Tuesday, 27 January

Week 3: Affordances and Constraints 1/2

The SoIC Pacesetters event: “The Right Questions To Ask” program on January 27, 2015 at 7:30PM in INFO-E150.

Week 1 Terms:
User Interface (UI), User Experience (UXD), Project Life Cycle, Iteration, Reflective, “Computer Administrative Debris,” Principles of Good Design, Edward Tufte, Dieter Rams, Sir Jony Ive

Week 2 Terms:

Information Architecture, Aesthetics, Hierarchy, Icon, Symbol, Typography, Fonts (Serif and Sans Serif), Logotypes, Four principles of page layout, Massimo Vignelli

Week 3 Terms:
Ergonomics, Affordances, Signifiers, Constraints, Don Norman, Smart Design

Review Examples of Mini-Project 1 Logotypes

Discuss Reading Responses 

What is the most surprising thing you learned?

What's the most useful thing you learned? 

Attendance Policy Reiteration

Sketchnoting Resources
http://i300spring2015.blogspot.com/2015/01/sketchnoting-resources.html

Introduce Project 1: Affordances + Constraints

Case Study: Smart Design 
http://smartdesignworldwide.com/

From Objectified:

Affordances/Signifiers -- Good or Bad?

Constraints -- good or bad?

Meet with your group members, exchange contact information, and engage in the following in-class activity:

Each person should choose one object you have with you, e.g. smart phone in case, backpack, clothing, and identify the intended affordances and constraints in each -- are they successful or unsuccessful. Why?

Now make a plan of action with your team for completing the project. How are you going to complete the interim assignment below as a team? (Submit a single write-up at the end of class).

Indicate in your write up if your team is willing to present your preliminary findings on Thursday. 

Homework for Thursday, 29 January:

1. Read the materials provided on Affordances and Constraints and review your notes from class.
2. Look, as a team, at a variety of designed situations that meet the criteria set out above. Do a preliminary analysis of your interaction with them using the affordance/constraint framework. Document these interactions in images (still and, if you wish, moving) and in words. 
3. Choose the richest example you found and analyze the affordances and constraints you find, noting how successful or not they were at supporting the intended activity.