March 28, 2006
Do it right, then do it again
I've been thinking a lot lately about the concept of iteration, and the role it plays in design. We, as humans, are smart. Our biggest flaw, though, is that we know and understand that we are brilliant, and think that no one before us has ever been smarter than we are. In fact, we think we're so smart that most of us look back at our younger selves and are embarrassed about the idiot acts that we once carried out.
When designing, this sense brilliance can either be a very dangerous or very rewarding thing. It is important to realize that there are so many things going on at once in any given situation that there is no way that one could understand everything that is going on. Therefore every design must have flaws, since we are not able to take all of the details into account. This is where iteration comes into play.
At the outset of a design (or any other kind of) project, a team sets out with a set of assumptions about the domain, which lends itself to a certain set of questions. These questions are then tested through primary research, which leads to insights, which hopefully leads to one or many designs. It is at this point that the naive designer thinks that he is finished. In fact, once there is a design, the "real" work is ready to begin, at least in my opinion. It is at this point that one should reassess the initial questions that were asked, and a whole new set of questions can be considered, as well:
- Do the people who will use the design think it will help them?
- Does the design actually help these people?
- How could the design be changed to better support the user(s)?
Ideally, at this point the project can begin anew. I have been so surprised at my output when I have the ability to look at an old project with fresh eyes. I see the fatal flaws almost immediately. This is why iteration is so important. Sometimes it simply takes a little time and perspective before we can see the errors in the things we make.
Humans should take advantage of the fact that we become smarter each day, and have the ability to see details that yesterday were simply invisible. Locking ideas into the here and now, and not giving our "future selves" a chance to comment on and improve a project is downright ignorant. I'm calling for a change in the way we think about the work we do. There's no reason that iteration couldn't be applied to the work most people do. Who's with me?
How could iteration change your work habits and results? (even if you aren't a designer...) I suspect they'd completely change your work...what do you think?
Posted by jevnin at 11:09 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2006
Techmology Frenzy
I keep bumping into new technologies thingies today. It seems like web 2.0 is really pumping out some new ideas lately...
Thumbstacks: Online presentation creation and playback. Cool idea (one that I've had for my capstone for a while), but I think the execution is a little weak so far. I have a feeling they're gonna put some sort of lame Web 2.0 skin on it to try to fix the UI...but it's a kind of broken UI at this point. (Thanks for the link, Kynthia)
Skobee: Make plans with people and related stuff. Sort of like Evite, but prettier. I'd like to try this with some of my IU friends...anybody up for it?
Zoho Creator: This is a little tool that helps people program little web widgets without needing to know how to program. Seems like a cool idea.
That's enough for now...
Posted by jevnin at 05:07 PM | Comments (3)
March 05, 2006
Social Bookmarking
So, for the last week or so I've been playing with del.icio.us, the phenomenal social bookmarking site that is hugely popular. I now see why it is so. It is tremendously easy to use, though it is a bit bland, and seems to get the job done without being All Up in My GrillTM. For these reasons and more,
I'm switching to another service.
Yup, you read it right. I really like del.icio.us, and still I'm switching. Well why the heck would I be so possessed to do that? Ok, I'll be honest, I'm not just gonna jump off the del.icio.us boat. It's just that I want to try out ma.gnolia.com, aka Magnolia, and I can't manage both my del.icio.us and ma.gnolia bookmarks at the same time. Call it an internal beta test. Call it crazy. Call it whatever you like.
I have a hunch that in the coming days and years, the web will be less about functionality and more about the communities that use the site. Magnolia has pleasing aesthetic qualities (though it is All Up in My GrillTM), and seems to be pointed at a slightly different audience than Delicious. Perhaps I'm part of this different audience, one that appreciates nice aesthetics. Or perhaps I'll end up missing Delicious's bland interface. In the coming weeks we'll see where my allegiances lie. Until then, I bid you adieu.
Posted by jevnin at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2006
Interviewing the pros
So, as many of you know, right now I'm working on my master's degree Capstone Project and have been going at full tilt lately. My project is based around the idea that the way people give oral presentations today (utilizing PowerPoint and other "Slideware") might not be optimal, and it might even hinder the learning and information transfer process. That is, PowerPoint sucks the living soul out of presentations.
It turns out that there hasn't been much in the way of academic literature in this domain. Of course, there have been plenty of opinion articles, and there is a wealth of research in Education & Learning Theory, but research that aims to explain what is going wrong in many PPT presentations just doesn't exist. (Somebody please correct me if you think this judgement is in error.) This dearth of research exists mainly in academia, however, and many people have taken this subject up in less research-based areas. A number of authors have thought long and hard about presentations. It is my goal to personally interview many of these authors, so that my designs can be informed by their masterful insight.
Yesterday I interviewed Cliff Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points. He had some amazing insights that helped to cement a lot of the ideas that have been floating around in my head. I was a little nervous before the interview began, but it worked out amazingly well. Turns out authors who sell a ton of books can be nice guys as well. :-)
I've also been in contact with Andy Goodman (author of Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes), who has also given me amazing feedback. This man is brilliant, and has a passion for helping those in the public and not-for-profit sector give stellar presentations so that their causes will succeed. Now if that's not inspiring work, I don't know what is.
Soon I look forward to conducting interviews with a number of other authors on the subject of presentations, but I don't want to jinx it just yet. I'll let you know when I hear back from the rest. :-)
Posted by jevnin at 12:04 PM | Comments (1)
February 08, 2006
Philosophy vs. Humans
Josh's Design Philosophy Rule #356323: When a design philosophy (yours or another's) stands counter to what would help a system work better for people, side with the people.
I had a brief discussion with an unnamed colleague last night about making Wikis a little more usable. "Why can't they just implement a WYSIWYG Editor for editing pages?" I asked. My colleague said that it has something to do with the "Wiki Philosophy" of putting the focus on content over other things.
Well IMO, philosophies are all well and good, but when people have to learn and relearn how to input clearly formatted information on each Wiki they visit, then the Wikis are doomed for failure. If each site made it really easy for people to add content, there will be more content! How can that be bad?
Now, an easy response is that more content does not mean better content. That's true. But if we're trying to build democratic communities, then everybody should have opportunity to be heard, not just the people who speak the wiki language.
If Wikis were easier to use, perhaps they would not have to so overtly ask for money, since more people would be contributing, in the form of content and dollars.
Finally, why the heck did they call it a Wiki? How un-user-centered is that? What the heck does it mean? Ugh...
Don't get me wrong, Wikis are good for a number of reasons, but they're problematic for many reasons as well.
Posted by jevnin at 09:46 AM | Comments (1)
February 06, 2006
The WOW Experience
Josh's Design Philosophy Rule #453251: Great new software or software features do not necessarily make anyone say "WOW!"
Rather, the great new software would do well if the user didn't even notice she was using new software at all. This is a lesson I learned a long time ago, but the ideas behind this are coming back to me constantly during my Typography class. The best typography simply lets you view the words. Many people who make typefaces are artists, but the best ones do not let their egos adorn letters with silly additions that simply aren't needed. Look at the letters you read every once in a while, you'll see amazing things in them. You take tons of emotional value from the typeface, but generally you don't (and should not) notice. The same should be true of software.
Yesterday I was invited to be a beta tester for a new Web Calendar service called 30 Boxes. People are saying that it will revolutionize the calendar in the same way that Gmail revolutionized Email, or Flickr revolutionized photos on the web. At first blush, there was nothing that made me say, "WOW!!" It looks like a pretty standard web calendar with some AJAX mixed in to make it a little more responsive. After some thought, though, it seems pretty slick. It let me easily add entries to the calendar (though recurrence could use some work), and was easy enough to navigate. Add to this a simple, utilitarian interface and I'd say I'm a pretty happy user. This thing knows how to get out of the way and let me interact with the things I should be doing.
Good job so far, I say, especially since it was the first day of their beta launch.
Posted by jevnin at 09:58 AM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2005
Remember
"Free Advice" (with purchase of book)
- Think More, Design Less
- Say More, Write Less
- Spend More, Buy Less
- It is easier to talk than to listen.
- No job is too small.
- An interface calls attention to itself at its point of failure.
- The early bird gets to work before everyone else.
Courtesy Ellen Lupton
This is just a sampling of the great advice, I recommend the book.
Posted by jevnin at 09:22 PM | Comments (1)
December 07, 2005
The User
And I quote:
"The dominant subject of our age has become neither reader nor writer but user, a figure conceived as a bundle of needs and impairments-cognitive, physical, emotional. Like a patient or child, the user is a figure to be protected and cared for but also scrutinized and controlled, submitted to research and testing.
How texts are used becomes more important than what they mean. Someone clicked here to get over there. Someone who bought this also bought that. The interactive environment not only provides users with a degree of control and self-direction but also, more quietly and insidiously, it gathers data about its audiences. Barthes's image of the text as a game to be played still holds, as the user respond to signals from the system. We may play the text, but it is also playing us."
Ellen Lupton, Thinking with Type (Book Website)
Posted by jevnin at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2005
On Letters
I just spent the evening reading about letters. Really interesting stuff. There's much more to the design of typefaces and fonts than I had realized.
When we talk about ubiquity in HCI classes, we think of it in terms of computers being in many places, but if you really think about it, letters are objects that are truly ubiquitous. Take a look around you right now. Notice the letters that surround you. There are thousands of letters looking directly at me right now. On mugs, boxes, cd cases, book bindings, computer screens, envelopes, tags...I could go on and on. How about you? Now think about the fact that the typeface for each of those sets of letters was laboriously designed by an individual, a designer whose job it is to instill meaning into a form that goes hugely unnoticed. Though I'd argue that we don't actually ignore the meaning in typefaces. We take meaning from the typeface, it's just something that is implied by the design and isn't meant to call attention to itself.
Behind each typeface, groups of which come together to form fonts, there is probably a long history...filled with stories about guys named Baskerville, Didot, Helvetica, Palatino. And even stories about their lovers, such as Mrs. Eaves (she and ol' Baskerville had a thing going on).
Anyway, I just thought it was interesting that there's much more to a font than its point size and serif or sans-serif nature. Gripping reading...I look forward to the next chapter, Text.
Hey, did you know that Italics are named as they are because they came originally from Italy? Now you do.
Posted by jevnin at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2005
The most most accurate search engine
I've thought about this idea for a while. Lots of people seem to think they prefer Google to any other search engine...but I'd say that if you did a blind taste test people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Well, this site's doing it.
And here are the results so far
Posted by jevnin at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2005
Another Evening Wasted
So I've been working on this Javascript thing all afternoon/evening. What a massive waste of time... This is the result:
Posted by jevnin at 07:59 PM | Comments (2)
November 06, 2005
The Government-Citizen Interface
I just read a rather poignant blog article* about the non-"user friendly" nature of having an initiative added to the California ballot. (The challenging nature of this process is likely present in most states.) In case you weren't aware, California has a special election coming up that The Governator called in order to save the state some cash by passing some of his initiatives (the only problem is that the election itself will cost millions...).
In my opinion, the interface between the Government and its citizens is completely flawed. As an Interaction Designer, one of the key rules (or heuristics) I try to follow is to speak the user's language. Government processes fail miserably at this task. In order to get nearly anything done, one must hire a translator, or team of translators (read: lawyer or team of lawyers), which can cost into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This applies to the courtroom as well, where most Americans cannot be expected to defend themselves because they do not speak "legalese."
Why are we stuck on these old, decrepit ways of makind decisions? Are they really that effective? I would guess that redesigning the system could save the government millions of dollars, and actually make the law comprehensible to those it claims to protect. That would be pretty nice, don't you think?
* I guess I should offer full disclosure...the blog article was written by my brilliant sister, Tami Evnin.
Posted by jevnin at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)
October 23, 2005
Interesting search result
I just decided to put in a random search on El Goog and it returned an interesting result. The query was "carne asada fries," one of my favorite SD Mexican dishes (can't be classified as an actual Mexican dish, because I don't think it's authentic).
Anyway, the result is interesing because the first 5 sites are the normal "top 5 hits," but then I see a hard rule on the page followed by a suggested query, "carne asada fries recipe," then shows results for that suggested query. I think that's pretty cool, though a bit invasive. It also works for the word "hamburger." Looks like Google is trying to guess when you want to cook...
Posted by jevnin at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2005
Yahoo News Adds Blogs
This is really, really cool...something I've been waiting for for months. I remember back in the last presidential election when I was looking for a definitive source for finding news related blogs. Despite my mediocre efforts, I was unable to find such a source that I could trust.
Now Yahoo! has included Blog search in its News search. This is a great idea because it does not simply make Yet Another Place to Search, as in Google Blog Search. Instead, they added the search somewhere that counts. Great idea, Yahoo, well done.
Posted by jevnin at 08:15 AM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2005
from airplanes to future technologies
Had a brief talk with Erik this morning on the way in to school about modern trans-continental flight. He's leaving this afternoon for a quick trip to London and will return this weekend. To me this is quite an amazing feat. 50 years ago people would have said that this would be possible only for the richest of the rich. 100 years ago people would have said this would be impossible, despite the fact that some "may" have been able to fly. 150 years ago this wouldn't have been dreamed of at all.
Erik wisely points out that before flight people would have imagined that by 2005 the technological advances on seafaring crafts would allow them to go much faster, moving from New York to London in only 3 days! But this is not how it turned out. In actuality Erik will fly to London, spend time there, and fly back in a 3 day period. Amazing.
This makes me wonder about what we're not even able to imaging today. What will be the status quo for technology in 2155? It's hard to even think about 2155 as a year at all.
Computers have not been around all that long. We've really only touched the surface of their utility. But maybe the computer will not be a key technology in the future...perhaps it will just be a small, ubiquitous part of the picture, as the electric motor is today.
Whatever the case, I'm aching to know what's next.
Posted by jevnin at 09:57 AM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2005
Moodsic
Every once in a while my Shuffle really really really comes through. This morning I barely made it through my Graphic Design class. It's a really interesting class, but, as I have told many around me, there's a world of difference between a class that starts at 8 AM and one that starts at 9. I'm just so drowsy at the 8 o'clock hour. Anyway, I put my headphones in as class ended and can now say that I'm back. One uplifting song after another...great stuff.
There's something to this idea of randomness in daily life. When all of our technology seems to be leaning toward more and more control of the little things, sometimes it's nice to not know what's coming next. Let's keep working on that. Randomness is bound to be for the better.
Posted by jevnin at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2005
Idea Generation
Here's a keeper. This site lists ways to generate ideas. It got rave reviews when I posted it on my program's listserv (5 responses in 28 minutes, so far).
Microphone check it: Idea Generation Methods
Posted by jevnin at 05:51 PM | Comments (0)
Alright, let's do this
I'm too busy for this. I don't have the effing time to go around spreading my opinion on issues of computing, software, design, etc. There are so many pressing matters I should be tending to...but I need to vent.
DON'T WATCH THIS MICROSOFT PROPAGANDA VIDEO
Or watch it, at your own discretion. So Microsoft has been doing this thing lately where they send out this guy to interview developers on Microsoft's various projects. The videos are generally somewhat boring...most of the time it's just a bunch of guys sitting around in a room acting really geeky and talking about software (which resembles my life a little too clearly, but at least we have a few women around).
What I learned today, however, is that these "uncut" movies are actually a clever ploy by Microsoft to try to earn back its much needed core of amateur software developers (or professional ones who don't like to develop for Microsoft). How did I learn this? Well, if you pay close attention, you'll notice that the videos are actually cut together to say exactly the types of things the people at Microsoft want you to hear.
For example, the video linked above is a visit to the Hotmail team, who has been busy creating the new version of Hotmail, codenamed "Kahuna." The guy behind the camera asks the question, "So, does this work on browsers other than IE?" Answer: "Yeah, we're developing for IE 5.5.96###, because that's our biggest user group"--CUT!!!-- Next we see a guy explaining a new feature. It's nice to know there's some honest reporting going on out there.
The other thing that really upsets me is that at the beginning of the video one of the developers describes how they went in to a room and tried to rethink email on the web. They weren't trying to build a system like the old Hotmail, or any other mail software. Creativity is a great thing. They had an outstanding opportunity here...but they failed. When they actually showed the demo of the new Hotmail, it looked exactly like MS Outlook. WTF Microsoft!!!??? That's what you get when you tried to be creative? Something's wrong with that picture. I wonder if they even tried talking to users...
Posted by jevnin at 05:30 PM | Comments (2)
September 14, 2005
Sites for HCI Peeps to check out
Shout out to all my HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) homies out there, wooty woot. Just wanted to recommend a couple sites for you to check out, you know, just to stay on top of your game and such. I was thinking of hiding these in links in my blog over the next few days, but on second thought I've decided to be more forthright. So here's my list...feel free to add more in the comments.
I check out the research areas of a bunch of companies fairly regularly...the basics are:
Of course, I also read a ton of blogs quite regularly. Bloglines is my aggregator of choice. Check it out, it's not as technical as it may sound. If you're interested in reading blogs by students in the School of Informatics, check out Planet Informatics.
All you humans out there should also check out the Wikipedia...a great first place to stop for information on anything and everything. Other cool wikis for Informatics folk are the Design Wiki, Design Club Wiki, and Echoes Wiki. BTW, for those of you who are lost right now, here are some definitions for the word Wiki and a better explanation.
Oh, and while you're at it, don't get caught in a bubble.
Posted by jevnin at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2005
UbiComp Ethics
Here's a great article on the ethical standards of Interaction Designers in the era of Ubiquitous Computing.
The actual ethics start about halfway down the page, but it's a good read even before that.
To the ethics stated here, I would add:
Principle 6. Be Imaginative.* Do not create a system or piece of a system simply to for the sake of itself. If the "user" could make a cup of coffee (for example) just as easily without your system, then there's no need for the system to be there. This may seem obvious, but why do I get the feeling that it won't be in about 12 years?
WARNING: It's gets a little technical for the untrained eye, so beware. All you HCIers, have at it.
* This is a shout out to Marty's Computer Imagination, aka "The thing that HCI/d'ers should strive for."
Posted by jevnin at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2005
Boxy Guy
I've been playing with Flash again, therefore it's time for you to see a sample of my work. Here's a seemingly simple one...there should be more to come.
Posted by jevnin at 10:44 PM | Comments (4)
June 22, 2005
Everything Bad is Good For You
I finished a book this evening, one which shared the title of this entry. I found it quite interesting. A number of people at my school study the growing science of New Media, which sounds somewhat interesting to me, but is something I have never sat down and tried to think about too deeply. This book gave me a good background into the field, and did a good job of tying modern cognitive science into the lessons.
In Everything Bad is Good For You, Steven Johnson argues against the notion that the technological staples of today's popular culture (Television, Film, Video Games, and the Internet) are not dumbing-down the culture. On the contrary, these media train newer, better cognitive abilities. Johnson argues that as time passes, pop culture is subjected to increasingly complex programming, which leads to greater intelligence, not less.
I found many of the points made in the book to be debatable, but that does not mean that I disagree with Johnson. I believe that on the whole, today's media is much more complex than that of yesteryear. The comedy of "I Love Lucy" doesn't stand a chance when compared with that of "Seinfeld." Sure, they're both funny, but I can watch Seinfeld over and over and still laugh, while an episode of Lucy is bound to get boring after the second viewing. That's just one example of the increasing complexity.
I also agree with Johnson's sentiments that giving respect to today's media does not give us license to forget the old favorites. So maybe TV is good for us, but that doesn't mean reading should go out the window. Book reading is still vital, and we must instill this belief in our culture before we all get too used to the choppy flow of hypertext.
I recommend this book. It's a relatively fast read, and it relates to your life, guaranteed. It is also written in plain English, a considerable feat for such a heavy topic. I'll leave you with the book's conclusion:
The cultural race to the bottom is a myth; we do not live in a fallen state of cheap pleasures that pale beside the intellectual riches of yesterday. And we are not innate slackers, drawn inexorably to the least offensive and least complicated entertainment available. All around us the world of mass entertainment grows more demanding and sophisticated, and our brains happily gravitate to that newfound complexity. And by gravitating,they make the effect more pronounced. Dumbing down is not the natural state of popular culture over time - quite the opposite. The great unsung story of our culture today is how many welcome trends are going up.
Posted by jevnin at 10:40 PM | Comments (2)
April 22, 2005
That feeling
It happened today, for the first time in a long time. The feeling is inexplicable. Perfect. Amazing. I cannot realistically portray what I mean, but I'll try. Have you ever been with a group of people, doing some sort of work, when all of a sudden everything just sort of blurs into slow motion, and all around you is the haze of perfect flow? Everyone is on the same page, all parties are thinking the same thoughts, everybody believes strongly in the cause, and you're working in sync toward your goal. That happened this evening. It was brief, and my teammates may not have noticed, but *that feeling* was most definitely there for me.
*That feeling* is the reason I have decided to dedicate this portion of my life to Human-Computer Interaction. I do a ton of group work, and during all of this work I'm in search of these perfect little moments. Sometimes I try to steal them, but that never works. That feeling hits when I least expect it. I remember the first time. It was 3rd year of college and I was in a Cognitive Engineering class. I remember sitting in a CogSci lab with my 6 group members staring at a huge Affinity Diagram doing some concept creation for our project, "PictureThis." We were on fire. It was amazing. Concepts were flowing from this group like I had never seen. One person would suggest a feasible, but boring idea and the next person would add an element that just made it work perfectly. Another person would shout out an idea that was just horribly off base, and the next person would take a piece of that idea and turn it into something that just seemed to fit in our solution. Since that moment I have known that I wanted to delve deeper into the world of HCI.
I am absolutely sure these moments of perfection exist in fields other than HCI, but they have rarely occured to me. When I ran the ropes course at my childhood summer camp, a few situations were simply perfect. I remember driving around in my first car that were perfect, but those were generally alone. In HCI, moments where I have *that feeling* are few, but they are more often than in other fields. Perhaps there is a field where I can come into contact with this feeling of perfection more often...but for now, I am quite happy with my momentary feelings of bliss.
Posted by jevnin at 12:27 AM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2005
Cognitive Science
A few weeks ago I wrote a little entry for a class that explains my undergraduate major, Cognitive Science, in a little more detail than I normally have time (or eloquence) to explain it in. It's up on my class wiki, which means that I no longer have the right to say that I own it, but I will claim that I wrote the first pass. For all of you who ever wondered what exactly Cognitive Science is, I give to you this essay, which, at least (hopefully), will describe the parties invested in the field in clear, concise terms.
Cognitive Science by the Informatics 590 Course of Fall 2005
Posted by jevnin at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2005
Letter Writing
I've been doing a lot of work with senior citizens in the past 4-5 months. When I'm not reading about them, then I'm either talking to them, designing for them, or writing about them. I just have so much to learn from and about them. A big idea that was pointed out to me by a senior last week was that letter writing is a dying art. Many might disagree with this idea. After all, many people write upwards of 50 emails a day!
Email is not the same, I would argue. There is a difference between passing someone a quick outline of what is going on and writing a complete story that paints a picture of your life at this moment. Computers have a way of sucking the life out life. Emails turn into souped-up bullet point outlines, not coherent, well written prose. We should all work on our letter writing. Call me a luddite, but I don't think losing this ability is something we want to do as a culture. One day we'll wake up and realize our children cannot read (because they're too busy watching TV or scanning websites) or write (because they're too busy shooting off an email or making a PowerPoint presentation).
To help curb the downfall of writing, I'm starting a new initiative. I will write at least one paper letter each week. If I have your address, perhaps you'll be one of my recipients...but I probably don't have your address. Send me an email (jevnin at gmail dot com) and I'll put your address on my list so I can send a letter.
Posted by jevnin at 10:28 PM | Comments (1)
February 27, 2005
Gmail's back
Gmail must have heard me blogging...as soon as I finished my last post I checked Gmail and found that it's back up...karma.
Posted by jevnin at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)
down with gmail
Simply unacceptible. That's just about all I have to say about that. Let me explain. Gmail has been down all morning. ALL MORNING. I use Gmail to access just about all of my email, and so I have had no access to my email all morning. Now, I realize that it's Sunday, and it's still early in the morning in California (where Google is based), but still. Are there not backups in place? Was this an expected failure period? Is there somewhere I can go to figure out why I can't access my email? Is there tech support for me to contact? Could I have been warned? Can the error messages tell me something? Anything?
I'll be really honest. I love Gmail when it's working. It is by far the best email client/host combination I have ever used. My only problem is that it often doesn't work. Most of the time it's very temporary, but sometimes (like today) it is not. I realize that the system is still in Beta (being tested), so I shouldn't expect perfection...but I should be able to check my email always.
The kicker to this whole shebang: the only reason I want to use Gmail this morning is so that I can send in an application to work at Google...
Posted by jevnin at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)
February 24, 2005
Another Stream of Consciousness
I think I've read just enough to know that it is time to go Mac. I'll be looking into getting an iBook as soon as I get paid back for the trip to Oregon, within the next few days. Anybody want a brand new IBM T42? I would say it's sparkly clean, except for the fact that it's brand new in the box, so I wouldn't know.
What's the difference between Mac and Apple? I've asked this of many, but it doesn't seem that anyone has the answer. My hypothesis is that Mac is the hardware (unless specified otherwise, i.e. Mac OS) and apple is the brand. So software titles are preceded by the word Apple (such as Apple Pages) while the computers themselves are called Macs. Am I right? Perhaps I'll know soon enough.
I'm doing some usability testing today. It should be fun. Designing usability experiments is, or at least can be, very challenging. Sometimes you want to know more than "Is this button placed in the right spot?" or "Does the user understand how to print this document?" We wanted to ask something more like, "Is there sufficient user buy-in for this product?" and "Does the user think this system does things better than in in its analog equivalent?" Hard questions to answer, especially when you've only got 30 minutes to burn and a paper prototype to work with. We did some informal testing last weekend, and it went alright...but I'm still not sure we'll be getting the information we really want.
Running is still going well. I went a whole 4.33 miles yesterday, if you haven't already noticed. It was on a treadmill, and therefore dreadfully boring, but a cold front has moved into town. I'm not down with running in really cold or snowy weather...just don't have the clothes for it.
Did you notice the runGrapher on the left of the screen? It was donated by Erik, and I thank him big time for it. I'll add some more functionality in a bit...but for now it just shows you the relative distances of my last 5 runs. If you can think of some upgrades, let me know and I'll think about adding them in (and actually do so when I get the time).
There are damn near a million books I want to read and projects I want to work on right now. Mostly, I'd like to build a prototype of the software concept a team I was on created in my third year of college. It is used for photo organization, and I think we did an exceptional job, but none of us had programming experience. Now that I know a little bit about Flash, perhaps I can mock it up. Actually, I'll probably be using to help me get to know Flash better, because I'm not as comfortable with it as I would like to be...
Ok, I've gotta get up and get out. Piece.
Posted by jevnin at 07:49 AM | Comments (1)
February 20, 2005
What a day!
If my worst days are like today, then I think I'm doing just fine. The two effectors: Flat tire on the car & getting locked out of the house. The latter was my fault, the former a freak accident...
Went for a run this early afternoon. I had planned my day perfectly...my run was to be 45 minutes long, giving me just enough time to shower, eat, and make it to school right on time for my 1:30 meeting. I was on my way, about 1/4 mile away from home when all of a sudden my right ankle started giving out. "Crap" was all I could think. I've been working so hard not to injure my knee, then all of a sudden my ankle is in major pain. I walked back to the house, convinced that my pain was due to the fact that I was wearing ankle socks, causing major coldness. As I walked past my car, I realized that the rear passenger tire was completely flat. Upon inspection, I noticed that there was a big metal slab jammed into the top of the tire (foul play?). I went in, put on some longer socks, and headed back out to change the tire, mad that I wouldn't get my full run. I changed the tire (all by myself, there's a first time for everything :-) and headed back out for my run. It was an ok run...though shorter than I would have liked. I'll make up for it tomorrow. Longer socks totally did the trick, still injury free.
When I got back from the run, I turned the door knob only to realize that I was locked out with no cell phone and no one inside. Luckily, I was able to find a way to break in to the house. It was much easier than I would have expected, which is *really really* scary. I was able to shower and eat and get to school only 5 minutes late, which is good considering all the mishaps.
So now I'll have to buy a new spare tire. Big woop. Hopefully it won't be too expensive. I guess it's better to have a tire pop in your driveway than when you're driving on it. The funny thing is that I just filled my tires with air yesterday...could I have messed it up somehow? Who knows...
I think my most recent project is going well. We finished the bulk of our 3-5 page single spaced paper today. From here on it will be rewording and reworking, just to make things sound good (and right).
I've really been thinking about the Contextual Design process lately...it's what I have been bred on. It's in my roots. It just feels right. In every other project I have worked on, I have gone in to the idea generation phase with a relatively blank slate. My designs are creative, but I just have not been at all comfortable with them. After doing Contextual Inquiry and modeling, I feel really comfortable in generating ideas. I feel like I've deserved the right to create human-centered designs. I think it comes down to the fact that I'm a really visual person. If I can look at human behavior, then strip it down into its smallest pieces by way of external representations, then I am more likely to understand the real problems at hand. But maybe I'm just not thinking deeply enough. Perhaps I'm not opening myself up to other lines of thought.
Is it really true that one should play their weaknesses in school? Should I drop the things I know and head blindly into the unknown? Or maybe I can play my strengths and burrow further into the intricacies of cognition and design. Do I go for breadth or depth? I need to answer these questions for myself. All I'm saying is that I never truly realized exactly what it meant to be an HCI/Designer with a Cognitive Science background until I gave my Distributed/External Cognition talk last week. It didn't go well for a few reasons:
- I had not thoroughly prepared the material. This was due in large part to the fact that I decided to change my topic at the last minute.
- I did not convincingly make my point. Probably because I'm a bit inexperienced at making presentations.
- And finally, I think most of the members of the class do not think of design from the angle I do. This is due to the fact that they don't have backgrounds similar to mine. I could have set up the presentation so that it would have been easier for a general audience to decipher...but failed to do so
I'll have to figure out a way to have my cake and eat it too. There must be a way. There's no reason that I shouldn't be able to focus on aspects of cognition while acquiring the breadth of knowledge that I would like to have. I can do it, because "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and dog gone it...people like me."
Ah...Graduate School...
Posted by jevnin at 08:54 PM | Comments (2)
February 17, 2005
I'm erratic
It's been too long since I've written a good blog entry. Sorry about that. Now it's too late for me to promise a good one for this evening, but I'll write a little bit anyway.
Party at our house tomorrow. We're celebrating E's GF, N, being in town. That was far too many abbreviations/acronyms for my liking. "Make Your Own Pizza Night," take 2. It was awesome the first time...great food, great fun. This time Ja, K, and I are going to try to create a Cuban Black Bean Pizza, just like at Avers. Mmmm...it's just so good. Who'da thunk that pesto sauce and black beans would be such an awesome combination for a pizza. Not me. It's delicious. If you're in Bloomington, you're invited (you're invited if you're not in B-Town as well, but it will likely be more difficult for you to get here).
Saw a great thing today. Saw a professor who was worried that his class isn't going as planned. Saw a professor admit to his mistakes. Saw a professor point out that it was also the fault of the students. Saw myself inspired to do great(er) work. Wish I saw more professors that are forward thinking like this. Many teachers/researchers in HCI/Informatics/Related Fields really think they are forward thinkers. Listen, just because you're in this field doesn't make you a forward thinker. In order to claim that title you must be proactively not living in the past. That cannot be said for all in this field. That is all I have to say about that.
Tired, if you couldn't tell. Piece.
Posted by jevnin at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2005
Bye bye, Internet
So I came in to school yesterday morning to have a meeting and get some work done, when I was told that the Internet was down. "Whaaat!?" I said, astonished. The professor I was meeting with had to reschedule the meeting, but his aide was unable to see his schedule, because there was no internet. I decided I would just go back to my office and start up on my work, when I realized it was all on the 'net. Sure, I could load things onto my USB key, but uploading it somewhere always seems more convenient to me for some reason. I was relatively shell-shocked, and surprised that I put myself in a position where I could not do anything because I was completely cut off from all my work (not to mention my main source of entertainment). Luckily, I had grading to do, and the professor requires the students to turn their work in on paper (which I found annoying at first), so I was able to get that done.
The thing that was really astonishing was that work must have stopped all across campus because of this internet interruption. I cannot imagine being one of the technicians trying to restore the system. Their phones must have been ringing off the hook. I'm sure professors were unable to give lectures (because their powerpoints were on the network), and many meetings were unsuccessful.
The repurcussions of losing the internet are severe, as yesterday's "experiment" showed. If that sucker were to be destroyed, we'd all be in some big trouble. But what to do? Do I (and those around me) stop depending on the net? Probably not, but let's just hope it never goes down indefinitely.
The original internet was developed by the U.S. Military in the late 1960s as an information transport system that was not vulnerable to single attacks. That is, it was a network built such that destroying one of its communication nodes would not cut off the entire system. This was obviously a Cold War effort to protect ourselves from devastating atomic bomb attacks. So why did the Internet die at Indiana University yesterday? I thought these computer systems were able to come up with their own work-arounds. I'm just full of questions...perhaps someone can explain this to me...
Posted by jevnin at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2005
ActionScript, etc.
I'm now 16/24ths done with my ActionScript seminar. That's right, two days down...and I've learned a lot so far. I'm not very thrilled with the seminar format. Basically we are just going through examples from a book...spending a lot of time simply typing code from the book into Flash and figuring out what it's doing. I think what I'll have to do is think of a fun project to work on and code up a work of art. That seems to be the best way to learn a programming language...or at least that's what E says. I'd agree. I became proficient in PHP and MySQL in a week or so just by making a project for myself...hopefully I'll get some free time to mess around with ActionScript in the same way.
So far I prefer PHP to ActionScript. I know they're used for different things, but I just feel like PHP gives more control in a straightforward manner, whereas Flash is pretty but is harder to use. Perhaps I'll get used to it as I continue working...
I think I'm starting to get in shape. I just ran more than 3 miles...and it felt good. It's weird, I'm getting in shape, yet I'm sleeping with less regularity than normal. I would expect it to be opposite. I've been waking up at weird times...2 AM & 6 AM in the last two evenings. I think it's because I didn't run those days, so my body did feel like I deserved (needed?) sleep. Either way, it feels good to not be completely tired after 2 miles. I can feel my body stregthening, and that's exciting.
I think the part of my marathon training that I really need to pay attention to is training myself to have some patience. I constantly up my running speed so I can get to the finish line sooner...but that won't work when I run a really long distance. I need to train my legs to slow down a little bit and save energy for the long haul. Sometimes taking it slow is the hardest part...
In other news, I presented a paper on State-dependent memory in aerobic exercise this evening. I think it went well. I'm sure I said some things the professor didn't agree with, but I think playing devil's advocate is good to a point. It wasn't my best presentation ever, but I'm happy with my performance. It leaves room for improvement on the final presentation.
I feel like I've been so busy lately. I think things will start to clear up after my presentation next Tuesday. Sometimes I'm just really antsy, and I need to tell myself to calm down. So, calm down! :-) I'll be back with more in a few days...
Posted by jevnin at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2005
Going to SIG CHI!
So I'm headed to the SIG CHI Conference! My team's project was a winner in the first round of the student competition. The best part of it all is that all four of the teams from the School of Informatics were accepted...meaning a whole bunch of us are going to be travelling to Portland together. I'll be there for my birthday! This means a whole bunch more work will have to be done in the coming months, but I have a feeling it will all be worth it.
Tomorrow's the first day of a three day seminar on ActionScript, the programming language used with Macromedia's Flash package. I'm really pumped. Flash is ubiquitous on the web and makes it really easy to build beautiful pages. There is a downside, however. Flash pages are not as usable as they should, or could, be. Because web designers can simply create web pages from vector images, many do not hold the same web standards as pages built in HTML. This means beautiful web pages that are not usable. Flash must do something to fix this. They could implement a Flash style guide that makes it easy to keep web standards while making pages look good, or something like that. Whatever the case, after Thursday I'll know my ActionScript, and will be able to make beautiful and useful webpages (but that's only because I've taken classes that cover usability).
I'm due to build a piece of software in the next few days that will let you all know how my marathon training is going. I ran 2 miles this morning in 16:28 (8:14 splits!). Not bad, considering I only started training a few weeks ago, and that was following a 3 mile (long) day. The next step is to not catch the flu/cold that is going around the halls at school. That would be greatly detrimental. Good thing I've been taking my multivitamin.
Ok, time for bed...long day of coding tomorrow... :-)
Posted by jevnin at 10:28 PM | Comments (1)
January 27, 2005
Changes...
There are going to be some changes going on around here, so don't get used to anything...
Following the creation of my new website, I have decided that I'm gonna make some changes to the look of my blog. They'll come slowly, but surely. The most important thing is that if you do not like a change I have made, you must let me know, for there is a deeper moral to this story:
Often when designers, engineers, inventors, etc. make a creation, they are absolutely blind to the negative aspects of their systems. It is soooo easy to get married to one of your ideas, which causes a honeymoon effect where you can see no wrong with it. The moment someone points out a fault in the system, one of two things happens:
- The designer takes the criticism personally, and is upset by the critic
- The designer realizes the critic is right, and quickly reiterates the design of the system so that it fixes the faults.
I hope to be this second type of designer. If you don't like something, call me on it. If I get enough complaints, or I agree with the original comment, I will make changes. Critics are often too polite in their assessments, I ask you not to be so.
For starters, what do you think of the new background color, off to the sides of the screen? Critique me! :-)
Posted by jevnin at 11:08 AM | Comments (1)
January 03, 2005
My mom is watching
Hello all, my mom is standing behind me right now, watching how I blog. I think I heard a statistic today that said something like, "While 'blog' was the most searched word on the internet, 61% of internet users do not know what a blog is." This is amazing, but pretty easy to believe. Those who understand what a blog is know that it is an extremely powerful medium. Those who don't know about them really have no way of 'jumping on the bandwagon.' It's really not easy to get into this game, unless you know someone who has a blog, or just happen to bump into something you enjoy. Here's a question for all you blog readers...how did you first happen upon the blogging world?
My first blog was Belle de Jour, a now defunct blog (which was updated for the first time in a long time the other day). It is the story of a London Callgirl (who just happens to be a brilliant writer). I loved coming back every day to hear her adventures from the day before. Sometimes they were a bit lewd, but in general they were just entertaining. She has a book due out soon based on the blog. Really interesting stuff.
Soon after this, a few of my friends started websites and blogs which they updated in order to tell about their lives. First there was Joel's page. Joel is a rabbinical school student, and when he spent his first year of school in Jerusalem he built a little page to update all his friends about his life. I think he has since taken the page down, but it was still pretty interesting when it existed. Next Josh and Doron started up blogs when they each moved to Israel. It's funny actually, all of my friends who were the first to jump on the blog trend did so when they moved to Israel. Strange coincidence.
I guess after I started reading these blogs, I was off to find others that interested me. Now there's a whole long list of blogs that I check out. Perhaps I'll put up a little blog roll (a list of all the blogs I read). Try to find some blogs that you enjoy. This is a medium that is extremely powerful. It gives individuals the power to publish their words and thoughts, a feat which often goes ignored.
Posted by jevnin at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2004
Grammar by Google
Not much time to write, but I wanted to relay a situation that just occurred. I'm in the middle of proofreading a paper and wasn't sure if I wanted to use the word 'affect' or 'effect'. I'm generally not bad at grammar and spelling, but affect and effect generally always confuse me. I'm gonna send a whiny email to those guys who wrote the English language...what were they thinking?
Anyway, to the point. In order to see which word was right, I simply typed the important part of the sentence into Google (in double quotes, of course, otherwise the little words don't get searched). Then, based on the number of pages that came up for each search I was able to logically discover which was the correct (a/e)ffect. Here's the example I used:
85-169, looks like affect wins! Next time you have a grammatical or spelling quandary, check your options on Google. Trust the people in internet land...we're smarter when we work together.
Posted by jevnin at 10:34 AM | Comments (2)
December 07, 2004
php and cgi and perl, oh my!
I've been using some new and really really powerful technologies to build some cool interactions for websites lately. So back in the day I thought that a webpage could only be made using HTML. (HTML = HyperText Markup Language -> it's the stuff that's used to make the webpage you're looking at look the way it does, to see the code of the current page go to "View" --> "Page Source") Then I learned about XHTML, which for all intents and purposes is the same thing as HTML. After that I learned CSS (CSS = Cascading Style Sheets -> these make it easy to control layout and positioning of pieces of a webpage. they also allow a single file to control the layout of a bunch of web pages, which is a really nice thing to have if you're creating a big site.), which was rather powerful in its own right. Lately, however, I've been toying with PHP (PHP = Hypertext PreProcessor -> allows you build programs to be run on webpages, that all get executed on the computer that sends information to your computer) and Perl (Practical Extraction and Reporting Language -> used to ...
Hold on now. Wait up. Look at me get all technocentric on you. I apologize. That wasn't very fair of me. As I read over everything I just wrote, I realize that it is too complicated to comprehend. If you were interested in the gory details of the web, you'd learn about them...but that's not why you come to my website, or really any website. When you surf the web, you just want your information quickly and easily, so you can get on your merry way. OR, you're here for entertainment...not about the details...
My bad. I'll try not to let it happen again. I consider myself warned for being a bad host. Here's some cool HCI-related stuff for your time: Check this out. It's a flower that sits in your periphery that lets you know when your significant other is online...great and good = grood. :-)
Posted by jevnin at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2004
Really Awesome Displays
It's been a while since I've commented on the topic I study every day, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction, in case you've forgotten...it really has been a while). I sit here waiting for some CDs to burn and continuously think to myself that it won't be long until I will never have to *wait* for my computer to do anything, ever again. This is because, as you probably know, computers and their components are getting faster and faster literally every day. Moore's law tells us that computer processor speeds double every 3 years, and also states that the price of a given computer processor speed drops in half in the same amount of time. Basically, if the things we do on the computer stay the same, the amount of time it will take for the processor to work on them will be shortened dramatically in a short number of years.
The repurcussions of this increase in speed will mean a lot for all of us. First of all, we won't have to spend as much money on these blasted machines. More importantly, however, this will mean that engineers and others will have more inspiration to improve the peripheral toys we all use in conjunction with our PCs...music systems (both for sound input and output), pointing devices (like mouses), input systems (like keyboards), and most important (in my opinion), Really Awesome Displays.
I envision a world in which computer monitors are *everywhere*, but not in a scary 1984 way...as long as those in the HCI profession have something to say about it. Imagine a computer monitor the size of an entire wall...it displays nothing save a rendition of Van Gogh's Starry Night, and then all of a sudden you realize you've forgotten your friend's phone number on your dresser at home. Walk to the wall and after a few taps, you're searching theYellow Pages for the number. Now, imagine doing the same thing on your car window. How about on a page in the newspaper?
There will soon be a day where you will be able to access the internet via your kitchen table, refrigerator, and even your paper notebook. These displays will change the way we live, and will be the tools that our children wonder how we could have lived without. Ubiquitous displays...information literally at your fingertips. It's exciting, and in some respects a bit scary, but truly awesome technologies are on their way. I, for one, can't wait.
Have a great Thanksgiving, world.
Posted by jevnin at 11:10 PM | Comments (2)
October 30, 2004
A Trip to Chi-Town
I'm in Chicago visiting family. Good times. Last night I went out for all-you-can-eat sushi. It was so good. I really miss sushi when I'm in Bloomington. I guess it's not really their fault, they are just a bit too far away from water. Chicago definitely treated me well as far as fresh, uncooked fish goes. Tonight I went for some *world-famous* pizza at Gino's East Pizzeria (sp?). Also fantastic. Chicago is one of those places in the world where you can get any kind of food you want at any time of day. L.A. is kind of like that. N.Y.C. is definitely like that. I would like to live in a place like that, but probably just for a little bit. You lose a lot when you have that kind of freedom. These types of places tend to be crowded, and loud. It's the places where you can get some real peace of mind where the food isn't quite as varied...
I also went shopping today with Mom. Got some good clothes for cold weather. Shopping is one thing I really cannot do online. I'm always so worried that the clothes won't fit. Then when they don't I have to send them back and expect for my money to somehow show up on my credit card. It's just so troublesome. This is either a marketing problem, or one for the HCI community. Somehow the architecture of the internet has not allowed me to get comfortable with buying clothing...other things I will only buy on the internet (like technological goodies). Somebody has to get me to buy clothes online...maybe I can invent a really reassuring way of going about it. Time to start thinking about it...
Ok, that's enough for now. I'll update again when I get back home to good ol' Indiana.
Posted by jevnin at 07:31 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2004
Amazon.com
Anybody notice the layout change on Amazon.com? It's subtle, but definitely different.
Here's how it looked on June 17
And here's what you see today
Posted by jevnin at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2004
The Beautiful Internet
What do you think of my blog's layout? I recently received a comment about it, but won't say whether it is positive or negative. I must admit, for better or for worse, that the skeleton for this site is basically the default offered by MovableType. I've added some chotchkies here and there, but it's mostly unchanged. So there go my creativity points...But really, what is it that you pay attention to when you look at a website? Is it the layout, or the words?
I think the internet has changed greatly over the last few years. In the beginning it was all about content, simply publishing words. More recently a lot of emphasis has been put on creativity in how things look. This change has mainly taken place because before it was not possible to have a lot of control over how webpages looked. Since the advent of style sheets, the ability to control layout has improved by leaps and bounds. The web is now beautiful, but is it better than before?
This question is a prime topic for HCI study. Surely, the content that is on the internet is of lower quality than in the late 1990s, IMHO. Since most websites look so nice, there is a lot of pressure to only upload pages that uphold rules of creativity and usability, but not necessarily content. I know that I rarely (if ever) build informational websites, because I do not have the time or motivation to make the pages look good.
In the end users of the internet win and lose. We lose much valuable content in exchange for usability and beauty. As in all design related fields, we must deal with tradeoffs. I'm not going to make any statements about whether or not we're better off now than we were in the past, but it is important to realize that these questions are arguable. Not all technology necessarily improves with time. Sometimes it just takes on new forms.
Posted by jevnin at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2004
The Tipping Point
I started rereading one of my favorite books this evening. It's called The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell. It got me thinking in terms of changing the world again. The tipping point is the moment at which a relatively small phenomenon becomes huge. This "tip" can be caused by a whole host of things. A classic, and fun, example happened in the mid 90s when the Hush Puppies brand of shoes went from near extinction to extreme popularity. It turns out this revolution was started by less than 100 hip kids from NYC. All of a sudden all of the major designers featured Hush Puppies on the runways of Paris.
This book is great because it puts some focus on the little things in life. Life really is based on the details. Something as insignificant as a new haircut can change one's entire outlook. A recent tipping point occurred in my life within the past few weeks. Making the switch from Blogspot to MovableType has caused an explosion in the amount of blogging I do. These things happen all the time! Look out for tipping points in your life. If you're aware of them, you're more likely to figure out how to make them happen! Oh, and buying and reading this book wouldn't hurt anyone either.
On to newer things...IBM is awesome! Turns out a problem I had is under warranty...so they're sending me out a brand new piece of hardware, completely free. Oh, and they called me within 10 minutes of me posting my maintenance request online...after business hours. Great service makes me smile. It's almost like getting what you pay for. :-P
Big shout out to my Mom, who sent me a nice pair of running pants for the upcoming winter season...I'll definitely be protected from the elements! Thanks Mom!
There was something else I wanted to say...but it's not coming to me at the moment, I hate when that happens. Well, it'll just give me a chance to write again tomorrow...to sleep I go.
Posted by jevnin at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)
Senior Citizens
Did some usability studies today. Some would actually call it usamajility. Our user group for this project (and the next) is the senior citizen population. I have really liked working with older people. At first I was a bit apprehensive, but getting to know them feels kinda good. They all seem pretty happy for the most part. Of course they are dealing with disabilities such as blindness, memory loss, and a host of other issues, but they still seem pretty content with life. That's rather reassuring.
The retirement community we've been visiting seems pretty cool, in a summer campy kind of way. There are a bunch of activities, and 3 meals a day. Plus you get to hang out with all your friends. Maybe I'm a little bit screwed up in the head, but it all looks kind of exciting.
Photo blurred to keep all individuals anonymous. (I'm the one in brown.)
Went to dinner this evening with a bunch of grad students from the program and the main professor. He brought up the idea of us in 5 years, becoming successful Interaction Designers (IxDers) and coming back to tell the students how successful they will be. What a great outlook! I am excited to be able to pass on knowledge, and the thought of a professor who looks forward to that is refreshing. So often I think that professors are too caught up in their own research to realize that they are here to educate the next generation. I guess the problem is circular since their profs paid no attention to them. Either way, I'm excited about being an influencer...so I can't wait to be in a leadership position.
Ok, I'm hopelessly tired. Big project due in 72 hours, so I may lose sleep in the coming days. I'll catch up while I'm still able to...
Photoshop is just too cool...
Posted by jevnin at 12:18 AM | Comments (0)
October 09, 2004
Welcome to MovableType, HCI > CS
So this is my first "real" entry utilizing the MovableType System. I guess it's not much different from blogspot, thus far, except for the sense of accomplishment after installing it on my own system. Plus what my actual page looks like is completely editable by me, meaning I'm not held back by the juggernaut that is blogger. So in a sense, I am free, as if I'm not already free enough these days. Somebody really needs to reach out an put a harness back around my neck...err, waist...and get me back in line. Even school doesn't seem like a leash. I guess it's for the best though...
Anyway, I was having a talk with E, one of the roommates, on the way to the mall today. I think I would classify him (as well as the other roommate, W) as a hardcore Computer Science guy. This is not to say he is not well rounded, in fact, quite the opposite. But well-roundedness is not the point. As we were driving he brought up a relatively obscure point involving foreach loops in programming languages. Now, while I'm no hardcore CS guy, I still understand the concept of foreach. This kind of loop is used when you have a list of objects and want to go through it and do a certain action to each object. The example we discussed had to do with editing single pixels on a digital picture. The syntax of this loop is as follows:
If you don't get it, don't worry about it...because this is exactly my point. The issue at hand in our conversation was something that, in essense, is a very important issue for computer scientists to consider. Those who program your software should understand the ins and outs of foreach loops, and possible ways to improve on them. But for the users, this stuff just doesn't matter. That's what makes it hard for me to think about. In general, if it doesn't affect the people who will actually be using the program, then to hell with it, I don't care.
I'm not saying that as a student of HCI I will ignore programming concepts, in fact I'll embrace them. Without explicit understanding of how computer systems and programs work, I would never be a successful HCI/Designer, so much love to the people on the techie side of this game.
I'm just saying that a lot more work needs to be done on the HCI/Design side than on the programming side, IMHO, so I'll let the many get on with the programs, while the few attempt to improve the nasty situation we all find ourselves in.
Posted by jevnin at 06:37 PM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2004
It's getting cold...
It's getting cold...those around me would probably say it's not too bad for Indiana, but for me it's just getting a bit too nippy for comfort. It'll get into the mid 60s today...perhaps I'm whining, but it just seems a little unfair that the high will reach 83 today at home. That's a striking 18 degree differential! I know the differential will increase as time goes by, which frightens me. We'll see how I hold up with respect to weather...for now I'll just stay sick.
Speaking of which, being sick sucks. This time the sickness has come and gone rather quickly, which is good news because I really want to get back to my exercise and work routine.
I wanted to talk a little about peoples' folk understanding when it comes to scientific issues. I feel that it's a problem throughout our society. For example, when I told each of my parents that I was sick, they were sure it was due to the fact that the weather is a bit colder here. In actuality, I'm sure I just caught some sort of virus in this new environment I'm spending time in. Is sickness caused by weather change? In some cases, yes. In my case, this time, no.
If you don't understand how viruses work, then it is easy to take up a folk science mentality. Likewise, if you don't understand stem cells, you're likely to develop a religious outlook on the subject. Now, I do not want this forum to turn into a place to discuss presidential politics-we all know there are far too many pundits these days anyway-however, I will say that GeeDub is a rather ig'nant mofo when it comes to the topic of stem cell science. Does he not realize that these cells, which come from nearly immediately post-conception fetuses, can become almost any kind of cell in the body? This means that these cells can be used to treat everything from neural deformities to cancer. Awesome, no? YES! Ok, enought politico-science punditry from me.
Ok, I'm going to bail, lots on my plate this week. Big test friday, paper due next tues, programming assignment due next mon. Alright, so there isn't much on my plate this week...but I must prepare for next week at some point!
Current books, in case you care:
Interaction Design to teach to silly undergrads
Interface Culture to learn about the history and future of the interfaces of our lives
Smart Mobs is kinda on the back-burner, but I would like to dive back in when I get some time
Distributed Work ... because a little Social Informatics (formerly DCog in my mind) never hurt 'nobody
learn.perl.org is definitely a must
Posted by jevnin at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2004
Bloglines
So, this whole blogging thing has been rather one-sided lately. You see, I read them all the time these days. I’ve been using this site called Bloglines, which takes all my blogs and puts them into a list, then lets me know when new posts are added to each. Cool, huh? I no longer need to surf to each site and check if there is a new post, because this site does so implicitly. But wait, there’s more! Bloglines also recommends blogs for me to check out based on the ones that are in my list. They give me a long list of recommended blogs, and allow me to choose the ones I want. It’s like going to the bookstore and getting to choose all the books that others think I want for free!
There’s a lot to be said for this Collaborative Filtering. Amazon and eBay use it, but imagine if it were used ubiquitously in the real world. You go to the grocery store and your handheld agent tells you that grapes are on sale this week based on the fact that you’ve bought them in the past. Ooh, even better, your agent tells you that your friend’s birthday is coming up, and here is a list of things that she will probably enjoy based on her Amazon and eBay shopping and surfing habits, not to mention her propensity to go into particular brick-and-mortar stores on a regular basis. Now, there are privacy issues here, but security is a problem for the security people, and I like to consider myself an idea person, not held back by the details.
New tangent: Happy(?) Yom Kippur. The holiday has led to a lot of introspection about religion, my new life, and my old one too. To get all this thinking off my mind, I’ve decided to go to an alternative service today, as well as to a service project. It will probably be in a food bank, but could be planting trees or something like that for all I know.
This weekend will be dedicated to fasting and reading. Fasting started last night and ends tonight.
Interface Culture by Steven Johnson
What is Social Informatics and Why Does it Matter? By Rob Kling
Computers as Social Networks by Barry Wellman
Gates of Repentance by Chaim Stern (never realized this book had a single author!)
Oh, and probably some http://learn.perl.org
Posted by jevnin at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2004
I stand here in a towel
I stand here in a towel, brooding with things to say. There is so much on my mind, but at the same time, so little.
I do my best thinking in the shower. The shower is probably a place of intense thought for many people. It’s not often you’re allowed to be alone, naked, relaxed, and wet, but the world would probably be a much better place if this was not the case. Anyway, this isn’t what’s really on my mind, so let’s get to business.
What is the difference between ubiquity and pervasiveness? This question has been floating, unformed, in my head for the past few days, but now it is time to come out. I turn to my trusty American Heritage Collage dic•tion•ar•y for some definitive answers:
u•biq•ui•ty n. Existence or apparent existence everywhere at the same time; omnipresence.
per•va•sive adj. Having the quality or tendency to pervade or permeate; the pervasive odor of garlic. –per•va•sive•ness n.
I’m not sure if I like that definition of pervasive, it just seems so negative. I guess I see a difference between the two, though I’m not sure if it’s only because one is a noun and the other an adjective. Something which is ubiquitous is present everywhere you look, while a pervasive object is moving throughout a world such that at some point it may become ubiquitous. Maybe I’m just more confused now…
Time to get crackin’. There is just so much to do. I have learned that moving to a new town far from home is an expensive and time-stealing proposition. I have spent more time and money in the last week buying things I already own, but could not fit into a car. On tap today is a car wash, bike, and desk. At some point I think I’ll try to study for the first time in 2 months. It’s going to be hard to get back into the swing of things, but I guess that’s the challenge for everyone. Ok, into Bloomingtown I go…
Posted by jevnin at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2004
One more shot at blogspotting...
One more shot at Blogspotting...
I haven't been here in a while. Blogger is looking a little refreshed. I have to say I like and dislike the new interface. While it seems minimalistic and easy to use, I have been encountered with errors from the outset of my current endeavor. 2 of 5 stars on the "red4tr400 Usability Scale."
Anyway, let's not talk about me today, and perhaps also in the future. I'm not going to make this commentary public until I really get into the swing of things, which will hopefully be in a few weeks. My vision for this commentary is to create a forum for me to discuss topics relating to the Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Usability, Philosophy, Robotics, and perhaps some other related topics. I will attempt to leave the mundane aspects of these sciences for the researchers to figure out, and instead will tackle the everyday applications of the topics I discuss. Basically, I've got stuff on my mind, and want a place to dump everything I'm thinking, and at the same time get a little practice at writing for fun. Let's get to it...
Electronic Voting:
If you haven't heard or read about the Diebold voting machines, start here. I was hearing a lot about this last week on San Diego's NPR Station and thoughts relating to usability came to mind. I would like to point out that none of the complaints about these voting machines have anything to do with the interface. In fact, one reporter claimed that many people reported a better voting experience than ever before. Apparently a lot of attention was paid to the interface on these machines. This is great news, especially after the bruhaha that was the 2000 presidential election. Hanging chads, butterfly ballots, and other such error prone pieces of voting technology will soon be a thing of the past.
Like it or not, electronic voting is the future. I would like to submit my votes via e-mail. It's not that I'm lazy, I'm willing to go to my local polling place, but voting online would be extremely convenient, and would perhaps incite others to get off their lazy, apathetic, or forgetful butts and take part in a big piece of what it means to be an American. Truth be told, we're a long way from e-mail voting, but computerized voting is good enough for now. I commend Diebold for their hard work in creating a usable interface for voting. It was a priority that deserved to be at the top of the list.
However, after getting the user interface right, Diebold managed to completely nullify the good qualities of the machines. It turns out that sometimes the meat of the software is more important than how it looks. While I firmly believe that good software can only be considered high quality if it has a usable interface, I do not believe the inverse is true. That is, a usable interface does not mean the software is high quality. For example, compare this Slashdot to this Slashdot . If you can't immediately tell, the former is real and the latter is fake. At first glance these are both high quality and interactive web sites, but when you delve deeper you realize that only one of these sites is the real deal. The actual quality of the material on the real Slashdot may be doubted by some, but this is not the issue I wish to discuss.
My point is that Diebold created horrible (but usable) software, and passed it off as a high quality tool. Shame on Diebold for making the User Interface Designers of the world look bad. Shame on them too for fooling voters into thinking the system was secure. Diebold should have realized that kinks in the system are not allowable when it comes to electronic voting machines. The system should have been perfected before it was released. A delayed release date beats a horrendously flawed system any day of the week, especially in the case of voting machines. Now this company is done, fini. Good riddance, Diebold. Your system tricked people into thinking it was completely usable. How do we expect people to trust our computer systems when companies with ethics like this are still in business? Diebold, your system is a traveshamockery.
Next time: GMail
Posted by jevnin at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)