I fell really sick so I wasn’t present for this meeting, but I’ve received a note from Candy, of what the rest of the group had discussed with Blair.

She said that during consultation, Blair wanted them to work on personas and scenarios. As for personas, my group members had split 4 different group of users that are mainly made up of students, junior employees, senior employees, and the elderly. They had given me a task to work on the elderly group, so I had to come up with a name, his/her characteristics and personality. With that in mind, I have to write a brief description for this particular elderly character, and think of the kind of system which suits him/her.

Candy also gave me a very good example. For instance, since I’m working on the elderly age group, I have to think of a really easy way/soulution so that they are able to use the product, because I have to keep in mind that the elderly may not be familiar with the latest technology.

That should summarize up meeting nine. The next group meeting would be on the 14th of May, after class.

Got this off AIGAdesigning. An online archive of case studies that demonstrates the value of framework through real-world projects.

I saw a video by Gillian Crampton Smith, on the different aspects of research study in interaction design from Innovationsforum. She compares a design project and a research project, then proceeds on to the types of projects that have different insights. She then questions, “giving existing technologies, what different approaches could be taken to make it (a specific project) more usable, more useful, more satisfying?” I reckon that this a good point to dwell on. Being aware of the various approaches that can be taken, i can improve on my current/future projects in context.

In short, the video below, which was mentioned during the presentation by Gillian, is about how ideas are generated during a class/workshop, ‘Strangely Familiar: Repurposing Everyday Devices‘ in Interaction-Ivrea. I think the hanging alarm clock is quite interesting, which, once again relates back to my group project on Time Management.

I guess that would be a yes. Further readings, “the top 10 things they never taught me in design school,” by Michael McDonough, is something to add on to my earlier post, regarding my views on design education.

For my readings this week, I had to write my response of which I felt the most among a number of short essays by Kees Dorst from the book, Understanding Design. To me, I respond most to the short essay on “Limits of an Education“.

I feel that there is a limit to everything we do, and that we have to take responsibility towards our own future/education. Kerry Polite (2004) states that the design solution of a student either succeeds or fails, but in both cases, the student benefits by gaining the ability to discern the reasons behind the success of failure.This is an important aspect of a process. They are learning to see and learning to think on their own.

Everyone is born in a unique way with different talents, different opinions, different ideas, and as a design student, I learn through my mistakes. Grades definitely do bother me, but in actual fact, it doesn’t really matter. It’s what we learn and gain from all the failures that makes us a better designer. My lecturer back home once challenged us to fail, rather then to excel. He said, since its so hard to excel, or ace the project, why not produce a work so that he can fail us. Well, come to think of it, it’s equally challenging. At the end of it, we managed to get average results, nothing fantastic, but, it’s definitely something worth pondering.

I absolutely agree that the school is only there to guide and to teach us the basics. A lecturer can do only that much. However, what one does or learns is what matters the most. It is through the downfalls, the failures and the experience of dealing with a design problem that counts. With that, one is then able to learn about the various possibilities that can happen.

Kerry Polite, 2004. “Thinking about Design Education“. Retrieved on 25 April 2008, from AIGA.