Article: Hafner, K. (2008). “Exercise Your Brain, or Else You’ll…Uh..” The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/technology/03brain.html This article refers to our brain plasticity and interferences that can occur in our long term and working memories. Plasticity, or neuroplasticity, is the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences, in other words, the ability of the brain to change with learning (Hoiland, 2008). According to the article, our brains contain more plasticity than originally thought. The argument is that if we do not exercise our brains, the lack of their use can lead to interferences in long term or working memories. For example: forgetting a good friends name or even our address. – According to Werby the working memory can be defined as, the thinking space [of the brain]- writing requires the author to keep in mind and monitor words spelling, rules of composition etc. The long term memory is defined as, the vast storage of information that we accumulate throughout our lives, and it includes data, procedures, algorithms, and anything else we can think of. This is the type of memory we usually speak of when we refer to our memory (Werby,…
Contributor
Over the years, my students write blog entrees as part of their classwork. These contributing blogs tend to review articles with an eye for product design recommendations.
Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Users
Mobile phones expose human habits.
by Georgina •
Article: Fildes, J. (2008). “Mobile phones expose human habits.” BBC News. Retrieved 4 June, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7433128.stm Summary: As the title suggests this article concerns the discovery of human mobility habits via the use of mobile phones. In other words over 100, 000 mobile phones were tracked in an attempt to build a comprehensive picture of human movements. The study showed, that humans are creatures of habit, mostly visiting the same few spots time and time again, and that most people move less than 10km on regular basis. The study is seen as important as it can help when assessing the situation during a viral outbreak such as the Avian Flu and in the forecasting of traffic. Previously similar studies had been performed with GPS which proved to expensive, surveys which proved unreliable and dollar bills. Dollar bills were tracked in order to reconstruct human movements however this seemed only to prove random patterns and did not give a complete picture of people s movements. The phone tracking worked differently. Each time a participant made or received a call or text message, the location of the mobile base station relaying the data was recorded. The results showed that people moved around…
Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design
How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect.
by Jyothi •
Article: Carey, B. (2006). “How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect.” New York Times. Retrieved on 13 October, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/health/06mind.html This article discusses the idea that when the mind comes across something that is completely unfamiliar and baffling at the same time, the mind goes into high-alert mode soon after. Creative juices may begin to flow where none existed before and the person may be able to solve logical problems with greater accuracy, as the mind looks for patterns to “recover” from the “nonsense” it just encountered. This study, of course, is still its infancy and conclusive proof seems to be a long way off. It is possible that the mind “lights up” when there is something so illogical just because as human beings, we seem to crave and “respect” newer, unexplained phenomena? The mind loves a problem, and one that can’t seem to be solved or explained quickly, even better. Hence the mind may seem to go into a sharper mode to try uncover the hidden meaning, any meaning of the nonsense it just encountered, and when immediately faced with a more “mundane” problem, the mind recognizes the solution to the mundane problem very quickly. It could be happiness, or fear, or puzzlement…
Contributor, Users
What Do Gen Xers Want? Here’s how some of FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For keep young up-and-comers happy.
by Jyothi •
Article: Fisher, A. (2006). “What Do Gen Xers Want? Here’s how some of FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For keep young up-and-comers happy.” Fortune Magazine. Retrieved on 19 January, 2006. http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/17/news/companies/bestcos_genx/index.htm?cnn=yes This article hits the nail on the head in analyzing the factors that motivate the GenX people when looking for jobs and staying on in them.Certainly showing loyalty towards an employer for loyalty’s sake is not on top of any GenX’ers list. They understand too well that “right time at the right place” saying is too important in this fast paced world and are all too ready to change jobs if the current environment does not suit their needs. And the companies themselves show the same “lack of loyalty”, if you will, towards the employers, and waste no time in handing out pink slips, whenever their need arises. This is as true of Silicon Valley companies as it is of any other capitalistic, profit-driven company in the world. The article does not mention Silicon Valley’s most succesful companies, Google. The culture there, including use of Segways, dry cleaning facilities, food within 100 feet of anywhere(is this true), are unique. The success of the company combined with these other…
Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design, Personality, Users
Understanding the Anxious Mind.
by Jyothi •
Article: Marantz, H. R. (2009). “Understanding the Anxious Mind.” New York Times. Retrieved on 4 October, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/magazine/04anxiety-t.html?_r=1&em=&pagewanted=print Summary of article: This article discusses the reaerch conducted by psychologists into persons are constantly anxious and worry a lot. The ide is that certain people are “predisposed” to be anxious. Research conducted on infants as young as 6 months old showed to the psychologists (atleast to some extent) that babies who tended to be highly reactive, that is who react immediately to new soights and sounds, mostly in a negative way, tend to grow up to be anxious and shy teenagers and adults. The article also points out that these anxious babies tend to be become melancholy and introverted as they grow older with few friends and social life. The article also discusses that those teenagers and adults who recognized this “trait” within themselves seemed to do better at controlling/overcoming their anxious nature. The benefits of a reactive, anxious temparament are also mentioned. Artists, writers and scientists tend to be introspective. Worrying can become a help rather than a hindrance when it helps you prepare better for tests, plan ahead for meetings and talks, and never to miss a flight because…
Background Knowledge, Contributor, Users
On “97 percent of American youth play video games”
by Joseph •
Article | A.P. (2008). “97 percent of American youth play video games.” CNN. Retrieved 16 September, 2008. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/09/16/videogames.survey.ap/index.html Summary | The article, focused on the findings from a survey of over a thousand responses posits that about ninety-seven (97) percent of youths – including girls – play videogames. Additionally, the study found that these people are not simply playing alone, but with others (in person and online) in order to socialize. Additionally, the survey highlights their findings that playing video games isn’t a rare or once off happening. Also, it highlights the diversity of tastes across the population. In discussing these findings, the author of the article talks about the apparent correlation (or lack thereof) between video games and commitment to civil participation and civil engagement. Moreover, the researchers who conducted the study (and author) encourage parents to avoid the stereotypes traditionally associated with video games. User Groups | If 97% of the youth population is playing video games on a regular basis, this would imply some level of familiarity and comfort not only with technology in general, but also with the specific trope and conceits commonly part of video game design. Additionally, the social nature of gaming for this…
Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interface Design
On “Managing UI Complexity”
by Joseph •
As programs become more powerful, designers (and users) are faced with evermore complex user interfaces (UI). In the war on complexity, designers must find innovative ways to simplify UI.