Here is what I learned from each journal entry.

    In journal 1, I organized the principles of game design after reading the textbooks. It is important to learn the principles because games are the most common interactive design. Moreover, in the article by Song and Lee (2007), the computer game industry has become the fastest growing field of the entertainment industry, but only a very small number of computer game products except Wii, PS series, and XBOX, overcome the costs of production and generate earnings. To know more about the principles of game design, it will be easier to design a game which fits players’ need. I may not work in game companies in the future, but I think these principles can be applied to many interactive media.

    The journal 2 analyzed the website design of Virgin American Airline and compared the website designs of its competitors. This assignment taught me a lot what the key elements of a successful website should have. It is important for me to know the elements because I am learning how to design a website by myself in this quarter. After analyzing these websites of famous companies, I know how to avoid creating a bad website and design a user-friendly website. For example, in general, I will make the interface simple (Maeda, 2006) and use more icons instead of texts. Therefore, users can easily understand what these buttons mean even though some of them probably don’t understand English.   

    The journal 3 described the elements for XBOX’s success based on my observation and the speech of Shelley, who is the Interaction Design Manager in Microsoft. From this journal, I learned what factors a successful game design should consider and what makes XBOX outstanding from other competitors. It is a good chance to know and analyze one of the most popular games. 

    I have never thought about the design process before the journal 4 because I usually focus on design itself. However, I have learned more than I thought from this assignment. For example, I have learned what designers should do in the pre-production such as competitors’ analysis, and try to discover what designers may miss some important elements during the design process. It helped me realize how the famous design companies work on designing their products.

   In journal 5, it is very interesting for me to observe an object designed without screen that I interact with in my daily life and then analyzed it by the concept of “The Design of Everyday Things” (Norman, 1990) which also reflects my life struggle with some designs. Furthermore, in the process of looking for an object, I suddenly realized almost everything around my life is designed; none of them come out by accidently. “Design is everywhere.” However, I also realized too many bad designs around my life at the same time. I started to wonder that design make human live better or more complicated? Are design like Maeda (2006) said, “Technology has made our lives more full, yet at the same time we’ve become uncomfortably full? ” For example, why is it so complicated to use the Comcast remote control to watch TV? What’s wrong with its visibility and mapping? It is a good chance to think about these questions.    

    In sum, during the observation experiment, I learn to examine and analyze designs from a critical vision. Moreover, I cannot help criticizing all designs I see around my life and thinking how to improve them all the time. The most valuable learning is that now I know what elements designers should pay attention during the design process and how to avoid mistakes. At the same time, I realize a good design needs a lot of efforts such as research, group discussion and repeated experiments. Maybe a good design is simple, but it definitely does not come out by accident. I do not have a job yet, but I know how to take what I learn from these journals and class lecture to design a great website and interactive media. For example, I know to design a website from users’ viewpoint instead of designers’. Moreover, I realize it is important to make the interface aesthetic and simple. Every function on it should be consistent and users should easily understand what the next step is.     

Reference

Maeda, J. (2006). The laws of simplicity. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Norman, D. A. (1990) The design of everyday things. Doubleday Business

Song, S., & Lee, J. (2007, August). Key factors of heuristic evaluation for game design: Towards massively multi-player online role-playing game. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 65(8), 709-723. Retrieved October 8, 2008, doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2007.01.001

Journal Entries

Journal #1

 http://yijen.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/journal1-principles-for-game-design/

Journal #2

http://yijen.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/journal2-website-analysis/

Journal #3

http://yijen.wordpress.com/2008/10/22/journal3-xbox-360/

Journal #4

http://yijen.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/jornal-4-blockbuster-website/

Journal #5

http://yijen.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/jornal5-comcast-digital-cable-remote-control/

    In this assignment, I will use the concepts I learn from the reading to observe and examine the design of the Comcast digital cable remote control.

      I totally agree with the statement by Donald that people have a tendency to blame themselves for difficulties with technology rather than the design itself. For example, I always let my guests watch TV when I am cooking dinner for them. However, I discover that they give up watching TV quickly because they have no idea how to use the Comcast remote control with many buttons and functions, which lead them to forget how to use basic function. Therefore, the first reaction they had was to blame themselves. They even said: “Come on, our majors are not digital media.” However, TV remote controls should be designed for everyone, not only for someone who has studied digital media before. To be honest, although I use the remote control to watch TV everyday, sometimes, I still feel confused with the relationship between buttons and functions. In this design, there are no visible structures and no rhyme or reason to the relationship between the actions users must perform and the results to be accomplished. Mapping is arbitrary. At the end, my solution is to press every button until the television reacts correctly. The only advantage of this design I can find is that it has good ergonomic appearance.  

    Basically, the problem of the Comcast remote control is that the device have more features and no visible function just like a pilot’s control room in the flight. It has fifty-three buttons on a remote control for watching TV. Which one I should press to start? What other functions are for? After using it one year, I still do not figure out the function of each button yet. For example, the function of the buttons of “Guide” and ” Menu” seems the same for me. When I am using On-Demand, “Last”, “Exit”, and “▼” all represent “return”. “Last” means returning to the On-Demand menu; “Exit” means returning to the regular programs; “▼” means stopping the program you are watching and then return to the On-Demand menu. Different buttons has similar function. How can the designer ask users to remember these complex functions? 

    Why are the modern remote controls so difficult to learn and to use? With the development of technology, it has been offering more functions to make life more enjoyable and provide more benefits. However, it also adds complexities to increase users’ difficulty and frustration. When I ponder this problem, Donald Norman provides a theory to explain it, a U-shaped curve of complexity: starting high; dropping to a low, comfortable level; then climbing again. According to “the design of everything”, new kinds of devices are complex and difficult to use. As technicians become more competent and an industry matures, devices become simpler. After the industry has stabilized, designers know how to add increased capability, but always at the expense of added complexity and sometimes eliminated reliability. That’s why I remember the design of TV remote controls was very simple and easy to use when I was a child, but nowadays they become so complex. 

      Is any possible that the design of the Comcast digital cable remote control become much simpler? The answer is yes because “The principles of good design can make complexity manageable, ” says Donald. If designers can focus on the seven stages of design process Donald mentions in his book: visibility, a good conceptual model with coherent system image, good mappings between actions and results, and feedback about results of actions, the device could be much better. Moreover, I agree with the statement that design should provide strong clues to the operations of things. The new design of remote controls may highlight common use buttons in the center or have a small display screen which have brief preview of all the feature of the remote control. When users turn on the preview function, they can press buttons to see what function they have. Or, maybe it could be as simple as this design below.

    From today’s presentation, I have learned and reviewed what a brand is. It is really helpful for me to go through all the foundation of brands because nowadays I think that brands are the basis for everything. Everything needs design. For example, companies can sell all kinds of products, but they can go further and sell products quickly with design. For me, the definition of brand is the way that consumers can distinguish your products from other competitors. Moreover, I enjoy the guest speaker use many examples, pictures, websites, companies to explain the concept of design. It really make me clarify the key element of design.

    In this case study, Blockbuster came to frog to create a new user-friendly website. Therefore, the design team did some research to find out the challenges Blockbuster website faced and then set up an objective, which is providing a space for users to manage their own DVD subscription services, with easy access to the tools that make that possible.

    First of all, frog’s strategists recognized that what would distinguish Blockbuster from its competitors. Secondly, by researching disparate media purchasing platforms, frog identified two areas of focus for the website overhaul and understood what kind of advantages the result will bring.

    In this process above, I think the team was on the right track and did a good job. Based on Moggridge book chapter 10, if you are designing a new version of something that already exists, you have to look at the competitiors. Moreover, the design team did not only analyze its competitors, but also researched what has been done to extract knowledge from precedents. However, this article did not point out what the problem Blockbuster website needed to solve. The design team should identify problems of the original website because it is always the first step in the design process. From the design objective they set up, I assume that the problem was the original interface of Blockbuster website is old-fashion and was too complex for users to rent online so that its traffic and revenue was decreasing dramatically.

     After finding two areas of focus for the website overhaul, a multi-disciplinary team of digital media designers, analysts, and technologists worked closely on the project, combining their varied knowledge to push the boundaries of web design. At the end, the team created a powerful Web platform with simple usability and complex functionality for Blockbuster.  

    From the presentation of Amanda McCoy Bast, it is very important to understand and find constraints in the design process because it is the center of design. She also mentioned the importance of core skill of design. Moreover, in the video, “The Deep Dive”, the design team focused on the topic and then do brainstorming to come out the greatest idea. Back to this multi-disciplinary team of Frog for Blockbuster, I believe that they followed the same step to design a new website. For example, understanding the relevant constraints of their product which are the price, strength, balance, and interface, starts the process. After that, synthesis occurs as the subconscious, shared ideas of the design team, and absorbs all of the relevant issues. That’s why this design team consisted of many experts from different fields.

    In this case study, it does not describe all the design process, but I believe they still went through all standard design principle and process. For example, after pushing the boundaries of web design and brainstorming for solutions, the team would mock up alternative solutions, create prototype and then test the reaction of users. After that, they should refine the solution to fix problems and then present high fidelity prototype to their client (Blockbuster).  They would re-evaluate the prototype (new website interface) from the reaction of their client. At the end, it came out the users-friendly website for Blockbuster.

    After reading and analyzing this case study, I see the power and influence of design because the new interface designed by Frog’s team made Blockbuster’s year-over-year revenue rise a reported 50% in the 2006 third quarter alone. Nowadays, design is the basic for everything. Once companies can use design well on their products, the influence will increase dramatically.

Reference

Moggridge, B. (2007). Designing interactions. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. P641-736

Introduction

  The MSN robot is an interactive application on MSN messenger that users can add a robot’s address to their messenger contact lists, and then they can have conversations with it for fun and ask it questions like a search engine. Every robot has different functions. For example, some robots will reply the dictionary definition or translated word back; some robots show the tendency of stock quotations, news, star signs, maps, and others would help you search for MP3s, subscribe RSS and find out how the weather is based on zip codes. In general, you can chat with all MSN robots like regular people because they would reply with quite relevant and coherent sentences

    Here is an example.

Significance and Rationale

    In the digital era, the growth of Instant Manager (IM) has increased dramatically. According to a recent study by comScore Networks, there’s a decent chance that MSN Messenger, which is available in 26 languages and is used in more than 60 countries by more than 240 million active accounts each month, lassoed in 61 percent of worldwide instant messaging (IM) market share. (Microsoft PressPass, 2006) Moreover, with the development of IM, I think that this new service of MSN Messenger, MSN robots, could be the future trend of IM because of its diverse application, and its potential of making money and bringing better communication for human being in the modern society.  

     I chose MSN robots as my term project because it is a creative media and it is really fun to use. After reading “Designing interactions” (Moggridge, 2007), I totally agree that the objective of design is to have fun. I think MSN robots not only follow this requirement, but also fit human needs. Users can chat with the robot and search helpful information at the same time if they feel bored on MSN Messenger. 

    However, making a product that is usable is one thing. Making a design that people will love and desire to use is another. What do the elements of a good design make people stick to and use more often? Do Msn Robots have these elements? What is the relationship between its user interface and user experience? Is it better than search engines for users? How far the design of MSN Robots will go? I hope to find answers in my paper.

The scope of my final deliverables

 Within my final paper, I will do a case study of the MSN robot to examine its design and then figure out how to create a better user experience for MSN robots.

     I will apply Dax Pandhi’s the basic principles of proper user interface and 20 Tips for a Better, Functional User Experience to examine the user interface of the MSN Robot. This study will help understand the relationship between the user interface and user experience.

    I will not only compare the design of MSN robots with their competitors such as Google and Wikipedia, but I will also conduct usability testing. I plan to distribute 10-20 questionnaires to someone who have used the MSN Robots. By the feedback of selected participants for the user experience of the MSN Robots, I hope to find a relationship between user interface of the MSN robot and its user experience and what leads to rises users’ willing to stick to the design and use them more often. Moreover, I will try to discover how to create a better user experience for MSN robots.

    In the final presentation, I will pitch this project by Powerpoint and flowchart to explain the concept of MSN robots.   

Outline paper

Introduction

Significance

Design analysis

Competitive analysis-Google and Wikipedia

Future

Conclusion

References

Research references

Chowdhury, D. & Chakraborty, B. (2005). Viral Marketing: New form of Word-of-Mouth through Internet. The Business Review, Cambridge,

     3(2), 69-75.  Retrieved October 27, 2007, from ProQuest database.

Foley, M. (2006, June 26). Windows Live Messenger goes gold. eWeek, 23(26), 28-28. Retrieved on October 22^nd , 2008 from Academic Search Complete database.

Dax Pandhi “How to Create the Best User Experience for Your Application” Windows User Interface Technical Articles Retrieved on November 5^th, 2008, from

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa468595.aspx

Lin, C. A. (1996). Looking Back: The Contribution of Blunler and Katz’ Uses of Mass Communication to Communication Research. JOURNAL OF BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA. 40 (4), 574-581.

Maeda, J. (2006). The laws of simplicity. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Moggridge, B. (2007). Designing interactions. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Metz, C., Clyman, J., & Todd, M. (2003, November 11). IM Everywhere. PC Magazine, 22(20), 128. Retrieved on October 22^nd, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database.

Michaels, P. (2002, August). Messenger Service. Macworld, 19(8), 24. Retrieved on October 22^nd, 2008 from Academic Search Complete database.

Microsoft PressPass “MSN Live Messenger ” Retrieved on October 22^nd, 2008 from

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/msn/factsheet/WLMessengerFS.mspx

    Here are the elements for its success:

Launch Timing:

   The Xbox 360 was officially unveiled on May 12, 2005, while Wii and PS3 were released after a year, on November 2006. The timing let Xbox draw a lot of attention and attract many curious users to buy this product first.     

Online service

    The integrated Xbox Live service allows players to compete online and download/purchase content such as arcade games, game demos, trailers, TV shows, and movies. According to Microsoft, the download of online service has increased 400% from November, 2006. This service makes Xbox not only a game console, but also an entertaining center for players and family. Comparing with Wii and PS3, they didn’t do well on their online service.

Compatibility

   The Xbox 360 is compatible with digital camera, PC and iPod by being able to play MP3 files natively and it can play media files from the Zune. Moreover, Xbox 360 users can chat in-game (or while watching a movie) and see the Gamertags of friends logged into Xbox Live. (XBOX.com, 2008) Comparing with its major competitors, Wii and PS3 are only compatible with the products of their own company such as Nintendo GameCube, PS and PS2

Console and Accessory at launch

    The Xbox 360 comes in three different versions: the Arcade console, the Premium console, and the Elite console, each having its own selection of included and available accessories including both wired and wireless controllers, faceplates for customization, headsets for chatting, a webcam for video chatting, Dance Mats and Gamercize for exercise, three sizes of memory cards, and three sizes of hard drives (120GB, 60GB, and 20GB), among other items, all of which are styled to match the console. The different versions provided more option for all kinds of player who have different budgets and needs for games and then satisfied them. Wii and PS3 only provide basic accessory at launch.

           In the presentation last Thursday, I like that Shelley quoted” Art is creativity with/of constraints, design is creativity within them. ” The design of packing (a start-up quick card) also responds to what John Maeda said in The Laws of Simplicity (2006), “While great art makes you wonder, great design makes things clear”

    In sum, the launch timing, online service, compatibility, versions and accessories have made Xbox 360 a successful product. However, other interactive entertainment products have their advantages. For me, PS3 is like movie theatre, Wii is like television and XBOX 360 is like DVD. It’s still early and hard to say which one will conquer the industry of interactive entertainment.

Reference

Luke Plunkett (2008-07-17). “Xbox Division FINALLY Reports Profitable Year“. Kotaku. Retrieved on 2008-09-26.

Maeda, J. (2006). The laws of simplicity. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

XBOX.com: “Use Zune with Xbox 360″ retrieved by Oct, 19, 2008 from http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/digitalmedia/zune.htm

 XBOX.com: “Use an Apple iPod with Xbox 360″ retrieved by Oct, 19, 2008 from http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/digitalmedia/ipod.htm

XBOX.com: “Windows Live Messenger on Xbox 360″ retrieved by Oct, 19, 2008 from http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/livefeatures/messenger.htm

                                                                                     Virgin America Airlines Homepage   

With our experience of using the website, we found its interface is uncluttered, great interactive, graphic driven, entertaining, and user-oriented. First of all, the design of icon driven makes user to use this website very easily even if they don’t understand English. It also has magnification design, which only gets large as users point to the icon, to let the interface wide and clean in an Apple way. It is important to leave some white space to create room and a chance to breathe for audience. Unlike other flight airlines’ websites, Virgin America provides more information that users need on its website, such as airport information. Moreover, it has a great interactivity to entertain every user to create an experience from the moment you are on the website until you have landed at your destination. It has techniques to increase interaction and teach users what is available on the plane. For example, users can see the in-flight entertainment device including multi-lingual TV programs, Podcast, music, chat room, movies, and games on the website. I really was impressed by its chatroom design- Passengers can throw online message to any seat or invite others into the online chatroom. Perhaps it has helped someone find out her Prince Charmy    Furthermore, users can experience the phased mood lighting on the website which changes throughout flight to create a beautiful blend of color and reduce daylight glare on the plane.

    In terms of its target audience, our guess is 20-40 years old mod travelers and international travelers, especially female because I saw their stewards are all male with British accent. To verify our hypothesis of its target audience, I did some research and found a great website, Quantcast, which has accurate analysis about the website of Virgin America. In this database, Virginamerica.com is a top 10,000 site that reaches over 245K U.S. monthly. The site is popular among 18-49 years old people, a slightly female slanted (55 %), somewhat wealthy (37 % has more than 100K income), more educated (69 % have college degree), more Asian audience (19%). It fits most of our hypothesis about its target audience.

                                                  Quantcast analysis- Virgin America website

Comparing to its main competitors, United Airline, American Airline, Alaska Airline, and Delta, the interface of their website are complex, plain, not interactive, and not user-oriented. The interface of Jetblue is clean, but it doesn’t provide any interactive media and it does not provide further information that customers may want to know. From my observation, these competitors only designed the website for themselves, not from the viewpoints of their customers. Perhaps that is the fundamental distinction between Virgin America and other competitors.

    In sum, I love the website of Virgin America Airline better than any other competitors because its interface is much more clean, attractive, icons driven, user-oriented, carefully considered, engaging, interactive and entertaining. It even highlights its difference as a category on the site. Users will easily find out what speciality it has in a second.  I think the most important is that this website makes audience believe they will have a comfortable and great flight experience in real world.

Reference

 Quantcast “Virginamerica.com” retrieved by 12, October, 2008   from http://www.quantcast.com/virginamerica.com

Powerpoint file: flowchart-wireframe-online-shopping