lroddesign

Introducing social"social"

2011-09-19T22:45:00.001-07:00

Now that I am out of graduate school, I am moving towards a new blogging space to expand on the interests that started here.

I can't wait to get started!

2011 MGD Final Project

2011-07-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Rodriguez_FinalProjectBook

Project Feedback

2011-04-20T03:24:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to show my final project to the sophomore design studio. The students range from 19-22 years old, so they are emblematic of the 18-24 year old demographic group I am designing for. I was anxious about how this audience would respond to a potentially annoying tool (that encourages you think about the information you post) being integrated into their social networking site. While I expected friction from students, the results were unbelievable.

I gave the students a survey before I showed my project, to get some baseline feelings/demographic data, and a survey after I presented my interactive prototypes. Below are some screenshots from the second survey.

Every single person in the class would adopt fb-minder now or in the future! Unbelievable. And while they enjoyed the added transparency to their social interactions, the students also saw the value in being conscious about information they output. I also got some new ideas for what fb-minder could do that I hadn't thought of before. While I know that a survey of 14 people does not prove that my system actually works, it was gratifying to get this kind of feedback at the end of my final project. What better way to finish graduate school...

Interactive Visual Study

2011-03-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

I have part of my first visual study simulated for the web, but it's still a work in progress. There is a yellow glow that indicates Charly's user path, so it might be possible for someone to go through the scenario without me (but gets tricky if you don't click in the right spot). Initially, when I was working with pdf slides, I was having trouble getting across the dynamic idea in a static format. Creating the interactive user path allows my cognitive artifact to present more clearly, with the yellow glow directing attention to what the participant is doing in the scenario.

Thesis Paper Writing

2011-03-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

I started my thesis paper with an outline that mirrored my process, but I didn't anticipate how uninformed this approach was. For instance, when I introduced my sub questions was I supposed to discuss how they embodied the properties of networked publics, or save that for later? Feeling stilted by this lack of clarity, I decided that my outline needed to be re-approached.

My problem isn't that I don't understand my thesis topic enough to write about it, because I do. Instead, I have too many ideas in my head that wont come out in a logical order. Frustrated, I went to the computer lab and pulled scrap paper from the trash to slice down. Afterwards, headed to a beautiful sunny spot on a swinging bench to purge. Unconcerned with where it would show up in the paper, I just wrote down keywords and concepts that I wanted to discuss. I would skip around the whole project remembering bits and pieces that were pertinent to my outcome. When I tried to organize these scraps of paper later, I found it difficult and overwhelming to maneuver, so I opted for post-it notes—which I usually avoid because it seems so wasteful.

I started transferring the ideas from scraps of paper to post-its on the wall in my apartment. This was very difficult because I had to make decisions about hierarchy that weren't clear to me yet. Thankfully, I pushed forward and finished, so I will find out today if this clarity improves my writing process. Wish me luck!

Visual studies [moving forward...]

2011-03-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

Having started visual studies 01 and 02, I had the groundwork to start mapping the system I am designing. Being such a visual learner, I noticed that I had to "do" and then "synthesize", instead of the other way around. This map answers the question, "What is the system doing to help the participant through the Adkar model of change?" Moving forward, I have three more studies that I want to complete [see interaction paths below] that will help me build out my map further.

System Map
System Map

visual study 01 - interaction path
The participant customizing the back-end of the artifact.

visual study 02 - interaction path
The participant using the Viewer feature and not complying with the alcohol related alert.

visual study 03 - interaction path
The participant using the Ditto feature and complying with the security risk alert.

visual study 04 - interaction path
Participant minimizes the screen and ignores alerts.

visual study 05 - interaction path
Participant goes to the back-end of the program to look at affected data.

user-path/scenario #1

2011-02-19T12:10:00.000-08:00

I am working towards my first visual study by concreting my user-path/scenario. For this first moment, I am looking at Charly Dawson's introduction to the cognitive artifact (aptly named fb-minder). I am going to speculate on how Dawson learns about the artifact, is engaged to participate, and starts customizing the artifact towards her behavioral goals. I am also hoping to use this opportunity to teach her about persistence—informing her decision to change.

USER-PATH

SCENARIO
Charly Dawson is a 24 year old female college student who graduates with her Bachelor of Education this May. She has been an avid online social networker since 2005, but participates in Facebook the most. Charly finds time to visit Facebook everyday of the week, multiple times a day.

...

This Saturday morning Charly rolls out of bed and instantly gravitates to her desktop computer to look for any updates in her e-mail and Facebook accounts. When she logs onto Facebook 01 she notices a new feature called fb-minder being announced on the homepage. Curious, Charly clicks on 02 the link to find out more. Seeing no harm, Charly 03 activates fb-minder to run an analysis on her data. Before it starts, 04 Charly is asked to answer a few provoking questions to personalize her analysis, which heightens her anticipation as she waits for the results. Charly stares at the 05dynamic visual indicator of fb-minder's progress, which gives her insight into which information is being accessed; she can see which touch-points the data is coming from, and how much is stored there. Charly is shocked to see six years of social interactions strategically compiled right before her eyes.

When 06 the information has finally loaded, Charly is excited about the screen that drops down to overlay the interface, clearly activating fb-minder. 07 The icons and visuals that compose her new environment are enticing, and she instantly accesses her 08 aggregated information to 09 explore what fb-minder has to offer. She notices 10 the screen and information below adapt and change as she clicks through her data.

Charly can clearly see from the information on the page that 11 fb-minder is ready to help her in a variety of ways. As she comes across an embarrassing old status, 12 Charly asks fb-minder to let her know how many times she has put out a status like this, and to alert her if she ever does so again. 13 Fb-minder begins to clarify what Charly's intentions are for tagging that piece of information.

...

designing for experience

2011-02-17T08:24:00.000-08:00

After my committee meeting yesterday, I feel confident that the foundation of my research is sturdy enough to start exploring visually. This move forward is slightly involuntary at the moment, because I know that there are still blind-spots in my data, but I am excited about working concretely.

This week, it is important that I create a scenario with my persona—to define parameters—and develop visual studies. The earlier I can get feedback, the earlier that I can make improvements, and the earlier I can start writing analytically. Phew.

The big question that my project has turned into is: How could a cognitive artifact engage participants of online social networks to think about behavioral changes they would want to make, assess what those personal goals are, and then encourage them to meet and sustain those goals?, which essentially means: How could my cognitive artifact take the participant through the Adkar model of change?

Accordingly, I chunked my big question into four different visual studies that I could do. For the purposes of this time frame, I am going to be speculating on Visual Study 02 and Visual Study 03, as seen below. There is something interesting about the point when the participant tells the artifact what their goals are, and then when the artifact helps them during a potential step away from that goal.

01. WHY
EMOTIONS AND NEEDS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED

After pinpointing where my time will be spent until May, I wanted to take steps towards a user-centered design process. I went through the Adkar model of change and listed what the participant should ideally be feeling during each step in the process.

Awareness
+ curiosity
+ reassurance
+ guidance
+ secure

Desire
+ motivated
+ sure of myself
+ committed
+ relieved that there is help
+ necessity

Knowledge
+ safe
+ control
+ clarity
+ competent
+ prepared

Ability
+ don't feel self-conscious
+ I appreciate the coaching
+ I feel safe and guided, like my best interests are at heart
+ don't feel attacked
+ comfort in invisible bumper guard
+ still feel in control
+ truly not surprised because the artifact is doing exactly what I expect
+ encouraged that I will remember next time

Reinforcement
+ appreciate that it noticed
+ personal gratification
+ enjoy visual indicator of progress
+ anticipation and surprise
+ never gets old

Afterwards, I looked for themes in the moments that I will be speculating for: Awareness and Knowledge. The three themes I noticed were safety, control, and appeal. I wanted to understand what it meant, from a system's standpoint, to facilitate the participant's optimal experience.

Safety Safety*
+ secure information
+ unjudgemental
+ credibile
+ dependable
+ reassuring

Control Esteem*
+ easy
+ clarity
+ no surprises
+ ability to opt-out
+ full agency
+ full transparency
+ respectful
+ customizable

Appeal
+ visually attractive
+ functional
+ not obtrusive to SNS
+ tolerable interruptions
+ variety, anticipation
+ cater to curiosity
+ ease of use
+ fun

* Maslow's Hierarchy of Need

02. WHAT
WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH IT

+ have your social networking experience mediated
+ assess your goals
+ be alerted of behaviors that do not align with your goals
+ have your behaviors visualized
+ be helped to change behaviors
+ customize the artifact to fit your needs
+ have the meaning of your language input understood

03. HOW
HOW YOU INTERACT WITH IT

mediating
+ opt-out
+ direct hub
+ transitions to overlay

assessing
+ give concrete examples
+ see how the artifact understands my goals
+ manipulate dichotomized variables
+ refine

alerting
+ agency to listen or not
+ can be audio or visual
+ can either interrupt, be periphery, or temporal
+ I am aware that the artifact is activated
+ can control emphasis

visualizing
+ can control variables
+ can easily be read
+ can access deeper levels of information
+ can "wipe slate clean"

customizing
+ intuitive
+ quick
+ see change immediately
+ clarity
+ quickly enter/exit

understanding
+ guide
+ enter into a dialogue
+ debate meaning

system map/research poster

2011-02-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

This is what I developed to have a visual conversation with my committee members on my up-to-date research.

The poster can be seen in it's entirety on Scribd.

research_poster

the keystone to my thesis: motivation theory

2011-02-10T22:17:00.001-08:00

On the outside looking in many things probably seem obvious, but as you are immersed in a thesis project attachments grow to certain terminology that actually create tunnel vision. Up until now, I have been calling it "synergy". I knew that this was a key aspect to my cognitive artifact that would differentiate it from other attempts to mediate the social networking dilemma. While I was enlightened to the relationship that my cognitive artifact had to have with the participant, I never viewed it as an entry point into the architectural and interactive system map that I needed.

I had just finished taking a 3 day online workshop for CoAT (Certificate of Accomplishment in Teaching), and the topic was Motivational Teaching Strategies. We were instructed to read an article called, "Student Motivation: Putting Theory to Work in the Classroom" by Michael Wuthrich when I noticed parallels between what Wuthrich recommended in the classroom and what I wanted my cognitive artifact to do. His implementation of motivation theory in the classroom indicated the effectiveness of a synergistic relationship between the teacher and student. Therefore, if I approached the design of my cognitive artifact through the lens of the theory of motivation, synergy would be an implicit result.

The three objectives that Wuthrich describes for encouraging motivation are balance, goals, and clarity. I reflected on how those objectives aligned with my participant's actions, motivations, and goals. As I was mapping this out I became enlightened by my sub-questions. I had an instinct at the beginning of this project that the reason that participants had disillusions of a trusting environment while social networking was because they (1) didn't understand the susceptibility of the future self, (2) didn't see the patterns of their online behavior that was placing them at risk, and (3) they did not understand the permanence of their online information. When I discovered danah boyd's properties of networked publics and began aligning them into a matrix of researchable points, I noticed that my sub-questions directly correlated with those properties. I initially rationalized this as an objective that I had to meet (the sub-question) at a particular touchpoint (the property of networked publics), but once I stepped away from that matrix I did not know where to go with it. It made sense, but fell flat. What I came to realize—while mapping out how the theory of motivation could be the platform for my cognitive artifact—is that my sub-questions are not separate from the properties of networked publics, they are just a concrete rephrasing.

What my sub-questions really get at—and what ends up being the overall goal of my cognitive artifact—is the following long winded question that will make sense and find a proper rephrasing in the near-future:

How can I bring clarity to the properties of networked publics that contribute to the bad actions which impede the participant's goals, by incentivizing towards the participant's motivations in an effort to refreeze the participant's behaviors towards their explicit goal?

I promise this will make more sense later, but for now....a major breakthrough.

making connections

2011-02-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

lit. review I

2011-01-20T07:08:00.000-08:00

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr

"Our ways of thinking, perceiving, and acting, we now know, are not entirely determined by our genes. Nor are they entirely determined by our childhood experiences. We change them through the way we live—and, as Nietzsche sensed, through the tools we use."

Nicholas Carr, author and critic, has a unique perspective on the technological revolution. Carr explains how high computer usage neurologically rewires our brains, in effect changing the way we think. Understanding how the brains of digital natives are reconfigured helps me accommodate the habits and expectations of young social networkers in my designs.

Carr, Nicholas G. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.

Cyberpsychology: an Introduction to Human-computer Interaction, Kent Norman

"Users will expect computers to interpret both their intentions and their actions."

Cyberpsychology is a book that introduces an emerging field of psychology that deals with the study of the human mind and behavior in the context of human-technology interaction. Norman helped me understand the importance of mental models—the stored mental representations of objects and processes—which is pivotal when rethinking the design of a social networking space. The emphasis that my thesis has on a synergistic relationship came from Norman's work—where the human learns and remembers from the computer and the computer learns and remembers from the human (and environment). He also explains a lot of the theoretical approaches and research methods in human-computer interaction, with lots of interjections on the role of the designer.

Norman, Kent L. Cyberpsychology: an Introduction to Human-computer Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008. Print

Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other, Sherry Turkle

"Now, technology makes it easy to express emotions while they are being formed. It supports an emotional style in which feelings are not fully experienced until they are communicated."

Sherry Turkle is a sociologist who focuses her research on people's relationship with technology. My thesis is grounded in her theories—on young adults' relationship with social networking sites. Analyzing the effects of current human-computer interaction, Turkle worries about the negative implications of being constantly tethered to a virtual network. She puts forth the idea that we are determined to give human qualities to objects and content to treat each other as things and describes young adults' perceptions of privacy in online social spaces, like Facebook.

Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other. Basic, 2011. Print.

Psychological Predictors of Young Adult's Use of Social Networking Sites, Kathryn Wilson, et al.

"Extroversion was found to be associated with addictive tendencies, suggesting that extroverts may become overly reliant on SNSs because the interactive experience meets their need for stimulation and social interaction. Low scores on conscientiousness significantly predicted addictive tendencies. It is plausible that unconscientious young adults demonstrate addictive tendencies toward the use of SNS because unconscientious people tend to lack self-control."

This study focused on young adults' use of social networking sites (and addictive tendencies) from personalty characteristics and levels of self esteem. The results from this study are the foundation for the personas that I will develop for my thesis. The researchers theorize that (1) social networking sites appeal to extroverts because they like to connect and reach out to others, as well as present information about themselves online, and (2) that unconscientious people have an addictive tendency towards social networking because it occupies their time while procrastinating. These findings are a breakthrough in the field because it is inconsistent with previous researchers who have typically concluded that extroverts prefer face-to-face interactions, and the internet mainly appeals to introverts with low self esteem.

Wilson, Kathryn, Stephanie Fornasier, and Katherine M. White. "Psychological Predictors of Young Adult's Use of Social Networking Sites." Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 13.2 (2010). Journal.

metaphors on the mind

2011-01-18T22:14:00.000-08:00

What if people reading your profile page was like flies on a carcass?

audible buzzing, constant unpredictable movement, negative connotation, lingering, movement could signify on-screen mouse behavior.

What if your permanent online information behaved like a shadow?

always behind you, shape shifting, notice others more than yours, in and out of visibility.

What if your permanent online information hovered above you like a cloud?

different conditional states, sometimes audible, shape shifting, cyclical (evaporation), brings down elements of the past (rain), can be heard and not seen, varying distances from you.

What if your risky patterns of online behavior were revealed through throat clearing?

disruptive, visceral, anthropomorphic, can be exaggerated for humorous affect, alarming, hint, audible.

What if the susceptibility of your future self behaved like a talking conscience?

preoccupation, dialogue, surprising, dichotomy, private, expert data, decision making, custom.

understanding sns

2011-01-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

Last semester, I investigated the trajectory of the "social networking problem" and looked at the different platforms addressing those problems. Now, I want to research the affordances of Social Networking Sites (SNS). Since there are so many SNSs out there, what are they doing? What are the commonalities and distinctions? How do their affordances align with the properties of networked publics (persistence, searchability, replicability, and scalability)? What kind of social networking statistics—specific to my demographic— could shape the way I approach my thesis' cognitive artifact?

So far, I narrowed it down to the most popular:
01. Facebook
02. MySpace
03. Twitter
04. LinkedIn
05. Ning
06. Tagged
07. Classmates.com
08. Hi5
09. MyYearbook
10. Meetup
11. Bebo
12. MyLife
13. Friendster
14. MyHeritage
15. Multiply
16. Orkut

According to BizMba's Rank of Alexa Global Traffic, Jan 2011

Notable spectrum
friendship-driven vs interests-driven communities
connecting people vs content creation

Then, I skimmed through the popular websites and listed the affordances of each site—designating each affordance a combination of properties:

(p)ersistence: "the continued, prolonged existence of something,"
(s)earchability: "ability to explore, examine,"
(r)eplicability: "ability to repeat, duplicate, reproduce," and
(sc)alablity: "ability to adapt to increased demands."

This helped me understand the nature of the property terms—persistence, searchability, replicability, and scalability—in regards to the social networking sphere. The affordances were usually a combination of multiple properties: Although the affordances exhibited various properties, there was usually one property that applied most—reinforcing the categorization in my matrix of researchable points. With SNSs being a virtual environment, the affordances are automatically persistant and usually searchable and replicable: Scalability seemed to be the only property that did not explicitly apply to the majority of affordances, but even that is an easily argued judgement.

core characteristics of social networking sites:

01. user-based
02. interactive
03. community-driven
04. relationships
05. emotion over content

"The evolution of the Internet is now forming itself around the characteristics of social networks."

According to a 2007 research study conducted by researchers from Rice University, the University of Maryland, and Max Planck Institute for Software System

Now, I need to read, read, read...

Currently reading:
+ "Alone Together" Sherry Turkle
+ "Living and Learning with New Media" Mizuko Ito, et al.
+ "A Networked Self: Identity, Community and Culture on Social Networking Sites" Zizi Papacharissi
+ "Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods" Dr. John W. Creswell
+ "Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media" Carrie James
+ "Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out" danah boyd
+ "Cyberpsychology" Kent Norman
+ "World Without Secrets" Richard Hunter

Projected reading list:
+ "Does It Really Matter That People Zip" Yoonjae Mam, et al.
+ "The Influence of Social Networking Web" Daniel Bohnert
+ "Does Imposing a Goal Always Improve Exercise Intentions in Avatar-Based Exergames?" Seung-A Annie Jin
+ "Understanding Diversity in Millennial Students" Ellen M. Broido
+ "More Information than You Ever Wanted, Does Facebook Bring Out the Green-Eyed Monster of Jealously?" Amy Muise
+ "The Virtual Geographies of social networks" Ziz Papacharissi
+ "Psychological Predictors of Young Adults' Use of Social Networking Sites" Kathryn Wilson
+ "Social Networks as Health Feedback Displays" Margaret E. Morris
+ "Structure and Evolution of Online Social Networks" Ravi Kumar, et al.

matrix of researchable points

2011-01-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

Moving forward with my thesis will include a series of small studies informing a larger outcome. Keeping the studies structured required the development of a matrix of researchable points. I had no idea what I would assign to the axis of the matrix until I started reading "Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out" by danah boyd, et al. As a Social Media Researcher, boyd was able to give insight into the behaviors of young social networking participants and deconstruct the paradigm shift that is social media. In her chapter on friendships, boyd states,

"Learning how to manage the unique affordances of networked sociality can help teens navigate future collegiate and professional spheres where mediated interactions are assumed."

She then describes the properties of networked publics as persistence, searchability, replicability, and scalability. I found this highly relevant to my small studies because it gave me a concrete way to think about my matrix. Pinning the unique affordances of networked sociality (x-axis) against possible management variables (y-axis) and directing it towards my thesis sub questions results in a structured path to thread ideas together. Therefore, the unique affordances that boyd discusses are the properties of networked publics—since those properties have to be managed with virtual friendships in a way that does not translate to physical friendships. The possible management variables are an aggregation of areas of interests from various reading sources.

After designing the matrix, I noticed that my sub questions aligned well with three of the properties: While all four properties overlap, scalability afforded the least amount of investigative depth since my thesis is already framed around a broader cohort of peers.

Click here for my (in progress) matrix of researchable points.

So far, I have grayed out an example of the property (specific to Facebook) and possible areas of inquiry directed towards a sub question. I feel good about them today, we'll see about tomorrow. Therefore, I will probably have three small studies:

01. persistence touchpoint: participant is entering their status
outcome: revealing patterns of online behavior
areas of inquiry: self control, aggregated information, agency, mobility, low-risk tinkering

02. searchability touchpoint: participant on their personal profile page
outcome: revealing permanence of online information
areas of inquiry: hints and reassurance, expert data, mobility, concreting the abstract, anthropomorphism

03. replicability touchpoint: participant's information in the newsfeed
outcome: revealing susceptibility of the future self
areas of inquiry: forecasting, customizing, play, dialogue, consequence, mobility, superficial empowerment

Spring 2010 Final Project

2010-12-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

In my Graduate Studio last Fall, I worked on a group project with fellow classmate and design ex·tra·or·di·naire, TJ Blanchflower. We first worked in a group of six to research middle school science, and then paired off to design prototypes using design thinking strategies to meet North Carolina state standards. TJ and I approached the project through extreme users: even though we were working within the same system, our individual prototypes facilitated an empathic interaction differently.

Moment 01
After bringing the body to a state of chronic stress through playful interactions, the participant receives an icon to use the diagnostic surface tile followed by an anthropomorphic cue; throat clearing. Once the tile is placed on the surface, the participant can move it to isolate different body systems. The participant chooses to designate the tile to control Hormones within the Nervous System.

Moment 02
As the participant lowers the heart rate, the other tiles adjust accordingly, and the body gives an anthropomorphic cue; sighing.

View this document on Scribd

the grad students and their posters

2010-11-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

My classmates and I have collected our research on K-12 education into a series of large scale posters. We were excited to have had them hanging during the 2010 AIGA Education Conference: New Contexts, New Practices. The Science group just finished being a part of the NCSU Fishmarket "Process" Show, and is looking forward to presenting at the Museum of Natural Science: Graduate Research Show in December. Overall, we are successfully showcasing design thinking methods and research to a broad array of audiences.

The Science Group:

Michael Carbaugh & TJ Blanchflower

Rachel Huston

Jay Vaglio

Laura Rodriguez (me)

Ariella Mostkoff

The English Group:

(Andrew & Nadya coming soon)

Gary Dickson

Amina Patton & Kelly Bailey

Nastia Tumash

The Social Studies Group:

David Raymond & Ryan Gottfried

David Goldstein

Rebecca Knowe

Alexandria Jarvis

Whitney Pride

researchable questions (round one)

2010-08-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

So, it is finally year two of graduate school and our class is quick to jump into the inevitable; thesis. My umbrella topics of interests are Virtual Community & Social Design, so listed below are my first round of thesis questions that I will be refining in the near future.

01. How can the design of a social networking service enhance the communication experience of members in the physical world?

02. How could the co-created technological intervention of [a specific physical community] be developed to increase member's level of engagement?

03. How could the design of collaborative tools within a social networking arena increase community facilitation?

04. What kind of methods could a designer use to co-create the conditions of a virtual community that participants could self-identify with?

05. How can the use of technology mitigate problematic internet use among [a specific group of online users]?

06. In what ways can a designer harness the ubiquity of social media to play a role in the education of [a specific young demographic]?

07. How can the visualizations of online interactions in a social networking setting shape [a specific audience's] perception of self?

08. How can the affordances of digital media be used to address the negative implications of computer mediated communication?

09. How can the design of the interactive tools within a virtual community improve the efficiency and effectiveness of computer mediated communication?

10. How can the design of a virtual community facilitate and enhance identity formation?

Having approached these queries so broadly, my goal is to give my questions more context through specificity. I know what kind of methods and skills I would like to learn during my thesis project, now it is just a matter of deciding what specific social networking service and users will be my vehicle of exploration.

end of the year wrap up

2010-05-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

So, the end of my first year is here and our class can officially call ourselves "second years". Exciting! I have really seen myself grow a lot through this process. I love to post all of my work—because no matter how unspectacular it might be—it is great to look back and constantly see how far I've come. And let's face it, the idea is usually better than the form due to time constraints.

This is my final project for gestural interactions:

I focused on the idea of gesturecons and how the technology could be intuitive and reassuring. The scenarios use futurecasted technology, since the affordances of interactive holograms allow for different kinds of interactions than a digital space (e.g., no screen, environmental immersion).

For final review we discussed how this semester might inform thesis ideas. I found myself gravitating to the design of virtual communities and the subculture of people who seek refuge in online environments (like Second Life). There is emerging research on how online social interactions appeal to a certain kind of user (psychosocially distressed) and end up worsening their condition. The emotional implications that designed online mediated environments have on user experience has definitely got my attention. I'm excited to see where this seed of interests will take me over the summer.

Thesis, here I come.

taxonomy of ui gestures

2010-04-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

For our last stretch of the semester we are looking at gestural interfaces in conjunction with our database. I thought about how the seven colors of health (my database) inform the way that people eat and shop, so looked in those contexts for naturally occurring gestures. These grand gestures that make up my taxonomy include: scanning an object at checkout, getting an item off the shelf, eating food with different types of cutlery, &c.

I found it challenging to try and utilize these specific gestures in an interface—even though their use in context was similar to it's use within the database—because it instantly became vaguely symbolic. The gesture used to interact with the information had to be a learned behavior that challenged existing conventions. While challenging conventions is awesome, I found it to be particularly cumbersome and exhaustive in this case. In one iteration, with a fridge interaction, my user looked like a genie in front of this appliance silently commanding recipe shopping at will. (enjoy below)

I ended up taking a slightly different route for my final project, where it became less about the gesture and it's meaning within the system, and more about the visual feedback during interaction.

And yes, this all happens in the future...haha

update: database concept map

2010-04-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED

2010-04-03T13:12:00.001-07:00

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interactive moments

2010-03-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

Working with my 'color in relation to nature' database, I completed three project prompts (6 moments).

PROMPT ONE
Combine 1 motivation with 1 attribute of experience.

For this moment I assigned 'credibility' as the user's motivation and 'framing' for their attribute of experience. After critique we had an hour to story board an improved idea, so I attempted to make the interface more color centric. It was also important for me to keep pushing my visualizations of time.

PROMPT TWO
Design two moments where the user's motivation shifts according to the attribute of experience.

Again, I was looking for new ways of representing time and exploring the possibilities of user interaction. If a user has to hold onto the ball to collect the color data in one moment, how would their motivation shift if their mouse rollover resulted in a color seeking behavior?

PROMPT THREE
Retain a comparable attribute of experience throughout 3 different environments.

The distinction between "I hear you" and "I'm listening to you" is what I wanted to get across in my last three moments—except with the focus being on how we see. By mediating the vision between someone and their environment, I can encourage a different way of seeing. So, the attribute of experience is isolating color in your environment, which was carried through on an iphone, desktop computer, and hand-held spectacles or as Cadie would say, "Interface on your face!"

I was amazed at how difficult it was to reinvent the click (not that that was our implicit goal). But, if a mouse could not go up to an object on the screen, click on it, and make requested information appear...what else could it do instead? Also, since the desktop metaphor is an invented notion, just imagine how different computer experiences would be if the driving metaphor behind them defied the laws of gravity, or interpreted them literally. Both of these scenarios have me imagining a neutral mouse state either floating away or instantly slamming to the bottom of the screen.

Anyhow, I am excited about moving forward with my explorations.

spring semester 2010

2010-02-28T12:42:00.000-08:00

The spring semester at NCSU is all about interface, so we have been hard at work! So far we have picked a database (that would enable us to explore different affordances), started a concept map, did rapid prototyping, and responded to three project prompts requiring us to explore user motivation and attributes of experience. I chose 'color in relation to nature' as my database.

Below are current screenshots of my concept map:

And my results from our rapid prototyping session:

Our professor Denise Gonzales Crisp invited the second year students to take a break from thesis and watch a screening of our prompted moments in Burns Auditorium this coming Wednesday. I'll be posting my compilation video later this week.

mediated seminar festivities

2010-02-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

Today in Seminar, my classmates Kelly and David had a great idea for discussing our assigned reading. Relevant to the discussion of technology and it's implications, we partnered up to mediate our comments through Xtranormal (a text to movie website).

The process of converting a face to face conversation into an animated "conversation" was very eye opening. The tone of our physical conversation was primarily serious in nature, but that changed once we began directing how it would be broadcasted. In the end, the agency over the childish avatars, sound bytes, body gestures, and camera angles provoked a more playful tone in dialogue.

Watch below as Wendy and I discuss Sherry Turkle's text:

I'm fully aware that this video might seem a bit odd out of context, but nevertheless I found the implications of this exercise worth sharing.

interesting ted talk

2010-02-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

personalized prompt v2

2009-12-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

DESIGN INVESTIGATION: BUDDY LISTS IN VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES

Buddy lists are a main feature of virtual third place environments and have the potential to do more for its users, especially since these virtual communities are being sought after to fill the void of the depleting physical third place. I question the design of tools, like the buddy list, and whether or not they are compatable with how participants are using the space. This design investigation starts to wonder how these tools could be different? What other functions could the buddy list space privilege (in addition to online status)? What could this information look like and how could it facilitate connections in online communities? I approached this query as a spatial investigation centering on how users relate to their friends and how the friends relate to each other.

the current graphic standard
As of now, these iterations keep the same minimizing and messaging controls of original buddy lists.

I. friend connectedness
Here the contacts tab in the virtual environment is a structurally dynamic container - where online participants move around, and offline icons are static. Friends that are connected are automatically pulled closer in proximity, so the arrangement of the buddy icons constantly react to other people's online activity. These instantaneous groupings reveal commonalities among your contacts that are currently unseen.

II. online time
This format privileges the amount of computer activity spent in the virtual community; longer durations of time result in a placement closer to the front of the line on your friend’s buddy list. I am not necessarily focused on motivating people to invest more of their time in virtual communities, but it would be interesting to see if a buddy list format could encourage a specific behavior. Would users consciously/subconsciously stay logged in for longer periods of time to keep their place in line?

III. audio clips
Buddy icons are given the dual purpose of being an identifying image and self recorded sound clip. Users would be able to make public updates or private messages with the advantage of using their own voice. These recordings are a small level of exposure that still protects anonymity and works harder (than what is being currently used) to connect friends. If anything, it finally reaffirms that Sheila is not really a guy.

IV. virtual location
This format acts as a map that constantly lets you know where you are in relation to your friends. Not only does it say who is online, but where you can go to meet up with them. Users would be forced to explore the space in order to see where their friends are, which could potentially encourage the assembly of groups - since popoulated areas would be visible on the map.

SYMPOSIUM WEBSITE LAUNCHED :)

2009-11-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.ncsu.edu/graphicdesign/GradSymposium2010/

PERSONALIZED PROMPT v1

2009-11-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

I came into this design investigation questioning the current role of Oldenburg's third place. Researchers Nicolos Ducheneut, Robert J. Moore & Eric Nickell from the Palo Alto Research Center agree that, "Online games are promising environments that could be designed to replace or, at the very least, supplement the third VIRTUAL ‘‘THIRD PLACES’’ places of the physical world." Surprisingly - and against Oldenburg's intentions - physical and virtual third places are being used similarly by the public. The biggest difference between the two spaces is the computer mediation that virtual communities require to communicate. Does this hinder a participant's ability to establish authentic human connections online? How human centered was the original design of the digital vernacular that is now standard?

For the investigations shown below, I wanted to take online conversations out of the confines of the scroll box and see how it would look and feel integrated into the environment, while taking on characteristics of spoken language.

I. Visualizing a litteral exchange of words :

message input

receiving message

view of other person receiving your message

II. Scale indicating order of dialogue:

III. Layers giving a sense of time:

message received

message input

new layer added

After getting feedback from critique, I want to keep looking at enhancing interactions in virtual communities, but where achieving a level of physical replication is not the focus.

PERSONALIZED PROMPT

2009-11-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

current area of interest: Examining third places in the modern world

In the year 2000, PlayStation 2 ran a two year ad campaign that designated themselves as The Third Place. This statement caught the imagination of the public, even though people weren't clear on what it meant. Is the current use of the term "third place" being redefined, or are Ray Oldenburg's ideas from 1989 unscathed? If third places are adapting digitally, are these virtual spaces used in the same way by the community or does the shift to the digital realm leave behind too many particularities (like face to face contact or food) to resemble its physical predecessors? At what point are we expanding on the original concept or just talking about something new?

On a side note: I enjoyed this parody from theonion.com on the World of World of Warcraft. :)

SYMPOSIUM FORAY v3

2009-11-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

For this project, I looked at branding as a design strategy unable to effectively connect with consumers. Seeking a clear and engaging expression, I explored various project formats that included a poster series, animation and game.

Final iteration as a flash game (intended to be played):

Unfortunately, I focused more attention on the form than the idea driving it. It almost seems contradictory to be so exploratory and experimental within a project without pushing the limits of the original concept. What might be physically engaging for a reader, like the game, does not necessarily mean that it is going to generate conversation or self reflection. I am going to work on pushing my ideas, getting more out of my class readings, and making sure to find the fun in it all. And it wouldn't hurt to stay on top of the dishes too...

SYMPOSIUM FORAY v2

2009-11-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

This is a short animation I made that starts to visualize the relationship branding strategist have with consumers.

At the recommendation of my classmates, I am going to be investigating some demonstrative (as opposed to illustrative) approaches in order to clarify my ideas while maintaining the reader's interest.

SYMPOSIUM FORAY v1

2009-10-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

After a lot of investigation, I focused on "branding" as a design strategy relative to the rhetoric of authenticity. I was fascinated by the contrasting variables that need to stay under consideration (e.g., consistency while being relevant and fresh) in order to ensure a long-term sustainable value. Since a misstep at any touchpoint could easily weaken a consumer's brand confidence, there are endless amounts of resources used to try and piece together the perfect branding strategy. My intent with this project was to visualize the difficulty/misalignment brands have communicating their objectives. This disconnect is physically shown with seven 8.5 x 14" one sheets. They are spaced out to imply groupings whose content you are supposed to investigate as a dialogue.

After reading the name of the piece you are confronted with the first set of posters. There is a blank sheet of paper juxtaposed with an image of a heart bleep - signifying the "birth" of a brand. I made this a part of the dialogue to give my narrative a beginning full of possibilities, in contrast to the end of the series.

A brand's effort to meticulously align with a person's perceptions, beliefs and attitude is the focus of the second set. I chose to extend the line from the previous poster and use rigid geometric shapes, coming from one source, to symbolize the branding effort, while the fickle emotional state of humans took shape as unpredictable organic waves (I sound like an alien from another planet, haha). These two elements are reaching out to each other, but their physical differences hinder the possibility of a good connection. Measuring the positive resonance of a brand or even ensuring loyalty is extremely difficult - now that consumers have the whole world to shop from with the internet - and the lack of contact shown here is partially speaking to that. But, it is also difficult to connect the brand's objectives with the people who are doing the branding...

The last set of posters is a commentary on differentiation as a main branding purpose. I extended a hand from the previous poster to represent an individual's belief that what they are outputting is going to make them stand out, even though most of the time they are just falling into a river of trendy sameness.

Interestingly enough, the gaps in dialogue between my three sets is where I think the designer's role is most pivotal (trying to connect the brand to people, etc.) and I am considering making this a visible addition. Thinking about the context of this symposium, I was unsure about how direct my point of view had to be. Without any annotations I know that these visuals could easily be read differently than I inteded, but I kind of like the idea of leaving the posters open for interpretation. I am curious to know if you think it is still too vague. I definitely tried to run with my most wild and crazy idea, so if you think I need to pull it in or jump farther, please let me know. Thank you in advance for all of your input!

CURIOUS...

2009-10-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

While loading a pdf, I was able to read the text before it fully uploaded. I just felt like this should have been harder, since the text was so obscured:

And it made me think back to the Cambridge word scramble study:

"Arocdnicg to rsceearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm. Tihs is buseace the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

Even though I've heard this wasn't a real study, I still love how these kind of occurrences make me (re)appreciate how the brain works.

INITIATION TO _______. REFLECTION

2009-10-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

It is apparent that finding a design strategy that works with this assignment is illusive. According to "The Rhetorical Act", by Karylyn Kohrs Campbell and Susan Schultz Huxman, the challenge as a rhetor is, "attempt(ing) to overcome the obstacles in a given situation with a specific audience on a given issue to achieve a particular end." Would the simple fact that I am an outsider be my biggest obstacle? Is being a human designing for another human enough, or am I unwillingly inadequate at designing for a community that I am not a part of?

For me, Project 2 became an initiation of the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society (RARS) to an extension of Twitter using morse code. The goal was to adopt RARS' existing visual conventions, while harmoniously/arrestingly introducing new visuals. The following are key questions and problems that I addressed during my process:

What constitutes an initiation?

What could I initiate my community to that would be a logical extension of their current interests?

Which conventional formats and visuals should be borrowed in the design of the initiation?

How could I create a design that felt authentic to my target audience when unfamiliar visuals were being introduced? (Which, I later realized, was an unnecessary constraint I gave myself.)

And how far could I divert from what is "standard" and still be effective?

I tried to create an operator's manual that took in consideration my audience's biases, values, expectations and knowledge. The "twitter circuit diagram" annotated with ham acronyms was an important feature of the manual that concreted my initiative mission, but this blending of twitter and RARS still fell short of the projected goal. The initiation could have been pushed farther away from the safety nets of "how a manual works" and "how twitter works". I had unintentionally given myself parameters concerning authenticity in an attempt to make the project more explicit, but ended up stagnating exploration. I really liked Tony's suggestion of Twitter CW becoming a metaphor for the lapsing time frames that exist in morse code. Although I was previously apprehensive about the complexities of that correlation, addressing the function of the interface would not have been my problem. Instead the project could have taken shape as a solely diagrammatic manual on Twitter CW that visualized twitter messages interacting with time and space.

I am trying to relinquish my approach as a practical problem solver, and let grad school nurture uninhibited theoretical exploration. Making this conscious effort to refocus my attention to the possibilities and what ifs will deter me from targeting a fully designed, functioning end product. Seeing the different interpretations of the same assignment really reveals the subjectiveness of the design process, and the difficulty in finding "the right" approach. One of the things that struck me during critique was how the assimilation of new visual methods into the initiations recurrently sacrificed legibility, conviction or incentive. As students liberated to manipulate visual conventions, what defines our success in these assignments? Does a project have to be realistic and consumable by the real world or does pushing the boundaries of comprehension show a greater strength?

INITIATION TO _______. v2

2009-10-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

INITIATION TO _______. v2 (FALSE START)

2009-10-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

I have been going full force trying to wrap my head around a way of using the visual rhetoric of my community in an initiation. I decided on a pamphlet format as my immersive delivery of universal signals of distress...

When I found out that my weekend could potentially be full of boring publication layout I had a little voice in my head that said "Get out of there!". My community is math and science centric, so reflecting dry schematics into the delivery would be effective, but really boring for me. That's not what grad school is about! I want to get excited about my projects!!

So, I got as far as these cover spreads:

Now that I got that out of my system, I can move on to more interesting outlets :)

INITIATION TO _______. v1

2009-09-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Our project is to initiate a community into something of our choice. My community is an amateur radio society located in the RTP area. In my first attempt I made a poster initiating them to universal signals of distress. After critique yesterday I came away with a lot of great feedback to use in my second attempt.

These are the questions I need to ask myself on my second go around:

How can I make the process more immersive?

How can the signals be instructional/in-depth and make people want to remember/do?

How can I speak "through" the community and not "at" them?

How can I use the visual rhetoric that is dominant on the typography (ie: call signs) to speak more directly to the community?

What fonts, symbols and formats am I choosing that would feel most "authentic"?

I was also surprised to be approached after critique by someone in my class who is a certified amateur radio operator and I got a lot of great feedback from him! I can't wait to see where this one will go in the week to come.

CULTURAL PROBE v2

2009-09-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

After careful assessment I still felt like there was merit to my original idea, but wanted to find a way of making it more perceptive. The retrieval of information about the customer’s relationship with Cup A Joe (as a third place) could be more directly approached. I spent a majority of my time figuring out how the probe could be redesigned to motivate action and coming to terms with the fact that while the photos were potentially not giving me the kind of semantic indicators I thought, they could still be used to gain insightful information in other ways.

When a customer walks into Cup A Joe the probe will be visible on the back wall of the smoking room seen through the connecting doorway. It can also can be seen in the window from the street. Since the shop is separated into two rooms, there would be table tents holding photos and prompting people to take action in other areas of the space.

The table tent prototype is purposefully DIY looking to blend in with Cup A Joe's existing collateral.

My aim is to investigate how/why/what is it about Cup A Joe that people self-identify with, so I am prompting them to reflect on their relationship within the space.

Knowing that the next step after taking the photo is a required drawn self portrait makes the participants more conscious of what they take a picture of (they’re thinking “Where in Cup A Joe do I see myself placed?”). This makes the backgrounds of the photos more purposeful than arbitrary. It is hard to make further assumptions about the photo’s assessment because I can’t control the final results. I feel like this cultural probe is setting up an opportunity for the customer to tell me about themselves in relation to the third place. The collection of photos as a whole would offer the most insight, after I’m able to look at the patterns and anomalies of what people are taking a picture of, how they use the photos bottom margin, their tone and verbiage. This kind of probe works well for Cup A Joe because of its relaxing lounge environment, and there is an eclectic customer base who self-identify with the coffee shop (ranging from smokers to non smokers and professors to angst ridden teens). Since the coffee shop uses it’s walls to display local art, this project might come off as an artistic installation.

This probe was designed to motivate participation by speaking to a person’s relational needs: competition, excellence, curiosity and affection. Seeing a collection of rare polaroids on a billboard with the cameras nearby would spark curiosity. Also, a collaborative work that is publicly displayed gives the regulars a chance to be a part of something bigger than themselves, fulfilling their desire to be a part of a community. It is easy to fully engage with the probe since all of the tools are intuitive and user friendly.

After thinking about this project for so long, it felt like getting the information from the participants was too complicated. Finding out what a person wasn't conscious of "saying" through their drawing left me without an accurate assessment of the data. There is definitely still some problem/solution issues to work out with the idea of an effective cultural probe.

CULTURAL PROBE v1

2009-09-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

I am happy to start my documentation of grad school, starting with our first assignment:

After writing thick descriptions of a coffee shop, we designed a cultural probe to elicit information about ritual. I approached ritual on a macro scale, and wanted to investigate Cup A Joe coffee house as a "third place" environment, finding out what needs were being fostered there (aside from the obvious brewed beverage).

Ten regulars at Cup A Joe would be given my cultural probe kit, and then instructed to take pictures of places they go to when they're not at home or work. Included would be guidelines that would direct participants to the right kinds of locations. Once the photograph develops, they are asked to immediately draw themselves into the photo. This project would take place over the span of a month, during which time there would be a drop-box located at Cup A Joe. Afterwards, I would meet with them to retrieve the camera and debrief.

An assessment of the conscious and subconscious semiotic indicators from the drawings would give insight into the participant's relationship to third place environments. I felt this would be more effective than if the camera had been turned on the test subjects in all the photographs.

This coming week we will be refining our probes, so I'm curious to see where this can go.

WAR OF THE WIRELESS

2009-08-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

I got a laugh from someone's wireless network name, so I made mine a witty retort. I hope some more people from the neighborhood get in on this.

MEMORY BOOK

2009-08-03T00:09:00.000-07:00

Last year I handmade a memory book for my mom's 50th birthday. The book featured two of my favorites: french folded pages and japanese stab binding. The background textures were fabrics from my childhood and my dad and sister got involved with the inclusion of their personal letters. I could not wait to finally document it while my mom was taking her walk down memory lane.

MY DOGS ARE MY WORST CRITICS

2009-06-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

Berkely and Otis keep getting to my undergraduate school projects and tearing them to shreds throughout the apartment. If they don't like my work, I wish they would just tell me!

HOBBY ETC.

2009-04-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

More monster sewing projects - with a face only a mother could love.

Gaines' new site had to be quickly finished and uploaded. His Gallery Up reception was creeping up on us, so I still have a few kinks to work out. It is a big improvement from his previous portfolio site!

I HAVE A MONSTER HOBBY

2009-03-30T21:02:00.001-07:00

His mugshot.

He's sad that I made him wear this shirt.

STARTED A NEW HOBBY.

2009-03-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

I finally purchased a sewing machine today.

The result of my first experiment was a one-armed hook monster! I'm already looking forward to these fun and creative sessions.

I think my little cilantro plant was trying to tell me something <3