Assignment 5B

As the summer holidays is long for us I have planned what I going to do to stay in touch with my course over they number of weeks that we have off.

To start with I am going to re-vamp my blog as trying to complete ongoing projects I feel I’ve not given the time I should have in making it visually appealing for others to read. Also going to add more about my persona and start follow a lot more of other sights that I am interested in. I will be making more blog entries over the summer and commenting on other peoples blogs hoping they will comment back.

Five books that I will read;

1. Clark, C. Brody, D(2009).Design Studies: A Reader.

This book interested me as when I started the design studies module I wasn’t too sure of what kind of things I was going to be learning about this book will give me further information for starting level 3 as it gives the understanding of the complex roles of design.

2. Brown, S. (2000).Communication in the Design Process.

This book was part of a previous assignment and the subject of design in communication technology interested me so I would like to read more into this.

3. Gladwell,M(2006).Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.

This book explores the extraordinarily perceptive and deceptive power of the sub-conscious mind.

4. Gladwell,M(2009).outliers: The Story of Success

After reading and enjoying the Tipping point also by Gladwell I feel it’s a good idea to read more of his books.

5. Klein,G(1999)Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions.

This is another psychology book which interests be a lot. Finding out about how people think and making fast decisions is sometime just as good a spending hours deciding on something.

Five people I will connect to:

1. I will stay connected to classmates who have previously been away on foreign exchanges and those who are going to New Zealand for the start of level 3. Finding out what work and projects they are achieving.
2. Once I have completed my twitter account and finally understand how to use it I will look to find a designer maybe in an interior field so that’s its helping me along with my studies.
3. My cousin is a jeweler and live in Ireland and I will stay connected with her although its not my field of design its interesting to now what her up and coming designs are.
4. Over the summer I might contact an interior design studio and try and get some work placement. Even if its only a day a week it will give me an insight into the ‘real world’ if this goes to plan I would stay connected with them for more placement/job opportunities.
5. Finally over the summer I will be connecting with the fourth years in my course as every year we help them with setting up there fourth year degree show. This is very useful as it gives a chance to see the level of work they produce and how much hard work goes into the degree show.

Assignment 5A

In semester one I looked closely at communication through design. Some of the ways people connect through design is by use of graphics, word of mouth, interiors and mainly through technology. After researching further into the technology aspect I found products that were designed for communication and how design relates to the topic of 'connectors'- people who bring information/people together.

As part of my secondary research I expanded and collected information using cross search and the library. I looked mainly at a mixture of journals and books. A couple that interested me a lot were, Halonen-Akatwijuka, M. (2010). Organizational Design, Technology and the Boundaries of the Firm. Economica. This journal looks at how business rely on technology. Also, communicating in general through a business prevents there being problems or any 'hold- ups'. The other journal was Mamaghani, F. (2010). The Social and Economic Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Developing Countries: An Analysis. International Journal of Management. This journal looks at how technology is improving developing countries. It indicates that ICT has a positive impact on growth in developing countries, both socially and economically.

In many ways this demand is driven by and reflects the acceleration in the pace of change in the world around us. When you consider that not long ago Newspapers were the primary source of “News”; that 85 years ago events happening in World War Two (only hundreds of miles away) wouldn’t be reported for days; that Sunday Shop opening was illegal, it is easy to see how some of the changes we take for granted have significant cultural impact and need to be carefully communicated / managed.

Where there is a tension between the subjects is perhaps in the presumption that Technology is the answer and the means to the end – ie with more sophisticated technology, faster systems, wider access comes the solution. Clearly the point promoted by one contributor warns against this in so far as the need for localisation is far more than simply translating a global message many times over for instant transmission / consumption in multiple territories.

The danger associated with merely driving connection by technology alone is that all of the cultural and social sensitivities may be at worst ignored or at best devalued. In this scenario for our businesses the end result is not effective communication.

To investigate this issue further I will be using this topic to look further into creating a research proposal based on how we rely on communication through the design of technology. As I have already look at some secondary text research I’m going to focus mainly at primary research techniques such as observations, interviews and visual experiments.

To have basic starting point I would first use the service design tool of mind mapping to give me a head start on what sort of outcome and area of research I was looking for. This I would refer back to after conducting the rest of my findings.

My first primary research would be to observe how people use technology to communicate. I would first identify two main situations; a typical business day and a typical average Day basis.

I would observe each situations separately but asking myself the same questions. What sort of technology are people using? Is the same object people are using? How are they using it ? why might they be using it ? how often do I see people using it ? is there more people than not using it? Does it look like a natural thing to be using? Is it easy to use ? how affective is it? Does it disturb anyone else? All these questions would help me find out some in depth research as I am finding it out for myself and not just reading what other people have written so I would end up with my own personal views.

I think the observation technique would work really well as I am getting first hand evidence from different situations. I don’t think interviewing people would work as well as I believe sometimes  it can give you inaccurate results as some people get nervous talking one on one or even try to give you the answer that they think you want to hear which wouldn’t help my in my findings.

The second primary research would be to carry out a visual experiment. To do this I would take a small group a people and take away their own modern device that allows them to communicate with others. I would then give them an older version which wasn’t so up-to-date and ask them to go about their same business. Then I would take the device away completely and get them to carry out the same thing again. Once the experiment was over I would ask them a series of questions. How they got? Did they find this easy to have no technology for communicating? Did they like the idea of not being able to be disturbed? Did it hinder their everyday/business day situation?

I think this sort of research technique would have its advantages and disadvantages. I might have a struggle getting people to part with their communication device for a start also some people might not want o take part in an experiment. However the advantages are that it would let people see how much they rely on technology these days and would probably struggle without it.

I feel my primary research would benefit me more for my design proposal rather than factual information gathered through my secondary research.

Perhaps therefore the conclusion to be reached is that the message has to be paramount; our ability to connect as people is essential; and that technology should be the supporting rather than driving mechanism through which we effectively deliver these desired outcomes.

Quiz and Karaoke Fundraiser

Well it comes to a point when we all need to put in some effort in raising money for the 4^th year degree show. Unfortunately for us being 2^nd years and the only course in Dundee University having to raise the money for them.  Three of us got together and held a quiz and karaoke night on Saturday which ended up being a lot of fun and a good night to be had. With a little alcohol involved and an all round buffet to eat it became a good get together and not a spare seat to be sat in! From selling tickets for the night and raffle tickets we raised £235! 

Activity 4C – Piecing it together – Discussion and notes

The one thing I found was current through all my interviews was that everyone thought it was addictive. This was interesting as this was clearly the all round perception on going to bingo. Whether old or young the public seem to think the same thing. Even if the person had/hadn’t been to bingo. Some also agreed that it was to socialise with others as sort of a meeting place.

Is this just how its embedded into peoples minds? Or does everyone actually have the same views?

After my interviews I decided to discuss with some of my classmates my findings. Having listened to each others’ results and taking notes, we found that everyone had the something in common. This was there was a main answer from each participant linking up to the same result. For example, what people treasured the most always linked back to it belonging to a loved one. We then discussed whether maybe we were asking the wrong questions or even the right questions but in the wrong way.

We chatted to another group who were also discussing their findings and they found the same things. I found another person studying the bingo topic also coming up with the word addiction a lot. I decided look into some secondary research and I came across a book called An Unsafe Bet?: The Dangerous Rise of Gambling and the Debate We Should Be Having by Jim Orford. This book discusses how gambling is a danger to public health due to its addiction potential.

I felt this book was very useful as it also discusses the extent of gambling and its effects on society, which links back to my participants being most concerned about the thought of bingo being addictive.

Activity 4B – conduct the interviews

I used a semi-structured approach for this activity. This meant that I could have questions for the interview but also have room to add in more questions to get more details in specific areas if I needed to. I used a service design tool to help me with my interviews so that they were not just a passive conversation but also an active situation. The tool I used was affinity diagram, which is used for gathering and organising large amounts of information and data.

It used by starting with a statement of the problem, then the participants write down their ideas on small pieces of paper.  These then become the physical instrument to work with and arrange them into there correct groups. 

For each of my interviews I asked my participants to answer some questions and after discussing them I asked then to write their answers on sticky labels. I asked them to right there positive answers in green pen and their negative answers in red pen. Then organised then into the correct order and stuck them down onto a piece of paper.

I practised a trial run on my sister to see if the questions i was asking gave me the right results.

Here are the results from the three unknown people i interviewed……

First interview 

John Brough 

Painter and decorator 

John had not been to bingo before.

He thought that people enjoy going to the bingo to win and for the social aspect of it, however thought that people go because its a habit and its stereotyped and old fashioned.

Gathered that its a majority of older women that go because men are happy to have time to do there thing and in a n old fashion sense there was nothing else for women to do.

The desire to win money back entices people to keep playing. 

Second interview 

Charlotte Smith 

Primary teacher

Charlotte had been to the bingo before.

She also thought that people enjoy going to the bingo to win and for the social aspect of it, however thought that people go and also lose money.

Gathered that its a majority of older women that go because bingo was around long ago and has become a habit, now young people cant be bothered and have no money to play.

The plain thought of winning is the main reason for enticing people to continue to play and loose track of time.

People go to the bingo to meet other people and to go for a bite to eat.

Third and final interview 

Dayna Brindley 

Student 

Dayna had also been to the bingo.

She thought that people went because everyone has a chance of winning you don't need a certain skill to play it.

As the game is not physical or energetic Dayna thinks this is the reason its a majority of older women that attend and thinks that it would be boring for young people.

Again the thought of wining something is enough to entice people to keep playing, however it addictive and you end up wasting your money if you lose.

Also again people come to socialise and for something to do.

Assignment 4 : Interviews - but not as we know them

Activity 4A – choose a topic

In this assignment we are asked to interact directly with ordinary people in the form of interviews. I interviewed three people who I didn’t know and chose to investigate why people go to bingo. I began with making a mind map on my topic as this helped me decide which questions I was going to ask.

The questions I’m going to ask as a starting point are :

1. Have you been to bingo?
2. What is it that makes people want to go to bingo?
3. Why do you think the majority who play are older women?
4. Do you think there’s anything that would entice you to keep playing and loose track of time?
5. Do you think people go for other reasons than to win money?

Activity 3C: Observe and record

We were asked to choose a location where we have not been before.  This was our primary site and we had to choose a Bingo hall, Football match or Casino. We were then asked to choose another location that we would do it as part of our everyday activities. This was our secondary site and we could choose out of the list given (coffee shop, public library, bus or railway station etc) or one of our own choosing that we encounter regularly. This activity could be completed in a group or with a friend and it was not to be done alone.

Once our primary and secondary choices were made we had to spend some time in the different locations watching people going about there business and observing how they behaved. Also we had to think how we felt being put in a situation where we were made to feel uncomfortable.

Our primary site was the main focus of this assignment and the secondary site provided practise in observation, therefore we had to record our observations in both sites in a way that was appropriate, being careful not to annoy anyone or invade their privacy.

Here is my results…….

A group of us went to the Bingo as our primary site as none of us had been there before. After explaining we were students and as part of our course we were here to observe, the staff were very friendly and helpful. We just needed to sign up and didn’t pay to get in (which was good being a student !). 

We made our way through to the main hall passing through a small room with gambling machines. This room was very noisy with a very “casino like” feel to it. It was all lit up with bright lights flashes at you trying to entice you to play.

At this point I felt quite nervous to carry on into the bingo hall as I began to feel quite out of place.

We carried on into the bingo hall where there was already a game started. This made us very unsure of what to do/where to go/ where to sit. I felt quite threatened and scared to do something wrong as other people coming in seem to know exactly what to do.

There were two levels to the bingo hall therefore we decided to sit upstairs. This gave us a better view to observe and also gave us the chance to take some sneaky photos.

The staff interact with the players quite a lot however, not as much whilst the game is in play. They come round with change and to call out the callers’ numbers.  I got the feeling that their role is to encourage people to spend money but not in a pressurised way, more in a persuasive way as they are in an environment they are comfortable in.  It’s a very uniformed environment I suppose this makes it much easier for the customer to feel like they’re in an environment they understand. The seating layout is designed to be more personal for the customer rather than a very impersonal “church like” experience. The atmosphere is very repetitive as its noisy/friendly with chattering then when the game starts its deadly silent/serious and full of concentration. In between games its like a muttering of disappointment mixed with how close it was to winning/ getting ready for the next game starting. Almost like a circle of expectation, disappointment, daily life going round and round.

My secondary site I choose was a dance class, which I encounter very much as my daily activities. I didn’t manage to take any photos for this site as it wasn’t allowed due to children being in the class.

As this was a more social activity I found it very different to the bingo hall. The first thing I found was I wasn’t nervous at all about observing in this site as I was so familiar with being there. As the dance class is extremely busy if parents and there children are a little late they don’t have a choice where to sit its just where ever there is a space free. However you do get some groups of parents coming early enough to get “their table” and saving it for the rest. Also being a weekly class you start to see people not wanting to sit at a certain table because they know who normally sits there. Almost scared to take that table because they know it’s someone elses territory.  I found in some families the children now just get dropped of and then it’s a case of the children doing the same thing they keep seats for there friends coming in. The atmosphere it very noisy/friendly with parents chattering away over a coffee whilst there children are up dancing. The children behave very responsive to the teacher as they’re wanting to learn more steps and are enjoying themselves.

Activity 3D: Discussion

The primary site we easily discussed as a group finding out what others thought and felt. Most of the group felt the same on the way into the bingo hall (being nervous and scared). However one of my classmates felt quite excited to be going and ended up getting a free book and staying to play a game or too after we left. Another classmate felt the same as me almost, like an outsider. I think this was because the majority of people playing bingo were older ladies and as we are young people customers were obviously wondering why we were there sitting watching and not playing. I think also some people were curious as to why we were taking notes.

As a group we were more than enticed to go back as they came round with deals on other games and free games as we were new members.

The secondary site I discussed with my family. They were intrigued to know what I found out and I was surprised to find that they agreed with me but admitted that they would have never noticed themselves. This just shows you that majority of people don’t think to observe others. After this assignment I have found myself observing people without noticing im doing it, I suppose that is a good thing but I am going to start observing people and situations more thoroughly. Especially with being an interior designer I think it would really help me understand my clients needs better giving them a more suited design.

Activity 3B : Ethnography

Ethnography Primer

After reading the passage from the Ethnography Primer I understand that it is a research tool for designers letting them communicate with a target audience. Designers need to observe people in their environment before being able to design a product for them. As design connects with people designers need to have a better understanding of the clients needs for a better chance of designing something totally consumer friendly.

Assignment 3:Design Safari

Usually in design we seem to concentrate on objects and take no notice of how they are used or their effect on people. Therefore, in understanding design its important that we observe people rather than things. This assignment is intended to make us feel lost as we are asked to observe people in situations we haven’t been in ourselves.

Activity 3A

For the first task we have been asked to look at the website servicedesigntools.org. Then read through some examples and case studies trying to identify if any would have been useful on our studio projects from this year. Then right about the tool and how I would have applied it to a project.

The website lists lots of tools for doing design research, I found that some of the tools I have already been using throughout my projects i.e

Mind mapping -Starting with an idea in the middle with signs, lines, words and drawings then used to build a system of thoughts around the starting point. This tool allows the hand and minds work simultaneously.

After our first assignment through design studies and being taught how to use it properly I use this tool in all my studio projects. It helps me to put basic ideas down and then expand on them easily.

One tool that I found that I think would be useful to apply to my studio work is

Moodboard-A visual composition of pictures and materials that suggest an atmosphere by giving a broad perception of it. This helps to describe ideas that are to difficult to describe by words.

I would apply this to my studio work by preparing a mood board for presentations to clients. Giving them a better visual idea of colours and materials.

We were also asked to look at a tool called train ride and discuss it.

The train ride

A rough sketch of a train journey shows touch points to build the journey. The user experience is obtained by connecting the different touch points in a sequence.

This tool is used to give the customer a better idea of the journey both visually and physically. Being able to touch each point from start to end is more satisfying for the customer.

Being an interior designer I would apply this to a project by creating a simple visual journey through one of the interior spaces I have designed. This would allow the client to follow the touch points to get from one end of the space to the other with ease, giving a clear visual path.

Assignment 2

What images mean …….

The purpose of the assignment is to see how experimenting with images and objects can

be used as a research method.

Therefore in this assignment we were asked for it to be completed in groups. My group consisted of three people that we were to choose ourselves. We were given this assignment to test a theory by conducting an experiment. To do this we had to collect four random images and interact with others this could be members of the public. The theory is based on polysemy which is the idea that images mean more than one thing, but that text fixes the meaning.

Activity 2A.

Before starting the assignment we were asked to read The Rhetoric of the Image by Roland Barthes. We read this individually whilst taking notes then came together as a group and discussed what we thought.  I personally found this quite a difficult read and so did the rest of my group therefore when discussing Barthes as a group we decided to read the summary posted by Jonathan Baldwin.

We discussed the summary along with the notes we had taken from Barthes chapter and came to some understanding. Barthes talks along the lines of advertising and suggests the meaning of polysemy is images that have more than one meaning. Once one meaning is understood it gives you clues to other meanings and so on. When you read into these images you are therefore able to rule out some meanings and keep others, giving you a different overall meaning. However when you add text to and image it fixes a meaning to the image and the reader has no choice but to follow this word. 

Jonathan gave us a good example of the three messages an images gives. The example was a person wearing a scarf.

Someone could imagine he/she to be cold - this is a non-encoded message

Someone imagines it to be for fashion – this is an encoded message

Finally, someone points out the designer label – this is a linguistic message.

After reading this and not having it related to just advertising we found it much easier to understand as a group and were then able to carry out the next part of the assignment.

Activity 2B.

We were asked to find three images that have no text on them. They had to be photographs, not drawings, but they could be colour or black and white. We choose our images from stock.xchng.

These were our three images ......

Activity 2C.

We asked family and friends to look at the images and tell us what is going on in them. We then asked them try to produce a story that links all three images. We were told not to sequence the images for them – let them put them in their own order.  For each person, we asked them to write down their story, along with key information about themselves – for example, age, gender, occupation and so on.

This is where is became interesting, we each asked three people each. Here are some of  their stories……

1.“the giraffe went for a swim then went and picked his girlfriend some flowers.”

2.“the giraffe is very sad and confused so he goes to the cliff and jumps off, but then he ends up in the field with flowers and is very happy.”

3.“The children go to see the giraffe at a zoo and it starts to chase them across the grassy area. They started to come closer to the edge of a cliff. There was a beautiful waterfall in site at the bottom of the cliff .  The children had no choice but to jump.”

4.“The giraffe is looking and listening. He sees the green grass with the yellow flowers blowing in the wind. He can hear the waterfalls rushing down the mountain side, he pricks up his it quite loud. But he is happy that he can see so far because he is so tall.”

5. “she met a giraffe looking for something to drink.  Just then they heard a loud noise and saw the dam bursting under the pressure. ‘oh well’ said the giraffe, ill just have something to eat instead.”

After reading through all nine of the stories we felt this was plenty of information gathered as pretty much all the stories were running along the same lines talking about the giraffe listening and eating.

Activity 2D.

For our target story we chose story 4. from activity 2C.  We now had to add a fourth image so that everyone we showed the images to will come up with the same (or similar) story. The fourth image was a pair of binoculars which we tried to give the impression of the giraffe ‘looking’. We asked a different group of people to interpret the images.

This was the fourth image and the a couple of the stories we gathered  ……

1.“a gentleman decides one spring day to go sightseeing and stumbles across a lost giraffe who appears searching for food by some cliffs.”

2. “Walking along the cliff edge with the waves crashing below, looking inland with binoculars I see a giraffe chewing some flowers in the distance.”

We found at this point we were confused with Barthes as we found the idea of polysemy wasn’t working for us as well by adding the fourth image. This was because two participants added in another character and another added in themselves into the story. However we were in two minds about Barthes as the rest of the story was similar to no.4 in task 2C as they still managed to talk about the giraffe eating. 

Acivity 2E.

We were then asked to return to your original three images and this time add one word to one of the pictures. We added the word ‘Listen’ as this was the part people were missing out by using the image of binoculars.  This was one of the stories we got after adding the word.

1.“the flowers which are in the swiss alps also have a waterfall which is similar to the niagrafalls. The giraffe has been looking and listening out for his friend coming back from the waterfall.”

We found this task worked better as the stories went back to mentioning the giraffe listening.  We agreed with Barthes with adding text to an image fixes the meaning of a photo and therefore pushes the reader to follow down a similar path and allows others to take the same message from the photo.

Conclusion.

We came to a conclusion that the experiment does work and has agreed with Barthes. By doing this experiment it has made me clearer on the understanding of polysemy. Linking this back to my discipline of an interior designer I feel this works in the same way as by changing the atmosphere of a room it would create different moods for he client. For example if a room with no windows, to having windows to then having mainly clear glass as walls would create something different every time. So when a client walked into a room of either of those types it would be sending out a different message.

Assignment 1- Are You What You Wear/Buy/Sit On/Sleep In/Talk To?

To complete assignment 1 we were asked to attempt some primary research using photographs as a form of evidence. We were paired up with someone from a different area of study who we didn't know. The main intention was to help reflect on the influences on your own taste and development through attempting to analyse someone else’s. I came across some ethical issues related to research like the privacy and confidentiality. This task gave me a chance both to do research, and to be the subject of research. 


I found this task very interesting and exciting.




I first swapped photos with my partner who was David Leach from Graphic Design, as i analysed the photos i looked to see what they told me about David as a person. I considered topics such as taste, influences, possessions and environment.  Here are some of the photos along with my analysis.

Analysing the photos of David's room I think he is quite a trendy guy and up-to-date with the latest technology/gadgets.  I think he seems an outgoing person and someone who'd be up for a laugh. 

Other points I took from these photos:

1. He lives away from home in a flat.

2. Likes to drink in the flat with mates and go out.

3. Proud of his camera.

4. Not very organised which gives me the impression he isquite laid back.

5. Likes to keep good memories of maybe a good night out or a last night somewhere – from signed t-shirt on the wall and photographs.

6. Generally good taste in things.

I also think that he is fairly active, enjoys a challengeand likes the outdoors.

David seems quite and experienced snowboarder as in theimage he seems quite confident.

Both the photo of David drinking wine and Fred Flintstoneshows that he has a sense of humour and is very sociable.  He seems quite cheeky in this photo and also looks like he is quite sarcastic either because he is having a jokebecause he is drinking wine or with the person talking the photo.

Discussion

After discussing, this is what David came up with after looking at my photos.

I seem very social, and care a lot about my friends that i have in my life.

Guessed that i can be a wee bit shy at first but i  get comfortable with people when you know them.

The picture with the quad bikes he guessed was a holiday with friends, guessing somewhere like spain or greece.  So traveled a bit.

Like to sing when younger but guessed i don't do that often now. Even though i like to sing he reckoned i might not sing out in front of a crowd.

I seem to have a colourful and playful life when growing up and have always been friendly.

Interestingly enough we both agreed that we were pretty much spot on with each others interpretation of what the other person is like.  It was quite strange knowing that someone can find out exactly what you are like from only looking at a few photos of you without knowing you at all.