Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Kastler's Chapter 9
When I was reading chapter 9 in Wise, the section discussion the decline of the public sphere stood out the most. I have always been curious about how the public sphere was organized during the days without the technical advancements we currently take advantage of today. I figured that most of the people during those years were more in tune with what was happening in the cities, townships, or communities they lived in. This is because they had to interact with each other and the means of obtaining information was centralized. Currently, the means to which our society obtains their information is so wide, it is hard to determine where people get their information. And with stating that, I want to make it clear that I am not naive to the fact that there still is a public sphere in which people still discuss important matters in person, but rather the internet has made the public sphere decentralized. Making the public sphere obtainable to more people over a wider range of space. Because of the internet, the public sphere is world-wide and it now possible that anyone regardless to age, sex, or race can be apart of this without any discrimination.
Allen's Take on Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine:
This chapter professes power and wealth through knowledge. People should strive for excellence. Excellence of unity. “Cyber Space Democracy,” is what we should go after, since we are putting all of our eggs in one basket. Yes, we are working towards a better future, but a better future for who? The “have-nots,” no, a better future those of whom are informed and those who embrace the on coming of a cyber era. Jobs are going out of the window, the cost of living increases, and only a few people standing on the necks of millions, is what seems to be forthcoming. No money, plus no job, equals your future (our future).
I'm partial to both sides of this foreseeable situation. If one doesn't take the initiative to try and roll with the punches, they are going to get pounded. The question I raise is, "Should they (we) have too?"
This chapter professes power and wealth through knowledge. People should strive for excellence. Excellence of unity. “Cyber Space Democracy,” is what we should go after, since we are putting all of our eggs in one basket. Yes, we are working towards a better future, but a better future for who? The “have-nots,” no, a better future those of whom are informed and those who embrace the on coming of a cyber era. Jobs are going out of the window, the cost of living increases, and only a few people standing on the necks of millions, is what seems to be forthcoming. No money, plus no job, equals your future (our future).
I'm partial to both sides of this foreseeable situation. If one doesn't take the initiative to try and roll with the punches, they are going to get pounded. The question I raise is, "Should they (we) have too?"
Zelasko Reading Response 9
This chapter was filled with information that I have never been introduced to . Therefore, I was very interested in all the content.
The part I found most interesting was the information theory value. The book states that the notion of value resides in information and goes far back to philosophical traditions. The progress of humanity and the belief that this can be achieved by means of applying systematic knowledge are two ideas behind this. They believe that technology could help people achieve a better life on earth. In some ways I agree with this and in others I don't.
On one hand, it is true that with technology our life has become easier, but how can you judge whether life is better because of it. Who is to say that just because we can produce more quantities equals happier people? What if the people who used to do everything by hand now count on technology and have received hour and pay cuts or even worse, gotten laid off? I don't see how their life is better because of that.
In other ways I can see how technological advantages can help such as finding distinct ways to do a task which makes the outcome bigger and better and more efficient. Overall I think its too broad of a statement to say that the tech value makes for a better life because everyone is going to have different ideas on what makes life good and 'better'.
The part I found most interesting was the information theory value. The book states that the notion of value resides in information and goes far back to philosophical traditions. The progress of humanity and the belief that this can be achieved by means of applying systematic knowledge are two ideas behind this. They believe that technology could help people achieve a better life on earth. In some ways I agree with this and in others I don't.
On one hand, it is true that with technology our life has become easier, but how can you judge whether life is better because of it. Who is to say that just because we can produce more quantities equals happier people? What if the people who used to do everything by hand now count on technology and have received hour and pay cuts or even worse, gotten laid off? I don't see how their life is better because of that.
In other ways I can see how technological advantages can help such as finding distinct ways to do a task which makes the outcome bigger and better and more efficient. Overall I think its too broad of a statement to say that the tech value makes for a better life because everyone is going to have different ideas on what makes life good and 'better'.
information age garfinkel
As a Information Technology minor (sadly), the internet has both become a product that makes some things simpler to do, and have easy access to do so, but it may also cause the loss of some jobs; I don't mean neccessarily unemploying people, rather transferring them to a different department. Some telephone systems have a voice recognition system where you tell it the information to be accessed by a company. This is what a customer service representative would ask you, instead it is an automated message where that takes your information, not the representative. Yes, doing things in this way may make things easier, but you lose the "personal touch" of talking with people.
As another example, ordering products from a company to your own company used to require you to make a call and give them your information about your company and what you need as far as office supplies go. Now, you can log onto the internet, enter the information yourself, and choose which products you need, without much of a need to call that company.
As another example, ordering products from a company to your own company used to require you to make a call and give them your information about your company and what you need as far as office supplies go. Now, you can log onto the internet, enter the information yourself, and choose which products you need, without much of a need to call that company.
Chapter 9
I feel as though Wise was pretty much trying to sum up everything he has mentioned throughout the book and how cyberspace has had an effect on our society. However, the one aspect that I feel that he really touched on good was the idea that Internet is the electronic democracy. When I read this section, I found myself agreeing to the idea of how the Internet is so widely used to display governmental information or any kind of information for that matter. So this leads me to disagree with Wise's notion that cyberspace can not be the new Public Sphere and in particular because access is limited. Access to cyberspace or the Internet is not more limited than walking to the store to get a paper for $.50. I say that because everywhere you go now from public libraries to coffee shops that has either public computers or networks to connect to. The Internet or cyberspace is not as "public" as the public sphere idea would like it to be (I say this b/c of how things have changed since 9-11) but it is still open for anyone to use. So I think that Wise does not really argue is point all that well in this topic.
ch 9 response
I think that using cyberspace as a political forum is generally a terrific idea. Open forums that are available to the public for discussion of societal interests are the focal point of our democracy. But what I don't like and isn't quite mentioned in the chapter are those who are participating. As the gap in the "digital divide" expands, those of whom on one side will be the only particpants in the cyber discussions. Many folks, whose family or heritage has fallen victim to the effects of economic value and automation, are the ones without a "voice" in cyberspace. Additionally, those who are not as in tune to many issues or are aware of the ramifications of a topic could be easily swayed by the process of manipulation to have a tainted opinion. But, i do think that it would be easier for someone who is intelligent enough to hold claims in a cyber forum and not be discriminated against for any physical reasons such as race, sex, etc. The key to digital participation is being taught how to effectively and ethically participate.
Chapter 9 Reading Responce
This Chapter told of the impact the internet has on society. The internet can be used for many different thing from polotics to advertisments. All of which has to be read and determined to be usfull by the adience or the user. The advancements in mass comunication has made this dificult at times due to the bombardment of this information whith very little content. Also the overexposure to this suppled information has caused a decline in the debates of important issues. One of the major problems with the internet as a public forum is that only certan demographics posses the materials or even the skills to access the information easily or regularly. Making it a poor forum. I also beleave that just the use of cyber space alone may even become a cruch so when the time comes for us to stand up and express our ideas or opinion. We will be unable do too the lack of one unified voice which i find hard to express digitally. Yet the internet can help us become a better sociotey but be need to keep some of our own identety and ideals and not let anything take them from us.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Chapter 9 Response
Ok what next? This is the question that this chapter left me with. Personally I believe this would have made a better introduction or first chapter than last. It would have opened up the dialog that I believe Wise attempted to answer throughout this book. In this chapter he continually describes the onset of cyberspace and why it is important to modern society. After reading this chapter and the preceding ones I find myself asking the question, ok what next? Wise has throughout this text discussed many different aspects of multimedia without providing any insight as to what or why he feels the information he presents is important. I agree that advances in media and the technologies used to present information is important but nothing I found in his writings helps me to draw any inferences that I did not already have. Most of his information can be found by simply paying attention to current news reports. In what context does he feel that this information relates differently than to media and the way it is presented? Was his goal to create further desire in the reader to know more about multimedia? If so then he failed with this reader. If his goal was to give a very basic introduction to multimedia then he succeeded.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Reading response 9 mcclure
Basically for me, this chapter was telling about how the 'Information Age' has brought many types of change in our society. From how we communicate to how we work, technology has had huge impacts on our everyday behaviors. I guess I agree with the cyberspace ideology that imformation technologies have made our society materially better off by allowing fewer inputs to result in greater outputs. This idea is very obvious and seen everyday. Computers allow us to instantly send and receive information with the click of a few buttons. We no longer have to wait on 'snail mail' to get the information we are seeking. Fewer workers are needed to produce more output. Like Francis Bacon said ' knowledge is power and that man's lot could be improved by the application of reason and technology'. I certain believe this is true. Whether in the long run this is good thing, I'm not totally sure. Technology has certainly made lifes everyday tasks 'easier' and more efficient, but technology has also lead to me many money and power hungry societies, most of all our own. F.W. Taylor came up with the idea that efficiency of every task that a worker performed could be improved with careful observation and redesign of that task. His work reflects the need for the human tendency to want more, faster, and better. Technology has fed this need very well.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Class Notes: 4/27/06
Students presented their progress reports.
Reading and responses to Wise, chapter 9 due May 2. Creative Notebooks due May 4.
Reading and responses to Wise, chapter 9 due May 2. Creative Notebooks due May 4.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Class Notes: 4/20/06
I Review Web Usability Guidelines
Visual Organization Principles
Relative and consistent position, scale, style of information tell your audience how to interpret and make use of your Web site.
Brainstorm visual organization principles from the text.
Perceptual principles:
-proximity: closer are more related
-similarity: similar design can unify diverse elements or create relationships among items that may not be proximal
-continuance: if differences are a result of a pattern, different elements appear grouped
-closure: 'filling in the gaps' to create a more unified form
-isomorphic correspondence: association of a behavior with a visual cue-eg raised button.
Variation: the amount of visual contrast, the number of ways elements are visually different from one another, corresponds to the amount they are perceived as distinct and unrelated.
Visual Hierarchy: a way of indicating what is the most important information on the page--makes it scannable. Unification of elements, as well. Usually top to bottom.
Visual Weight: created by the contrast between two objects and the amount of time it commands attention. The 'story' begins with the item with the most visual weight. The relative position of each element leads the eye through the hierarchy, supplying information in the order needed. Need a clear path for the eye.
Need consistency, contrast, hierarchy to educate your audience quickly and effortlessly about how to move about. Not all audiences come through the homepage, so the navigation needs to be transparent quickly. Need also to quickly establish a sense of relative location or level within the site. This can be done by distinguishing the name of the link of the current page, using breadcrumbs, color coding for content, and using larger text for top-level or "parent" links that contain more information. Multiple, small links work best when information in presented in a particular order (e.g. a list of photos.
Show Apple Web site for examples.
Establishing hierarchy on the Web
1) Content: page title, section title, embedded links, supplementary info
2) Navigation: location indicator, top-level navigation, subnavigation, trace route
3) Supportive Info: site identifies, sidewide utilities, footer information
ACTIVITY: Ask students to create boxes to describe the function of different elements within the page hierarchy: orientation, top-level navigation, content, section title, page title, body, lower-level navigation
Personality
Need to have a consistent personality, so the style of writing, the graphics and type, the colors all work together to create a unique identity--think of branding/marketing. This helps to focus and attract your target audience. The presentation and content should reinforce one another.
Something should be emotionally appealing and engaging at the first glance--make the visitor want to enter the site. This should be maintained across all pages--they don't need to be identical but to have a unified "feel."
Developing a personality:
Think about audience, competition, and connotations of your content. Try to match the qualitative characteristics of your audience and content in terms of typography, imagery, and color.
Color theory
color associations--psychological reading--brainstorm these associations
warm vs. cool colors: advancing and receding
contrasting/complementary colors: creation of 'simultaneous energy' if used in equal proportions and intensity and a sense of balance if one complement is dominant and the other supplementary
analogous colors: colors next to each other on the color wheel, create tranquility
monochromatic palette: use of varying tints and shades of a single color; allow content to be primary but hard to maintain interest
dominant color: one color that sets the stage for the mood of the site; not necessarily the color most used on the site.
Typography
Consider the associations of the type used in your page; create gifs for typographic elements that contain unusual fonts.
Visual and Media Elements
Consider their appropriateness for your story and 'feel,' whether they focus or distract your reader's attention and if enhance the unity of of your site. Images should not feel like 'add ons' but can be central to the look and feel.
Creating an Effective Home Page
The home page has three responsibilities--BRAINSTORM
1) Introduction: logo and tag line, short statement, visual presentation
describes the site
establishes identity
2) Entrance: navigation system, entries to services, search utilities
entry to content
explain what's inside
3) Announcements: features/news/advertisements
show recent updates
encourages revisiting
highlights content
Important to be selective about what gets on the home page--is it helping establish the site overall? how important is the feature to your audience?
Eliminate animated intros and anything that does not help user access content
Create subtle contrast between elements on the home page to distinguish different content categories.
II. Independent/Group Worktime
III. Elements of the Progress Report--last 10-15 minutes
Review elements of the progress report for the following Thursday. Add a site map in the section on demoing the current state of the design. How to create a site map is on pages 47-48 of the Wroblewski.
Visual Organization Principles
Relative and consistent position, scale, style of information tell your audience how to interpret and make use of your Web site.
Brainstorm visual organization principles from the text.
Perceptual principles:
-proximity: closer are more related
-similarity: similar design can unify diverse elements or create relationships among items that may not be proximal
-continuance: if differences are a result of a pattern, different elements appear grouped
-closure: 'filling in the gaps' to create a more unified form
-isomorphic correspondence: association of a behavior with a visual cue-eg raised button.
Variation: the amount of visual contrast, the number of ways elements are visually different from one another, corresponds to the amount they are perceived as distinct and unrelated.
Visual Hierarchy: a way of indicating what is the most important information on the page--makes it scannable. Unification of elements, as well. Usually top to bottom.
Visual Weight: created by the contrast between two objects and the amount of time it commands attention. The 'story' begins with the item with the most visual weight. The relative position of each element leads the eye through the hierarchy, supplying information in the order needed. Need a clear path for the eye.
Need consistency, contrast, hierarchy to educate your audience quickly and effortlessly about how to move about. Not all audiences come through the homepage, so the navigation needs to be transparent quickly. Need also to quickly establish a sense of relative location or level within the site. This can be done by distinguishing the name of the link of the current page, using breadcrumbs, color coding for content, and using larger text for top-level or "parent" links that contain more information. Multiple, small links work best when information in presented in a particular order (e.g. a list of photos.
Show Apple Web site for examples.
Establishing hierarchy on the Web
1) Content: page title, section title, embedded links, supplementary info
2) Navigation: location indicator, top-level navigation, subnavigation, trace route
3) Supportive Info: site identifies, sidewide utilities, footer information
ACTIVITY: Ask students to create boxes to describe the function of different elements within the page hierarchy: orientation, top-level navigation, content, section title, page title, body, lower-level navigation
Personality
Need to have a consistent personality, so the style of writing, the graphics and type, the colors all work together to create a unique identity--think of branding/marketing. This helps to focus and attract your target audience. The presentation and content should reinforce one another.
Something should be emotionally appealing and engaging at the first glance--make the visitor want to enter the site. This should be maintained across all pages--they don't need to be identical but to have a unified "feel."
Developing a personality:
Think about audience, competition, and connotations of your content. Try to match the qualitative characteristics of your audience and content in terms of typography, imagery, and color.
Color theory
color associations--psychological reading--brainstorm these associations
warm vs. cool colors: advancing and receding
contrasting/complementary colors: creation of 'simultaneous energy' if used in equal proportions and intensity and a sense of balance if one complement is dominant and the other supplementary
analogous colors: colors next to each other on the color wheel, create tranquility
monochromatic palette: use of varying tints and shades of a single color; allow content to be primary but hard to maintain interest
dominant color: one color that sets the stage for the mood of the site; not necessarily the color most used on the site.
Typography
Consider the associations of the type used in your page; create gifs for typographic elements that contain unusual fonts.
Visual and Media Elements
Consider their appropriateness for your story and 'feel,' whether they focus or distract your reader's attention and if enhance the unity of of your site. Images should not feel like 'add ons' but can be central to the look and feel.
Creating an Effective Home Page
The home page has three responsibilities--BRAINSTORM
1) Introduction: logo and tag line, short statement, visual presentation
describes the site
establishes identity
2) Entrance: navigation system, entries to services, search utilities
entry to content
explain what's inside
3) Announcements: features/news/advertisements
show recent updates
encourages revisiting
highlights content
Important to be selective about what gets on the home page--is it helping establish the site overall? how important is the feature to your audience?
Eliminate animated intros and anything that does not help user access content
Create subtle contrast between elements on the home page to distinguish different content categories.
II. Independent/Group Worktime
III. Elements of the Progress Report--last 10-15 minutes
Review elements of the progress report for the following Thursday. Add a site map in the section on demoing the current state of the design. How to create a site map is on pages 47-48 of the Wroblewski.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Class Notes: 4/18/06
Heidi Jung, an Instructional Designer from ISS, came to class today and gave a 1-hour presentation on designing instructional Web sites.
The remaining half of the class period was spent attending the debate on No Child Left Behind or on in-class work in groups.
The next few class meetings will be:
4/20 DUE--Wroblewski chapters 4,5,7
Elements of the Progress Report
4/25: In class workday
4/27: Progress Reports
The remaining half of the class period was spent attending the debate on No Child Left Behind or on in-class work in groups.
The next few class meetings will be:
4/20 DUE--Wroblewski chapters 4,5,7
Elements of the Progress Report
4/25: In class workday
4/27: Progress Reports
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Class Notes: 4/13/06
1) Discuss White Readings
Creates an architectural metaphor for the design process--spaces within the spaces without; page structure
Document's purpose and its page size are the first decisions a designer must make--usual vs. unusual size; how does this translate to websites?
Repeated design elements must be findable-placed in consistent, expected places
"Boxitis" vs. intelligent use of the grid
-boxes can separate content equally--try to create "Chains" of information
-break part of the image or layout out of the box
-grids create freedom in structure--a structure that can be followed and intelligently broken in order to give page cohesion
Chains of thought--a logical way to follow the information in the page. Think of it like a path; often created through white space and the tendency to read from upper left to lower right.
Use of Space
-to connect various elements and lead the eye
-to create relationships between page elements, including overlapping
-to create a sense of cohesion between pages through the consistent use of white space
-to emphasize and echo prevailing directionality of the page
Direction
--creates a hierarchy of information, usually top to bottom. If something important is on the bottom, then create a directional space to lead there and back.
-dynamic design needs emphasis in a primary direction; diagonal directionality can be overdone and over-obvious
Situational Awareness--information mapping and wayfinding
These are strategies you can use to make your pages scannable to allow your visitor to scan your pages
-create standardized spaces between elements on the page/screen
-consolidate bits of white space--grouping space
-use white space in tables--give information room to breathe
Three-dimensional space (illusional) can be created through:
-overlapping elemens
-implication of movement through Photoshop blurring
-use scale and visual hierarchy--invert
-use perspective
-play with opacity and the sense that something might be bleeding through the page/screen from beyond.
2) Sketch grid-based designs in creative notebooks
5-column and 7-column grid design
3) Critique Web sites according to page architecture principles:
http://www.imagesfestival.com
http://www.ideasfest.org/
http://learningtoloveyoumore.com
http://www.futurefarmers.com
http://www.fondation-langlois.org/
3) Group work on the sitemap for their site and grid layout diagramming; other work as needed.
Creates an architectural metaphor for the design process--spaces within the spaces without; page structure
Document's purpose and its page size are the first decisions a designer must make--usual vs. unusual size; how does this translate to websites?
Repeated design elements must be findable-placed in consistent, expected places
"Boxitis" vs. intelligent use of the grid
-boxes can separate content equally--try to create "Chains" of information
-break part of the image or layout out of the box
-grids create freedom in structure--a structure that can be followed and intelligently broken in order to give page cohesion
Chains of thought--a logical way to follow the information in the page. Think of it like a path; often created through white space and the tendency to read from upper left to lower right.
Use of Space
-to connect various elements and lead the eye
-to create relationships between page elements, including overlapping
-to create a sense of cohesion between pages through the consistent use of white space
-to emphasize and echo prevailing directionality of the page
Direction
--creates a hierarchy of information, usually top to bottom. If something important is on the bottom, then create a directional space to lead there and back.
-dynamic design needs emphasis in a primary direction; diagonal directionality can be overdone and over-obvious
Situational Awareness--information mapping and wayfinding
These are strategies you can use to make your pages scannable to allow your visitor to scan your pages
-create standardized spaces between elements on the page/screen
-consolidate bits of white space--grouping space
-use white space in tables--give information room to breathe
Three-dimensional space (illusional) can be created through:
-overlapping elemens
-implication of movement through Photoshop blurring
-use scale and visual hierarchy--invert
-use perspective
-play with opacity and the sense that something might be bleeding through the page/screen from beyond.
2) Sketch grid-based designs in creative notebooks
5-column and 7-column grid design
3) Critique Web sites according to page architecture principles:
http://www.imagesfestival.com
http://www.ideasfest.org/
http://learningtoloveyoumore.com
http://www.futurefarmers.com
http://www.fondation-langlois.org/
3) Group work on the sitemap for their site and grid layout diagramming; other work as needed.
