Contributor, Product Design Strategy

On “The Wisdom of Community”

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Powazek, D. (2010). “The Wisdom of Community.” A List Apart. Retrieved on 23 June 2010: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-wisdom-of-community/ In The Wisdom of Community Derek Powazek argues for the online extension of James Surowiecki’s Wisdom of Crowds theory. By referring to Surowiecki, Powazek points, that “crowds, presented with the right challenge and the right interface, can be wise”. This means, that a group of people – by balancing each-other – answers any well proposed question much better, than a single person, even a professional. Powazek points, that some online services are using similar methods to WOC to rank information according to their relevance and quality. Most importantly the user’s opinions are influencing the results of the Web search engines. According to Powazek to use the WOC concept in decision making, question answering or information ranking, certain conditions are required. The problems needs to “be broken down to its simplest components”. The number of the participants and the quality of the result are proportional. The motivation of the participants is a key factor, they need to work for their own interest. Showing the previous results is problematic, because “[t]he highly rated items get even more highly rated,m the low rated items fall off the…

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Attention, Attention Controls Errors, Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design, Product Design Strategy, Users, Working Memory

On “The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s” by Stone

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Stone, B. (2010). “The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s.” The New York Times. Retrieved 30. June, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/weekinreview/10stone.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 Summary: Stone points out the significant generational difference gaps due to the rapid rate at which technology is developing. Kids born into the world today are growing up in a time when high-tech devices like the Kindle, iPads, iPhones, and Skype are part of daily life. With such technology as a normal part of these kid’s lives, they’re going to participate in and view the world in a much different way than individuals born fifty, twenty, or even ten years ago. Today’s young kids are going to have distinctive expectations of the world. Researchers are looking into the result of this accelerated technological change, and many theories have been posited. For example, growing up with the iPhone and iPad these kids will probably expect all computers to have touch screens. Dr. Larry Rosen’s ideas about the “i-generation” are referenced in the article, stating that these kids who were born in 90’s and this decade communicate through texting and instant messaging and have a higher multi-tasking capacity – performing seven tasks at a time during their down-time rather than the…

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Contributor, Ethnographic & User Data

“A Language of Smiles”

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Judson, O. (2009). “A Language of Smiles.” New York Times. Retreived on 30 June, 2010 http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/a-language-of-smiles/?hp Summary: This article explores the possibility that languages which require a speaker to move his/her mouth in particular ways predisposes the population which speaks that language to be either happy or gloomy. This article begins by explaining that the idea that physically moving the corners of one’s mouth up into a smile or down into a frown can literally altar one’s mood is not a new idea.  Literary authors such as Edgar Allen Poe and scientists such as Charles Darwin have made references to that idea in their works.  However, data (I can only assume that by “data” the author means statistical or scientific data) has been accumulated only in the last 30 years.  Why the ways in which one moves his/her mouth can affect one’s mood is not certain.  Two possible explanations are: 1) it is a matter of classical conditioning such as Pavlov’s dog (who was conditioned to salivate whenever he heard a bell ring because he was taught to associate the bell with the appearance of food), and 2) facial gestures may have an affect on the rate of blood flow to the brain. Different languages require speakers to move their mouths in substantial (and substantially different) ways in…

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Cognitive Blindness, Conceptual Design, Contributor, Cultural Bias, Cultural Differences, Ethnographic & User Data, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Users

Mining the Web for Feelings, Not Facts

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Wright, A. (2009). “Mining the Web for Feelings, Not Facts.” The New York Times.  Retrieved on 30 June, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/technology/internet/24emotion.html Online presence is a valuable commodity in today’s digital market.  As companies seek to track exactly how their brand is discussed via the web and where these discussions appear, it becomes apparent that even a team of employees devoted to such research cannot tackle the shear size of the medium.  Thus, algorithms are being employed by marketing research firms as well as companies themselves to handle not only the amount of information present on the Internet, but also in what context it amasses. These algorithmic tools are applied all over the web, but are concentrated on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, as well as sites that allow large amounts of user-generated content. Theoretically, in this way a computer can track not only when a company is mentioned but also in what connotative context it appears. Differing from previous brand tracking, these new programs seek to determine subjective opinion as well as objective knowledge. By programming computers to scan the Internet for words that hold certain connotative meanings, marketers and brands can preemptively address user satisfaction issues as well as…

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Conceptual Design, Contributor, Errors, Ethnographic & User Data, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Language, Product Design Strategy, Scaffolding, Users

On “Singing ‘Rewires’ Damaged Brain”

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Gill, V. (2010). “Singing ‘Rewires’ Damaged Brain.” BBC World News. Visited on 24 June 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8526699.stm Summary: This article discusses how singing can teach stroke patients to recover their speech abilities. Singing uses a different part of the brain than the areas that involve speech. The idea is that if the “speech center” of the brain is damaged patients can use their “singing center.” Already established as a medical technique, “melodic intonation therapy” was further studied by the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School with the findings presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Using medical technology to scan the brain doctors were able to deduce that most speech took place on the left side of the brain, but melody and singing took place on the right side. This study is one of many larger studies examining the general effects of music and the brain. Dr Nina Kraus, a neuroscientist from Northwestern University, has concluded that musical training is an important part of children’s education. This article is important because many people have experienced or know someone who has experienced a stroke. Reading this article may prompt further investigation for those affected to seek…

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Conceptual Design, Contributor, Errors, Ethnographic & User Data, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Product Design Strategy, Users

Men are bigger liars than women, says poll

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BBC News Staff, (2008). “Men are bigger liars than women, says poll.” BBC News Channel, Visited June 23 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8689010.stm Summary: The article discusses a survey that was conducted in Britain, pertaining to lies told by men and women. The survey, which was conducted by The Science Museum using 3000 participants, suggests that in general, men tell more lies than women and feel less guilty about it. While the average British man is likely to tell three lies each day, the average British women is likely to tell only two. As a group, it is ‘mothers’ who are most likely to be lied to. The top lie told by men is ‘I didn’t have that much to drink’, while the top lie told by women is ‘nothing’s wrong, I’m fine’ – which happened to be the second most popular lie among men. So while men tend to lie about drinking habits, it is both genders who seek to hide their true feelings. Both sexes shared a common tenth most popular lie, being, ‘it’s what I’ve always wanted.’ Certainly, this fib is relevant when we consider who gifts are received by each sex. Women generally feel more guilty about lying, with…

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Conceptual Design, Contributor, Cultural Differences, Ethnographic & User Data, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Users

Response to ‘Young More Lonely Than the Old’

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Murphy, C. (2010). “Young More Lonely Than The Old,” BBC News. Retrieved on 2010/05/25. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8701763.stm Summary: Clare Murphy suggests the young tend to feel lonelier than the old in the UK. What does the article mean by ‘lonely,’ and what are the factors that contribute to Britain’s youth to feel such an emotion? England’s elderly and youth feel two different types of loneliness. Elderly loneliness derives from the isolation caused by the decomposition of the nuclear family, as well as long life expectancy. Youth loneliness is caused by modern day living. Today, more focus is placed on careers rather than on the public community. Thus, individuals exert more energy into their work than into building community ties. Social network sites, a technology invention of the youth’s era, incredibly connect hundreds and thousands of people across the globe. Communication through these sites, however, does not produce the same satisfaction of face to face interaction. Thus, one may find they have a plethora of friends on their social network site, but very few that they can have a person to person contact with. Lastly, urban planning greatly affects how social is a community. The urban planning of London encourages a far lesser…

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