Patrick Foster—Process Books, 2010/2011 by patrick foster

process mdes 2010/2011 patrick foster summer/fall 2010

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1.1 Tania Harrison

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1.2 Karen Cope

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1.3 Marlene Ivey

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1.4 Denise Saulnier

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1.5 Arlene Gould

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1.6 David Peters

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2.1 The Balmond Dilemma 2.1.1 The Ammann Chair (poster) 2.1.2 The Ammann Chair (object )

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3.1 Field Agents 3.1.1 Mapping the Object Experience 3.1.2 Mapping the Environment Experience 3.2 The Georges Island Project

THESIS 4.1 Conceptual thinking 4.2 Abstract 4.3 Bibliography

1.1: Tania Harrison

An introduction to the NSCAD library services and resources; use of periodical and reference databases; and to RefWorks.

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A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.

TANIAHARRISON introducing the library

Use RefWorks to create/ maintain personal database of research materials and bibliography.

A digital object identifier (DOI) is a character string used to uniquely identify an electronic document or other object. Metadata about the object is stored in association with the DOI name and this metadata may include a location, such as a URL, where the object can be found.

TANIAHARRISON introducing the library

6030 1.2: Karen Cope

Reading and writing for research; understanding that how you read is as important as what you read.

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Project One Introductory Presentation of a Classmate

Why does this resonate so with me? Am I so reluctant to consider the deeper meanings behind my work? Or do I feel that consideration of deeper meanings cheapens the actual finished piece—whatever kind of work it is? Why do I feel so strongly that overanalysing my work will reduce its value? Am I afraid of the work not measuring up under scrutiny?

Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott Miller. “Language of Vision” Design Writing Research. (London & Phaidon, 1996) 62-65 14

KARENCOPE reading and writing for research

• patterns—continual repetition of text elements in a building narrative improve comprehension/ recall • humor—keeps people engaged • shift between text/imagery rather than combining for impact

KARENCOPE reading and writing for research

Project Two Repurpose Presentation into 2-page Spread

KARENCOPE reading and writing for research

Project Two Repurpose Presentation into 2-page Spread

Minsk 53°52’N, 27°30’E

Elena was born in Minsk (now the capitol of Belarus ), in the Soviet Union . She moved to Canada with her family when she was 19. Always creative and from a family of artists, Elena studied graphic design at the Onatrio College of Art & Design.

ELENA VILTOVSKAIA (v il t • o f•s k y• a h )

She is an artist, illustrator and graphic designer and has worked in the field since her graduation. She loves both her dog Juno and her husband Jason , although not necessarily in that order.

6030 1.3: Marlene Ivey

Modeling and articulating ideas in 3D. “…employs visual thinking and design writing as a method for refining the student’s thesis/practice idea for postgraduate study.”

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Can a digital co-experience cultivate a virtual studio culture? Conducive to distance design education? 24

MARLENEIEVY modeling ideas

“Go learn it yourself online” and “We’ll do a little demo in class” are specious arguments, but they need to be countered regardless. Consider ways to address the typical educational predisposition to focus on theory rather than practice as a selling point of the whole concept.

How will the educational establishment—i.e., anyone older than me—react to the idea that the classroom/studio model is no longer the sole functional option? How can the concept be crafted to reassure and embrace rather than alienate older modeling?

MARLENEIEVY modeling ideas

Remember to stick to your outline and not fall prey to scope creep.

! 28

MARLENEIEVY modeling ideas

Bring into thesis contrast between agile/iterative methodology and waterfall methodology. Some comparison between small business and lumbering larger ones?

! 29

MARLENEIEVY modeling ideas

principles, design ethics, aesthetics… don’t let preconceptions guide work.

“…working alone but together, students create 3D models that will serve as scaffolds for design writing. …The aim is to make a 3D model of what the structure of your thesis/ practice paper might look like.”

MARLENEIEVY modeling ideas

TO PHO

We’ve blown so many enormous opportunities over the past several years. In the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, when most of the world had lined up in support of the United States, President George W. Bush had the chance to lead a vast cooperative, international effort to combat terrorism and lay the groundwork for a more peaceful, more secure world. He blew it with the invasion of Iraq.

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laissez-faire eco tive force of the a and government of ordinary Amer was called for. (O Roosevelt raging a royalists” and asse to correct, by drast the faults in our ec which we now suffe

In the tragic aftermath of6030 Hurricane had not just 1.4: Katrina, Denisewe Saulnier the chance but an obligation to call on our best talent to creatively rebuild the historic city of New Orleans. That could have But there has bee kick-started a major renovation of the nation’s infrastructure only caution and tim An introduction/overview and exploration of and served as the incubator for a new and desperately needed same. The royalis document typography, and urban policy. Despite President Bush’s layout, vow of “bold action” hierarchies,the phant and working p information design. during a carefully staged, nationally televised appearance in the blow after devastatin French Quarter, we did nothing of the kind. 1.2 million of the long The collapse of the economy in the Great Recession gave us due to lose their unem the starkest, most painful evidence imaginable of the failure of

by bo b her bert

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Food banks are doing record business—and running our of supplies. P H OTO : C N N

Project One A Presentation on Typographic Principles

Can meridian grid lines be used online? Is there a way to work with meridians if the size/shape of your content area continues to vary?

! 36

DENISESAULNIER information design

Project Two Designing on a Found Grid

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In the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we had not just the chance but an obligation to call on our best talent to creatively rebuild the historic city of New Orleans. That could have kick-started a major renovation of the nation’s infrastructure and served as the incubator for a new and desperately needed urban policy. Despite President Bush’s vow of “bold action” during a carefully staged, nationally televised appearance in the French Quarter, we did nothing of the kind. The collapse of the economy in the Great Recession gave us the starkest, most painful evidence imaginable of the failure of

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laissez-faire economics and the destructive force of the alliance of big business and government against the interests of ordinary Americans. Radical change was called for. (One thinks of Franklin Roosevelt raging against the “economic royalists” and asserting that “we need to correct, by drastic means if necessary, the faults in our economic system from which we now suffer.”) But there has been no radical change, only caution and timidity and more of the same. The royalists remain triumphant and working people are absorbing blow after devastating blow. More than 1.2 million of the long-term jobless are due to lose their unemployment benefits

by b o b h er b ert

CO N T I N U E D

Food banks are doing record business—and running our of supplies. P H OTO : C N N

DENISESAULNIER information design

Project Two Designing on a Found Grid

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Food banks are doing record business—and running our of supplies.

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Project Three Extrapolate a Grid from an Image 2003–present

Hired Gun LLC creative director

2009–2010

Cañada College Redwood City, CA adjunct professor

2005–2010

Santa Fe Community College Santa Fe, NM associate professor

2000–2003

Design Coup Atlanta, GA senior online designer

1999–2000

CommDot Atlanta, GA creative director

1998–1999

Flagler College St. Augustine, FL adjunct professor

1998–1999

McIntosh TF, Inc. St. Augustine, FL

P A T R I C K F

senior designer 1996–1998

BOSS Advertsing Palm Coast, FL lead designer

2007

New Mexico Highlands University BFA, Media Arts (Communication Design)

1995

Daytona Beach College

1985

Savannah College of Art & Design

2003–present

Hired Gun LLC creative director

2009–2010

Cañada College Redwood City, CA adjunct professor

2005–2010

Santa Fe Community College Santa Fe, NM associate professor

2000–2003

Design Coup Atlanta, GA senior online designer

1999–2000

CommDot Atlanta, GA creative director

1998–1999

Flagler College St. Augustine, FL adjunct professor

1998–1999

McIntosh TF, Inc. St. Augustine, FL

P A T R I C K F

senior designer 1996–1998

BOSS Advertsing Palm Coast, FL lead designer

2007

New Mexico Highlands University BFA, Media Arts (Communication Design)

DENISESAULNIER information design

1995

Daytona Beach College

1985

Savannah College of Art & Design

6030 1.5: Arlene Gould

Considering the potential of Design Management.

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Consider how Design Management could be explored as a tool for information management in group-learning settings.

Mind maps represent a more valuable brainstorming tool than initially considered. The ability to consider unforseen alternatives ties in with David’s problem-solving material.

ARLENEGOULD design management

Understanding your individual process is crucial to articulating it. This seems obvious as the theme of the term, but it bears reinforcing. Understanding why you do what you do is the whole point of this.

ARLENEGOULD design management

Consider where what the designer brings to the table falls in the range of design; the obvious, generic result, or something more expansive. Don’t settle for less than can be wrought.

PHASE ONE

PHASE TWO

PHASE THREE

PHASE FOUR

Research & Strategy

Design

Implementation

Evaluation

• Consider the brief

• Establish tangible design parameters

• Produce ﬁnal approved design

Consider released project in any applicable terms:

• Research possible competing concepts • Establish any restrictive parameters (budgetary, time-based, locative) • Establish project viability & feasibility • Consider possible alternatives to preconceived concepts

design management leads to a better business model. A supported design culture leads to design rues and proceedures to support the greater goals of the business.

• Assess and assimilate—or establish— client’s design culture • Establish client stakeholders • Fully engage client stakeholders in design process through frequent iterative consultations and approvals • If possible, prototype and user test in real world usage environments

competitive advantages-

Design is a continuous process-

social advantagesenvironmental advantages.

Investing in designers leads to a competitive advantage!

Design is difficult for competitors to copy.

Relationships with designers are-

output formats) • Consider conceptual options to initial project ideas • Engage client in conceptual discussions • Offer as wide a range of alternatives as possible; up to and including ideas completely different from initial brief • Design iterative concepts; solicit internal and client feedback; repeat as often as needed/feasible

for initial launch awareness as needed • Release for public/market use

• Sales ﬁgures • Industry/public reviews • User feedback • Usage patterns

• Evaluate success of project against internal and external metrics • Explore possibilities for improvement based on user feedback • Evaluate internal/stakeholder response to product

• Consider sustainability goals—does

only design is original; other ways of differentiation can be copied. “…Design is the only thing that differentiates one product from another in the marketplace…”

world need another whatever?

REPEAT AS NEEDED.

DESign management supplies-

spatial constraints, delivery challenges,

• Establish any promotional material

Ideally, design manager and client lead work collaboratively through the entire process.

Design Manager Client

THE DESIGN PROCESS

DESiGN management integrates design into the corporate environment.

What is the Value of Design Management?

(physical size, production costs,

CLIENT APPROVES STAGE PRIOR TO PROGRESSION »

Design management bridges management and designers in both directions.

THE DESIGN PROCESS

CLIENT APPROVES STAGE PRIOR TO PROGRESSION »

design management aligns business objectives and social objectives with design objectives to achieve business’s goals.

design managers integrate corporate culture with design processes.

Design Management can harness the impact of design.

Project Two The Design Process

CLIENT APPROVES STAGE PRIOR TO PROGRESSION »

Project One Mind Map: What is the Value of Design Management?

DynamicUnique-

Catalytic!

Try to refine these process documents as a tool for interacting clients; the more a client understands what you bring to the game as a designer, the more value you have to them and the more value you can bring to the end results. See also David Peters.

ARLENEGOULD design management

Project Three The Halifax Project

Narrative in a project personalizes the content to the viewer and emphasizes the connection between the proposed design and the intended user base.

ARLENEGOULD design management

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Problem-solving in design.

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Where to start?

Start here: Certainty is your enemy. 54

DAVIDPETERS problem solving

Discourse is an evolution of practices. We can all contribute.

This is what matters.

A discourse has distinctions, language particular to the discourse, to seperate the knowing from the unknowing. Distinctions are made for the sake of action. A definition is insufficient to the task. Design emerged in humans from awareness of “future.” If a user can’t engage with a device, the failure is in the conversation between user and device, not in the user’s inability to manage the device.

All solutions are temporary. Consider the problem outside of the project’s ‘problem’ statement. Avoid jobs. Jobs have titles and fixed tasks. Seek a role where you can produce a situation. Situations are either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Being an expert doesn’t mean “Do what I say.” Experts produce situations that bring about change. The ethics of problems: who benefits? Who suffers?

What is worth designing? Design’s job is to propose alternatives. Problem solving = change. People hate change with no story to suport it. Learning is reciprocation, recurrence and recusion. The test of a communication is the action that follows it.

Bring into existence a breakdown in a place that matters, where people don’t realize a problem exists, and be part of the story of fixing it. Ultimately, designers are offering the capacity to produce a result. Which may not be a thing, but a new situation. Strategy is where we’re going. Tactics is how we get there.

A breakdown is the gap between intent and outcome. Celebrate breakdowns—that’s where design begins. Meaning lies where concerns overlap practices. 56

DAVIDPETERS problem solving

Design is an offer of help. 57

2.1 The Balmond Dilemma Then she went out and closed the door and I was alone with my soul 2.1.1 The Ammann Chair (poster) dwindled to icy stillness at the densely compacted center of myself. 2.1.2 The Ammann Chair (object) – Robert B. Parker, Valediction

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What is The Balmond Dilemma?

You’ve got to know why things work…

An idea is not enough.

Exercise One The Ammann Chair (poster) 0.5

The Ammann Chair is an example of an aperiodic tile. Discovered in 1977, the dimensions use the square root of The Golden Ratio (or Phi ), enabling the tile to be split into two smaller tiles of the exact same shape. Repeated splitting will create a pattern of identical shapes, with no discernible repetition.

APERIODIC TILING

Aperiodic tiling is a mathematical tiling pattern where the shape tiles a plane with no periodic or repeating pattern.

THE BALMOND DILEMMA

Exercise One The Ammann Chair (poster) 0.75

Then she went out and closed the door and I was alone at the bar with my soul dwindled to icy stillness at the densely compacted center of myself. ROBERT B. PARKER, Valediction

The Ammann Chair is an aperiodic tile conceived in 1977 by amateur mathematician Robert Ammann. The shape is derived from the square root of the Golden Ratio (1.618), which is approximately 1.272. The shape can be continually divided by two smaller identical shapes into infinity. • http://tilings.math.uni-bielefeld.de/substitution_rules/ammann_chair (accessed 3 June 2010) • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ammann (accessed 3 June 2010)

“Too literal… consider abstracting the figure in favor of the design elements and quotation…” 64

THE BALMOND DILEMMA

Exercise One The Ammann Chair (poster) 1.0

Trying too hard to be designer-y 66

THE BALMOND DILEMMA

• •

http://tilings.math.uni-bielefeld.de/substitution_rules/ammann_chair (accessed 3 June 2010) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ammann (accessed 3 June 2010)

• http://tilings.math.uni-bielefeld.de/substitution_ rules/ammann_chair (accessed 3 June 2010) • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ammann (accessed 3 June 2010)

smaller identical shapes into infinity.

be continually divided into two

approximately 1.272. The shape can

of the Golden Ratio (1.618),

shape is derived from the square root

mathematician Robert Ammann. The

tile conceived in 1977 by amateur

The Ammann Chair is an aperiodic

– Robert B. Parker, Valediction

Then she went out and closed the door and I was alone with my soul dwindled to icy stillness at the densely compacted center of myself.

Exercise One The Ammann Chair (poster) 2.0

Exercise Two The Ammann Chair (object)

Building a three-dimensional model of a mathematical concept allows a designer to be aware of how an object interacts physically with its spatial environment. This is the initial reachings towards the ephemeral concept of “feel,” as in, “it feels good in the hand”—i.e., it becomes an object someone is willing to engage with consistently.

THE BALMOND DILEMMA

3.1

Field Agents

3.1.1 Mapping the Object Experience 3.1.2 Mapping the Environment Experience 3.2

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The Georges Island Project

Exercise One Mapping the Object Experience (poster)

PERSONAL CLOTH ACCESSORY USAGE PATTERNS IN A 24-HOUR PERIOD BUSBOY FLASHBACK Subject recalls early, horrible job; fold cloth into approximation of table place setting (ineffective due to structural deficiencies of cloth) 10am

11am

Subject received personal cloth accessory for use/evaluation

PARENTAL ISSUES Subject recalls parent’s lifelong use of similar, albeit less elegant, cloth

12pm

1pm

ACCESSORY FAILURE Subject completely forgets about cloth and related study; cloth rests comfortably in subject’s rear pocket

2pm

Subject doodles Batman on paper cloth was wrapped around

6pm

GROOMING Subject wipes child’s face with cloth over partner’s objection

PERSONAL CLOTH ACCESSORY WEAR EXAMINATION & CONSIDERATION OF SCALE Desk grime

Original & usergenerated fold lines

Unidentified soiling

“Good design is born of giving form to intuitive sense. Not overworking the design means not leaving traces of the design. If you overdo the design it will touch the beholder’s consciousness.”

7pm

12am

4am

10am

STUDY/SUBJECT INTEREST LEVEL COMPARISON Subject user interest scale derived from baseline 100%, subject’s interest in/appreciation of caffeine

Subject’s interest in evaluation/consideration of human interaction with inanimate devices/objects

Subject’s evaluation of experiment as a useful method for consideration of human interaction with inanimate devices/objects

Subject’s awareness that usefulness of experiment’s method is not a valid metric for consideration, and that tactile evaluation of an object is as much a design goal as the generation of practical data from study

Subject’s likelihood of obtaining/using a personal cloth accessory outside of scope of study

Subject’s Hand (to scale)

Disjointed, boxy. Not enough integration of data between disparate visual elements; combine data into one cohesive visual narrative.

Naoto Fukasawa 72

FIELD AGENTS

10am

Subject’s interest in evaluation/consideration of human interaction with inanimate devices/objects

GROOMING Subject wipes child’s face with cloth over partner’s objection

Subject’s evaluation of experiment as a useful method for consideration of human interaction with inanimate devices/objects

7pm

PARENTAL ISSUES Subject recalls parent’s lifelong use of similar, albeit less elegant, cloth

Subject’s likelihood of obtaining/using a personal cloth accessory outside of scope of study

10pm

Is it better to remember what’s in your pocket– or to forget?

BUSBOY FLASHBACK Subject recalls early job; folds cloth into approximation of table place setting (ineffective due to structural deficiencies of cloth)

ACCESSORY FAILURE Subject completely forgets about cloth and related study for 15 hours; cloth rests comfortably in subject’s rear pocket

Subject received personal cloth accessory for use/evaluation

Hands-On

Exercise One Mapping the Object Experience (poster)

Exercise Two Mapping the Environment Experience (Kejimkujik) Device forces path direction, rather than allowing users to walk one way or the other-why? Quiz: once answered, can only go back to hike through quiz? Which informs you you’ve already taken the quiz. Why no BACK option?

List is good idea badly executed

USER INTERFACE

Scale function of map is useless in this instance—so why is it an option?

Only used device when it alerts; otherwise engaged with surrounding.

Text overflow works poorly; extra returns in CMS create an empty More screen. Also, More text icon is tiny and intellectually conflicts with more info navbar link (which comes and goes without much rhyme or reason anyway.)

Video is awful; bad res, unclear, hard to watch, no audio controls, hard to exit Audio seems to be used because they can; not especially enhancing.

Text area scrollbar icons overlay copy!

What is purpose of device? Its not about not getting lost, as path is very obvious.

Clunky graphics—very Super Mario Brothers. Credit screen cheapens experience. We don’t see credits on websites before we get content.

If purpose is informative, limited info is more frustrating than helpful. If user is interested, can’t get more info than device provides- we’re used to having access to ALL info online, so this is just frustrating. Presumption by park of foreknowledge of our interest level.

Iconography—not intuitive. Better a cliche than something incomprehensible. Photo choices odd Around Me option: not useful, as half of the options are things like turn right. Two types of MORE options- which do different things Aggravating that last line of text on a screen duplicates on next screen.

Audio narration at Pale Winged Gray (what?) is frustratingly brief and unclear. (How much has the iPhone interface affected our perception of mobile devices?) Currently pointing uphill but GPS says downhill.

The invert screen option- why? What value to end user? Plus, photo crops to white screen - ugly, confusing, a little scary (‘here be monsters’).

The device goes to sleep without warning—is it broken? A blank word bubble appears sometimes when tapping icons. (Also, the word bubble bitmapped and jagged and not even symmetrical in its ugliness.)

USER EXPERIENCE

User effort to page down is too much work for one line of copy. Content writers should test device on ground.

Pull content is pathetic- needs to allow more user choice of information. GPS unit locked up. Didn’t notice until we had passed several waypoints. After restart- lengthy and uncomfortable due to mosquitoes, GPS didn’t recognize that we were on trail and consequently missed another waypoint. Sound? Why? Doesn’t much enhance experience. Attempt to be inclusive by having native speaker read the native section a huge mistake, as speaker is ill suited for narration.

Theme (change) of walk not evident, even obliquely.

“Its like a website from 1998.” 76

FIELD AGENTS

On return to start, devices tries to tell us how to start trail again. Not smart enough to know we’ve been there. Bored. Not sure why we were told what we were told.

If “what do we hate?” spawned the iPhone, what do we hate about devices/ interfaces used in higher ed?

! “Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.” Never forget this. Don’t add a feature/ image/bell or whistle simply because its an option. It must be compelled by mission or content.

Consider how the app phone model has influenced people’s perceptions of engaging with mobile devices. Be careful not to let device specs limit content—like Explora.

UI/UX design continues to be the primary failing of most mobiles devices. Do not presume familiarity with anything in interface design.

“There’s an instant when form and behavior connect beyond consciousness.” Naoto Fukasawa

FIELD AGENTS

Exercise Two Mapping the Environment Experience (Kejimkujik)

FIELD AGENTS

Exercise Three Mapping the Environment Experience (Georges Island)

Island is a drumlin (a mound of glacial drift)

Lighthouse built in 1876; current one built in 1919

Housed Acadian prisoners in barracks (1755-1763) during Acadian deportation

Remote radar mast 1974 Caponiers lead from inner to outer defense rings

Officers w/families quarters- tiny, brick; fireplaces and stoves removed

Ammunition storage(?) in underground chambers beneath gun emplacements (echo chambers!)

Water brought from mainland by boat

Intricate network of tunnels- dug first and buried to make underground emplacements

After War of 1812, fort was rebuilt to prepare for conflict with the US. 4th version of fort; still there today. Fort was tweaked in 1850 to accommodate RML (rifled muzzle-loading) cannons ( Britain again worried abt war with US during US Civil War.) Manually operated submarine mine system established in 1880-90s Mines stored in destroyed building at water’s edge Controlled from island Lighthouse keepers house built in 1916 (modified since)

FIELD AGENTS

PC wondering how to make the site publicly accessible How to cope with tourists? food/water/power/ washrooms? Beach dirty with harbor sewage Weird compared to Keji- while less accessible by people, Georges is much more manmade feeling; interaction with island environment is almost secondary/superfluous Keji= man interacting with nature; Georges= man reworking nature to his needs 83

Exercise Three Mapping the Environment Experience (Georges Island)

Despite the emphasis on usability over all, texture can be used to inform the ineffable ‘feel’ of a thing. Remember Fukasawa.

! 84

FIELD AGENTS

Exercise Three Mapping the Environment Experience (Kejimkujik & Georges Island)

Unfocused and too literal all at once. Comparing the two physical shapes not a useful motif for abstract thinking. Just, weak.

THE ENVIRONMENT EXPERIENCE

Truly awful UI Graphics. Merely bad UX interface design.

There’s supposed to be a ‘theme’ here somewhere. Seriously? Unprofessional and irrelevant narration.

Exploring nature through technology

K E J I M K U J I K

Why do I have to go this way? Why can’t I go the other way?

Device stops working. No one notices for 50 meters.

Should we have known something specific before we came?

Exercise Three Mapping the Environment Experience (Kejimkujik)

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Exercise Three Mapping the Environment Experience (Georges Island)

ZELLERS 4.90km

Phase B George’s Island Project

Preconceptions kill. Despite initial consideration of a tablet/ slate style device, a second visit to the site made it clear that a smaller, lighter device would be more appropriate to the task.

! What do people expect from a tour guide? What information might they wanto ask a person? Can that be plotted? Can it be built into an application? While we cannot presume to address every concern, a reasonable consideration will lead to a best-case process scenario.

THE GEORGES ISLAND PROJECT

Look for patterns. Where can information be repurposed? How does the user interaction process work? How can design streamline the concern without reducing the experience?

THE GEORGES ISLAND PROJECT

Phase B George’s Island Project (User Interface Design)

• keep projected audience in mind without rejecting other possible users • engage user with pull-interactivity • Repurpose content in youth/family oriented context • use augmented reality programming with GPS and camera to enhance walking tour • make secondary information available but not requisite to experience

Remember! weight of device size of device use conditions (indoor/outdoor) likely users possible users repeat users

Practice! Rehearse! Read aloud, rewrite and rehearse again. Presentations should seem easy, off-the-cuff, conversational—especially because they are not.

Slides should be succinct. They are there to reinforce what you have to say; not to put extra content in front of the audience to read—and therefore not pay attention to you and what you have to say.

THE GEORGES ISLAND PROJECT

100

THE GEORGES ISLAND PROJECT

101

thesis

4.1

Conceptual Thinking

4.2

Abstract draft (11 August, 2010)

4.3

Bibliography

4.4

Project Poster

Good design is innovative

Good design makes a product useful

Good design is aesthetic

What is my question?

If user interface design will infuence nearly every aspect of our lives in the future that starts yesterday, why aren’t we training these designers in school? Why is a job a better training ground than a school for a UI designer? Does it have

Good design makes a product understandable

to be either or? Can design craft a system that will offer a less binary choice for UI designers?

Good design is unobtrusive

Good design is honest

Good design is long-lasting

Good design is thorough down to the last detail

Good design is environmentally friendly

Good design is as little design as possible

Dieter Rams 104

THESIS

105

Thesis Notes

Managing the instructors’ need to engage with theory in the face of having to produce something tangible may be the trickiest part of things here.

“The culture of large educational institutions has, in my experience, consistently proven itself unable to cope with the demands of such a varied and fast-moving industry. I know many good people are trying, but I’ve yet to see anyone come out of a university program knowing what they’d need to know in order for us to hire them.” James Archer

106

THESIS

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Abstract How Will an Improved System of User Interface Design Education Link Traditional Design Education with a New Generation of NonTraditional Design Learners?

User interface design (UI design) may be one of the most important emerging design fields of the 21st Century. The continual engagement of the populace with screens of one form or another, from phones to bank machines to computers to cars, demands greater attention from design education. UI designers do not merely craft attractive visual affordances, but map the patterns of use that both engage and streamline the user’s conversation with devices and as a result, the world around them. It is a given that such devices will only continue to integrate into everyday life. Simultaneously, as a new generation of post-secondary students begins to pursue user interface design, and the traditional paradigms of design education begin to break down, design will bring an improved system of communication to bear on these challenges. These paradigms may no longer serve current models of learning and creativity, or encourage the expansive thinking requisite to the ever-changing field of UI design. How will the next generation of teacher cope with and nurture a generation of students whose lives are so ingrained with multiple disparate simultaneous communication inputs that they can maintain event-specific awareness without losing focus? Higher design education, with techniques rooted in the 19th Century, is failing the next generation of UI designers. Even anecdotally our universities are not able to keep pace with the tremendous evolution of UI design. UI design is a discipline in its infancy, focusing on concerns undreamt of a decade ago, and may be the only commercial design field where selftaught creators and not design research institutions drive advances. While it can be argued that eventually the pace of the field will normalize and allow for an advanced discourse, it cannot be assumed that it will happen before an entire generation of designers have learned their craft not from design institutions but from the reactive and reflexive needs of business and industry. While user interface design in its infancy could have been argued to be more tradecraft than design skill, the advancement of the medium into multiple delivery platforms—traditional computers, phones, tablets, game consoles, and those devices yet undefined—demands more consideration and inclusion from higher education. In my own experience, higher education is doing a poor job of engaging and inculcating UI designers, emphasizing skills and methodologies valuable but not useful on immediate surface consideration for contemporary needs. Why are design institutions not embracing the generation of UI designers who forsake traditional skillset models for improvised learning? How will design institutions reach these students? How does education address the fact that, according to many professionals, design schools do not teach the skills required to succeed in UI design? How does higher ed convince the self-taught and successful working professional that the skills and abilities taught in design school are relevant and valuable to his field? Education can already be delivered by a non-localized, asynchronous means. In addition to current portable computers and modern cellular phones of tremendous multimedia capacity, the tablet platform seems poised as a viable and useful tool for students and educators alike. How could content be presented through such devices be made useful to

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THESIS

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learning UI design in the future? Could a design system be wrought to exploit the prevalence of such devices in the 21st Century?

Bibliography to date

If we accept the paradigm of current online courses as a stepping stone for the future, what possibilities occur for student/educator interaction in UI design education? How could students be directed toward enriching and expanded tangential topics from their base assignments? How can design educators provide the richest, most expansive range of subject-specific knowledge to students? Further, what is the future of digital connections in ever-evolving critique and feedback affordance opportunities? Could such technologies define and expand a virtual studio culture, exploring new ways to connect students to each other, faculty to students and the group as a whole?

Anderson, E., DeBolt, V., Featherstone, D., Gunther, L., Jacobs, D. R., Jensen-Inman, L., et al. (2010). InterACT with web standards: A holistic approach to web design New Riders Press.

User interface design education will inevitably embrace the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) concept, wherein students connect with lessons, research material, other students and instructors all in a non linear fashion. As a virtual learning experience might be utilized to expand upon or even serve as replacement for the traditional studio culture of physical design schools, how could a considered, designed system of information management enhance the learning environment?

Elearnspace. learning management systems: The wrong place to start elearning. Retrieved 7/4/2010, 2010, from http://www.elearnspace.org/ Articles/lms.htm

Should a UI design-centric PLE could embrace such advantages as peer-to-peer connections and social networking to foster structured learning, serving to enhance rather than supplant the already widespread ad-hoc network of peer-made tutorials already online? This continually evolving network of tutorial and training data is the starting point for learning for many working professionals. A UI design PLE would furthermore give formal credibility to online creative learning and begin to engage already technologically savvy students with more structured design learning, while embracing the craft-and-theory approach of traditional schools in an entirely new way. How much value could be placed on the ability to bring traditional design theory in a new way to to a new audience not limited by geographic or scheduling constraints?

From toy to tool: Cell phones in learning. Retrieved 7/4/2010, 2010, from http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/

By accepting the possibilities for user interface design education through portable devices and the contemporary concepts of remote or low-residency education, it should be possible to design a system of improved data exchange and review, focused on user interface design education. Without addressing educational techniques or evolving curricula, such a designed system could enable an improved learning process for UI design. That system could then be applied to a future discoursive model of learning, to address challenges in the delivery and analysis of user interface design education for the benefit of both future students and educators.

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Blog the web | teach the web. Retrieved 7/4/2010, 2010, from http:// www.teachtheweb.com/blog/ Bounce – A fun and easy way to share ideas on a website. Retrieved 7/4/2010, 2010, from http://www.bounceapp.com/

Forget design thinking and try hybrid thinking | fast company. Retrieved 7/4/2010, 2010, from http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/dev-patnaik/ innovation/forget-design-thinking-and-try-hybrid-thinking

The ideal collaboration toolset for distributed workers. Retrieved 7/4/2010, 2010, from http://www.ferris.com/2005/01/02/the_ideal_ colla/ Johnson, S. (2006). Everything bad is good for you Riverhead Trade. A list apart: Articles: Elevate web design at the university level. Retrieved 7/4/2010, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/elevate-webdesign-at-the-university-level/ The web standards project. Retrieved 7/4/2010, 2010, from http://www. webstandards.org/

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Thesis Project Proposal Poster

process mdes 2010/2011 patrick foster fall 2010

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4.1 Timeline 4.2 IDEO’s 5 Whys 4.3 On Glimmer 4.4 Thesis plan presentation 1.0 4.4.1 Thesis plan presentation 2.0 4.5 Thesis surveys

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5.1 Modernism 2.0 5.3 Design in Crisis 5.4 Multiverso 5.5 Midterm: On the readings 5.6 New Reading Spaces 5.7 Work Ethics 5.8 Slow Times 5.9 Patronising Prada 5.10 Speach, Writing, Print… 5.11 After Digital… 5.12 Boredom, b’dum b’dum…

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6.1 Dérive 6.2 Four Days in Halifax 6.3 Calendar 6.4 Personal Spaces 6.5 Self-portrait

THESIS 10.1 Conceptual thinking 10.2 Abstract 10.2.5 Rationale 10.3 Bibliography 10.4 Project Poster APPENDIX Specified Outcomes Document

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4.1

Timeline

4.2

IDEO’s 5 Whys

4.3

On Glimmer

4.4

Thesis plan presentation 1.0

4.4.1

Thesis plan presentation 2.0

4.5

Thesis surveys

Timeline Fall 2010

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Managing a timeline is vital. Juggling multiple projects in multiple classes demands organization and tools. The process by which you do so should be what works for you, not neccesarily for anyone else.

IDEO’s Five Whys

6112 thesis research proposal

Methodology drives process. Pay attention to steps, stages. How will methodology influence research? Should it? Avoid preconceptions!

On ’Glimmer’

Buzzwords aside, a great book; makes clear the potential for design to have influence beyond simple communication design (obvious internally but hard to articulate.)

The first chapter of Warren Berger’s Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World (Random House Canada, 2009) introduces the game-changing nature of his concepts in ‘Ask Stupid Questions.’ The chapter also introduces the book’s focus, designer Bruce Mau and the concept of transformation design. Berger take the reader though a deceptively leisurely introduction to Mau, explaining what designers really do—“Does it have to be a lightbulb?” (Berger, 2009, p. 23)— and contrasting that with how designers are perceived as stylists. He explains Mau’s “stupid questions”, the concept that by asking questions dismissed or ridiculed by experts or the experienced users designer may then arrive at entirely new ways of perceiving a situation. Paula Scher of Pentagram says: “From ignorance, you can come up with something that is so out of left field that it has been ignored or was never considered a possibility” (Berger, 2009, p. 25). Berger then explores the very definitions of design, and makes the reader aware of how designers perceive their work, often in contrast to the perception of the general public. The “disconnect” between professional and public perception leads to the perceptual gap between design and style. While style remains vital to design, “design is not only about appearances” (Berger, 2009, p. 31). The move from “objects o objectives” (Berger, 2009, p. 36) is the central theme of the work. Berger uses Mau’s work as a microcosm of the transformation design movement. Transformation design is the motivation behind Mau, and the driving thrust of the book. Berger explains transformation design as simply, “the move beyond creating ‘things’ and to begin orchestrating ‘experiences’.” (Berger, 2009, p. 37.) This attention to experience design is a new facet of design for the general public, and Berger skillfully presents the conceptual tenets of the movement without being bogged down in excess detail. If in fact there is a bit too much glossing over of detail in places, better to fault the author for creating a better user experience through clarity than for inattention. Berger is obviously enamored of his subjects—Mau and transformation design—and that passion is reflected in his writing in this selection. He does a fine job of presenting discordant viewpoints, although it could be argued he does minimize their impact perhaps more than one ought. Berger does a terrific job of making both the history of “modern” design clear and introducing big players—Milton Glaser, Clement Mok, Paula Sher, Michael Bierut, Mau— and their differing positions on design to the public. Berger also does a credible job of presenting the opening theme of his work: how can design impact the world? Citing examples from OXO to Citibank, Berger makes it clear that design can significantly impact lives from the individual to the collective with equal measure. Berger’s conclusion to that effect is well-founded, and well-written. His motivating question (Mau’s really)—”How can a designer make a difference in people’s lives?” (Berger, 2009, p. 44)— promises to be explored in greater depth in the balance of the text. Based on this excerpt, that text is well worth pursuing.

Thesis Practice Presentation 1.0

“It may be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.” Drivel. Or at least too dependant on the spoken narrative to work without me accompanying it everywhere to read it aloud.

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Thesis Practice Presentation 2.0

Vastly improved. While I stand by opinion that presentations shouldn’t stand alone (without actually being presented), I can see argument for the ability to share presentations after the fact for reference. How to reconcile?

Citations! Cite everything; explain everything. NO leaps of logic in narrative; what’s obvious to me isn’t to anyone else.

6112 thesis research proposal

Marlene saw something she liked in this process slide, although I’m unsure what. Perhaps it should be obvious to me by now, but its not yet.

Thesis Research Surveys

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These surveys will—hopefully—let me get some actual hands-on data about people’s reaction online course environments, especially in relation to visual design courses like ‘communication design’ or ‘web design.’ I’m not entirely sure what I’m expecting to find out here—which I guess is the whole point. Preconceptions and all that. With any luck, the reactions I get from people will trigger something unforseen in my head. Like Rudi says, collect data, present it, and see what new presents itself. I already got a few answers from my initial test run that I didn’t see coming. Hopefully the full run will generate more thinking like that.

RE &

CULTURAL ZEITGEIST 5.1

Modernism 2.0

5.3

Design in Crisis/Shock & Awe

5.4

Multiverso/This page is no longer…

5.5

Midterm: On the readings

5.6

New Reading Spaces

5.7

Work Ethics

5.8

Slow Times

5.9

Patronising Prada

5.10

Speach, Writing, Print…

5.11

After Digital…

5.12

Boredom, b’dum b’dum…

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Modernism 2.0

Modernism 2.0 and its reflective companion, Designers of Possibility, address the

Designers of Possibility Limited Language: Rewriting Design (2010) Birkhauser

assertions by Nicolas Bourriaud, M/M(Paris) and others that modernism has fallen to altermodern, or ‘after modern’ an amalgamated blending of cross-cultural input and design’s reaction to such inputs. Based, among others things, on Bourriaud’s Altermodern at the Tate Britain, the authors try to discover how design will manage the great many cultural threads converging in modern communication and society. This ‘creolization’ of many divergent visual and textural cultural inputs will lead ultimately to a new visual language or shared consciousness, similar to—but vastly denser to— the way a brand identity gradually becomes instantly recognizable the world over– such as Nike, or Apple. for example. But is there value to melding of art and art criticism with design? The authors argue that design is already absorbing these inputs, to produce design as much as to engage the viewer. Using M/M(Paris) as an example where “art, design and fashion communities meet”, they assert that, while the blending of these fields is common, that M/M(Paris)’s conscious use of these techniques in an overt way may be a new way for designers to consider their craft. The counterpoint article proposes that this new way of designers will lead to the titular ‘designers of possibility’, enabling new ways of considering design and its implications to the greater society at large. The article concludes saying “The art world looks at the way artists answer his questions. What will happen when the design world asks the same of designers too?” How, the article asserts, can design ignore the possibilities of this cultural visual creolization to generate new data in new an unexpected way? To which I can only respond, enough. I weary so of the unimagined possibilities of yet another way to consider information, to glean new insight from data collected, from columns of figures and rows of facts. How much data is enough? Michael Bierut defines design as “a plan to make something, for a specific purpose, with a specific audience in mind.” If we accept this as a reasonable definition, than the aggregation of random data, unforeseen and unconsidered until it suddenly appeared as if conjured from a top hat in this new crosscultural visualization, may not only be irrelevant or secondary but a hindrance to design as well. The line between design and art blurs constantly with no ill effect on either side, but this blended mix of Bourriaud’s leaves little room for pragmatism or even usefulness, which I would argue is the ultimate definition of design: to end up with something that is useful. It could be argued that the surprise data collected from one’s searching may indeed end up being useful, but it seems as likely it will not be. Likewise the counterpoint article’s reference to semiotics and ‘semionauts’ seems disingenuous at best and harmful at worst. Semiotics relies on cultural awareness; the knowledge that white, for instance, is the color of matrimony in the Western world and the color of death in the East (which leads to a joke for another day.) If we accept this crosscultural pollution that the article endorses then semiotics become useless as a tool beyond the abstract consideration of a media. This confusing blended insistence on both cross-cultural absorption and the useful validity of semiotic theory leads the discussion in two different and conflicting directions. Which may well have been the point.

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Timeline

Timeline/glossary seems a useful way to force class to engage with unknowns, but eventual use? Hard to see great value beyond superficial.

Design in Crisis

The two readings for this week consider design’s cultural impact in the commercial world. Design in Crisis reflects simply—and blessed concisely—that design has spread so far

Shock & Awe

and wide that the simple or necessary workings of the past, such as reconstructive surgery,

Limited Language: Rewriting Design (2010) Birkhauser

have evolved rapidly past what must be done into a realm of what might be done. The advance of the digital world, driven by the use by and ingenuity of designers, has pushed the ability of creation far faster than anyone could have foreseen. The adage “Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should,” has never rung more true. Shock and Awe considers design’s reaction to the (eventually politicized) military tactical theory advanced in the mid-1990s. The design community embraced shock and awe, both overtly and theoretically. The simple has given way to the overabundance of things—if one is good, hundreds must be better. If large is good, then huge must be better! Design driven by this theory may be perceived, the authors argue, as inherently rightwing or conservative. The counterargument, though, that the designer’s intent cannot be divined from the finished piece, is vital if often ignored. The artist must remain separate from his work; in fact, becoming aware of a creator’s personal views often paints a thing in a completely different and often unpleasant light. The authors further state that the intellectual presumption that criticism of emotionally incendiary objects, such as Suck UK’s 3 Guns Table Vase, must come from a slightly left perspective, may well be in error. The end user, bereft of foreknowledge of the creator’s intent, will likely interpret a thing based on their own experiences, rather than according to some ordained cultural zeitgeist. Perceptions vary. The designer’s mandate, to create, either for art or commerce, is driven by their tools and their surrounding. One person’s reaction to plastic toy soldiers—evoking nostalgic memories of backyard conflicts and comic book ads—may counter completely another’s—invading real soldiers and bombs and death. How people perceive a thing is on their own heads; a designer’s work is to craft, not to editorialize. It seems apparent to me that the work of a designers must be influenced by their environs and origins, but at the same time, a work must stand apart from the designer and be judged—and perceived—on its own successes or failings. One can no more separate the Humvee from the early 2000s than one could remake Dr. Strangelove today. How a culture in turn interprets, adapts and utilizes the advances of design—either through the advances of CGI in filmmaking, or the use of rapid prototyping in physical object or interaction design— can no more be laid at the feet of the innovating designers than can a squirrel be blamed for acorns on the sidewalk.

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Timeline

Diagram Shock & Awe

Shock & Awe

The Politics of Consumption (OFTEN) LEFTIST CRITIQUE

CULTURAL ZEITGEIST

REFLEXIVE & REACTIVE DESIGN

FINISHED PRODUCT USER REACTION

TOOLS OF THE MOMENT (CGI; Rapid Prototyping)

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This seems to be my term for Venn diagrams and circles; I can’t get the motif out of my head (or my game). Maybe a reaction to my usual boxiness (screen design)? A decent enough chart, although unclear without explanation or having done the reading. Is that a downside? Or awareness of the audience?

Multiverso

These two readings address the implications of technology’s impact on our daily lives.

This page is no longer on the server…

This page… discusses how language may no longer hold our connections together so much as the gestures of interaction with a computer do. Ironically, the very gestures referenced— mouse over, mouse down—no longer apply in touch screen devices, and can be seen as

Limited Language: Rewriting

the next stage in the list of connections the author posits as vanishing under the evolution of communications. Multiverso continues this argument, examining how the connections

Design (2010)

to technology in our daily lives have leapt from the screen and into very connections of

Birkhauser

economy, politics and trade. The hyperlink examined in This page… may well have begun as a connection between two files on a computer, but the contemporary reality is that everything is hyperlinked in some way—often, it seems by money. This page… also looks at narrative structure; much like a Choose Your Own Adventure book from our youth, the internet has broken down our collective agreement to process data in one direction and freed the mind to consider input from multiple directions, in multiple directions. It has been argued that this fragmentation of narrative, combined with the ready access to what seems to be every single fact that has ever been, is rewriting how our brains process data. While this is beyond the scope of this consideration, the possibility that technology is forcing an evolutionary shift in our thinking patterns seems both apparent and a little frightening. The shifting of global markets as a result of this colossal and unending, ever-updating stream of data is likewise apparent. As Multiverso considers, the links —hyperlinks?— between technology and global commerce are becoming more and more entwined—and are simultaneously made more tenuous through the entwining. The near-instant availability of data affects commerce–and as a result, design— in ways unforeseen as little as ten years ago, The idea of a singular experience of design, particular to a culture or nation, is lost when an IKEA ad aimed at a European market can be seen on YouTube moments after airing in France. How does this rapid dispersal of information impact designers? Users of design? The audience for design? The obvious impact is on creativity. Work inspired by one’s peers is a common thread in design, but when a critic can immediately cite the original sources of a concept, what impact does that critique have on the work? How many original ideas can be wrought without considering the conscious or unconscious sources of inspiration of the designer? Where does plagiarism begin and homage end? Likewise, if all the information that has ever been is always available, how do people learn new things rather than regurgitate the old? How can we reconnect with our spaces, with our families and friends, our world, when we are always faced with a screen of some sort? Phones, for example, have gone from being merely phones, to offering the ability to connect to our online presence, to aggressively pushing online data at us at every second of the day. The ability to disconnect—to encourage disconnection— may be the most important design skill we have yet to master as a society.

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Timeline

Midterm: On the readings

Improving Distance Education Systems for Learning UI Design; and the Impact of the Readings Considering the volume of reading thus far in the term, I’m dismayed to find that not one of them had informed my thesis to any great extent. I’m even more greatly disappointed in the book itself. While Limited Language: Rewriting Design purports to bring a new perspective to design writing and to contemporary understanding of design, the actual text frustrates. Seemingly a collection of provocative and often contradictory arguments, with no apparent purpose other than to provoke debate without any sense of real conviction on the part of the respective authors, the actual book appears to be only the metaphorical argument for the sake of it. Let’s examine The Problem with Design (Limited Language, 2010) as an example. The authors’ contempt for design as problem solving is manifest in quotes like “one person’s problem is another’s home or fight for freedom or mean’s of transport.” Why such disdain? Problem-solving is certainly not the only tenet of design; indeed, modern designers address ethical and moral dilemmas on a regular basis. The idea that designers are merely “cultural beautician or plastic surgeon” isn’t just disingenuous, its contemptuous as well. Its not, the authors seem to say, that designers don’t do enough; its more that designers don’t do enough of what the authors think they should. Even more dismay is heaped upon design in the name of commerce. Ignoring for the moment that designers must pay rent and feed their families, just like (apparently more noble) factory workers or farmers, the authors seem to imply that designers should shoulder more worthy causes and work less to enrich the corporate coffers. Discounting the heaping helping of Western liberal guilt implied there, the idea that design for commercial purposes is somehow unworthy of working designers is frankly offensive. The authors argue that design should tackle small problems in tiny increments—seemingly ignoring the fact that many designers wake up every day and do just that. While the giant achievements of design–the iPad, say—are celebrated in the press, the small steps—little improvements in everyday things—get no notice at all. In my thesis, I’m exploring how design, in all the meanings of the word, can be used to create better non-localized learning environments, for teaching design. Does my thesis meet the authors’ standards? Or would it be more worthy if I was crafting a learning environment to teach science to children using the OLPC laptops in sub-Saharan Africa? Probably. But everything I know about science I learned from Mr. Spock. On the other hand, if I can create a model of distance learning that’s fluid enough to be repurposed, maybe someone who does know something real about science—or math, or engineering, or medicine—can use it to create those learning experiences. Swinging for the fences makes for dramatic television, but terrible baseball. The authors say: “If only designers could stop measuring the impact of design solely on how big the problem is. Instead, wouldn’t it be better if they focused on how important the question is?” (Limited Language, 2010, p. 23) What tripe. It’s not how important the question is that matters. What matters is who the question is important to—the individual or group that design affects should be the focus of design, along with how the design in question will impact that group. That’s what the authors miss, and that’s what my thesis will focus upon.

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New Reading Spaces Print vs. Screen

long. Facetiousness aside, the reading makes a good argument for essentially everything

Limited Language: Rewriting Design (2010) Birkhauser

I’m certain that Max Bruinsma’s New Reading Spaces was well-thought out and contemporary about ten minutes ago, but it’s the future now: you can’t stand still that that web developers, the advent of HTML5, CSS3 , @font-face web fonts and Apple’s iPad have brought to bear in the last 6 months. Bruinsma’s case for a truly interactive reading experience, rather than the point-and-click/mouseover interaction of the early web is so eerily prescient as to make one believe in time travel. The interactive typographic design of material published for Apple’s iPad, such as the brilliantly clever Alice in Wonderland (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gew68Qj5kxw), or the pleasant reading experience of any of the e-ink readers, like Kindle, Nook or Kobo, make it apparent that end users—is reader still the right term?—are willing to embrace variable degrees of designerly cleverness in enhanced experiences with text. I take issue, though, with the conceit that readers will only embrace this sort of blinking, whirling engagement with text. The idea that Shakespeare can be expanded upon by embedded video of performances or referential annotations can be taken as a given—but is it truly enhanced? Does anyone really think that the original work needs bells and whistles? Or is the sort of interactive design postulated by the author the text-based equivalent of cruise control, air conditioning and leather bucket seats? As a life-long reader, I can see the advantages of expanded annotative material in text, especially historical or non-fiction works. I can also see the advantage of forcing user interaction as a way to expand user engagement with a text they’re reluctant to read, as anyone who plowed thought A Tale of Two Cities in 8th grade will attest. But as a designer and a reader, I object to the idea that future readers—by which I mean, next year—will only engage with the written word through this sot of A/V stimuli. The argument in Print vs. screen for a “wreader” that “is a welcome guest of hypertext” (Limited Language, 2010, p. 270) is glib 21st century argument in favor of Choose Your Own Adventure books. Expanded content is not always enhanced content. As demonstrated by IDEO’s The Future of the Book conceptual presentation (http:// vimeo.com/15142335), there are tremendous advantages to expanded and enhanced books delivered electronically. Its equally possible that a well designed printed book can be argued as an even more enhanced experience for the reader. Can an iPad or a Kindle replicate the smell of paper and ink or the tactile sensations of a physical book? I think not—but I can also see a generation in the not too near future for whom physical books are as quaint as vinyl records or video cassettes, a sort of “pre-digital data storage and retrieval unit.” The future’s engagement with digital content—text, video, art or some combination of all three—is inevitable. Its up to designers to make it worthwhile, and not merely the next gimmick.

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Timeline

Work Ethics

Mario Moura presents yet another essay in this book that can’t quite figure out what

How much of this can we take? Limited Language: Rewriting Design (2010) Birkhauser

it’s talking about. Is it about the ethical considerations of design and designers? or about the manipulation of designers by the needs of business? Is it an indictment of designers’ carefully guarded ability to segregate work and conscience? Or is it a warning call, a siren to alert us as designers that the business community is controlling us? Who can tell? And frankly, who cares? Moura’s work is unfocused and pretty obvious to any designer who’s worth the name. I’m fascinated, though, by the consideration of ethics in design—by which I mean, quite clearly, the need for designers to balance their own consciences with the needs of their client. Where is the line? Should a designer refuse work from Smith & Wesson? Or Hustler? Or the U.S. Democratic Party? How does a designer balance the needs of his craft—to create—and his life—to create for profit—with his own sense of self worth? Are ethics in this context sliding scale? Do you accept work you’d rather not when you’re starting out? Does the sheer quality of your design work for Smith & Wesson offset the fact that someone’s going to look at your portfolio and cringe that you did a gun ad? If not for the portfolio piece, how about the money? Is the fact that the rent is due enough for you to swallow your personal considerations and design an ad for a device designed essentially for killing? How about a website that could be argued to exploit women? What role should your personal convictions play in the work you accept or refuse? At what point do your own objections to a client or their product outweigh your need to work? Should a designer’s gender, or religion, or political views impact their work? Obviously those views will impact the sort of clients a designer can attract, but does the need to be comfortable with the work you produce make an impact in a designer’s business dealings? How a designer addresses this dilemma is worth consideration. Everyone needs to make a living, pay rent, buy food and gas, and at the same time, everyone needs to be able to look at themselves in the mirror without flinching. A designer has the ability to detach from their work—I’m not promoting violence, I’m advertising a well-machined product—but they must also be willing to consider their own views, not in the design itself but in the project. If a designer has ethical issues with S&W or Playboy, don’t take the work—it ought to be that simple. There’s a solid argument that indifference or unawareness of a product makes a better environment for a designer; some of my best work starting out was for a Christian church, to which I remain more or less hostile on a conceptual level. However, I was able to respect the passion and honesty of the people involved and take on the work. It seems ultimately that a designer should have some level of comfort with the client and their product before accepting the work. What hat level is remains up to the individual designer. If you wouldn’t want to stand next to your client in a photo, you probably shouldn’t accept the project. The time to take a moral stand is before you cash the check.

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Timeline

Slow Times

This week’s reading addresses—in a way—addresses the inevitable outcome of mankind’s progress: as the industrial age gave way to the digital age, data, even life itself comes too

The Slow Fast

quickly at us, past us and away without time to reflect or often, even participate.

Limited Language: Rewriting Design (2010) Birkhauser

While the reading compares the pressure of the onscreen existence with the more naturalistic perception of time through the daily sun cycle, the argument is made that the advent of railroads not only formalized times, to maintain schedules, but quickened our perception of life, with vistas speeding by us. The reading further argues that as the mechanical ability to move things—either by train, car or in a factory assembly line—has shifted our awareness of time, making us more and more connected not to the now but to the infinite possibilities of next. The argument is made, of course, that people should slow down, experience life in a more harmonious way, and the reading mentioned the Slow Food movement as an example. The reading doesn’t necessarily make a compelling argument that quickened perceptions of reality is a bad thing, except as seen through the eyes of someone who perspective includes a slower time. Do children born in 1990, coming of age in the internet age, react the same way to sensory input? Is it as hard for them to parse the “one thousand” suggestions for restaurants in Athens as it is for the woman cited in the example? While generations obviously have baseline reactions founded in their initial experiences with life, is it possible that the evolution of our awareness of time/speed simply cannot ever keep pace? Did Cro Magnon man awake to the rising of the sun to somewhere in his small brain bemoan the fact that he didn’t have time to hunt for meat yesterday and will now have to add it to today’s list of goals for survival? It could be argued that we are always affected by our perceptions of time, and the only shift generationally has been the starting point; that is, what we consider to be the “normal” speed in our formative consciousness. If only there were more time to consider this.

6114 situated design

Timeline

Patronising Prada Critical Effects

this week’s reading.

Limited Language: Rewriting Design (2010) Birkhauser

Can art sponsored by a corporation—or any entity—be critical of that entity? Or does the art become co-opted by that entity as a means to its own ends? That’s the question posed by

The starting positions presuppose several things. First, that art that utilizes corporate imagery must in fact be engaging with that corporation critically. Second, that a corporation cannot sponsor art without influencing the artist, and by extension, the artist’s end product. And third, that the viewers of said art will be influenced by the art to look upon the corporation’s end product in the manner that the corporation prefers—most likely, favorably. The public viewer of art is likely to describe themselves as a savvy connoisseur, able to perceive the artist’s twist of the corporate imagery and appreciate the ironic nose tweak of the poor corporation helpless to prevent its imager from being co-opted for the sake of art. That may be the perception, but in the age of focus groups, psychographic profiling and Google, isn’t it just as likely that the art patron—and perhaps the artist as well—has fallen victim to a LeCarré-style bit of manipulation. Isn’t it just as likely that corporate image makers have suborned the artist—and through them the audience—to generate more publicity for the corporation, this time reaching the previously unreachable “too hip to be manipulated by advertising” crowd? Maybe. Which leads us to the question of whether an artist’s work must be critical. While it can be argued that art that uses corporate imagery as its foundation must be forming some sort of commentary upon the source material, it does not necessarily lead to criticism of that source. And isn’t art that features a corporation’s logo that isn’t critical in some way just advertising? Does Thom Sachs’ Prada Toilet make a critical statement about Prada? Or is it tacitly endorsing Prada? Or both? Or neither? Who can say with certainty? Even Sachs is likely to be uncertain of his original intent by now. The argument that any art that features corporate or commercial iconography must be critical in some way of the entity seems specious. Can a corporation sponsor art that is conceptually segregated from its own interests? While it seems possible to do so, through grants or foundations, it seems less likely that a corporation would gladly write a check to an artist who would paint—metaphorically—the business in a bad light. The blending of corporate interests—the idealized “good corporate citizen”— and art seems a problematic and tricky business, and probably one best avoided by the average business. The idea of a corporation co-opting artistic “criticism” as a tool of marketing, however, may be a clever way to engage a market unserved by traditional advertising practices. The line grows ever thinner.

6114 situated design

Speech, Writing, Print… Serifs and Conduits

Does typography serve content, or is it an element on its own? Speech, Writing, Print... by Michael Clarke considers the impact of the written word versus spoken word, but its consideration of typography as design element is what makes for fertile contemplation.

Limited Language: Rewriting Design (2010) Birkhauser

In an idealized world, typography could seamlessly serve both masters, being a wonderful design element, carefully conceived and lovingly rendered; and as invisible conduit of information, delivering content in an appealing yet unseen way. In practicality, the line betwixt the two is very thin and easily trampled. Hoes does a designer address typography? In school, designers are taught to subordinate typographic design to the written word, forcing a focus upon content delivery. In this way, type itself is suborned to the intent of the author, not the designer; ideal type in this scenario will encourage the reading of the content without overtly alerting the reader to the type design. Experimental type design shifts attention to the type itself, where the font face is deconstructed and becomes a visual element that draws its support from the content instead of vice versa. Made popular by David Carson and Ray Gun magazine, distressed or deconstructed unconventional typography lent an air of fresh thinking and new ideas to design layouts, where the type itself is the primary element on the page irregardless of the written content. How does typography influence perception of content? From the erratic stylings of Ezra Pound to a modern newspaper, typographic design at its simplest takes the spoken word and preserves it for a larger audience. Arguments in favor of less or more design in typography, from Eric Gill to Gyorgy Kepes, are useful only in the abstract. Ideology will never sway the masses when technology has already done so: the advent of the desktop computer and desktop publishing software tools, following close on the heels of the electronic typesetter, has already broken typography from the hands of the artistes and delivered it for general use. While obviously this has brought some horrific work to the printed page, it has also increased awareness of typography and its principles to a larger audience than ever before. This consciousness of typography can only benefit design, and all of these stylings—good or ill—give readers more cognizance of the impact of typography on their environment. Eric Gill argues that the failure of the printed page to leave a physical impression on the user is a failure of culture. Despite this, the physical printed page has been joined in the information delivery market by ebook readers, tablets and computers. Rapidly moving away from their egregious typographic origins, onscreen type of all sorts has blossomed in recent years, embracing its printed page origins and promising an enhanced data experience as a sort of consolation for their lack of true tactile haptics. Traditionalists will continue to bemoan the ever-evolving use of type, and the failings of desktop publishing to adhere to traditional and classical standards of typography. Regardless, the evolution of type has moved from solely content delivery, to design accent, to some combination of the two. As readers continue to engage with the written word in multiple ways, through multiple means of access, the ability of type to convey both the literal and symbolic meaning of the words in question will continue to evolve to benefit us all.

6114 situated design

Timeline

After digital…

The arguments that the new “digital”—which is still an adjective, no matter how much

Sense making?

the authors wish it were a noun—is both untested and unstoppable, that we have no idea of how it will impact our lives, or our children’s lives, and that the implications for both the creative industry and the general public are unforeseeable, seem, well, obvious.

Digital glass

The parallels drawn with the Victorian age’s discomfort with the Industrial Revolution

Digital behaviours

are well considered. And given the state of industry today, the authors’ arguments that the digital revolution will eventually go poorly seem valid on the surface. However, prior

Limited Language: Rewriting

performance doesn’t predict future outcomes. The digital revolution—or evolution, rather—

Design (2010)

have wrought tremendous change in a very short time, but the idea that it will go awry, or

Birkhauser

that the evolution is middle-aged is simply unsustainable. Change, however unpleasant or uncomfortable in the moment, is inevitable. Consideration of change while it occurs is tricky at best and unrealistic at worst. It is impossible to critically analyze a change while it occurs; time must pass and the impact of the change must be made clear in order for reasoned thinking and writing to occur. Part of the reading is the authors’ reflexive response to the fact that the digital evolution changed so much so quickly—from how we shop for books to how we consume music and share photographs—that real critical awareness of the impact of these changes is as yet unavailable; and worse still in their eyes, the change continues at an ever increasing pace. While the authors wail and gnash their teeth at the rapidity of the growth of a digital ubiquity in our everyday lives, they also seem to be reluctant to acknowledge that that same evolution isn’t being driven by the digital cognoscenti, the elite, but by the masses, the people who don’t bemoan the ever speeding pace of change but simply roll up their sleeves, see what’s available to them and think, “Look, I can send photos to my family on Flickr! Cool!” Its almost as if the hue and cry over the impact of the digital evolution is being raised partly because the authors feel their positions as authoritative arbiters of cultural technology has been usurped by Joe Public. However digital technology impacts out lives in the future, for good or ill, it seems obvious that it certainly continue to do so. Equally obviously, the possibility exists that the authors are correct: that the digital evolution will have unforeseen and unintended consequences, for users or for the technological infrastructure, or even for our very biological existence. Regardless of this possibility, the tide will not turn. The changes will continue apace, and as the community most connected with the digital evolution, design has some responsibility to be aware of the possible outcomes—good or ill— and try to mitigate the ill in favor of the good. Design is inextricably interconnected with digital, and this consciousness of possibility that empowers design thinking can also be directed to control or at least alleviate possible impacts of digital evolution on the world at large.

6114 situated design

Boredom, b’dum, b’dum… Boredom to freedom Limited Language: Rewriting Design (2010) Birkhauser

David Crowley’s lament about the visual noise that clutters our lives, coupled with his paean to boredom as a reflective creative tool, is a compelling if not wholly original work. Even in his essay he cites an earlier work on how mass communication creeps into our subconscious until we are unaware of the origins of our own thoughts. Am I opposed to the war in Afghanistan, or do I think its a good idea? It would seem, in this example, to depend on where you get your news. Crowley does hit a solid point: “words and images seek us out.” (Crowley, 2010). We are inundated daily by visual stimuli. Worse—arguably—this stimuli isn’t the glory of a mountain or the vista of the sea, but carefully calculated marketing communications, word or imagery or both. How calculated these inputs are depends on their intent, but the art of creating a cultural paroxysm—the proverbial watercooler moment—is well mastered in the centers of modern media. So what does this do to us as a culture? How can we embrace the boredom that Crowley thinks we need? As cited in Boredom to freedom, the world is designed to keep us from stillness: “Even when we are alone, we are worrying about what…what we’re missing.” (Limited Language, 2010) The prevalence of the “smartphone” is a prime example of the incessant—created?—need to be distracted. Despite studies that show the brain desperately needs moments of calm to process information, the modern smartphone is the current evolution of personal technologies that began with the Walkman. The Walkman began as a way to entertain ourselves privately; the smartphone not only entertains us in solitude but provides a never-ending stream of data we can use as a wall between ourselves and the rest of the world. How many times have you seen people in public, sealed in their own bubble of data by their white earbuds? One could lament the iPhone, with its huge library of applications for distraction, but the new Windows Phone goes one step further and presents a continuous stream of data without the user even needing to request it. The designers of phone software simply can’t conceive that the user wouldn’t want this information. How will we connect with people in realspace in the future? How can boredom be embraced and not rejected as a waste of time? How much multitasking is enough? Already our brains are rewiring to process information the way Google presents it. What will become of our ability to think? Crowley argues that graphic design should “operate as a system to slow down perception…create silences in the noisy media.” (Crowley, 2010). He’s correct; while design doesn’t bear all the responsibility for this sensory chaos, design is certainly in a position to affect it henceforth. While the demands of commerce would ostensibly call for greater and greater “noise,” there is no question that design is not simply the art of making things blink. When presented with a blinking, spinning, flashing piece of advertising or information, could it not be argued that a stronger piece of still design might better capture attention? As designers, the obligation to culture is to try.

6114 situated design

6 7

11 12 13 14 15

6600 1

2011.3.MARCH

6.4

Personal Spaces

6.5

Self-portrait

6 7

11 12 13 14 15

Calendar

S S M

6.3

Four Days in Halifax

6.2

Dérive

6.1

S S M

2011.3.MARCH

Exercise Dérive

In situationist texts, a dérive is an attempt at analysis of the totality of everyday life, through the passive movement through space. It is translated as drift. — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dérive

6600 graduate design studio

Another collaborative project that came out better than I thought. A little dense if not backlit; no clue how we could have done this without backlighting. At least, not time to think of a clue, anyway. A good exercise in production, though. Rule #1: find a maleable print guy.

Project Four Days in Halifax

How is space defined? What makes a space common/pubic or private? How does noticing empty spaces inform their use? How much of life goes on around us unnoticed?

6600 graduate design studio

Astounding how much empty space a seemingly congested city presents. Weird to go from the consideration of all of Halifax’s emptiness to the confinement of Breakhouse’s presentation parameters. Good to have a concrete logistical challenge, though.

Project Four Days in Halifax

Last iteration. A suprisingly succesful collaboration. Had no idea the group could produce something this polished. Printing could have been a little slicker; could have used a second run after a proof if this was a longer-term installation.

6600 graduate design studio

Couldn’t love the touch/sound/smells posters any more. Great executions of great concepts.

Project Four Days in Halifax

6600 graduate design studio

The weakest of the set, although not through effort or finished product. It just seems so literal compared to the rest of the posters.

Exercise Calendar

Can you render time as a series of variables from a fixed NOW point without it being a personal/subjective view? Probably not. Well, I can’t. Not in 3 weeks, anyway.

6600 graduate design studio

Subjective time. Loooong Wednesdays; long Fridays. The interminable wait for Christmas. Subjective perception of time must have some shared commonalities. Chase that…

Exercise Calendar 0.5

19 20 21

JANUARY

19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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2011.3.MARCH

2011.4.APRIL

S S M

2011.3.MARCH

APRIL

FEBRUARY

MARCH

S S M

2011.4.APRIL

Good feedback from initial pinup. Explore some sort of illusory depth to days, like folds of a fan? On the right track, anyway.

6600 graduate design studio

Exercise Calendar 1.0

Two Thousand Eleven 1

15 16

22 23

29 30

CED.21.0102 2011.1.JAN

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2011.2.FEB

2012.01.JAN

Second crit iteration. Noticed that I missed some holidays, added others (Halloween, for instance.) Also, green-to-gold- gradient creates weird hotspots. Explore clearer data, diff color scheme.

Exercise Calendar Final

Two Thousand Eleven 1

15 16

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Resolved color scheme. Differentiated statutory holidays and cultural ones. Fiddled with subjective time spans, mostly focused on my early perecptions of time (ie, 10-year-old). Pretty cool.

2012.01.JAN

Project Personal Spaces

I’m really into Venn diagrams this semester. I feel like the Halifax exercises have made me more aware of the overlapping “circles” of life and environment. Everything’s connected—but if so, what’s important and what’s not? How to emphasize importance of school, say, vs relative unimportance of the shop where I buy drinks?

6600 graduate design studio

PATRICK FOSTER : LIFE IN HALIFAX

Ian’s Room

Living Room Library

Apartment

Bath Room

Sobey’s Halifax

Waterfont

Empire

Theaters

N400 Seminar Room

Halifax

NSCAD

N400 Design Studio

Merkin Gallery

First pass. Well received at crit. CK labelled it suprisingly personal and impersonal at once, which I kind of like. Not entirely sure where to go from here.

Project Personal Spaces

6600 graduate design studio

First pass too physical and too literal. Encouraged to explore non-structural shapes and metaphorical spaces— family, school, work, media— to see how I fit into the center of those.

Project Personal Spaces (final)

IMMED FAMILY

RELATIVES

FACULTY/STAFF

NSCAD

6600 graduate design studio

STUDENTS

DIATE Y

MOVIES

TELEVISION

MEDIA

Second try. The connections I have with my spaces and the entities within are revealed—the point of the whole class—to be largely mediated. Where does that take me, then?

Project Personal Spaces (final revised)

FAMILY SCHOOL WORK

NT AC

HRO

6600 graduate design studio

UGH

R PE

The finished piece seems succesful, altho it seems a very ‘commercial’ piece of art; should try for more subtlety in my design next time.

ICA

NTA

TION

Final final. How I connect to my spaces—largely second-hand or via some means of communication rather than face-to-face—seems both clearer and a little scary.

H TECHNOLOGY

ONES

O C OF

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Project Self-portrait

Robert Mitchel RM 901 BK 52-16-135

Bert Pulitzer Mossimo 90% Polyester 10% Wool 48R Dryclean Only

XL Machine Wash Cold Tumble Dry Medium

Hanes Comfort-T XL

HTC Timbuk2

00000000000000

Nova Scotia Health RBC Royal Bank 0000 000 000 Client Card Birth 1967Dec21 0000 00 00000000 002010May02 Effective Patrick Foster Expiry 2014Nov30 RBC Royal Bank 03 Canada Ten • Dix Dollars

RBS Rewards

0000100000 Banque du Canada • Bank of Canada Ottawa 0000 0000 This note is legal tender / Ce billet a cours légal 0000 Sir John A. MacDonald PrimeEnd Minister/Premier Expiration: of 06/14Ministre Month/Year 1867-1873, 1878-1891 Patrick Foster La Bibliothéque du Parlement • The Library of Parliament

Raya by Thermos

Nalgene

Timberland Timberland

Timberland

Gore-Tex®

11.5M Genuine leather uppers Manmade lining and outsole Made in China www.gore-tex.com Mens

6600 graduate design studio

Leatherman Kick™

Nova Scotia / Nouvelle-Écosse NSCAD University CAN NS NAME Patrick Foster Driver License IDENTIFICATION NO 000000 Permis de conduire ISSUE DATE 06/05/2010 DD/Réf 0000000000000000000000 AFFILIATION Student Halifax Public Libraries SIGNATURE

PENSTIX No. 3015-EF 0.5mm

33CTX

L.L. Bean

Wilson Leather

A black “India Ink quality marker” for graphics, technical drawing and all fine writing. Recap when not in use.

Levi

Pentel Ener-Gel

Hanes

Leatherman

Liquid Gel Ink Metal Tp 0.7mm ball Made in Japan

Wrangler

Moleskin

MacBook Pro

6600 081210

Considering I put a lot of effort into not being a walking billboard for clothing manufacturers, a little unnerving to see exactly how branded I am. And to become aware of what image I present to the corporate world. Am I this? Or is this just the surface?

10.1

Conceptual Thinking

10.2

Abstract draft (11 August, 2010)

10.2.5 Rationale (7 December 2010)

thesis

10.3

Bibliography

10.4

Project Poster

Good design is innovative

Good design makes a product useful

Good design is aesthetic

Good design makes a product understandable

Good design is unobtrusive

Good design is honest

Good design is long-lasting

Good design is thorough down to the last detail

Good design is environmentally friendly

Good design is as little design as possible

Dieter Rams 76

THESIS

What is my question?

Design practices for onscreen interfaces and engagement continue to evolve at a rapid pace, demanding a greater connection between the demands of the profession and the advantages of higher education. Given that, how can a better system for online/non-localized course delivery be designed to facilitate improved “screen design” courses?

Thesis Notes

Managing the instructors’ need to engage with theory in the face of having to produce something tangible may be the trickiest part of things here.

! 78

THESIS

Abstract How Will an Improved System of User Interface Design Education Link Traditional Design Education with a New Generation of NonTraditional Design Learners?

THESIS

learning UI design in the future? Could a design system be wrought to exploit the prevalence of such devices in the 21st Century? If we accept the paradigm of current online courses as a stepping stone for the future, what possibilities occur for student/educator interaction in UI design education? How could students be directed toward enriching and expanded tangential topics from their base assignments? How can design educators provide the richest, most expansive range of subject-specific knowledge to students? Further, what is the future of digital connections in ever-evolving critique and feedback affordance opportunities? Could such technologies define and expand a virtual studio culture, exploring new ways to connect students to each other, faculty to students and the group as a whole? User interface design education will inevitably embrace the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) concept, wherein students connect with lessons, research material, other students and instructors all in a non linear fashion. As a virtual learning experience might be utilized to expand upon or even serve as replacement for the traditional studio culture of physical design schools, how could a considered, designed system of information management enhance the learning environment? Should a UI design-centric PLE could embrace such advantages as peer-to-peer connections and social networking to foster structured learning, serving to enhance rather than supplant the already widespread ad-hoc network of peer-made tutorials already online? This continually evolving network of tutorial and training data is the starting point for learning for many working professionals. A UI design PLE would furthermore give formal credibility to online creative learning and begin to engage already technologically savvy students with more structured design learning, while embracing the craft-and-theory approach of traditional schools in an entirely new way. How much value could be placed on the ability to bring traditional design theory in a new way to a new audience not limited by geographic or scheduling constraints? By accepting the possibilities for user interface design education through portable devices and the contemporary concepts of remote or low-residency education, it should be possible to design a system of improved data exchange and review, focused on user interface design education. Without addressing educational techniques or evolving curricula, such a designed system could enable an improved learning process for UI design. That system could then be applied to a future discoursive model of learning, to address challenges in the delivery and analysis of user interface design education for the benefit of both future students and educators.

THESIS

Rationale 7 December 2010

THESIS

Current online/distance-education software environments are not designed with visual design courses in mind as their primary use. The focus of such software has been to deliver coursework geared toward the traditional university lecture course, encompassing reading and critical writing. This focus has well served traditional academic subjects, but the need for greater engagement between design instructor and student, greater give-and-take between students in the critique environment, and the need to share and comment upon visual files has showcased the limitations of these softwares as tools of design education. “Screen design,” a term coined by renowned designer Jason Santa Maria (2010), can be considered the modern evolution of the traditional art of graphic communication design, with a focus solely on actual “screens,” such as laptops, tablet computers, phones and similar devices of modern technology. Much as previous generations of designers needed to understand and engage with the complexities of the printing and production processes, the screen designer requires not only a mastery of visual design skills but a commanding grasp of possible access points of their designed result, the variables and limitations thereof, and likely user-engagement and interaction patterns. The ability to manage these disparate inputs to produce a cohesive whole, all the while staying reasonably abreast of the technological advances—lest one misses an advancement that will drive the next innovation— requires learning and mastering a dramatically new skill set. While traditional design schools are beginning to adapt to this new paradigm, the professional industry is disappointed in the outcomes currently produced by institutions of higher education. Working professionals have been dismissive or even critical of the outcomes generated by design education institutions (Rutledge, 2010). As many as fifty percent of working professionals do not feel their postsecondary education has been of value to them professionally (A List Apart, 2010), and many entering the field are encouraged to take it upon to themselves to learn as they go, from the wide array of written and recorded instruction available to them (Rutledge, 2010). In doing so, however, these new learners embrace technologies without any formal training; they can craft “stylized” work but have no understanding of the strengths basic design skills would bring to their personal toolset. By crafting a more visually-centered environment for online design education, higher education could more nimbly present contemporaneous design education geared at screen designers, and simultaneously reach working professionals looking to freshen their skills; traditional post-secondary students from non-local regions (increasing both the reach and the fees of the universities), and students who would ordinarily be forced by economic or geographic concerns to learn on their own. Working web designers strive to understand and expand upon interface conventions to bring a greater user experience to sites they design. Educators who teach design in physical or virtual classrooms work equally hard to engage their students and pass on their knowledge of both traditional and contemporary design mores. Combining this focus will generate an improved engagement for students, either as primary or secondary/supplemental remote/ virtual environment. 87

THESIS

Bibliography (December 2010) Anderson, E., DeBolt, V., Featherstone, D., Gunther, L., Jacobs, D. R., Jensen-Inman, L., et al. (2010). InterACT with web standards: A holistic approach to web design New Riders Press. Blog the web | teach the web. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www. teachtheweb.com/blog/ Bounce – A fun and easy way to share ideas on a website. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.bounceapp.com/ Boyd, D. (2010) Streams of content, limited attention: the flow of information through social media. EDUCAUSE Review, 45(2), 26–36. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from http://www.educause. edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/ StreamsofContentLimitedAttenti/213923 Brown, M., with Auslander, M., Gredone, K., Green, D., Hull, B., & Jacobs, W. (September/October 2010) A Dialogue for engagement. EDUCAUSE Review, 45/5. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from http://www.educause. edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/ ADialogueforEngagement/213924 Elearnspace. Learning management systems: The wrong place to start elearning. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.elearnspace.org/ Articles/lms.htm Forget design thinking and try hybrid thinking | fast company. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/dev-patnaik/ innovation/forget-design-thinking-and-try-hybrid-thinking From toy to tool: Cell phones in learning. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/ Gagnon, D. (2010) Mobile Learning Environments. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 26, 2010 from http://www.educause. edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ MobileLearningEnvironments/213690 Guidry, K. & BrckaLorenz, A.(2010) A Comparison of student and faculty academic technology use across disciplines. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 22, 2010 from http://www.educause. edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ AComparisonofStudentandFaculty/213682 The ideal collaboration toolset for distributed workers. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.ferris.com/2005/01/02/the_ideal_colla/

Bibliography (December 2010) A List Apart. Elevate web design at the university level. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/elevate-web-design-at-theuniversity-level/ A List Apart. Findings from the web design survey, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/issues/315 O’Brien, R. (1998). An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research. Retrieved November 19, 2010, from http://www.web. ca/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html Pirius, L. & Creel, G.(2010) Reflections on play, pedagogy, and World of Warcraft. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 25, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/ EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ ReflectionsonPlayPedagogyandWo/213663 Quora. Neil Hunt: What types of things does Netflix A/B test aside from member sign-up? Retrieved December 1, 2010 from http://www.quora. com/Neil-Hunt-What-types-of-things-does-Netflix-A-B-test-aside-frommember-sign-up Rutledge, Andy. The UX design education scam. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.andyrutledge.com/the-ux-design-education-scam. php Santa Maria, Jason. (2010, June 25). A Real Web Design Application. Retrieved June 27, 2010 from http://jasonsantamaria.com/articles/a-realweb-design-application/ Tapscott, Don. (2008). Grown up digital. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Watts, C., Simons, J.T. & Baird, D.(2010) The Media scholarship project: strategic thinking about media and multimodal assignments in the liberal arts. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 24, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/ EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ TheMediaScholarshipProjectStra/213673 The web standards project. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www. webstandards.org/

THESIS

Thesis Project Proposal Poster

THESIS

Appendix Specified Outcomes Document

THESIS

Specified Outcomes

Patrick Foster 7 December 2010 MDES6112

Design practices for onscreen interfaces and engagement continue to evolve at a rapid pace, demanding a greater connection between the demands of the profession and the advantages of higher education. Given that, how can a better system for online/ non-localized course delivery be designed to facilitate improved “screen design” courses?

“Simple trumps

complete.” Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer, Netflix (2010)

RATIONALE Current online/distance-education software environments are not designed with visual design courses in mind as their primary use. The focus of such software has been to deliver coursework geared toward the traditional university lecture course, encompassing reading and critical writing. This focus has well served traditional academic subjects, but the need for greater engagement between design instructor and student, greater give-and-take between students in the critique environment, and the need to share and comment upon visual files has showcased the limitations of these softwares as tools of design education. “Screen design,” a term coined by renowned designer Jason Santa Maria (2010), can be considered the modern evolution of the traditional art of graphic communication design, with a focus solely on actual “screens,” such as laptops, tablet computers, phones and similar devices of modern technology. Much as previous generations of designers needed to understand and engage with the complexities of the printing and production processes, the screen designer requires not only a mastery of visual design skills but a commanding grasp of possible access points of their designed result, the variables and limitations thereof, and likely user-engagement and interaction patterns. The ability to manage these disparate inputs to produce a cohesive whole, all the while staying reasonably abreast of the technological advances—lest one misses an advancement that will drive the next innovation—requires learning and mastering a dramatically new skill set. While traditional design schools are beginning to adapt to this new paradigm, the professional industry is disappointed in the outcomes currently produced by institutions of higher education. Working professionals have been dismissive or even critical of the outcomes generated by design education institutions (Rutledge, 2010). As many as fifty percent of working professionals do not feel their postsecondary education has been of value to them professionally (A List Apart, 2010), and many entering the field are encouraged to take it upon to themselves to learn as they go, from the wide array of written and recorded instruction available to them (Rutledge, 2010). In doing so, however, these new learners embrace technologies without any formal training; they can craft “stylized” work but have no understanding of the strengths basic design skills would bring to their personal toolset. By crafting a more visually-centered environment for online design education, higher education could more nimbly present contemporaneous design education geared at screen designers, and simultaneously reach working professionals looking to freshen their skills; traditional postsecondary students from non-local regions (increasing both the reach and

the fees of the universities), and students who would ordinarily be forced by economic or geographic concerns to learn on their own. Working web designers strive to understand and expand upon interface conventions to bring a greater user experience to sites they design. Educators who teach design in physical or virtual classrooms work equally hard to engage their students and pass on their knowledge of both traditional and contemporary design mores. Combining this focus will generate an improved engagement for students, either as primary or secondary/supplemental remote/virtual environment.

STAKEHOLDERS • Future design students • Educators • Educational institutions • Web designers/UI Designers • Design Researchers • Other design professionals • Working professionals seeking higher education or advanced learning • The author

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & METHODS Action Research Methodology “is ‘learning by doing’ —a group of people identify a problem, do something to resolve it, see how successful their efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again.” (O’Brien, 1998) The process of Action Research can be summed up by one word: iterate. Action Research demands multiple iterations, with each stage being reflected upon and further steps being carefully considered before proceeding. The stages in my usage of Action Research Methodology are delineated as Research & Strategy; Design; Implementation; and Evaluation. These stages benefit both the researcher as much as the end product and its user. Research & Strategy encompasses both the initial germ of an idea, the single concept worrying the back of the designer’s brain like sand in their shoe, as well as the research that springs from that idea. What about the idea compels the designer? What other research has been done on the subject? The more initial research is carried out, the less likely that the designer will cover old ground in their work. Strategic thinking involves considerations of both the esoteric and aesthetic—how it looks, how appealing will it be to use— as well as the pragmatic—can something be built to do all those things for the budget or likely cost? While considerations of production are inappropriate at this stage of this particular project, careful thinking along those lines will help produce a better finished piece, whether for commercial output or theoretical uses. Design means make something. It doesn’t need to be finished—indeed, it’s likely that it won’t be at this stage, but make something for people to put their hands on, and, probably, break. Iterating through design is the strength of the designer; a designer will bring distinctly different critical thinking skills to an application than say, an engineer. This thinking is what will make the difference between what is and what could be. Implementation leads to observation. Observe users engaging with the concept. Does it work? Is it complex? Too simple? Not useful in the way you’d thought? Perhaps it does something completely unexpected. This is the stage to find out. Continue with research and anecdotal data collection while gathering feedback from the field. The evaluation stage is wherein all the prior input is considered and understood. Is the initial idea worth pursuing now? Did the designed concept fulfill the designer’s expectations? How about the user needs? The feedback considered here will allow for a more robust conceptual iteration when the cycle repeats itself. Further planning begins, and by moving

through the methodology process again, the design can be crafted and refined until judged a success by whatever metrics are in use. The methods by which Action Research Methodology can be applied vary from project to project. In this project, the methods employed will include (but are not as yet limited to: •

A literature review of research in related areas of online and

distance learning processes, and the inclusion of digital devices in modern learning •

A survey of students and educators in visual design fields, crafted

to compare and qualify their experiences in traditional and virtual learning environments •

Research and consideration of current offerings for long-distance/

non-localized learning environments, and their applicability, strengths and weaknesses in relation to visual design students, educators and courses •

A continual engagement with Ideo’s 5 Whys method to sharpen and

maintain focus •

3D experience modeling, to maintain a conceptual level of thinking

about what is essentially a very pragmatic area •

Visual storyboarding, prototyping and experience mapping, to

consider end-user possibilities and to be certain that as many variables as possible are accounted for Why is Action Research Methodology the best process for use in the research project? The very nature of online engagement—ever evolving, ever adapting— combined with users’ ability to find new and improved ways of doing things demands a quick-response, multiple iteration design and research process. Action Research offers the best framework to manage the multiple, overlapping facets of this project.

REFLECTION Reflection for this project began years ago, when the unsuitability of online course management software environments for visual design learning became apparent, through both user experience and student feedback. Initial study included literature review—of which there is little directly applicable—and progressed to draft questions for an online survey. Initial feedback from a pilot test group allowed refinement of the survey questions for improved focus. The revised survey questions were made public, with individual surveys for students of visual design; visual design educators; and students or educators who had experienced visual design courses in an online/non-local environment. These surveys remain ongoing; closing date is tentatively projected for December 3, with an eye toward analysis shortly thereafter. To date, literature research has been challenging; while there is no shortage of conceptual thinking about non-localized learning environments or the adoption of technology in the classroom, there is little if any research into the use of such environments in design education. The education community at large may well consider these environments unsuitable for design education, which requires near-constant feedback and review of visual work; regardless of this, the need for distance learning in design will only become more urgent as technology continues to level the planet. Initial work seems to validate some early thinking: that design education must be at least able to adapt to a non-localized setting in order to remain relevant is apparent as higher education becomes more and more detached from time/place strictures. The collection of data, along with initial visual design thinking, should allow for consideration of improved processes in online course environments for visual design education. Embracing critical reflection as part of the research methodology will allow for comprehensive understanding of user feedback, and lead to potential options for both further study and refinement of the practice project. By narrowing the initial approach to “screen design” through sketching, data visualizations and diagramming user interaction maps, the initial projections should both present a workable alternative to current options, as well as allow for expansion into other visual design fields. Expansive thinking—unfettered by current technological restrictions—will further encourage future consideration of possibilities as yet unavailable.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES • Knowledge of what current traditional design classroom methods require translation to a virtual environment •

Knowledge of what current traditional design classroom methods should not be translated to a virtual environment

•

Knowledge of what current online/distance learning elements should be continue to be used in a design-based framework

•

Knowledge of what current online/distance learning elements do not serve non-localized design education

•

Knowledge of what tools current teachers of visual design would want to see in an idealized non-localized design education framework

•

Knowledge of what tools visual design students would want to see in an idealized non-localized design education framework

•

Continued awareness that student/teacher environment requests are a starting point for the design, not the complete specifications

•

Greater awareness/understanding of the design process, action research, and situated research

EXPECTED OUTPUTS • A functioning “storyboard”/working model prototype of the idealized design distance learning application • A thesis paper/project • A master’s degree

FUTURE CAREER PATHWAY & SKILLS design educator skills: the ability to convey design principles in a relevant and contemporary framework, blending traditional skills with the requisites of modern commercial design; ability to handle lots of paperwork; time management

REFERENCES Anderson, E., DeBolt, V., Featherstone, D., Gunther, L., Jacobs, D. R., JensenInman, L., et al. (2010). InterACT with web standards: A holistic approach to web design New Riders Press. Blog the web | teach the web. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www. teachtheweb.com/blog/ Bounce – A fun and easy way to share ideas on a website. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.bounceapp.com/ Boyd, D. (2010) Streams of content, limited attention: the flow of information through social media. EDUCAUSE Review, 45(2), 26–36. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from http://www.educause. edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/ StreamsofContentLimitedAttenti/213923 Brown, M., with Auslander, M., Gredone, K., Green, D., Hull, B., & Jacobs, W. (September/October 2010) A Dialogue for engagement. EDUCAUSE Review, 45/5. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from http://www.educause. edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/ ADialogueforEngagement/213924 Elearnspace. Learning management systems: The wrong place to start elearning. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/ lms.htm Forget design thinking and try hybrid thinking | fast company. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/dev-patnaik/innovation/ forget-design-thinking-and-try-hybrid-thinking From toy to tool: Cell phones in learning. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http:// www.cellphonesinlearning.com/ Gagnon, D. (2010) Mobile Learning Environments. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 26, 2010 from http://www.educause. edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ MobileLearningEnvironments/213690 Guidry, K. & BrckaLorenz, A.(2010) A Comparison of student and faculty academic technology use across disciplines. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 22, 2010 from http://www.educause. edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ AComparisonofStudentandFaculty/213682 The ideal collaboration toolset for distributed workers. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.ferris.com/2005/01/02/the_ideal_colla/ A List Apart. Elevate web design at the university level. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/elevate-web-design-at-theuniversity-level/

A List Apart. Findings from the web design survey, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/issues/315 O’Brien, R. (1998). An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research. Retrieved November 19, 2010, from http://www.web.ca/~robrien/ papers/arfinal.html Pirius, L. & Creel, G.(2010) Reflections on play, pedagogy, and World of Warcraft. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 25, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/ EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ ReflectionsonPlayPedagogyandWo/213663 Quora. Neil Hunt: What types of things does Netflix A/B test aside from member sign-up? Retrieved December 1, 2010 from http://www.quora.com/ Neil-Hunt-What-types-of-things-does-Netflix-A-B-test-aside-from-membersign-up Rutledge, Andy. The UX design education scam. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.andyrutledge.com/the-ux-design-education-scam. php Santa Maria, Jason. (2010, June 25). A Real Web Design Application. Retrieved June 27, 2010 from http://jasonsantamaria.com/articles/a-realweb-design-application/ Tapscott, Don. (2008). Grown up digital. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Watts, C., Simons, J.T. & Baird, D.(2010) The Media scholarship project: strategic thinking about media and multimodal assignments in the liberal arts. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 24, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/ EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ TheMediaScholarshipProjectStra/213673 The web standards project. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www. webstandards.org/

VISUAL RESEARCH SAMPLES

Early mindmapping. Exploring the whole giant mess of software/design/ design education. Where’s my hook? What makes me crazy?

3d modelling for ideas. By what process do we learn design skills? How can online course delivery be focused? Improved upon?

GO IDENTIFY NEED

CONCEPTUALIZE

CREATE A PLAN

IMPLEMENT

ASSESS FEEDBACK

REITERATE

THE DESIGN

ACTION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

PHASE ONE: Research & Strategy

PHASE TWO: Design

PHASE THREE: Implementation

PHASE FOUR: Evaluation

GO IDENTIFY NEED

CONCEPTUALIZE

CREATE A PLAN

IMPLEMENT

Why don’t UI designers get trained by higher ed?

• Survey extant solutions

• Online survey

Why is it so hard to teach UI design in a distance ed environment?

How could distance education be put to use in visual design learning?

• Survey current students and teachers about distance-learning environments

• Literature reviews

Why won’t they come?

How could higher ed better serve UI designers?

• Anectodal data collection

ASSESS FEEDBACK

REITERATE

What works in distance ed? What doesn’t?

• Offer proposed solutions for review

Why don’t designers feel higer ed works? What could be improved?

• Assess feedback and implement changes as warranted

• Consider how to improve distance learning for visual design

Action research methodology. “A good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow.” — George S. Patton. Iterate, iterate, iterate!

THE DESIGN A storyboarded-process encompassing best-practices UI/web design curriculum into a distance learning/nonlocalized virtual environment

Quick and dirty. An early rough of what an interface might have to encompass. Painfully, needlessly complex.

Iteration two. Amazing what a semester of research will do for an idea. Shifted to a touchscreen interface; sharpened focus on user needs; simplified. Less is more. Even less is better. Except when it’s not. Highlights of concept: multiple user-focused alerts and warnings; ability to access multiple courses through collapsing interface tabs; user-interface customization; all relevant data available immediately or one touch away.

DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE

NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 20102010 Survey Survey students/educators students/educators on on theirtheir engagement engagement with with physical/virtual physical/virtual design design courses courses Analyze Analyze and collate and collate survey survey data data results; results; quantify quantify into working into working guidelines guidelines Research Research exiting exiting non-local non-local course course software software environments environments and theoretical and theoretical leanings leanings in thein the field field Establish Establish parameters parameters for for prototype; prototype; storyboard storyboard user user interaction interaction and information and information architecture architecture DraftDraft thesisthesis document document

WriteWrite final final thesisthesis document document fromfrom draftdraft

Design Design final final iteration iteration of thesis of thesis practice practice project project for submission for submission & degree & degree review review

DECEMBER DECEMBER 20102010

JANUARY JANUARY 20112011

FEBRUARY 2011

MARCH 2011

APRIL 2011

process mdes 2010/2011 patrick foster spring 2011

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7.1

Backwards Time is Money

7.2

My Bombness

7.5

A Future Long Past

7.6

Nigerian Film Poster Scam

7.7

Design Through the Rear View

Mirror (or, The Lulu Debacle)

7.8

MDES2011 Identity

7.9

MDES 2011 Exposition Poster

7.10

Multitasking

7.11

Exposition Presentation

8.1

Final Outline

8.2

Writing for Epiphany

THESIS 10.1

Conceptual thinking

6900

10.2

Abstract (final concept version)

10.2.5 Rationale 10.3

Bibliography

10.4

Project Poster

10.5

FInal Abstract

10.6

Final Thesis Question

10.7

Final Bibliography

10.8

Final Design Concept

APPENDIX Specified Outcomes Document

7.1

Backwards Time is Money

7.2

My Bombness

7.3

Just What Is It that Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?

7.4

The Corporate Bible

7.5

A Future Long Past

7.6

Nigerian Film Poster Scam

7.7

Design Through the Rear View Mirror (or, The Lulu Debacle)

6800

7.8

MDES2011 Identity

7.9

MDES 2011 Exposition Poster

7.10

Multitasking

7.11

Exposition Presentation

Project One Backwards Time is Money

If you’ve only ever seen a credit card, what do you want your money to llok like? To feel like? How will it make you comfortable? Should it be shaped like your old cards? Feel like them? Fit in the same spaces in your wallet? Probably.

6800 graduate design studio 3

Project Two My Bombness

What’s scary? Not the unknown, but the known, the ordinary—in the wrong place. We’re so used to context, that the displacement of context, the thing the in the wrong place, if its enough of a wrong place, is enough to unnerve us.

en It’s Not Scar y Wh n It’s in the Kitche b Squad was The RCMP Bom day to invescalled out yester us microwave tigate a suspicio Halifax Grand oven left in the Parade. McCall of the Constable David e the protecBomb Squad wor tured out into tive suit and ven area to ascerthe cordoned off pliance, orditain the kitchen ap was not in fact narily harmless, dangerous. 10

6800 graduate design studio 3

When hen

uad was to invesmicrowave ax Grand

Call of the he protecd out into a to ascerance, ordinot in fact PATRICK FOSTER MY BOMBNESS 3

Project Three Just What Is It that Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?

How many designers does it take to spend a morning trying to figure out archiecture and not designing? 7, apparently. Not an unmitigated distaster, but a Newton, certainly. The lesson? Remember what you do, And what you don’t. Quicker.

6800 graduate design studio 3

Project Four The Corporate Bible

Is there a better metaphor for the one-language dream of Babel than Microsoft’s global Windows obsession? I think not.

6800 graduate design studio 3

Project Five A Future Long Past

6800 graduate design studio 3

How do you pass on knowledge before the interent? The phone, of course. So a reference library available by phone would make sense. Sort of. But you wouldn’t fiddle with the actual spelling of ‘googol.’ And you’d draw inspiration from the other eccentric firm’s advertising campaign.

Project Six Nigerian Film Poster Scam

Greetings, I am Michael LeBlanc Chief Operating Officer, Clydesdale Bank. I am getting in touch with you regarding the estate of a deceased client with similar last name and an investment placed under our banks management 10 years ago. I believe would be of interest to you. In 2000, the subject matter; came to our bank to engage in business discussions with our private banking division. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of fifty million united states dollars ($50,000,000,00).i want you to stand as the bona-fide next of kin to the desease.

My proposal; you share your design skills to make a cinema poster in the style of the 1940’s using this email as the story line; We share the proceeds 50% for me, 50% for you Should you be interested i shall provide you with more details of this transaction in class.

mleblanc@nscad.ca I await your response. Regards, Michael LeBlanc

6800 graduate design studio 3

Project Seven Design Through the Rear View Mirror (or, The Lulu Debacle)

Things to remember: something that seems to good to be true— inexpensive, one-off book printing, say—almost certainly is too good to be true. More practical lessons: check prepress requirements thoroughly before you start a document file; make sure your collaborators have a clue about prepress, or be prepared to handle the whole pile yourself; and try not to overmanage a project when it might do your collabrators some good to be involved, even if it makes the whole thing that much more painful.

6800 graduate design studio 3

Project Eight MDES2011 Identity

6800 graduate design studio 3

NSCAD MASTER OF

DESIGN 2011 MASTEROFDESIGN2011

NSCAD MASTER OF DESIGN

2011

MDESIGN2011 NSCAD MASTER OF

I liked this one.

DESIGN 2011

I think the icon evokes possibilities, the ways of entering a problem/ challenge that a designer might see or take, compared to a more conventional thinker. Maybe a little retro, though.

NSCAD MASTER OF

NSCAD MASTER OF DESIGN 2011 DESIGN 2011

MASTEROFDESIGN2011

MDESIGN2011 MASTER of DESIG N

Project Eight MDES2011 Identity

NSCAD 2011

MA S T E R DE S I GN

MDES

201 1

N S C AD

MDE S 20 1 1

MASTER OF DESIGN 2011 NSCAD

2011

MASTER OF DESIGN 2011 NSCAD

6800 graduate design studio 3

2011

Hard to craft an identity for a group as disparate as ours, for a ‘client’ determined to wring something original from our thesis-exhausted brains.

Project Nine MDES2011 Exposition poster

PRECIPICE THE 2011 MASTER OF DESIGN FINAL EXPOSITION LOGO TO COME

MONDAY, APRIL 18 @ 2200 NSCAD GRANVILLE CAMPUS N400

THE 2011 MASTER OF DESIGN FINAL EXPOSITION MONDAY, APRIL 18 @ 1730 NSCAD GRANVILLE CAMPUS N400

6800 graduate design studio 3

I don’t think a precipice is a bad thng, neccesarily. When it popped into my head, I thought of standing on the edge of a vast unknown, which is kind of how things look right now.

Project Ten Multitasking

Trying to figure out how to visually represent how my focus shifts from one thing to the next as different points in time catch my attention. Started by thinking about multiple threads of my thought processes collecting and then unravelling, like a badly made scarf…

6800 graduate design studio 3

internet

music

Took that idea and mapped it to a series of events or moments over a single morning. Reduced the concept to the four things I focus on most while in the studio. Dotted lines evoke where my attention wanders…

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Project Eleven Exposition Presentation How do you distill a year’s work and 55+ pages of thesis and design to fit into the attention span required for a movie trailer? Like this, I hope.

6800 graduate design studio 3

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Final Outline

8.2

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Final Outline

6900 graduate design research exposition and review

Abstract Higher education has emphasized the advantages of distance learning, but current distance learning environments are not built with visual design courses in mind, focusing instead on traditional lecture style courses. Simultaneously, the professional community has become more dissatisfied with the outputs of design schools. These two circumstances can be used as foundation for building an improved distance learning course environment for visual design courses. Using Action Research Methodology as a scaffold for exploration, this thesis will present a plan for an improved model of distance learning aimed specifically at web design courses. Such an improved environment could serve higher ed, by providing an setting where course material could be more rapidly tested and evolved to reflect the advances of professional design. It would also serve design students, allowing them to pursue the highest quality education possible without regard to time/space restrictions. A visual use map and storyboard will demonstrate the process of engagement from the perspective of both student and educator.

Introduction This thesis will explore the possibilities of improved distance learning environments for visual art and design courses, with a specific focus on a web design and development course. It can be argued that the evolution of professional design practices far outpaces that of the design education. Design schools are, it can be further argued, facing challenges in delivering an education to students that adequately prepares them for real-world career requirements. By designing an improved affordance for teaching design in a distance setting, and its inherent ability to reach a greater audience and to continually evolve the course material without restrictions of infrastructure—classroom size and availability, for example— higher education can force the evolution of design education to better serve its existing student population and perhaps expand upon that audience. The course environment itself will be designed using the structural principles of Project-Based Learning, using ‘mobile first’ design parameters. Presenting the course material in this fashion omits the extraneous, encourages greater connection between student and instructor than is usually possible in distance learning, and demands collaboration between students, in accordance with the theory of pedagogy embraced in the hypothesis. Literature & Contextual review The contextual review will begin with Don Tapscott’s writings, describing our projected hypothetical student base and best practices in their learning environments. An overview of Project-based Learning principles will lead to a brief examination of Leslie Jensen-Inman’s Teach the Web monograph, and related articles that articulate the professional communities’ discontent with the current students outcomes. The review will then consider Meredith

Davis’ presentation to the AIGA on evolutions in design education, and the AIGA’s proposed designer competencies of 2015. Learning environments will be considered and critiqued, from the desktop, from a social media viewpoint, and from a mobile learning perspective. An overview of current distance learning environments will be presented, and lead to a consideration of those environments against upcoming trends in user experience design. Criteria for for the proposed learning environment project focused on in this thesis will be established here. The review will also consider leading edge or experimental software platforms or tools that might be well utilized in our proposed environment.

Methodology & Methods The methodology & methods section will begin with a brief overview of Action Research Methodology, briefly defined more focused on its application in this project. From there, the section will delineate and make clear each of the the methods applied to this thesis, with accompanying illustrations: the literature/contextual review; the survey of students and educators; the consideration of current options for non-local learning environments; and visual storyboarding/mapping of the considered best case environment for teaching design remotely. This chapter will conclude with a summary of the processes involved in the methodology, and lead into the conclusion that can be drawn in the next chapter.

Data & Analysis Conclusions from the literature review, the survey results and the assessment of extant options will be discussed and assessed. The survey data will be summarized in a chart, and the current distance learning environments will be critiqued according to the standards established as baselines for this project in the Literature Review section.

Results and Discussions This chapter will present the conceptual learning environment, focusing on one lesson from the perspective of both student and educator. The lesson itself will be adapted from an established textbook. The environment will be demonstrated in a series of usage maps and proposed visual design mockups, centered either on educator or student use. The usage maps will explain how either user would proceed through each individual course section or module, and how the entire course will follow from one module to the next. •

make argument for agile production in the process of creating coursework. google mantram design early, design often. Flexibility in course, not hidebound

Conclusions Summary of finished paper, that re-presents hypothesis in context with results from research and design. A consideration of the value of the end result, and how its implementation might impact current practices, with an emphasis upon improved distance learning and serving as a supplemental tool for traditional courses.

Postscript A vignette postulating a user’s experience with an even more advanced learning environment, illustrating even more strongly how learning will likely become displaced from time/place strictures.

Bibliography

6900 graduate design research exposition and review

10.1

Conceptual Thinking

10.2

Abstract draft (11 August, 2010)

10.2.5

Rationale (7 December 2010)

10.3

Bibliography (December 2010)

10.4

Project Poster

10.5

Final Abstract

10.6

Final Thesis Question

10.7

Final Bibliography

10.8

Final Design Concept

thesis

Good design is innovative

Good design makes a product useful

Good design is aesthetic

Good design makes a product understandable

Good design is unobtrusive

Good design is honest

Good design is long-lasting

Good design is thorough down to the last detail

Good design is environmentally friendly

Good design is as little design as possible

Dieter Rams 56

THESIS

What is my question?

Thesis Notes

Managing the instructors’ need to engage with theory in the face of having to produce something tangible may be the trickiest part of things here.

! 58

THESIS

Abstract How Will an Improved System of User Interface Design Education Link Traditional Design Education with a New Generation of NonTraditional Design Learners?

THESIS

Rationale 7 December 2010

THESIS

Thesis Project Proposal Poster

THESIS

Thesis Final Abstract Higher education has embraced the advantages of distance learning, but while current distance learning environments can be utilized for teaching visual design skills—such as web and interaction design—at a distance, they are not ideal for the task. Simultaneously, the professional community has registered disappointment with student outcomes in web and interaction design programs. These two circumstances can be used as a rationale for conceptualizing an improved distance learning environment model for teaching design. Using Action Research Methodology as a model for exploration, this thesis presents a speculative improved model of distance learning aimed at visual design courses. This proposed system could be used by higher education to expand the reach of current offerings beyond time/space restrictions. An improved distance learning model could be further utilized as a means to explore alternate pedagogy methods; possibly those satisfying the immediate demands of the web and interaction design industry. Ultimately, this thesis will present a speculative interface for an enhanced distance learning environment for web and interaction design.

THESIS

Thesis Final Question Professional web and interaction design practices continue to evolve at a rapid pace, demanding a greater connection between the needs of the profession and the advantages of design higher education. Combine that awareness with the realization that future students will engage with their education in entirely new ways, and will probably demand new, nontraditional ways of learning, an improved way to teach web design at a distance is called for. How can a better system for online/non-localized course delivery be designed to facilitate better opportunities for web and interaction design learning?

Thesis Final Bibliography Anderson, E., DeBolt, V., Featherstone, D., Gunther, L., Jacobs, D. R., Jensen-Inman, L., et al. (2010). InterACT with web standards: A holistic approach to web design. New Riders Press. Blackboard. (n.d.). In Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 27, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboard_ Learning_System Brown, M., Auslander, M., Gredone, K., Green, D., Hull, B., & Jacobs, W. (2010). A dialogue for engagement. EDUCAUSE Review, 45(5), 38-56. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from http://www.educause. edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/ ADialogueforEngagement/213924 Buck Institute for Education. (n.d.). What is PBL? Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www.bie.org/about/what_is_pbl Coopman, Stephanie J. (2009). A critical examination of Blackboard’s e-learning environment. Retrieved January 28, 2011, from http:// firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/ view/2434/2202 Davis, Meredith. (April 4, 2008). Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore... [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www. aiga.org/resources/content/4/8/5/7/documents/davis_keynote_ paper_and_images.pdf Don Tapscott. (n.d.). In Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. Retrieved January 24, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Tapscott Elearnspace. (2004). Learning management systems: The wrong place to start elearning. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www. elearnspace.org/Articles/lms.htm Gagnon, D. (2010). Mobile learning environments. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 26, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/ EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ MobileLearningEnvironments/213690 Guidry, K. & BrckaLorenz, A. (2010). A comparison of student and faculty academic technology use across disciplines. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 22, 2010 from

THESIS

http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+QuarterlyEDUCAUSEQuarterl yMagazineVolum/AComparisonofStudentandFaculty/213682 Ferris Research. (2005). The ideal collaboration toolset for distributed workers. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.ferris. com/2005/01/02/the_ideal_colla/ Jensen-Inman, Leslie. (2009a). Elevate web design at the university level. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/ elevate-web-design-at-the-university-level/ Jensen-Inman, Leslie. (2009b) Teach the web. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://www.teachtheweb.com/monograph.php A List Apart. (2007). Findings from the web design survey, 2007. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/ articles/2007surveyresults A List Apart. (2009). Findings from the web design survey, 2008. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/ articles/findings A List Apart. (2010). Findings from the web design survey, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/ articles/findings-from-the-web-design-survey-2009 Marcotte, Ethan. (2010). Responsive web design. Retrieved July 29, 2010, from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-webdesign/ Moodle. (n.d.). In Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 27, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle O’Brien, R. (1998). An overview of the methodological approach of action research. Retrieved November 19, 2010, from http://www.web. ca/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html Patnaik, Dev. (2009). Forget design thinking and try hybrid thinking. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/devpatnaik/innovation/forget-design- thinking-and-try-hybrid-thinking Quora. (n.d.). Neil Hunt: What types of things does Netflix A/B test aside from member sign-up? Retrieved December 1, 2010, from http:// www.quora.com/Neil-Hunt-What-types-of-things-does-Netflix-A-Btest-aside-from-member-sign-up

Rutledge, Andy. (2010). The UX design education scam. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.andyrutledge.com/the-uxdesign-education-scam.php Sakai. (n.d.). In Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 27, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakai_Project Swann, Cal. (2002). Action research and the practice of design. Design Issues, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Winter 2002) pp. 49-61. Tapscott, Don. (2010a). The future of education: Reboot required. Retrieved October 12, 2010. from http://www.cbc.ca/news/ story/2010/08/11/f-school-tapscott.html Tapscott, Don. (2010b). Needed: A new model of pedagogy. Retrieved December 3, 2010 from http://dontapscott.com/2010/11/16/needed-anew-model-of-pedagogy/ Villamor, C., WIllis, D. & Wroblewski, L. (2010). Touch Reference Guide. Retrieved December 4, 2010, from http://www.lukew.com/ touch/TouchGestureGuide.pdf Watts, C., Simons, J.T. & Baird, D. (2010). The media scholarship project: Strategic thinking about media and multimodal assignments in the liberal arts. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3). Retrieved November 24, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/ EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ TheMediaScholarshipProjectStra/213673 The web standards project. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from http://www. webstandards.org/ Woyke, Elizabeth. (2010). Bell Labs’ Super Virtual Conferencing. Forbes Magazine, December 20, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2010, from http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/1220/technology-bell-labsvirtual-videoconferencing.html Wroblewski, Luke. (2010). Mobile first helps with big issues. Retrieved November 13, 2010, from http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1117

Thesis Final Design Concept

THESIS

Appendix Specified Outcomes Document

THESIS

Specified Outcomes

Patrick Foster 7 December 2010 MDES6112

Design practices for onscreen interfaces and engagement continue to evolve at a rapid pace, demanding a greater connection between the demands of the profession and the advantages of higher education. Given that, how can a better system for online/ non-localized course delivery be designed to facilitate improved “screen design” courses?

“Simple trumps

complete.” Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer, Netflix (2010)

A literature review of research in related areas of online and

distance learning processes, and the inclusion of digital devices in modern learning •

A survey of students and educators in visual design fields, crafted

to compare and qualify their experiences in traditional and virtual learning environments •

Research and consideration of current offerings for long-distance/

non-localized learning environments, and their applicability, strengths and weaknesses in relation to visual design students, educators and courses •

A continual engagement with Ideo’s 5 Whys method to sharpen and

maintain focus •

3D experience modeling, to maintain a conceptual level of thinking

about what is essentially a very pragmatic area •

Visual storyboarding, prototyping and experience mapping, to

EXPECTED OUTCOMES • Knowledge of what current traditional design classroom methods require translation to a virtual environment •

Knowledge of what current traditional design classroom methods should not be translated to a virtual environment

•

Knowledge of what current online/distance learning elements should be continue to be used in a design-based framework

•

Knowledge of what current online/distance learning elements do not serve non-localized design education

•

Knowledge of what tools current teachers of visual design would want to see in an idealized non-localized design education framework

•

Knowledge of what tools visual design students would want to see in an idealized non-localized design education framework

•

Continued awareness that student/teacher environment requests are a starting point for the design, not the complete specifications

•

Greater awareness/understanding of the design process, action research, and situated research

EXPECTED OUTPUTS • A functioning “storyboard”/working model prototype of the idealized design distance learning application • A thesis paper/project • A master’s degree

VISUAL RESEARCH SAMPLES

Early mindmapping. Exploring the whole giant mess of software/design/ design education. Where’s my hook? What makes me crazy?

3d modelling for ideas. By what process do we learn design skills? How can online course delivery be focused? Improved upon?

GO IDENTIFY NEED

CONCEPTUALIZE

CREATE A PLAN

IMPLEMENT

ASSESS FEEDBACK

REITERATE

THE DESIGN

ACTION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

PHASE ONE: Research & Strategy

PHASE TWO: Design

PHASE THREE: Implementation

PHASE FOUR: Evaluation

GO IDENTIFY NEED

CONCEPTUALIZE

CREATE A PLAN

IMPLEMENT

Why don’t UI designers get trained by higher ed?

• Survey extant solutions

• Online survey

Why is it so hard to teach UI design in a distance ed environment?

How could distance education be put to use in visual design learning?

• Survey current students and teachers about distance-learning environments

• Literature reviews

Why won’t they come?

How could higher ed better serve UI designers?

• Anectodal data collection

ASSESS FEEDBACK

REITERATE

What works in distance ed? What doesn’t?

• Offer proposed solutions for review

Why don’t designers feel higer ed works? What could be improved?

• Assess feedback and implement changes as warranted

• Consider how to improve distance learning for visual design

Action research methodology. “A good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow.” — George S. Patton. Iterate, iterate, iterate!

THE DESIGN A storyboarded-process encompassing best-practices UI/web design curriculum into a distance learning/nonlocalized virtual environment

Quick and dirty. An early rough of what an interface might have to encompass. Painfully, needlessly complex.

DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE

WriteWrite final final thesisthesis document document fromfrom draftdraft

Design Design final final iteration iteration of thesis of thesis practice practice project project for submission for submission & degree & degree review review

DECEMBER DECEMBER 20102010

JANUARY JANUARY 20112011

FEBRUARY 2011

MARCH 2011

APRIL 2011