistency and standards
The back button follows all the way throughout the program and never moves. The software has the same template all the way through aswell. This allows the user to see where they are at anytime with the headers at the top.
Error prevention
The small amount of buttons means that user dont have much chance to go wrong. I have made the buttons big and simple so that its easy to see where the user is going.
Recognition rather than recall
I have used all the font sizes the same and made sure that all the program matches and the buttons for play, fastforward and rewind are the same as on normal players so that its easy to recognise.
Flexibility and Efficiency of use
The menu is straight forward and giving the user only one way in and out of menus means the user cant get lost along the way. The user can find the files easily with the scrolling menu.
Aesthetic and minimalist design
Again the design has been made as simple as it can be so that the user can find items they require but it still has the design aspect so that it is pleasing to the eye. This is not sacraficed for usability.
Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
There is no current way of the user being told that there are errors this will have to be added in to show that this occurs, for example and error with the connection. Although most phones tell you this anyway.
Help and documentation
The program is straight forward to use but a user page will be provided on the internet so that users can access to see how to connect along with FAQ.

As you can see the program matches all the above heuristcis apart from the recognize, diagnose and recover from errors which will be implemented.

PP: Redesign #1

2007-05-06T15:23:00.000Z

Redesign:

http://www.mediamax.com/mellono/Hosted/Mediastream1.swf

Video of the Redesign:

Upon making this redesign i found that the usability had increased and made it easier for them to navigate and find what they wanted. With the simple feeds from the site to show the files available and the bold face types meant its easier to read and doesnt lose the user to much. This is the final redesign and now its down to the coding.

As you can see the login button has changed from the right hand button and the text has been made bigger so that it is easier to read on a mobile and the same has been done with the main menu. The bigger buttons mean that navigation is far more easier to use. The simple buttons make it easier to see for disabled and so that it looks a lot less busy.

The main change to this version is the new menu that will work using xml to bring in the data from the server to the phone. This would navigate up and down so that the user can easily locate the file that they require. The links will then link to the picture view page where the user can view the picture fill screen. This is the same with video and music.

I have removed the about page because the page had too much writing on and was to small to read on a standard mobile phone. The stripes were added in the background to give the program more unity throughout and to make it look better and not to plain. Overall i am happy with this redesign.

EPP: The Area in focus

2007-05-01T22:34:00.000Z

Employment and Self Employment:

There are a number of advantages of being self employed, You have total freedom for when you are self employed and are able to choose the jobs you want rather than get what your given. You are also able to organise your time around your own life rather stuck to the hours dictated to you. You gain all personal respect and recognition for your work and get your name known. The main benefit that this has is that you get the full profits rather than a fixed wage.

The disadvantages to being self employed is buisness can be slow at times and the lack of projects can effect your wage. Your also in the spotlight so if things go wrong there is noone else to help. All the main things that would be dealt with by a company. E.g. Tax, Materials, Sales, Customer service has to be done by yourself so the work load is alot more than you would normally.

Design Council

The design council was known as Council for industrial design but changed to The design council in the 1970's. it was set-up to

"helping buisnesses become more successful and public services more efficient
and designers are more effective".

The idea is to help setup buisnesses that have a good idea and need the funding to make the product available. Buisnesses would pitch ideas to the design council and if there pitch is successful the council with grant them the money to go ahead with the project.

The BBC has its own commissioning board that works across the media internet, mobile and film.

This allows regular joe public to be able to submit ideas to the bbc and see if they will get the funding from tbhe bbc to make the project. They also allow e-commissioning which makes it alot easier to submit ideas. This gives you an idea of how this works;

The BBC has updated its commissioning process by introducing an electronic
system for submitting proposals. The new system will cover ideas for network
content on TV and all other video platforms (e.g. websites, mobile, interactive
TV). e-Commissioning enables the BBC to handle the huge volume of proposals it
receives faster and more effectively so producers submitting proposals to BBC
Vision will find them quicker to respond. The system is not designed to replace
any of the creative conversations BBC Commissioning teams have with producers
already. But by making the process of filtering and comparing ideas much easier,
we hope it will free up more time for creative discussion around the best of
those ideas.

According to USA today this is what makes a good sales pitch:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/abrams/2003-08-01-abrams_x.htm

These are the key principles to gain the funding needed for the project.

EPP: Banking

2007-05-01T09:27:00.000Z

We spent the afternoon in cardiff centre for this EPP lesson. We met up outside the museum and then split into groups and made our way to the banks. On the agenda was to visit banks and find out what you need to set up your own buisness and become freelance. The banks that we chose to visit was the Cooperative and lloyds. We went into the cooperative and the staff were very helpful but unfortunatly didnt have the facilities or knowledge to help us regarding this matter. They gave us a phone number to ring to get more information. We then made our way to lloyds buisness bank and when we entered the bank we found that there was no-one there to help at all and was told to go to the lloyds normal branch to see the buisness manager. We walked to hear only to find that he had an emergency dentist appointment so was unable to help us at this present time but would contact us or we could contact him. We managed to pick up some leaflets but unfortunatly it was an unsuccessful day. We hadnt managed to get the information we were looking for and feel that appointments would have to be made next time to be actually able to speak to someone. One thing we did find out is that the coop will not support anyone whose buisness is unethical or ecological. They turned down £10million worth of buisness because of this.

Coop ethics

PP: Development Coding

2007-04-21T09:56:00.000Z

This part of the development i am having major problems with and i know that i can work but getting the code to communicate with the server is a different story. I am starting to worry that it isnt going to be possible. I have encountered a number of hurdles. The first one being trying to get the buttons to work on the mobile when you use the right hand button on the top right of the phone, it goes to an in phone menu rather than allowing the user to select.

This was overcome by removing the select button and then just using the joystick to navigate and select the right options. The second problem that i have had is that the program that is given by streamload doesnt run on my computer so trying for find the .api code is becoming harder and harder to use.

I have found out that flash 2.2 the idea is to get the .api to write and .xml document of the file and the link so that it can be imported in to flash allowing the user to select the link they require so that they can stream the file that they wish to use. The main problem that i am facing is there is alot of coding at i feel it is going to take longer than the time i have atm. The main things that need to be coded are the following

1. Interactive Menu
I need to get the menu's to communicate with the server to allow the data to be represented within the table. This is going to be dynamic content so it needs to contact the server before it lists the files available.
Adobe XML driven photo gallery

the menu's were borrowed from this to save time in the coding sense to give an idea of what it was going to look like.

2. Streaming into the program its self.
When the user clicks a video file the file is retrieved from the server and in flash 2.2 you can do this by using this command.

play (Video.play method)
public play() : Boolean
video1.play( "http://www.macromedia.com/samples/videos/clock.3gp" );

This allows the player to stream the video into flash lite so that it can be viewed within the program.

Streaming music

This action script allows the program to play the music files with in the program. This would also have to corrospond with the buttons below and bring in the data from the songs.

on(press) {
canStreamSound = _capStreamSound;
if (canStreamSound) {
// play a streaming sound in a movieclip with this button
tellTarget("music") {
gotoAndPlay(2);
}
}
}

4. The upload menu.
This one is going to be tricky i think the easiest way to do this is that allows the user to sms the file to the server using this function. Flash lite allows this and would be a quick and easy way to implement it.

5. The login menu
The user name and login gives the user a chance to join the server for a short period of time. This would have to communicate with the server.

http://www.mediamax.com/webservices/screenshots.aspx?product=winapp

This shows more about the .api application that would be used to create this and login correctly i get the feeling tho flash may have to be integrated into something else to allow the entry i.e java or html.

Due to the shear complexity this shows how things can be accomplished within the actual project but unfortunatly on my own its going to take longer than expected to develop. I aim to make a prototype for the project and will continue looking at ways for building this when the course is finished because i will be unable to complete this come deadline.

Click Here
this gives a list of the commands available in 1.1

PP: Development

2007-04-10T09:27:00.000Z

The project so far seems to be going well the idea is all mapped out I am using flash cs3 and Device central by adobe to create the final piece. The main application is going to be created in flash lite 2.2 which means that it will only be able to be used on some phones but the main idea of this is a program that can be used with newer model phones. There could be a flash 1.1 version which would allow users to download there files to there mobile but the streaming software is not available within this version. The first thing i have done is to come up with and concept of what the program is going to look like and how it going to be used. I will be looking at the usability issues throughout the project so that the user can get the most out of the program. This may mean that the main software will change throughout the project.

The first concept that was created was as follows;

http://www.mediamax.com/mellono/Hosted/Mediastream.swf

Video of the Program inuse:

The main issues that came up from this was the text is to small for the mobile screen. I have used the w810i to check the look and feel of the program available. When it was loaded it up it was found that it was illegible and needed the size to be increased. It also meant the list format that was placed on it was too small an unavailable. so this was changed to for boxes with to enter seperate menus. The main thing i dont want to happen is the user to get lost with too many menus. Basically this went on to a redesign to try and gain a better more usable program. I havent concentrated on fancy graphics at this present time as it would take to long to create the program and code it. One of the other issues with this is the back button would not work so the main joystick was the enter button which made it easier to use. The main issue tho is the about button is the main button thats highlighted and i feel that is long winded. The user has to make a move down to the bottom and the up to the top again. This needs to be changed.

EPP: Networking Sessions

2007-03-04T15:44:00.000Z

New Media networking Events

http://SpaceStudios.org.uk/All_Content_Items/Events/New_Media_Networking_Event/

This is a New Media Networking event based in hackney in London, it is run by a group called Space Media Arts and in conjunction with the hackney county council to encourage the networking within the design company

http://scenenetworking.eventbrite.com/

This invites new media professionals a chance to pay $7 for a night of short films and the chance to show of your work and communicate with other film makers are able to network with other budding film makers and professionals.

http://drewmeyersinsights.com/2006/09/27/all-about-blogs-new-media-networking-event-october-4th/

This takes a new approach by asking people to pay a small fee of $20 which is donated to a charity called food lifeline, this helps others and also gives professionals the chance to find more about specific subjects.

What makes a networking event?

http://networking-guided.com/topics/networking-events.html

Bringing people together with some subject that would interest people in that field as a discussion point to allow the conversation to get flowing

Some people in the industry would be willing to pay a small amount for the privilege of being invited to the event.

Casual event would make people feel more comfortable

EPP: What is my motivation in life?

2007-02-25T22:36:00.000Z

What is motivation?

The psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired
goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to
behavior; "we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of
motives"

So what makes me motivated within the field of new media? There are 4 fields to look into these being

Money

The things that motivate me under this catagory is that i wish to have a steady income that i can live on quite happily with no worries on trying to pay bills. With being in uni for so long and having to borrow money on occasions i just want financial security.

Fame

Im not fussed about the fame side of things just would like to be able to contribute to the vast amounts of work within new media, helping things move forward. The one thing i do want is to make my parents proud that i have graduated and that i have a good degree.

Contribution of Knowledge

I want to be part of a big company with a secure future and to contribute my skills to this company.

For the good of society

I hope that some of my work does have some input and help to promote good in society within someway. Whether it be helping in the community or charity work.

These are the main motivational points within my life

Stable future
To Be Happy
Work for a large company
Be apart of the company

Flash lite 3 Due for Release

2007-02-12T10:32:00.000Z

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200702/021207FlashVideo.html

Good News this could help with the project aslong as it is released by deadline

CCS: Participation 2

2007-01-16T14:01:00.000Z

Participation was one of the main parts of Contemporary Contextual Studies that got me thinking and was an idea i could use for my personal research project. The thing that struck me about participation was this idea that the sites that implement this strategy would completely bare with no information or anything just the structure. They require users to start uploading different media to get the site going and to be a success. Sites like YouTube© which are completely dependant on the public to upload videos would not have existed if no-one had bothered to upload to it. This has lead a revolution on the internet of different sites popping up everyday which get the user involved in what ever they are trying to achieve. YouTube© has given the public a chance to be noticed giving people way to upload amateur video for the world to see. Recently in wired magazine there was an article about a budding actress that teamed up with 2 guys to help create a video and now she has become recognized for there show Lonelygirl15 and this has shot her to fame. Participation is now spreading over from the web onto mobile networks. Sites are cropping up that allow users to send and view videos straight from mobiles to the internet. With companies now using viral videos to advertise projects they rely on people to send the video to there friends via Bluetooth or the internet. Without people passing this on and participating it the video would be a waste of time. There are sites on the internet that are called Wiki’s these allow users to add information on any particular subject that they wish write about and with this it builds a large database of different subjects that anyone can read and get the correct information on. People are becoming more involved within participating online and offline.

PP: Personal project idea

2007-01-15T09:45:00.000Z

Its abit late but here is where im going to be writing about my research project and personal projects.

The main area that i am focusing on is Streaming media. This area of new media exists but there is still alot to be learnt and there are many avenues that the project could go down.

The Project

For the overall final piece i am going to create a site that a user can upload there files too including music, Video, and the user is able to call the files straight to there mobile. This would mean the user would not need memory at hand and could upload there full album collection and gain access to this at the touch of a button. This would hopefully lead off with further development so you no longer require a hard drive within the device and users are just able to pull up there files and access them from a remote location. i will create a server with files on it and mini page for the mobile to demonstrate how it works, but the thoughts i have is if the user had software on there computer that just catalogues there files and then the user access them and streams them to thier mobile. This would involve a java application on the mobile phone and the idea of making a program to distribute them. This will be documented with the ideas and given as a full proposal idea.

The Paper

I will be looking how streaming media is currently being used and the audience it attracts, also of any up and coming projects. i will look at this project to see if it is possible including the current coverage of 3G and how i could implement it. I.e the software, technologies, Questions raised and how would people accept this new technology.

The paper i aiming to complete in the next 3 weeks so i can concentrate fully on the final project and the ideas behind it.

PP: Paper Layout

2007-01-15T09:44:00.000Z

The layout for the paper that i am going to write;

Rationale - Background
Aims and objectives
Methodology - Process - Design Process
Outcomes
Evaluation
Identify future development
bibliography

Interview with Richard Shearman at Sequence

2007-01-09T17:04:00.000Z

On Tuesday the 13th of December we went and spoke to Richard Shearman who was the Assistant creative director of Sequence. Sequence is a new media company based in Cardiff and is the biggest new media company in Wales. We proposed 5 questions for him to gain an insight into how the company gains its work and then approaches the project. The questions that we gave to Richard were the following;

· Is the majority of your business client based of speculative work?
· How is your team structured in terms of in-house and freelance expertise?
· What standardized project cycle model on each job?
· How do you encourage collaborative working and successful communication with your clients?
· How do your test your work before completion?

Richard Shearman gave us an in-depth answer to them all. Sequence has a main client base which is 40 – 50% and then the rest is Speculative work. They produce work that they think a company might like and receive invitation to tender. When they receive an invitation to tender they send a selection of visuals to the prospective client and see if they win the contract with the client. If they win the contract with the client the paperwork is drawn up. The next stages are completed at the beginning of the project;

Initiation of project
Cost implications
KPI
Contract
Technical Specification
Specifications

There are several Sections that the customer is always apart of;

Agree Methodology
A Design workshop with the customer to show them ideas
Pro Forma is completed
Visuals are signed off
Client is handed work after the functionality has been added.
Working with clients to work on those ideas

The time for a project Varies depending on the complexity of the project. Once all of this has been signed off then the project goes into development. It is then test with the Quality inspection team and then ready for deployment.

They use different models for different tasks but the main one that they stick too is DSDM (Dynamic System Development Method).
DSDM comes from the Rapid application Design method which is used in software development. It consists of 3 parts including the pre-project, project life cycle and the post project phase. This uses prototypes and development tools throughout the project. This method is made up of 9 key principles.
The first main part is user involvement; with this sequence can create work with the client to assess what there wants and needs are.
They don’t have to wait for higher member of the team to approve the work they can approve it themselves. This improves the time on a project.
They use a method within this that the designer will create something that is good enough rather than perfect. This means there is more time for testing of the product and adding what the user wants.
This method concentrates on the functionality and is driven by the user’s feedback.
They make sure that all changes are reversible so if the client decides to change anything you don’t have to start again this is a big part of the project and can save a lot time and money.
The project time and specification is outlined at the beginning of the project.
It concentrates on the main functions of the project and getting them working well and functional rather than worrying about the less important parts of the project.
Testing is done throughout the project rather than saving it to the end.
Communication with everyone in the project is essential.

With this method it allows sequence to be more flexible, it allows the customer to feel part of the team and allows them to make decisions.
Some projects will need a more rigid approach, the will use the PRINCE2 method for this to keep the flow of the project. For example if sequence were making a flyer for someone there wouldn’t be a need for lots of testing the project would be very small. PRINCE2 is more process driven and there is more control on the project. There 8 main principles in PRINCE2.

1. Starting up a project
2. Planning
3. Initiating a project
4. Directing a project
5. Controlling a Stage
6. Managing project delivery
7. Managing Stage Boundaries
8. Closing a project

Within this method everything is signed of by the project managers and all of the stages are easy to see but because this is so rigid, it works better on smaller projects rather than large scale projects where flexibility is required.
We found out that sequence is incredibly customer focused, they have specific teams that are there just work with the clients on a one 2 one basis so the client is not passed around from pillar to post. There new business, deal with any new clients that want to work with sequence. When a customer gives sequence an invitation to tender they go through a number of stages to get the through the project. They also assign staff that they think the customer will work well with. This stops any clashes and bad service that customer may feel there getting. Everything that requires testing at sequence is done in isolation first before being placed within the final piece of work. Once all the work is done up to the final stage the design and development team work together to put the final piece together. This is then passed on to the quality inspection team that with test the entire product before it goes out to deployment. In some cases there may be some expert testing involved, for example sequence has done some pro bono work for some disability websites. These required special testing for the people the website is for. There are a couple of ways they do this.
Profile testing- This is where they role play as the individual that they are designing it for and then for when there not able to do this they recruit people with the condition to test the project for them. All of sequences web based work which is 70% of there work is done to the W3C standard where clients are encouraged to have the websites at a level 2 standard but this can be costly and are mainly level 1 but they do have sites created to a level 3 standards.
England and Finney wrote how production processes should work in practice but as you can see it doesn’t always work out the way as planned.

CCS: VOIP (Voice over internet protocol)

2006-12-04T20:30:00.000Z

Voips is using the internet to make phone calls, you are able to ring mobiles, landlines, and other VOIP lines. Using a SIP protocol the voice is convered into digital packets to be sent across the internet. To call a outside line the digital packets are sent to a PSTN gateway where there transfered into normal phone calls. VOIP allows users to make cheap phone calls to other phones at home and abroad.

There are a number of services that offer consumer voip, with the main one being Skype and others like BTcommunicator and Vonage.

www.skype.com

www.vonage.com

VOIP is now used within offices and withing flats as it is cheaper to implement and can be easier to maintain. Phone calls can be charged rather than having phone bills and it means less cabling with everything running through the networks.

Skype is an application that allows you to communicate via text or phone, it allows you ring out to landlines by buying credit for the software.

Crumble Creative Analysis

2006-11-21T11:43:00.000Z

The Company i am looking is a new media company called crumblecreative.com

This company has designed many different media for major companies. I looked at the site analysed what this said about the company both visually and through the information that they had placed on the site.

What are the major strengths and/or limitations of the way the information has been organised?

The site gets the main information across of where they are going and the services they offer. The site is graphics heavy making it a pleasure to look at and using different aspects of design. A Limitation for the site is that its all in flash and people who don't have flash will not be able to view the site, they don't offer a html version so this way they are not taking into account all users. Its not text heavy so gives the user focus on the design and the information is well laid out

Has the information (text and images) been appropriately edited and structured?

The Flash site is a whole jpeg with the buttons as part of the complete picture. If you look at the work that the company has done they have concentrated on kids cartoons and characters so the images and text tie into the work that the company has created.

Is the hierarchy clear?

Its a simple hierarchy and easy to use, the buttons are always at the bottom and only one frame changes the content. You cant get back to the welcome screen tho without refreshing the page.

Is legibility good?

Some of the fonts are to close together to read properly to tie in with the design but overall the main headers are easy to read.

Is Readability good?

The readability is fine on all the areas, The lighting to fit with the imagery in places does make the writing fairly hard to read but still legible.

Are images used to give information or just decorate the pages?

The images represent what the pages are about and the information they contain they all tie in together.

Is colour used to clarify the information or as an expressive add-on

The colour is used to help show the work that they do with the bright colours representing the cartoons and programs they do for children.

CCS: Doug Englebart and Ted Nelson

2006-11-12T16:31:00.000Z

Nelson and Englebart are two of the most influential figures in the ‘information age’.

Douglas Englebart dreamt that computers would be in the forefront of communication and conferencing. His main invention was the computer mouse which has now become widely used within the computing industry. It has made it much easier to use a computer. It was a big advancement within HCI. 1968 Douglas Englebart showed an audience 90minute multimedia presentation that was also linked to lab which was a fair distance away. This was a revelation in teleconferencing. Englebart had dedicated his life to this and has pioneered the way in computer technology. Ted Nelson on the other hand was more of a radical figure, as Englebart has been at the forefront a developed new technologies and ideas for computer technology, nelson was more of a theorist. He comes up with loads of ideas and hypothesis within the area of computing. Ted Nelson has been working on a system for a long period of time called Xanadu which in principle was to share documents with others and would remain accessible indefinitely. Although this program has never been completed, the fundamentals were used when Tim-Berners lee came up with the idea of the World Wide Web. Ted Nelson didn’t like this as he believed it went against everything that he stood by. Wired magazine wrote an article which had ago at Ted Nelsons Xanadu project was an ‘Amazing Epic Tragedy’ and this is well known as Ted Nelson hit back at wire magazine defending his program. The main quote that Ted Nelson goes by is ‘most people are fools, most authority is malignant, God does not exist, and everything is wrong.’ They are both marvels in the industry and they are both completely different to each other but they have both helped shape the computers of today.

User Centered Design

2006-11-10T16:25:00.001Z

In the last project i looked at the usability of a k800i and what the issues that it had in terms of usability and HCI. When i first look at the mobile i found a few thing that could be changed to make the usability more user friendly. I found that the user goes through the menus of the phone and can become easily lost. I also noticed that there are a lot of buttons on the front of the phone that were completely pointless they were there for show more than practicality. So i looked to redesign the mobile using prototypes to test the product and try and work out a practical and user friendly interface and phone.

I set out to do this using low-fidelity prototype modeling. I chose to use this because it easier to use and easier to change the drawings than it would of been with a high fidelity model. So i chose to use sketches, storyboards and photos. I looked at the main design of the actual phone first to see how i can change the way that the front panel actually used looking at the mapping, icons, and the buttons themselves. i took a picture of phone of the internet and printed it out and began to look at the way that it could be redesigned, writing notes about the phone picking out the points that were not necessary or i thought that needed to be redesigned. Overall the phone has a good layout and they were mainly small things i changed to the actual phone design. I used to photoshop to change some of buttons that i thought could would make a greater difference and this image below shows you the final design that i came up with.

Here you can see that all the un-necessary buttons and symbols from the front of the phone have been removed. This saves the user being bombarded with to much information on the phone giving them more chance of being able to memorise how the phone works. The four buttons on the phone that i have removed i have never used since i bought the phone about 5 months ago. They are just there for decoration. I also took away and changed symbols. I changed the back button on the phone because its as if it is saying turn the phone around. The user is not going to get this as it is not a generic way of using it. The basis i changed the sign to was on a browser or audio system the backward arrows always mean back so the user would automatically be able to recognise this and have no problems using this. I also place the word "menu" on the middle joystick which i think should be engraved so that the user can automatically tell what is by look and feel. On the present model there is no recognition of this being a menu button. I decided just to write menu on this is because looking at other cameras and similar electronic devices this has been used with success. i also increase the screen size at the bottom so that the screen is closer to the buttons with screen mapping so the user can relate to it better.

The Second part i chose to look at was the interface and how i could make it quicker and easier to use. I chose one specific task to redo because if i was to do the entire phone it would take me months so the task i chose was to set the alarm on the phone and make it easier. The above video is showing me setting the alarm on the current system although the quality of the video isn't very good can you see how it works.

Here is my final design of the GUI, of setting the alarm. I have made it simpler to use than the previous version trying to minimise the amount of menus and screens that are needed to perform this task.

The Previous GUI you had to go through these steps

Push menu button
scroll down to organiser
select alarm
select first alarm
select time
change time
press ok
go back to the menu

There is too many process and with this method i have come up with a method with only 5 processes cutting the time used. I feel that using icons is better than lists as the user can relate to the icons better than being text heavy. I compared this design to neilsons 10 usability heuristics

Visibility of system status - User knows where they are all the time with main headings and given feedback when alarm entered is confirmed

Match between system and the real world - the icons relate to the real world so that user will recognise these automatically

User control and freedom - The clear button allows users to go back and the mapping on the bottom of the shows users there choices in forward and back

Consistency and standards - all the menus are the same, select mapping in the same place everytime allowing this.

Error prevention - There is little that can go wrong apart from entering wrong numbers on the time but this would display with a message saying 24hr clock only

Recognition rather than recall - limiting the amount of screens and using icons has helped this with users picking out pictures they recognise.

Flexibility and Efficiency of use -Everything is clearly labeled and icons in use allows users to flow through the menu's easily

Aesthetic and minimalist design - i have removed items from the previous design that are not used or needed to make it easier to navigate.

Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors - Errors will come up with warning signs seen on other devices i.e yellow triangle with explanation mark. It will describe the exact thing that is with no jargon.

Help and documentation - This will come in the manual that comes with the phone.

Testing

The testing i have gone through by trying to follow the above 10 heuristics from neilson. I compared all of the above to see how my final design had followed these rules and i found i hadnt put in the error prevention and with this it helped me think of how i can change this and what to use. I went through my 3 designs with 9 different people by getting them to point on the paper of what they would do and thinking aloud of how they would do it and what they would do next. I then asked these helpers which one they prefered out of the 3 and 7 out of the 9 prefered this because of the icons being able to recognise it straight away of where they had to go. The other 2 prefered a version i did with lists instead of icons. The testing i did was very basic and using the paper prototypes was going to be difficult to test the prototypes but it worked and came up with some interesting results. With the throwaway prototyping it helped me come to this final design. The initial idea

This had 3 menus that scrolled across but this was decided it would take to long scroll throught the menus so this was taken out and the icons placed on one menu. Using the Preece's Simplified interaction design model. I worked around looking at the results and then redesigning it until i came up with a completed final product.

CCS: Located Media

2006-11-01T10:59:00.000Z

Located Media is bringing media to people in the streets using GPS location devices and other media. You could also use located media to produce an advert on space that is not normally used. For example you could create a crop circle of a giant advert that can be seen in space or place an advert on a roof that could be seen when using Google maps. There are many projects taking place that involve located media. One of the projects is mobilebristol.co.uk where they are using GPS to enable certain trigger events when walking around Bristol. They would have headphones so when you walk around Bristol different sounds would play depending on where you were and it would activate audio commentary of the history of the place you are currently at. There are companies now that are creating software that you can link your flickr account to a 3d world map and this will allow users to see where the pictures were exactly they were taken the software is called Windows Presentation Foundation. There are games that are played using GPS systems. Treasure Hunt is a big thing where a GPS location is being given and hunters use GPS units to find the specific location given.
http://www.geocaching.com/ This is all part of a program called createascape.org.uk which allows you to create your own program using GPS so you can map media to different GPS locations.

The big Welsh Challenge

2006-10-31T10:18:00.000Z

Today we had stephen morgan from the bbc come to speak to us about a new learning facility that is being produced for help people learn welsh using a broadband broadcasting. He asked for our input on we what we thought about the current ideas they have and how we would change it. I thought that the videos were just long enough to view and the 3 clips were ideal for showing the different types of greetings that could be said. One thing that we all agreed on was that there should be ways of seeing the pronounciation i.e phonetetics. I felt that the speech bubbles were very child like and would be better used for the
younger audience and be able to use subtitles for the older generation as to me personally i would prefer this. I liked the design of and the way the videos were done. This helped me on what way i could approach people to research, and the sort of questions to apply. I found the experience interesting and informative. It helped me alot.

CCS: Participation

2006-10-29T23:01:00.000Z

What is participation?

1. an act or instance of participating.
2. the fact of taking part, as in some action or attempt: participation in a celebration.
3. a sharing, as in benefits or profits: participation in a pension plan.
–adjective 4. of or pertaining to a venture characterized by more than one person, bank, or company participating in risk or profit: a participation loan.

That is the dictionaries explanation for participation. There are many ways that this can be integrated in a multimedia background. If we dididn'tave participation sites like myspace, youtube, flickr would all be completely useless. They rely on this to run the whole site. it would be pretty boring if noone took part in adding new material, it would just be blank sheet and nothing to look at just code. The other thing that can be taken into account is VR. This completetly relys on the users interaction with it. You participate in moving around the interface with the given apparatus. Pratically everything on the internet uses participation in someway to get the user feeling part of what is being shown. The new thing on the web at the moment is web 2.0. This brings applications onto the internet allowing users to perform certain tasks. This normally asks for a user to participate. Along with this blog if noone was to right blogs there would be no need for them. Blogs have become so popular that we are seeing alot more stories about them.

I feel that with out this we are limited in everyday life and everyone will participate in something within the day. Even just going to a lesson you are participating. Alot of technologies are specifically designed for that and web pages are becoming more participant based and these are proping up every day.

http://web2.wsj2.com/more_great_web_20_software.htm

http://dura.cell.free.fr/home/swf/arms12.swf

Sustainability Notes

2006-10-23T10:04:00.000Z

I found this lesson interesting as i found out i knew alot of the stuff from my past experience within my BTEC in computing and AVCE in computing. Alot of the subject fell under systems analysis and HCI. I think i can do well in this unit. I think i am going to make a 3d model of the phone and a simple flash display of the interface i think could be made better.

CCS: Sustainability

2006-10-22T14:54:00.000Z

(left) Solar powered house

Sustainability is trying to make the world a more sustainable by using renewable fuels and materials rather than using un-renewable resources such as coal, gas and oil? There are a number of organisations that are helping this cause including the AAAS (Advancing Science serving society) and ISTS (Initiation on Science and Technology for Sustainability). There is now an awards ceremony that is dedicated to sustainability. These are awarded to businesses for the efforts in using renewable energy. Many car companies are creating concept cars that run on renewable energy from water, wind and solar energy. There is so much pressure now to create a sustainable future that many programs are being put into place. There a current program which is carbon emissions trading which allows companies to sell other companies there emissions if they aren’t using it and bigger companies that need more can approach other companies to buy it. This means there is a set amount off emissions that are used and stops companies over producing emissions. http://www.icbe.com/0.asp .
With these schemes it opens up door ways to the new media designing as there is a call for ways of managing this and solutions are needed to tackle sustainability problems. Recently Richard Branson is to invest 1.6bn into climate change to help prevent it and to adapt his company to help tackle the problem. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5368194.stm. Some of the other schemes being looked at is changing homes to other types of energy from un-renewable sources. Some homes are now being built with solar panels in the roof, wind turbines as another source of energy. http://www.spongenet.org/. Another way that new media is helping sustainability is by creating applications that stops people from travelling to meetings and being able to communicate through video, email and voice instantaneously so there is no need for them to travel saving on global emissions.

RADAR

2006-10-22T09:48:00.000Z

RADAR

Relationship with course and the outside world

Literature Review

Check Research process on blog

DFIM-RADAR-PROJECT.blogspot.com

Why do the literature review?

Highlight possibilities

Increase your knowledge

identify competitors

Compare your ideas with key experts

Refine / Clarify

Provide justificatrion for your research

Learning how to research

Puts your research in context

How your research Fits

Process

Refine your ideas - Parameters

Generate Search Terms

Read and evaluate for Credibility, Reliability and Suitability

Draft Review

Three Types

Documentary - Written/Non-Written

Surveys - Questionaire

Multiple - Source

Where to find resources

Library Catalogue

Reference Pages - Bibliography

Databases

Online Indexes

Brief Two

2006-10-16T22:59:00.000Z

Product Functionality

The Product that I chose to evaluate the design of it was the Sony Ericsson k800i. This a mobile phone that the main selling point is the use of the digital camera built in within the device.

How it works?

The phone works by allowing the user to communicate with other devices by dialling the telephone number of another phone. The Phone has many features, you can text message other mobile users, take pictures using the digital camera, send pictures, and play games and may other features.

Who are the intended users?

The intended users for the phone is mainly from age group 16 to 25 but is used by a wide range of people. It is used by budding photographers, trendsetters and day to day users.

The Tasks it performs?

There are many tasks on this phone. You can send messages, ring contacts, play games, play music and videos. It also allows you to use administration tasks like calculator, calendar, notes and stopwatch. There are so many things that you can do with this phone that I wont list them all as it could go on forever.

The environments within which it will be used;

The Phone will be used in many environments; it has been built to be used anywhere and in any situation. It has to be built for all weather conditions and they one of the only things is underwater.

The Technological aspects and use of multimedia;

Mobile phones now are made to be able to anything and everything users want at the touch of a button. So this phone has a good GUI which allows the user to play music, videos and games with the touch of a button.

The look and feel of the product

The Product is very strong it easily fits in your hand. It has been ergonomically designed to fit well in to your hand to be easy to use. It has a solid look of hard plastic so you get the impression that if you drop the phone it will be fine. This is a good affordance. It is comfortable to use and all the buttons are well laid out. It has a typical keypad that you would see on the majority of phones. The keypad is well laid but some of the buttons on the phone could have better labels. At the top of the phone there are two buttons that you wouldn’t even see unless you read the manual to find out where they are. This personally took me three months before someone told me they were there. It is also not clear what the buttons above the keypad are for the labels are so basic you have to guess what they mean. When the screen is on the two buttons with lines on become apparent as they have good mapping on the bottom of the screen. The joystick on the phone you would not realise at first look that it is also a button to get into the main menu. This is a poor design and there should be something to tell you this. The other buttons on the phone are all poorly labelled and could be done much better than it is at the moment. It is not plain to see what they all mean. You can work out the power button by the power symbol on the button itself. This is common now on the majority of electrical goods so this allows the user to know what it means. One of the constraints with the phone is that the keypad for me personally I found is too small so I often find myself hitting buttons by accident.

How does it invite user interaction?

When the phone is switched on the phone lights up, this catches the attention of the user. It also plays 2 animations when the phone is loaded. It shows a animated logo for the phone maker and network supplier. This show of the features of the phone keeping the user engaged with what can be done with the phone before they even get in to the GUI of the main phone. Every time a button is pressed the keypad lights up. This helps for when using the phone in different lights but it also entices the user to use the phone. When you slide open the camera shutter on the back of the phone the phone lights up and the camera button lights up. It also automatically turns on the camera view on the GUI. This gives the user a simple and easy interaction in to taking a picture. This was the main selling point of the phone so they have concentrated on these aspects. Also when you turn on the phone it vibrates which will draw the attention to the phone also. The screen is the main focus of the phone and there is nothing on the phone to draw your attention away from the screen.

How useful and useable is it?

The Phone does practically everything and anything you can think off. It has a bit too much on the phone and if there was less on the phone it could be more useable. There are too many menu’s and sub menus that it can take ages to find what you want and to use it. The good thing about the usability of the phone is the icons are all easy to recognise what is involved in that sub menu and then all the other menus have titles with icons on the side of it. It is very simple to do tasks like making a phone call and writing a text message as this is the MAIN function of the phone with the other facilities hidden. The GUI is very easy to navigate and is very user friendly just the 2 many menu’s being a problem. The Phone has a lot functions and it will give you feedback of what you have done and if there is a error the phone often tells you so.

Core Human Cognitive Processes;

With this device I gained more knowledge about the phone as I was using it constantly. I never used the manual at all and just pressed the buttons to see what they did and work from that. I believe this is what the majority of people would do with this phone. Once you have the basics the rest comes naturally. When you have used this phone a couple of times it’s like riding a bike you don’t forget how to use it. There is always something happening on the screen with each hit of the keypad, so the user begins to pick up the relation with that key and the screen.

The Normans Design Principles I have pointed out through out the report.
The Task I have chosen to do with the phone is to set the alarm on the phone as this is a common function someone would use. I turned on the phone and it lights up. The phone then asks me what mode I want to put the phone into either flight mode which has no signal or phone mode which has signal. I know this because the symbols used are the same symbols on other phones. The options at the bottom of the screen relates to the buttons at the top of the keypad so I hit the button with select above it. The mapping works well with this. I press the joystick in to access the menu. I wouldn’t have known this if I hadn’t used it before. I then use the joystick to go down to the icon with a calendar on to access the organiser. Again if I hadn’t used this phone before I wouldn’t of known where the alarm would be and wouldn’t of assumed it would be under the organiser file I thought it might have been in the settings menu with the time settings or something, So not good mapping for that. I select the Icon and it takes me to a sub menu with alarm already being highlighted. I hit the select button this is the same button as before so the user begins to notice a pattern. It gives you a list of 6 alarms that you can set all saying no time set next to a logo of a bell which we relate to alarms. The select button has now got the mapping EDIT above it. So I hit this assuming it will take me further. It takes me to another menu with the time highlighted you want to set and the select button also says EDIT again I select this and change the time using the joystick. The time being in 24 hrs allows you to write the time or change the time with the joystick. Once I have the time I want I hit the select button which now has the mapping OK. This then goes back to the previous menu with a button now mapped to say SAVE. So I hit this button to assume that it will save it. The phone then gives me feedback to say “alarm has been saved”. There is no option to go back to the main page so I am assuming that the arrow which is in a u turn on one of the buttons is the back button so I press it and this takes me back to the beginning.
If it wasn’t for my experience with other phones it would be completely foreign to me and I wouldn’t be able to navigate that without looking at the book or sit playing with the phone. None of it is simple. There are too many menu’s and button presses it could have been simplified. Overall the phone does what you want it too and display information very well but has to many functions.

CCS: Wireless internet

2006-10-15T14:49:00.000Z

Wireless has become more and more popular over the last few years. You can now get the internet pratically anywhere. Shops and cafe's offer free wireless internet within there area's to encourage buisness. This brings people in who will spend money and can check there emails at the same time. With Wireless tho many people dont know how to protect there internet when they have made it wireless so this leads to people being able to connect to there internet without authorisation. This lead into many forms. You have many people that go around sniffing for wireless. This has been called warchalking. People find available internet and then mark on the wall that they have found a connection and that you can connect to it. There are many types of wireless internet connections there is 802.11b and 802.11g. These are the speeds of the wireless with b = 11mb and g = 54mb. The most common now is g but there are more coming out all the time with speeds increasing 10 fold. It isnt just the internet that has become wireless. You can now get wireless Television, CCTV, Headphones and more and more is becoming apparent. Wireless television works by having a sender and a reciever. The sender would be placed on the main television and then the reciever would be placed on the secondary television using the Scart socket. There are many ways that these could be implemented within our industry with the use of advertising automatically on wireless compatible units. In a few years to come you will be able to go pratically anywhere in the world and be able to pick up a connection on a laptop. More and more places are offering free internet and you would be able to what you want where you want.

http://www.rfid-weblog.com/50226711/will_we_see_more_rfid_tags_in_clothing.php
http://wireless.engadget.com/
http://www.wififreespot.com/

UCI Visit

2006-10-13T18:59:00.000Z

The Games Device - Wartran Troopers

This Device I chose to look at was a first person shooter called Wartran Troopers.

Observations and interpretations of the device

This was an interactive game that came with plastic guns to represent real life rifles to make the game more realistic. The game is fairly simple to use so that it can be used by people of all ages. The usability for the game could be improved as holding the gun was difficult as there was a button on the butt of the gun which was pressed into the shoulder which made it feel uncomfortable. The reload method for the game is awkward you have to shoot outside the screen. This gives you the element of reloading a gun in real life but if you don’t get it right it will not reload properly.

Forms of interaction

The game guides you around by automatically moving the screen on to the next section. The only interaction that you have with the game is shooting the bad guys when they appear. The game is self explanatory and does have a sticker with instructions on how to play.

Is the user interface metaphorical?

The Interface is completely metaphorical trying to make you feel as if you are a soldier walking around with your rifle taking out enemies by using the plastic gun and emulating the reload. The characters in the game fire back at you and you get marks on the screen when the bullets fly towards you to simulate being fired upon. The characters are made as very bad shots to make the game more playable and to give the user a chance.

You also have a yellow button to start the game which is common on most arcade machines but you would expect it to be green for go which can be a problem for first time users. They get around this by the button flashing when the coin is inserted giving the users the impression they have to push it.

These arcade games only have one focus and that’s to entertain the user. The more they entertain the user the more money he/she will spend playing on it. They offer interaction to immerse the user in a virtual experience by getting the user thinking there in charge of the game.

How did Techniquest differ from Megabowl?

Techniquest exhibits aren’t as advanced and they concentrate more on the education side of things. They get your money when you pay to come to the museum and don’t need to keep you playing just trying to get you to understand how it works. A lot of them are very basic and are mode so it is easier to understand how it does work.
Techniquest has the same audience as megabowl but they do concentrate on making the exhibits less complicated for the younger audience where as megabowl concentrates on teenagers to adults as there main user base.

Link to photos

Megabowl Pics

Why Research?

2006-10-13T09:49:00.000Z

Why Research

Confirm/Expand our existing knowledge
Contribute/Expand To Existing Theory
Check Feasability
Stakeholder Interest
Providing Solutions/ Anwsers
Develop new products/innovations
Compare theories

Usability: Human Side

2006-10-10T09:52:00.000Z

Human Side of Usability
Cognitive Processes - what goes on in our heads

Attention, Perception, memory,learning

Attention

Senses
Selecting info
Overload
Focus
Depends on

Design Recommendations

Clear - Prominent

important information is prominent

grouping meaningful objects

less urgent - displayed less

Attention

Graphics
Colour
Underlining
Boxes
Bold
Sound
Flashing Images
Spacing

Memory

Recalling Knowledge, Versatile, Sensory Images, Task Performances, Recognition +Recall, Filtering Process

Episodic - Experience + Enviroment

Semantic -Facts

Miller(1956)

Memory Capacity

pieces of information

chunking

Primary and recency effects

Gestalt = Constuctivist

NHS Direct Redesign -

Text Heavy

Too Many links

could be made more attractive

bombarded with to much information

could have more images of symptoms

generalisation of links(grouping)

Part 2 of brief 2 is the most important

Interaction Design - J Preece (2002)

CCS: Stars of CCTV

2006-10-08T22:32:00.000Z

CCTV can be found practically anywhere. It is used on the streets, shops, banks and anywhere that requires some form of security. It has become common place within today’s society. Within a city centre you are likely to be caught on camera hundreds of times as they are used to stop crime and record incidents when they happen. CCTV has now become a culture with shows like big brother where 12 people are placed in a house and they are recorded 24/7 throughout the house. The governments are using CCTV to act and to track speeding motorists installed in most petrol stations are number plate recognition systems that read number plates and stop people from driving off without paying. This can be used for budget films as well by using other people’s cameras and then requesting the footage. There are many other ways to make budget films. Mobile phones are now able to record and play videos. The quality isn’t very good but it allows you to show the world something you have made. There are many ways you can distribute it now. You are able to upload it all to sites like Google video and you tube. This allows any web users to view what you have created and upload there own. Wildlife programs are using CCTV and hidden cameras to track animals and to find new species that normally you wouldn’t see. Here are a few links that I have found on the subject and ways CCTV has been used. It has got to the point now everyone is accepting CCTV as a common use of surveillance, there are hundreds of uses.
Bluejacking
http://www.bluejackq.com/what-is-bluejacking.shtml

CCTV Big Brother
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22749-1957572,00.html

CCTV Players
http://www.artistsandmakers.com/article.php?story=20041025091756838

CCTV Insecure Camera
http://www.vitagrrl.com/art/insecuritycamera_video.html

Examples of a camera
http://militaryandlaw.sitesuite.ws/page/danos_day__night_observation_system_with_image_fusion.html

Full television shows on you tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-TqCR6Rwhk

Techniquest Visit

2006-10-06T22:02:00.000Z

The Aim of the Visit
Techniquest is a science museum within Cardiff bay which is used to educate people using the fun of science. The centre has a number of exciting exhibits which demonstrate some aspect of science. We went to techniquest to look at the usability of the devices on concentrate on a particular one and evaluate it.

The Audience
The exhibits are mainly aimed at children but the centre is accessible to everyone and there are certain activities that are aimed particularly at older audiences. They have a science lab and a planetarium which is used to demonstrate science that cant be done in schools so attracts A Level Students.

The Balance Device
The one exhibit I concentrated on was simple device that taught users the aspect of balance and gravity. As you can see it is a very easy looking device to use but on closer inspection it isn't as easy as it looks. You stand on the yellow block and try to get your balance so the block is flat and not tilted. Once you have done this you press one of the red buttons on the device(doesn't matter which one) and this then starts a clock and the user has to keep the block balanced as much as you can.

This device is aimed mainly at the younger audience in the simplicity and colour scheme. There is only two buttons on the actual device which means you cant go wrong. When you look closely at the instructions on the device it doesn't actually tell you when to hit the button. You have to use your common sense. I believe this should be change to help the user. I also noticed that when you hit the button when the block isn't balanced, the clock still counts the seconds. This allows the user to cheat and if they don't read the instructions will assume this all it does which doesn't do well for the user experience. Overall the device is well constructed but with those two changes it would help the user interaction process alot more. I like the fact it caters for welsh users aswell as english and instructions might be correct in welsh but i dont know this. It concentrates on the fun aspect rather than the education although the science element is envolved and it does tell you this on the panel. It is not the most exciting exhibit in techniquest but it works. If the display on the device was a monitor and had some CGI on the monitor working with the balance board i feel this would help grab the users attention more rather than just a timer.

To view pictures of the exhibits goto Here

Techniquest Notes

2006-10-05T09:53:00.000Z

The aim of the device is to keep your balance for as long as you can

The target Audience is for younger children . You can tell this by the colours and the usability there is easy to follow instructions and only 2 buttons to make it easier.
It is simple to use.

This has a mix of education teaching physics with a simple balance scenario.

Notes from Guest Speaker

Primary + Secondary and Toddlers mainly

Dont teach its entertainment, Hidden Message to learn as they have fun.

National Curriculum

Planetarium, Labs for older students

Engineers Design here

12 year old, tested on actual childrens and staff

Not much for disabled

Survey to build new exhibits has to have certain goals

Set Out placement of exhibits for school visits.

Usability: Notes on Lesson

2006-10-03T09:54:00.000Z

Interface is the whole experience of a product.

Donald Norman(1988)
Jakob Nielsen(2001)

usability of a watch

Visibility
Could be colour
Difficult with dual Screen
Buttons not labeled
To small mapping

Constraints
Its a watch
Its confusing to look at
Unnecessary split screen
User Interface is poorly designed
buttons that do nothing

Mapping
To Small writing
Not in line with buttons

Consistency
Not Consistent with normal watches
Interface is too small

Peer to Peer notes

2006-10-02T09:56:00.000Z

What is Peer to Peer?
A peer to peer network that connects 2 users together.
6 Degrees of Seperation
Small world theory
Networks are like Social Networks
Copy Left
Significant word of mouth

Stars of CCTV
Ubermatic.org

CCS :Peer to Peer

2006-10-01T23:40:00.000Z

Peer-To-Peer Networks

What is a Peer-To-Peer Network?

A peer to peer network is a network where different forms of media are shared from user to user. This means there is no need for servers within the network. A main example of a peer to peer network is FTP files sharing. What a peer-to-peer program will do is allow a user to see the files available and allow the user to easily download straight from the source.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer

Examples of peer-to-peer networks

There are many different forms of peer-to-peer networks. You have newsgroups which are called Usenet news servers which allow you to read and post articles. This was the earliest form of peer to peer and is still in use today. The main ones that are in use today are the likes of bittorrent, kazaa and Limewire. These all work in different ways but all of them make it easier for users to share multimedia with other users. This is done by shareware software which a user will download, when he/she activates the software it allows other users to see the files that he/she has shared on there pc. Users can then connect to that pc by clicking the file and this will allow the user to download it from them. With Bittorrent for example, downloads are on a website that the files are submitted and when a user clicks of the link to the file. The user is taken directly to the file and allowed to download from the user’s pc.

Legal Issues

Users of the network share a lot of media legally and illegally because it easy to bypass filters as there is nothing in the middle. This initiates a lot of problems for the people that make the software, as they are often sued for breach in copyright as they give users the opportunity to share files that would be copyrighted and don’t have the authority to do so. Often major music, film companies are suing users of peer to peer networks or the companies themselves to try to cut down the users and stop peer to peer sharing. This is still new territory so the cases are long drawn out and often don’t come to anything.

Example Court Case
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9003751

Other P2P issues
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9001403

Peer to Peer Structures
http://www.tik.ee.ethz.ch/~gerke/publications/sopps.pdf#search=%22p2p%20structures%22

Peer to Peer I personally feel is a good thing, students like myself, struggle enough with money and when we need to learn programs for university and cant afford the 100’s of pounds it costs to purchase the software then why not borrow the software from somewhere else so that you can buy the real thing when we get into a job. Why pay to buy music when you can listen to the tracks for free first and then see whether it is worth buying the album or not rather than having to buy the album only to find out there is only one good song on it.

With the way that society is today, with prices so high being charged to breath it feels like, it is understandable why people are always looking for ways to save money and by sharing files this is a good way to do that. The companies that complain are multi million pound companies that can afford to make things cheaper but don’t because that would be there profit lost. It is a good way to use peer to peer to share files with friends that are actually legal like your coursework or something you have created on the pc. There are bonuses with using peer to peer just as well the negatives. The negatives you can get are false files being place on the network so that you download an mp3 and is accompanied by a virus, or someone can take files from your pc of value and access more than you wanted to but this is a problem within any network not just peer to peer. Peer to peer at the moment is becoming on the increase and more and more people are sharing files. People don’t go straight to the shops anymore they always look to see who has it first on a peer 2 peer and download it.

Jakob Neilsen, Donald Norman Notes

2006-09-27T09:57:00.000Z

MMS
Affordance - differentiating items on a table. The item tells you what it is for

Attention - Eyes Drawn down towards it

I would extend hand and then grip the phone. I would lift the phone and then look for a button which has a symbol for power. I press the button to turn on the device.

Mapping - Correlation between the items

Cooker hob Example

Versiontwopointzero.com
Create-a-scape.com
The Bristol Toolkit to build programs for GPS

Interview People, Create Videos, Think outside the box

Allumni

Simon Notes

2006-09-25T16:26:00.000Z

The notes i made for todays session with simon pope on the introduction can be found here
www.contextualnotes.blogspot.com

Year Overview

2006-09-25T09:58:00.000Z

P2P,Copyright,Located Media was discussed last year and will be discussed this year
Sustainable Development another Section to be discussed
Reports will be written on blogs
Presentation at end of module
Contemporary + Contextual Studies -Module Title

Basic Journal writing

Identify area - Examples
Describe - eg.
Analysis - Grouping
Evaluation - Criteria

You
Others/Society
Field Interactive media
Impact etc

Conclusion

www.charade.org.uk

Creative Archive

Research Peer to Peer

Welcome

2006-09-23T13:54:00.000Z

Here is my new blog which i have started, Look out for information on the work i do and how i found the topics.