Week 04 – Origination

Reading Quiz

READING: The Laws of Simplicity; John Maeda

•  Intro and Law 3 – Time

–  http://lawsofsimplicity.com/2006/07/23/law-3-time-2/

WEEK 04 – 11/8/10          © 2010 School of Creative Arts & Humanities, Charles Darwin University

Answer the following questions as succinctly as possible in your own words

1.What is the major benefit of saving time?

We are able to spend more time doing the things we want or need to do

2.How do designers integrate time into their products?

Designers use progress bars and percentages to assure the user everything is ok and it gives a sense of progress that feels quicker than a blank screen

3.Explain the relationship between making waiting shorter with making waiting more tolerable?

A wait is made shorter by advances in technology progressing things faster or making things look faster. A wait is made more tolerable if the person waiting is distracted in some way to almost distort the amount of time they feel they have to wait. This can be done by offering a service such as free food or a notification such as how you are progressing in the queue.

4.How can you use your timeline to increase your own efficiency as a designer?

Group your projected progress and create small deadlines for each

 

5.Briefly outline an event or activity in which you are adept at time saving?

If I can save time in travelling I will look at the quickest way to do so

Example: Working in Darling Harbour, Sydney and Living in Bondi Beach was a process getting home after work. The traditional way is to get a tram from the casino to central train station, get a train from Central to Bondi Junction and then a bus to Bondi Beach.

Because the trams were un-reliable at coming in 15 minute intervals and being slow in reaching Central Station, I calculated I could walk into the city to Town Hall Station then get train to bondi then bus to the beach much quicker and more reliably unless it was raining.

6. What part of your design/multimedia process do you need to improve at, in terms of saving time?

I need to know most of the short cuts for the new software and practice techniques so I can make it an extension of my brain.

Reference: Image from The Laws of Simplicity; John Maeda

•  Intro and Law 3 – Time

Maeda uses the above images to show the difference between a progress bar going from blank to eventually full (left) and the bar going from nothing to progressively full (right).  We can definitely see that the right image looks like more flow is happening to assure the user that things are progressing and it is not dropping out.

 Maeda's Vocabulary

Raison d'être

Raison d'être (French pronunciation: [ʁezɔ̃ dɛtχ]) is a French phrase meaning "reason for existence."

Reference: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raison_d'être

Prototypical - representing or constituting an original type after which other similar things are patterned; "archetypal patterns"; "she was the prototypal student activist"

Reference: Wikipedia http://www.thefreedictionary.com/prototypical

EXERCISE: 

Develop 3 words or phrases for a NEW logo for this year’s exhibition

Challenge conventional thought patterns - Think crazy – outside the tetrahedron

This year’s theme:

NT CENTENARY

Making Cents

Centimentality

TenTenary

Centsation

Centum Momentum

Message Centenary

Unveil of the Century

Tale of the Century

EXERCISE: Analyzing Patterns / Branding

Thinking Game 

Develop a list of words or phrases that describe last year’s logo.

Reference: Image “Uphere” CDU Design Students Exhibition 2010

Address: 

1. the name “uphere” – meaning / effectiveness

I like the notion and the play on words which mean to me as referring to “The Territory” and to “Look up and see what’s going on!”

It’s a fantastic name for a Darwin Art Exhibition!

2. the graphic pattern – inferred meaning / effectiveness

The burnt orange background is typical of the Northern Territory theme and the fact that the text is located at the top of the page and a lot of orange negative space enforces the idea we are talking about Darwin. Hanging the letters from art pages re-inforces the idea it is som sort of Art or Design Exhibition. I am happy with the design. If I was to improve it, the only thing I would change is the spacing between the words “Up” and “Here” so it doesn’t read “uphere” which is a nonsense word if read as one and the “ph” becomes an “f” in this instance.

  

YouTube Clip

Time Management Tips for Students

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICjDACIGkLc

Commentary

Whilst being on the topic of efficiency this week I looked at a short clip on time management tips for students. This was a clear delivery and I liked it however it only gave four tips and spent a lot of time gas-bagging in the small amount of film.

They did however use visual text on the screen to list the things to do and not to do. I found that I already knew the tips like “eliminate distractions” but there are many people out there that would not think of that. I liked the video but the typical American delivery puts way too many words into 4 simple tips that can be shown one slide.

Reflection

This week got a little carried away with stories from everyone for the different topics we discussed. I found it interesting hearing of ideas that I hadn’t thought of but it was easy to get off track.

I really liked chapter 3 of Maeda’s book Laws of Simplicity called “Time” it really inspired me to think of designs and processes in everyday life that can be improved.

I found the task of thinking about names for our exhibition more challenging than first thought. Maybe a good name will come to me before next week’s class.