Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design

How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect.

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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…

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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.

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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…

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Conceptual Design, Contributor, Interaction Design, Personality, Users

Understanding the Anxious Mind.

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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…

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Background Knowledge, Contributor, Users

On “97 percent of American youth play video games”

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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…

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Conceptual Design, Contributor, Cultural Differences, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Users

Why Japan’s Cellphones Haven’t Gone Global

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Article: Tabuchi, H. (2009). “Why Japan’s Cellphones Haven’t Gone Global” The New York Times Company. Retrieved 20 July, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/technology/20cell.html?_r=1&hp As the title suggests the article talks about how the Japanese-made cell phones have not made themselves into a global market. The article refers this to as Galapagos Syndrome, where the Japanese develop a product that evolves isolated from world markets. Despite the fact that Japan has been introducing new innovations almost every year since 1999, with new features such as email capabilities, camera phone, and digital TV, many of these innovations however turned out to be too advanced for most markets overseas. The second generation network standard introduced in the 90s was rejected everywhere else in the world and has contributed to the isolation from the global markets. In addition, many analyze that the issue is in the Japanese phone makers focusing more on hardware design rather than on software, and as a result, the development of handset models becomes time-consuming and expensive. The emphasis on hardware also makes the design to be more bulky and not something that is appealing to the overseas market. The introduction of the iPhone to the Japanese market has not yet proven to…

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Conceptual Design, Contributor, Cultural Differences, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Users

On “Who’s Driving Twitter’s Popularity? Not Teens”

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Article | Miller, C. (2009). “Who’s Driving Twitter’s Popularity? Not Teens.” The New York Times. Retrieved 22 Octover, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html Summary | Traditional early-adopter models assume that the youth – teens, tweens, and children – are core to the success of new technologies. However, recent products (e.g., iPhone, GPS devices, Kindle) have proven this to be largely myth. The notable example chosen by Claire Cain Miller is the exponential growth of Twitter over the last couple years. While many factors have contributed to the success of twitter among adults, core among them are the nature of the different groups’ social structures/interactions, existing application ecosystem, and (not discussed) Twitter’s design. Whereas a child’s (and even young adults’) main interactions occur within their core social group, an adult’s interactions often include a much wider and more loosely defined sphere of individuals. Twitter, with its “one-to many network”, is much more suited to this collective experience. Additionally, the nature of their online social interactions is not dictated by “the music [they] listen to and the quizzes [they] take”, but participation in an ongoing social dialogue. Twitter’s ability to facilitate diverse conversation on many topics with an audience far beyond one’s social circle differentiates…

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