October 29

1. Robert Gibbs evaluates Main Streets by looking at the stores that are on that street. I thought it was interesting how he said that some objects, such as trees and boxes look nice however, they block the store itself. Also, how tables and benches make the area seem inviting however, teenagers will scare people away. I actually did this and I never thought I was frightening people, kind of makes me feel powerful. I also thought it was interesting that the area's surroundings can actually distract people from the stores. It seems ironic because these are the things that are used to attract people to the area. He also talked about the cleanliness of the area. If the area is dirty, then no one will come. Also a main street should never be accessible only through a left turn only, because people will not go through on coming traffic.
2. I do not think that Main Street should be a mall. I think that main street is like a mall however, there are some differences that make the shopping experience much different. I thought it was funny that Gibbs would try to think like a woman when evaluating a shopping area.
3. I would want a main street to seem inviting without distracting anything from the actual stores. I want stores that make the area appealing. For instance, I would not want any pawn shops or liquor stores nearby.

October 2007

1. The store that I chose to observe is Best Buy. Best Buy markets to people who want to buy any sort of electronic product. These people's ages most likely range from the young to the middle aged and to those who have enough money to spend on high end electronic equipment and are mainly males.
2a. The store had a large sign that lets customers know where the store is located. The walls of the store are dark blue and they have placed the logo of the store on top of the entrance. On the side of the store, there is an area where people can take there cars and have some after market electronic products installed.
2b. There are different sounds that emanate from different areas of the store. From the audio department, there is the sound of different types of music being played, the t.v. department has noises from different television programs, the car audio department has different types of music and the video game department has different noises from different games.
2c. The merchandise is displayed in a very neat way. There are large signs that show people what items are for sale. Some of the merchandise is out on display so that customers are able to try it out.
2d. The floors of the store vary from carpet to tile. The carpet floors are generally blue and the tile is white.
2e. There are many signs through out the store that hang from the ceiling. These signs are large and tell customers what section of the store they are in.
2f. There are multiple cashier areas throughout the store, the main ones are located at the front. For some odd reason, there are snacks and drinks at these front cashiers along with items that are on sale as well as batteries.
3. I think that this business tries to project an image of an electronic merchandise superstore. There are many different sorts of electronics within the store as well as the size of the store, which is fairly large.
4. Customers go to the area of the store that contains the type of product that they want. Sometimes they may ask an employee if they have any questions about that product.
5. I thought the most interesting part of the store was its simplicity. The store was pretty bare, it was pretty much like a big warehouse.

Wednesday Oct . 22

1. I think that one of the main points in this story is how companies use their store fronts to attract customers. I thought it was interesting how different stores try to convey a different specific message to their customers and how people usually understand the gist of this message as soon as they see it. I have read some works from Malcolm Gladwell and I know his theories about snap decisions; decisions that are made in persons subconscious even before they realize it. I think that the second a person sees a store front he or she decides whether they will go in or not.

2. I like being in stores where I can try out the product. For instance, the Apple Store has all their products out on display so that any potential customers can try their products. I think that this is a great idea because it gives people their own opinion about their product and I have something to do when I am bored in the mall. The Apple Store is also easy to navigate, for the most part. Their products are arrainged well and everything is easy to find. If you need help there is usually someone that can help you. I dislike retail stores such as Diesel where there is loud music a confusing layout and very little service.

3. A good checklist would be a store that can be noticed easily. I also think that a store should have good floor plans. For instance, if it was a clothing store, the men's section should be seperated from the women's section and people must be able to distinguish the two.

Design Intelligence October 20

1. The packaging of an item is extremely important for the marketing of the product. The package is like the cover of a book; people look at it and judge it without really knowing what it is. I remember when I was younger there was a toy that was packaged in an extremely cool box. There were intense graphics and bold lettering that made the item seem like it was extremely fun.
2. I think that apple products have iconic packaging, every box seems to have the apple logo on it somewhere.
3. I think that perhaps for larger items it would be nice if the packaging had places where you could hold the package easier. I think that a bad packaging design is something that is awkwardly shaped and hard to carry.

Design Intelligence October 15

1. I believe that this reading relates to user-focused design because it discusses how some websites are difficult to navigate through. In our last class discussion we talked about how easy it was to use Wikipedia and how that its ease of use was one of the reasons why it is so popular. The article also touched upon the unnecessary features that many websites have that make it difficult for people to navigate through the site. This is similar to how the phone companies would add features that they believe would help the user but instead made the product difficult to use.
2. I thought that suggestions the author gave to make sure that the words were easy to read. I thought this was important because if a person cannot read the words on a website it renders the website useless and no one will use it. I also thought that making the website easy to navigate was an important piece of information. It makes sense to make a website easy to navigate because if users cannot access the information they require, they will leave it and find a better website.
3. I think that a website URL should have something to do with what the website content will be. For instance webmd is about medical information. This would give the user a general idea to what kind of information the website contains. I also think that a website should not play any music on the website. For some reason the music a website plays always seems to annoy me, mainly because it is very bad music. If the website does play music, there should be a button cleary visible that allows viewers to turn the music off if they deem it necessary.

Design Intelligence October 13

1. I believe that one of the author's main points in the article was that misinformation was one of the reasons why there were problems in the world. I believe that he felt Wikipedia was not a good source of information at all mainly due to the fact that anyone and everyone had the ability to write about something and change information to how they see fit. I think that the author has a valid point, nothing can really be said without a touch of the writers perspective. A few things that he or she feels is unimportant may be a critical aspect to another. There are also people who will change information just to be malignant.
2. "Connolley believes that Wikipedia “gives no privilege to those who know what they’re talking about,” a view that is echoed by many academics and former contributors, including Larry Sanger, who argues that too many Wikipedians are fundamentally suspicious of experts and unjustly confident of their own opinions."
I thought that this quote would demonstrate the need to have a good source for credible writing. This quote displays the downfalls of Wikipedia: that anyone can write whatever they feel like writing. For some reason, it seems like the loudest person is the one whose ideas are most accepted not the one that has the right information.
3. I think that both are very extremely similar. There are however, several differences between the two. To begin with, the Encyclopedia Britannica is written by experts where as Wikipedia can be written by any idiot taken off the street. Wikipedia may be more appealing to people because it is free, you must subscribe to Encyclopedia Britannica. People feel that there is no need to pay for information when they know of a source that is known to be credible and is free. I also think that it is a mass usage that makes Wikipedia very attractive. Let me explain, literally everyone uses Wikipedia as their source to find their information and why not? It's free, easy to access, credible for the most part and did I mention that it was free? When was the last time you saw a high school student go to the library and gather books that might possess a smidgen of information within its numerous pages. Hell, when was the last time you went to a library? And really, why should that student go to the library when he or she can just sit on their butt, go to Wikipedia and find everything the need.

Design Intelligence October 8

1. I think that making a product look complex can add to the visceral ,behavioral and reflective design aspects. Having a product that is complex is viscerally attractive because it looks much more attractive than a product that has a simple layout. People just seem more attracted to products that look more complex. A product that displays some hints of complexity can also add to the behavioral aspect of design because the product seems like it has tons of features, features that most people do not need. Perhaps these features would be nice "just in case" or they feel that they will use these features later. Having a complex feature also adds to the reflective design aspect because it sends a message to other people that perhaps the user is someone of importance. For instance, if you see someone with a Blackberry you may think that they are some sort of businessman.
I think that simplicity also contributes to visceral, behavioral and reflective design. Viscerally, simplicity can make a product look more attractive because it may be less cluttered with buttons and give the product a nice sleek look. For instance, most televisions today have their buttons tucked away on the side of the television giving it a nice smooth look. Behaviorally speaking, simplicity makes a product seem user friendly. A product with less buttons just seems easier to use. For example the Ipod only has 5 buttons, each button does one thing and this product is hailed for its ease of use. Also most people that are in some sort of profession require a product that does one thing and one thing only. They don't need a product that is complex because it would make their job harder. A simple product does not have as much of an impact on reflective design as a complex one but there are still some contributions. I think that a message that is given through a simple product is that the buyer knows exactly what he or she wants. They have left out all the useless clutter that they have no use for and have bought the product that will do the job.
2. "Upon reflecting on several technological purchases made over the years, I can say without trepidation that the determining factors in many of these purchases centered on whichever device was most complex and feature-rich." -Javin

"First, and the main reason I purchased this phone was because it has a touch screen. This may seem sensible at first, but when I really think about it, it creates more of a problem than making things easier. I have to constantly put on screen-lock as any touch in my pocket does something unwanted. Not only this, but it also is more difficult to use than a regular keyboard. Aside from the touch screen, there are many unused features such as mobile television. I will never want or be able to pay for it. Both of these are good examples of how the features at the beginning seemed “cool” or “new” but came to be more of a problem than anything." -Jeff

I thought that Javin and Jeff summed up the thought process of most people when they go out and buy a product. Most people can be caught up with the different features and functions with most products today. They just seem so amazed with some product and they have an urge to just purchase it. I hear people say things such as: "that's so cool!", sometimes they are so taken away they can only muster up a barely audible "whoa". Whenever these words are spoken it seems inevitable that they will buy the product if they can.

Wikipedia Proposal

I would like to make a Wikipedia page on the Kalamazoo golf team. It will include things such as a current roster, previous rosters, results in the MIAA (Current and past), facilities used (golf courses), opponents, coach, etc.

Simplicity is Highly Overrated

1. I remember buying my phone because the features that it had looked very cool; it's feature included having two sides (One the actual the phone and the other the media part) . The phone just looked much better than the ones that were being offered. All the other phones seemed boring compared to the one I purchased.

2. I think that complexity can only be justified on something that can do many different things, such as a computer. I think complexity is acceptable on a computer because a computer is a complex thing to begin with. It has different parts, different functions and people usually just deal with complexities. Also, a computer is something that most people need, they would not be able to function without it, like a person without their coffee. I think simplicity is most important on a product that values function over form, such as a kitchen knife.

3. "Water, quite simply, is the covalent bond existing between two hydrogen and a singular oxygen. I would assume that above a certain level of purification, differences among brands is negligible. But purification level or technique is not why people often purchase a specific brand of water. Oftentimes something as trite as water is purchased based on packaging alone as certain package designs tug at our heartstrings, and those especially beautiful ones of niche market brands serve as long-lasting mementos. What emotional beings we are!"
I chose this quote by Javin because I thought it accurately describes how people buy things not because of need but because of a connection they develop with a product. It seems funny that something as simple as a bottle could be turned into something that can create different emotions.