Intro to Physical Computing

Observation

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When I came to NYC, I found there are many ways to  interactive with cards. People here use so  many cards!! Everything can be finished by just pass the card in front of the machine. It's common to go out with no cash, Debit cards, Credit Cards, Metro Cards..People buy things and take subway by passing those different kinds of cards, getting well with different card machine is not an easy task, because every machine has different mechanism. Ticket Vending Machine

1）there are several output and input window to exchange information with extra world. And we also use these windows to transmit information with machine.

That's analyze the output and input machoism for this machine.

000

Output:

1. Screen on the left; (users reading the conduction on screen and follow the feedback on it. Through all steps.)<BLACK>

2. Change and  receipt window (Users get receipt/MetroCard/Change money through this window. Last step.)<RED>

3.Single Ride(Final step)<YELLOW>

Input:

Number button(credit number)<BLUE>

Show Metro Card: Refill Card<YELLOW>

Pay:

1.Coin <GREEN>

2.Bill <GREEN>

3.Credit/ATM Card <BLUE>

VTM Machine divide these different parts in different, people usually regard things which is arranged together（arranged in  the same way， in same color）have the same function. and believe things arranged logically, so if two parts near each other, they may have a kind of Correlation between them . According to Donald Norman's Design of Everyday things , This kind of correlation can help Users understand the conceptual model. And let's see how this machines arrange windows with different functions.

<Black>

Output-Screen

<Blue>

Input-Pay- Credit Card

Input-Pay- Input credit number

<Green>

Input-Pay- Coins

Input-Pay- Bills

<Yellow>

Input-MetroCard

Output-SingleRide

<Red>

Output-Changes and Receipt

It seems logical, but divide parts in so many color and arranged these output input windows in decentralized way. That's so confused because people see so much windows--pay money,pass card,receive card..not sure which window is for their steps in the present. Meanwhile, as we see, windows who has the same target is divided into different colors(Cash pay and Credit pay), as well as windows for different target arranged together (Output and Input part all in Yellow part).

 

2) Steps to buy a ticket

(1) Select the Metro Card type- Fast Get New One($10)/ Metro Card/ Buy single ride one.

(2)If choose Metro Card, then you should choose Refill new one/ Buy new one/or read the info. It's a little bet confused that the 3 options arranged in this way. info is in the center and Refill card and get new one in two sides. Designer makes them in different size, in order to Emphasize the importance of Refill card. But the order of arrangement is illogical.

1 2-1

(3)Refill Metro card-Insert your card.

It has an arrow to conduct your action and help users find the correct window.

 

 

 

2-2 3

(4)Choose How much you want to pay

It has three default value(10,20,40) and you can also pay other amount but press other amount

(5)Choose the way to pay

It has three default way- Cash/ ATM card / Credit card, It has conduct arrow on the screen, It's really help for user to find correct window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 5 6-1 6-2 7

My observation:

Most people can follow the steps on the screen and buy a ticket finally. But since it has so many input and output windows in this machine , people who first uses it may get confused. Where to insert my card and where to get back card. And the way pass the card is also confused. I asked my Friends and classmates, most of us do not know before we should insert the credit card once and draw it out then. And how to put a credit card in the window, which face is toward the top， there's no tips for that step (I usually confused in many other situations about insert card, Which face is toward the top!!)

When you insert Metro card, it has a picture under the window, and you can understand how to insert it.

3

 

I think the machine is in logical, it's make most function visible to  users, but the arrangement of colors and the order of the function, different size of buttons is less help to understand its way of work, so maybe these parts need more consideration.

Response to: Design Meets Disability by Graham Pullin

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What is High-tech for? Why our human beings devote all our lives pursue excellent technics?  How to make use advanced technology?After reading Design Meets Disabitily, I arose these questions. For me, technology is helping us see what we cannot see, hear  what we cannot hear, it can be our arm and hand, our eyes and ears, it’s tools which help us stand higher, see more widely and go further.  However when it comes to disabilities, how technology works?  Appreciating the development of technology, advanced appliance give disable people chance to live like normal ones, we believe using elegant invisible gadget can help disabilities more comfortable and feel less shamed. But is that being disability humiliated? Graham Pullin introduce different parts of assistance garget for disabled people.

Eyewear: eyewear positions glasses not only products but also fashion things which can represent one’s taste and express  one’s self consciousness.

Hearwear: The evolution of the hearing aids is a succession of  invisible device: hidden under clothes, in pocket, inside ears.

Bodywear: It’s more sensitive than other products, because it not only assistance products, not the garget you pick it up or put it down but extension of the body. With prosthetic limbs help disable people do what they cannot do before.

Does technology really make disable people feel comfortable? It does help, but it just make the prosthetic more reliable and delicate. Design changed our way to see these prosthetic, and it also changed our view of physical deficiency, and how the disabled judge themselves.

The revolution of glasses from medical assistance to fashion accessory give us an inspiration that discretion is not the only way to design for disable people. More confident and fantastic design can convey positive image of disability.Fashion design changed our view to optical defect. Instead of judging it as unhealthy and weakness，people now wearing glasses to show their taste and style. There are more and more glasses styles, fashion design has been added to glasses’  design processing.  Wearing glasses has some advantages. For instance, it can protect you eyes from harm in the natural world; it’s an accessory to make face more beautiful and smaller; It can give other’s an impression that you are good educated. Stylish glasses make you different from others.

In this way, people who do not myopia even wear glasses to show their taste, they think it’s really cool and can give them some freshness feelings.

Glasses is an inspiration for us and give us an good example to combine fashion and discretion  together. Maybe in the future, even our healthy people can use stylish prosthetic to express ourselves and make us more powerful. Disable is not shameful， designer shouldn’t design the things only with discretion, as well as inventing invisible facilities is not the best way to help them feel better.

When we aware it’s time to change our perceptions，the conception and the processing of design should both be changed, designers with diversity background and disable people should participate in product design. People with diversity background just like fresh blood and they can help traditional industry break the wall.

I once saw a TV show , a blind girl in it can walk well without help. Instead of walking stick’s help,  she can identify the direction and if there is obstacle by feeling the air flow in front of her. It really moving and inspired me a lot. I started to believe sense power can transmit. Just like ' The god closed door and open the window', the disabled have their own way to feel this world. If technology can help blind people change the visual information to sound information or smell information， it may help them a lot.

We can now anticipate assistance garget in the future, it not just the thing hidden in disabled body but also the thing which can make them live with more self-confident and self-identification.

What is interaction?

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Although the world “interaction” only got popular in recent year, it is actually a phenomenon has been existing since the beginning of human history. Where there is a communication, there is an interaction happens. Talking to people is an interaction, baby learn from their parents is an interaction, making a phone call is an interaction, playing a kinetic game is also an interaction. It’s a process of information flows, mentality movements and physical reactions. Just like what has been mentioned in The Art of Interactive Design, interaction is a “cyclic” process, which means, the two ends of an interaction should be the very important components. This indicates that the word “interaction” is a little bit different from the word “communication”. They may be looking at a same process of a human activity, but the focusing point is not the same. To me, interaction is more focusing on the feelings of sending message and to receive feedbacks in different ways.

So it is all about these two ends, sending and receiving. Most easy way to illustrate this, when you are having a conversation with someone, you listen to the other’s words, you think about it, and then you give your respond. Listening, thinking and speaking are indeed very important parts of interaction, they are like basic elements of the most normal interaction form-face to face interaction. In emphasizing these three aspects, Chris Crawford is trying to illustrate the importance for designer like us to understand the basic structure of an interaction. According to his theory, solo dancing is not an interaction between the dancer and the music, however dancing with someone else can be an interaction between these two dancers. I believe what he is trying to say would be, to make an interaction interaction, you should keep it “alive”, to make it a processing CYCLE, not a dead end between the two points of this communication. In other words, interaction includes reaction activities, but is different from reaction. It takes constant information circulation to make an interaction happen.

I used to believe reading book or appreciate an artwork is kind of interaction. But in Chris Crawford's word, it's reaction but not interaction. This is very inspiring to me. I have seen many, even have made some so-called “interaction designs” that focusing too much on its function or its visual expression. These designs might be delicate, however they have all neglect the core value of an interaction design, the constant information circulation between two ends. An interaction design without carrying this value with it can just be a statue.

I never doubt that interaction is a good perception method, because it is a (at least) two-way flow communication, which can provide much more information than a one-way flow communication can do. And the conception of “speaking, thinking and listening” is just an abstract conception, in fact there are many more ways for us to apply in an interaction design, especially in physical interaction design. Visibility, sense of smell, touching, every method human has to feel this world can be an important part of  physical interaction, and that is the very charm interaction design has, it mixes, expands or even creates perception tool for people to feel this world in unprecedented ways. Good physical interaction should stimulate audience all sensory organ, it should be a kind of synaesthesia experience. It is our initiative feeling and receiving that keep this world so active, and it’s the interaction designer’s duty to lead these never dried-up curiosity and creativity to a new path toward undiscovered areas.

Still having a question,  I agree with Chris that studied artwork is reaction but not interaction. However, if I really into this artwork and inspired by it so much. In the same way, the artist of this artwork also inspired by audience' thoughts and changed this artwork. Finally, The meaning of this artwork has totally changed through this process. Is that a kind of interaction?