The new generation will grow up with Siri: What will this mean to their expectations of how devices should/could work? What are the implications to product design and interaction design?
Interaction Design
How does the product do it?
Conceptual Design, Interaction Design
Article: Sometimes more choices leave people worse off
by Vikas Gupta •
Research published in Biology Letters shows that people confronted with too many choices have difficulty making a good decision. The study analyses over 3,700 human dating descisons across 84 speed-dating events. The study found that when the numnber of variable attributes increases (ie heigh, occupation, education background), people made fewer dating proposals. The effect was even stronger as the number of potential partners increased. Another study shows that when participants in a dating study are given more potential partners, their emotional satisfaction is not higher than when presented with fewer options. Other studies have shows that more options cripple a people to not make any decision at all. Consumer studies show that when given limited options, consumers make a purchasing decison, and are happier with the limited set of options. When given large numbers of options, humans and other animals tend to rely on heuristics that help guide decision making. These rules of thumb help to reduce and simplify the decision making proceess by ignoring some information. We tend to default to quick, easy, and recognizable options. We can decide the appeal of a face in 13 milliseconds. So with fewer options, people make quicker decisions. With more options, people…
Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design
Study: Sense of Touch Shapes Snap Judgments
by Vikas Gupta •
Keim, B. (2010). “Study: Sense of Touch Shapes Snap Judgments.” www.wire.com. Visited on October 15, 2012: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/06/touching-cognition/ The article explains the interaction between physical touch and social cognition. Through studies, experimental evidence shows that physical experience and mental understanding are related. The sense of touch is one of the earliest senses to be developed by humans in the developmental process, and is not lost as a person ages. What’s more interesting is that the sense of touch can subconciously alter the mental state and emotion of a person. A person holding a heavier object such as a clipboard may become more serious and the task at hand becomes more important. People are more generous holding a warm drink than a cold one. Harsh surfaces make problem solving more akward than smoother surfaces. The article notes that the visceral reaction to the sense of touch may fade when one focuses more on the task at hand, but this fact doesn’t diminish importance of the the initial tactile social-interaction that forms the first impression. By changing sensations, emotions, thoughts, and desires may be altered. Evaluation Conceptual Design: In design usaability is not the only consideration. Designs evoke emotion and can alter a users mental state,…
Background Knowledge, Conceptual Design, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Product Design Strategy
RE: Tracing the Spark of Creative Problem-Solving
by Daniel Hooks •
Article: Carey, B. (2010). “Tracing the Spark of Creative Problem-Solving.” nytimes.com. Visited on October 29th, 2012: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/science/07brain.html Summary: Puzzles come in a wide variety of formats. They are appealing to people both because of the dopamine rush of arriving at a solution, and also because they shift the brain into an open, playful state. Puzzles are solved in two main ways — either through insight thinking or analytical thinking. Insight thinking is when an answer comes to a person suddenly, seemingly out of the blue. Analytical thinking involves employing a systematic approach of testing available possibilities. Both types of thinking are typically required to solve challenging problems. The differences between the two approaches have been debated by scientists, but current experiments and brain-imaging studies indicate that they are separate abilities requiring truly different brain states. Test subjects are more likely to solve puzzles using insight thinking when they display brain activity in the anterior cingulate cortex. This activity is associated with the widening of attention, making the brain more open to distraction and to detecting weaker connections. Positive mood appears to shift the brain towards the state required for insight thinking. In experiments where subjects are shown a humorous video…
Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Perception
RE: Deadline Pressure Distorts Our Sense of Time
by Daniel Hooks •
Article: Herbert, W. (2011). “Deadline Pressure Distorts Our Sense of Time.” scientificamerican.com. Visited on October 9th, 2012: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=looming-deadlines Summary: The perceived difficulty and deadline pressure associated with a task alters our perception of time. In an initial study, subject were presented with a series of tasks of varying difficulty and asked how far away the day of completion felt to them. The tasks that were more complex and work intensive were perceived as being further in the future. To arrive at this result our brains are translating effort into time, assuming that the more difficult tasks must be further away since they will require more work to complete. An opposite effect is encountered when deadlines are associated with the tasks. If subjects are presented with either an easy or difficult task that they must complete by a set date in the future, those with the more complex and effortful task report that the date feels much closer to them than those with the simple task. This effect may sometimes cause us to feel overwhelmed as multiple complex tasks pile up on us, but our skewed perception of time also ensures that we typically complete necessary tasks within the actual amount of time…
Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Users
RE: Go Figure: Why we think rituals can influence results
by Daniel Hooks •
Article: Blastland, M. (2011). “Go Figure: Why we think rituals can influence results.” bbc.co.uk. Visited on October 9th, 2012: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14917871 Summary: Humans have a strong capacity for pattern recognition. This is beneficial in many circumstances, aiding in our survival and helping us safely navigate our environment. However, the same cognitive mechanisms can also cause us to make incorrect associations between cause and effect. One example is a sports fan believing that a ritual like wearing “lucky” socks during an event will increase the chances of success for their favorite team. In statistics this over-interpretation of random events and correlations is known as a Type I error. The same type of behavior can be seen in animal studies, where pigeons will repeat an action that they have incorrectly assumed is the cause of food being delivered to them, when the timing was actually random. Conceptual Design: When designing a new product are we utilizing our users’ strength for pattern recognition? Often humans can tease complex patterns from noisy data far more effectively than computers. Can users effectively see the link between using our product and having the positive outcomes that they desire? If our product has benefits, we would definitely like our users…
Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Product Design Strategy, Scaffolding
Separate Mobile Website Vs. Responsive Website
by jpcochran •
Frost, B. (2012). “Separate Mobile Website Vs. Responsive Website.” smashingmagazine.com. Visited on October 25, 2012: http://mobile.smashingmagazine.com/2012/08/22/separate-mobile-responsive-website-presidential-smackdown/ This article is about how to address the challenges of the mobile web by either creating a separate mobile website or creating a website that is responsive to different screen sizes. These two approaches are illustrated by the websites of the 2012 presidential candidates: Mitt Romney’s campaign has created a dedicated mobile website, while Barack Obama’s campaign has created a responsive website. The article looks at two use cases for these sites (someone looking for information and someone looking to take action) and how each of the different mobile approaches addresses them. Conceptual Design The article examines two mobile design approaches using Kristofer Layon’s model, which is based on Maslow’s hierarch of needs pyramid. Primary access and navigation are the most essential aspects of the mobile experience while enhancements like HTML 5 features are the least essential. How each method addresses the two mobile approaches is important for any product designer. Interaction Design Access to website content is the most import function of a mobile site. The Obama site is responsive, so all the content of the full-featured site is available to a mobile…