Kujo_9_Q/I

Reading chapter 9 an idea occurred to me. Why don't we see more products that can interact with each other? Right now there are many products that do interact with each other on a sub level to a whole level. Ex: An iPod will sub interact with a xbox 360 to play music but you can't load music on to an iPod like you can do on a whole level with a computer. That's software, hardware still lags a little behind. Though USB's are the most universal .

So it occurred to me, why haven't we seen hardware or future designs that are ready equipped and wired for a multitude of electronic products? I think it would be sweet to see an entertainment center that is all ready wired for gaming systems, displays and just many connections for what ever could be plugged into it. Then products could be bought without a million cords because the cords and connections would already have come with the entertainment center. Maybe even if the products that connected to the center started to make universal docking stations... thinking about docking an iPod but instead of just an iPod, a TV, a gaming system, any MP3 player, computers, cell phones... the list goes on. Then with some products that are being developed to charge products and wireless signals are getting faster and stronger the possibility of such an item bringing everything together seems much more plausible.

Vaughn_6_I

Reading this chapter brought back memories form the web design class I'd taken last year, and amongst other things, the idea of text and its usefulness or creative flexibility recurred to me. On that note, I'll just post a link to a site that I've contributed to, but regard highly in its layout. Thunderbolt is a very text-based website, which alludes to a more journalistic and sophisticated take on the world of video game sites, and has a great sense of usability and guidance for the end use. It's just a site I think about whenever web design becomes the topic of discussion.

Kirk_6_I

When I was reading this chapter, I was thinking about how web design has evolved and become more sophisticated in such a short period of time, in comparison with other forms of media. What I mean is that newspapers and television (especially news) has been presented in basically the same way since their inception. However, the internet is constantly changing. Remember when websites with frames were all the rage? Now if you come across a page that uses frames you just assume it hasn't been updated since 1998. Also the internet is incorporating more and more multimedia as people get faster connections. I like to browse through waybackmachine (http://www.archive.org/web/web.php) to see how websites used to be. For example, ESPN.com is barely recognizable in 2000 compared to today. But, the Sportscenter broadcasts are basically the same, except for a ticker on the side that lets you know what's coming. And BSU's webpage in 2000 looks like it was designed to be viewed on a PDA. So I guess my point is, it's becoming standard to assume that our users are going to be using decent sized monitors with fast connections, and as interaction designers, we facilitate the growth of technology by basically forcing users to either upgrade their systems or not use our design.

Justin_6_I

This chapter was full of alot of good information for creating projects.  One thing that the author mentioned that I've heard too many times to count is about typography.  Although everyone by now should know about the good and bad font types to use, we still see websites that are hard to read.  Making sure to have the right type of font, size of font, alignment, etc is a big part of creating a successful project and is just one of many aspects to think about when creating projects.

Frye_6_I

I really liked how this chapter mentioned the over-use/under-use of sound on the web. I think that sound can really help develop a particular applications interactivity. The book mentions how some websites can suddenly start blasting music at you while others use sound to subtly enhance an interface. And referring back to the previous chapter when it spoke about designing through emotion, I think sound is a must. It can definitely take a feeling that a developer it trying to create to the next level.

Patrick_6_I

When reading chapter 6 of the book, I found the section about visual flow to be helpful and interesting.  Saffer mentioned that in the western world, the eye generally travels from left to right, top to bottom.  The diagram in the book with the squares seems pleasing and easy to follow because of the visual flow that the designer kept in mind.  Using subtleties like this can easily help the usability of your design.

Chris_6_I

Saffer states that typography is one of the most important aspects of design. It creates personality as well as clear labels for guiding a user through a site. It is wise to keep a consistent typeface to keep that personality in tact. I guess I found it interesting because I don't usually pay attention (or do not think I do) to different fonts and the personalities they convey.

Christian_6_Q

I thought the case study with Google's Gmail and Google Talk was interesting. It discussed merging these two forms of communication into one, so users wouldn't have to go elsewhere to use either. I just think it was a good idea to make two frequently used applications able to be used at the same time.

My question is, do you see any other applications being molded together like this in the near future?

Evan_6_I

If there's one chapter that I might refer back to the most, this might be it. Whenever I work on a project, the most difficult thing for me to do is working on the actual aesthetic design. I'm not as creative as I'd like to be when coming up with designs. At least this chapter will be able to guide me a bit and give me some suggestions.

I was intrigued by the "presence" interface that Saffer mentioned in the chapter, which would react to a person's presence. Dr. Dailey already mentioned one such interface on the iPhone, which dims its screen when it detects that you are talking on the phone. I can easily see this type of interface expanding to all the appliances in our homes. That way, all of the appliances in your house or even just a room would turn off if no one is in them in order to save energy.

Ben_6_1

One section I found interesting was the part where the book talked about the squint test. I have a friend who is a tattoo artist, one day I asked him how he transformed a picture into a tattoo on someone's body. The way he said he did it was by using the squint test, by squinting his eyes he could see all of the different colors in a section photograph or picture and be able to match his inks to them. This test is useful not only for checking which sections of your design are the most prominent but also which colors in a design are most prominent.

Jacob_6_Q

This chapter didn't seem to lend itself to any big ideas or big questions in my opinion, but I'm still not ruling them out.

This chapter seemed to focus primarily on the tools of interface design.  Yes, Saffer touched on some theory and quoted other professionals, but I think for a big idea or big question here, we may need to deduce something from all the practical advice Saffer gives.

I think here we need to notice the trend in quantity of elements used in interface design.  The trend is change.  More and more we see new elements of interfaces becoming staples of interface design.  Each somehow fits the bill of the principles outlined in chapter 3, but each is different from its peers and predecessors in some way (hence the word 'new').

I believe that there are infinitely many possibilities for interface elements; it just depends on the context on when and how to use them, which leads to my big question: If we have total creative power over the context, could we not implement new and bizarre interface elements that still make sense to the user?

Scott_6_I

I liked the section on voice-controlled interfaces. I think this is an area that hasn't realized its full potential yet. It may be a awhile until something comes along that will be very efficient but I like the idea of being able to talk to a computer in order to do things. I think it improve the effieciency of alot of things. Just think how easy it would be to write a paper just by talking to the computer and having spell everything right and use the right punctuation.

Tetta__6__I

This chapter covers a lot of information, but I find one particular section of the chapter more interesting and familiar to me, and that is the part where it talks about Gmail with Google Talk. I have used the chat feature on Gmail before, and I find it very useful that all chats are being archived so that they can be searched later on. Yahoo Mail has something similar too, and I personally prefer Yahoo’s interface to Gmail just because I like the tabs Yahoo use in their new Mail interface. Also, Yahoo chat supports sending texts to cell phones. However, Yahoo’s integrated chat will not archive any chats at all, so for that point, Gmail is better. I like the idea of interacting with users, so even though it could be difficult to achieve in Flash, because I would probably need to know a lot about server technology, I would like to make something as interactive and dynamic as chat feature on Gmail, using Flash.

Seth_6_I

As I read through chapter 6, I liked the brief section toward the beginning with commentary from Luke Wroblewski (author of Site-Seeing: A visual approach to web usability). The part I found most useful was when they asked him, "What are some of the common interface mistakes that new interaction designers make?" He answered something to the effect that beginners try to make everything "findable" so everything has the same visual weight. The problem with this is the audience will so so much jumping out at them that they won't be able to keep their eyes from moving all over the screen. I thought his advice to calm things down and find a middle ground with visual organization and personality was good. I'll have to keep that in mind while designing.