Buerk, R. (2010). “Dating by blood type in Japan.” BBC News. Retrieved on 3 October, 2010: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8646236.stm People in most parts of the world do not think about their blood group much, unless they have an operation or an accident and need a transfusion. But in Japan, whether someone is A, B, O or AB is a topic of everyday conversation. There is a widespread belief that blood type determines personality, with implications for life, work and love. Interest in blood type is widespread in Japan, particularly which combinations are best for romance. Women’s magazines run scores of articles on the subject, which has also inspired best-selling self-help books. There are employers who are discriminating against prospective candidates by asking about their blood type. A term for such behavior in Japan is burahara, which translates as blood group harassment. The preoccupation with blood ultimately dates back to theories of eugenics during the inter-war years. Stripped of its racial overtones, the idea emerged again in the 1970s. Now, blood typecasting is as common as horoscopes in the West, with the whiff of science—although dubious—giving it added credibility. Scientists regularly debunk the blood group theory but it retains its hold—some believe because,…
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, Ethnographic & User Data, Interaction Design, Interface Design
On “Why companies watch your Facebook, YouTube, Twitter move” by Weber
by Ketil E. Jensen •
Weber, T. (2010). “Why companies watch your every Facebook, YouTube, Twitter move.” BBC News Online. Retrieved on October 6, 2010: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11450923 Summary: Weber makes the point that many companies are changing the way they are monitoring, interacting, and responding to social media. Although many companies have not fully encompassed the impact social media can have on their businesses, those that have, are actively incorporating it into both a communications tool and to a customer relationship management channel. Through social media, companies now have for the ability to collect people’s thoughts, feelings and sentiments in real-time, thus unlocking anything from current trends and hot topics to the reach of their brand and how the completion is doing. The fact that the application of social media is still not mainstream, means that businesses that have fully embraced its potential likely have a level of insight their completion is lacking, and thereby are creating a competitive advantage vs. their peers. While some companies are still on the fence trying to figure out what to make of it, others have already come to the realization that marketing outside the social media channel is thinkable! User Groups: Weber makes the point that in order to…
Contributor, Ethnographic & User Data, Flow
Just Me and My Pessimism in the ‘Race of Truth’
by Arun •
Kolata, G. (September 2010). “Just Me and My Pessimism in the ‘Race of Truth’.” New York Times Online. Retrieved on 6 November 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/health/nutrition/21best.html In this article the author recounts her experiences about a bike race she participated with her husband. Through the race she explains the factors that motivates people to stay with a sport, and mental strategies that would help in racing. The author and her husband signed up for a bike race without knowing what they were up to. Although their motivation was not win, they wanted to check where they stand and how well they perform. At the race they were intimidated by other racers who were part of professional teams with professional gear and equipments. So the author and her husband became anxious and thought they performed very badly in the time trial race. But when the results were announced, they were happy although they were in the bottom heap. The researchers call this phenomenon defensive pessimism—where atheletes do a social comparison with their co-participants and imagine they would perform worse if they are intimidated. But they would feel happy if they perform slightly better than a few. Research has shown that atheletes with defensive…
Cognitive Blindness, Contributor, Diagnostic Errors, Errors
Sizing Up Consciousness by Its Bits
by patrickgary •
Zimmer, C., (2010). “Sizing Up Consciousness by Its Bits.” NYTimes.com. Visited on October 3, 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/science/21consciousness.html Carl Zimmer’s article “Sizing Up Consciousness by Its Bits” for The New York Times seeks to introduce and explore a relatively new area of research into human consciousness. In interviews with the medical researcher Dr. Giulio Tononi, the article discusses current and past conceptions of consciousness and its’ implications for our interactions with each other and with our environment. Given the importance of consciousness in everyday human life, one would reasonably assume that at this time science would have a detailed understanding of consciousness and how it functions. This is not the case, however. Despite centuries of philosophical debate, medical research, and technological development, humans are largely in the dark, so to speak, about what creates and maintains the spark of consciousness. In the context of our currently vague understanding, Dr. Tononi’s research proposes a novel way of conceptualizing consciousness. Dr. Tononi’s goal is to apply the theories of informational networks to the human brain, in a method he terms “Integrated Information Theory.” This theory, hereafter referred to as IIT, seeks to understand the human brain as an integrated network of nodes (neurons in…
Background Knowledge, Background Knowledge Errors, Contributor, Errors, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Mental Model Traps, Product Design Strategy, Scaffolding, Users
More is always better – Or so most think!
by Mallika •
Tugend, A., (2010). “For the Dishwasher’s Sake, Go Easy on the Detergent.” NY Times Online. Visited on November 04, 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/your-money/13shortcuts.html If dishwashers do not seem to be doing their job or if your clothes are not coming out as soft as you’d like them to, or if these machines break down easily, it is most likely due to “user error.” We throw in multiple fabric softener sheets because more is better. More isn’t better in this case! The excess sheets liquefy when the dryer gets hot and gum up the dryer. Most people use ten to fifteen times the amount of soap they need. This excess soap is detrimental to the life of the machines. This article has some clear implications for interaction and interface design. User errors are likely to happen. Even if you have a manual with detailed instructions, the chances of somebody reading that manual are very slim. Even if they read it, they are still likely to err. How can design inculcate the right usage in the user? In this case, what can design do to prevent errors resulting from the ‘More is better’ p-prim? Possible Interaction Design Solutions: Solutions could be…
Contributor, Cultural Bias, Cultural Differences, Ethnographic & User Data, Language, Metaphor Mistakes, Product Design Strategy
Language and thought in user-centered design
by mabelev •
Deutscher, G. (2010). “Does language shape the way you think?” New York Times Online Edition. Retrieved on October 4, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html This article summarizes the history and the current status of the linguistic relativity hypothesis or the idea that “language shapes thought.” This idea comes in several different formulations. The version on which Deutscher’s review focuses is a cross-linguistic claim that speakers of different languages use different mental representations or processes as a result of having learned different languages as children. A particularly strong version of the cross-linguistic hypothesis suggests that our native language provides us with a basic toolbox of conceptual representation, so if a concept or a mode of thought is not encoded in a given language, its monolingual speakers would be incapable of thinking about such a concept or thinking in such a mode. For instance, linguistic relativity led to the prediction that people’s perception of differences in color should reflect the way their language encodes color. This prediction was spectacularly disproven by the discovery that people whose language only has two color terms in its vocabulary perceive and categorize colors similarly to speakers of English, which has 11 basic color terms, plus many non-basic ones (Berlin…
Conceptual Design, Contributor, Cultural Bias, Interaction Design, Product Design Strategy
How to brand a disease — and sell a cure
by Sheetal Elangovan •
Elliot, C. (2010). “How to brand a disease—and sell a cure .” CNN. Retrieved on 11 October, 2010: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/11/elliott.branding.disease/index.html?hpt=C2 Carl Elliott in his article for CNN cites examples of how pharmaceutical companies sell a cure by disease branding. Drug companies today are embracing the ideology that Edward Bernays’, the father of PR proposed—The public relations business was less about selling things than about creating the conditions for things to sell themselves. Why disease branding works? As Carl Elliott states in his article, disease branding is particularly effective in two types of situations. Let us consider the first situation, a shameful condition that can be de-stigmatized through disease branding. If a condition, however shameful, is prevalent enough in the common population then a ready market exists for the cure. It is the rare shameful condition for which a market typically does not exist where disease branding will help ‘create’ a market. Individuals with this rare condition would need to overcome the stigma attached with such conditions and discuss them with their health care providers. By branding a disease and de-stigmatizing the condition, the pharmaceutical companies act as catalysts and enablers to the process of individuals coming forward and discussing the condition…