The best of both worlds

   I want the best of both worlds, as I am sure everyone else does as well.  Being new to the working world, I am becoming more and more confused each day.  Just finishing up my undergraduate years, and currently working on my graduate degree, I am finding that I am becoming more drawn in to my passion, which is dancing.  I have been dancing for many many years.  For the past five years, I have been a choreographer and I love it.  I want to open a dance studio at home in the Bronx, but I know it will take up all my time but I love doing what I do. I also enjoy web design, but it does not give me nearly as much pleasure as dancing.  I kind of fell into being an E-media major, but got to like it, and even grew to love it as the years passed.  At this point, I am not certain what my future holds. I want the best of both worlds, but can I achieve it?  I think so, rather I know so…stay tuned for more, until next time….Blessings! 

Information Architects

     There are many different factors that contribute to web design.  There are coders and designers who deal more with the look and layout of a site, and then there is information architects who deal with navigation of the site.  Both play vital role in a websites development.  The article “Information Architecture” by Allan Hoffman goes into details about the importance of information architects or IA’s as they are otherwise known.  According to the article, “The Information Architecture Institute, a professional organization formerly known as The Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture, defines teh field as “the structural design of shared information environments.”  It goes to talk about the duties of Information Architects when it states they “often work closely with software and web teams but typically focus on navigation schemes and usability rather than pure design or hard-core coding.”

       I found this article to be very interesting, because when analyzing a webpage, I never really thought about who was behind the creation of websites until I started coding sites myself.  Coders, programmers, architects, and designers all play a major role in building a site.  IAs have a very important job as well because they have to make sure all the content within the pages flows and is properly linked.  Sites have to be user-friendly and easy to navigate.  All sites would be purposely if users could not navigate no matter how pretty the layout or how important the information is.  Navigation and usability is key when dealing with web design. 

     As I began to code sites, I soon came to realize how important all the other departments contributions to the development of a site was.  From this article, it seems as though IA’s have never really been considered when it came to the field, but are now emerging and becoming more known.  I find this to be a great thing because each field gets to learn and feed off of one another.  In more ways then one, all of the fields are related and work hand-in hand with one another.  There are many different factors that contribute to web design, and as seen in this article there will be many more that emerge.

Ikea

This weekend I went shopping at Ikea for the first time in about 6 months.  Upon arriving there I realized why I have not been there in so long.  As I shopped around and filled up my cart with all of my items, I then proceeded to the higher levels.  I shortly found out that I could not take my cart up to the showroom which was completely fine, I just wish I was informed about that before I filled my cart to the top. I left my cart behind a register as I was instructed and would come back for it before checkout. After reaching the showroom I could not find the table I was looking for and found myself walking forever following the signs on the floor trying to get to the candle and picture frame section of the room.  I finally had what I had came there for and much much more, only to find out that I had to follow the arrows on the same path back down the hall, to the left, the right, the left again and down the broken escalator.  There is like one way in and one way out to each floor.  After reaching the main floor, I went to retrieve my cart that was still sitting there with only one of my hundreds of items.  I then turned around and proceeded to the cash registers with my candles and picture frames only to find three registers out of about ten open and the lines were forever!

After doing this weeks reading about the importance of “user-centered” design and user-friendly layout, I wish the designers at Ikea would have also done this reading.  Just here sharing my weekend frustrations…until next time, Blessings!

User-centered design

The book “Don’t Make Me Think,” by Steve Krug goes into details about the importance of usability of a website. The title of the book answers the many questions people have when trying to figure out the best way to set up a website. When viewers visit a website the purpose and content of the site should be clear from the start. Krug feels a web page should be “self-evident. Obvious. Self-Explanatory” (1). Krug considers the title of his work to be the first law of usability (1). Usability of all websites is very important. Web pages in one way or another is set up to educate viewers while getting out its company’s message. Viewers should in no way be confused by the content, Krug feels a designers “job is to get rid of the question marks” (3). While searching through sites viewers should only stop at things that are important, not things that make them think harder about the sites purpose or worse off things that confuse them.

I find Krug’s work to be very beneficial for readers and most importantly web designers. He lays everything out for his readers. He work is short, simple and to the point. What make his work better are the images that he gives to help assist his thoughts. Working at a marketing firm, designing website, I find a lot of Krug’s views to be very helpful. I had to figure out the layout of pages making sure it properly represented the site. Every site must have a target audience and an obvious function. Clients would tell us their intentions for the site and the many different departments helped build out the client’s vision. Consistency and accuracy is very important when concerning usability. Everything within a site should flow and serve a purpose, they must also be user-friendly.

The reading on the case study “Usability Testing of an Academic Library Web Site” by Brenda Battleson, Austin Booth, and Jane Weintrop gave me an outlook on something I had never thought about before. I found this reading to be very interesting when they talk about the tons of information on academic library site. The work states, “Although intended to ease the process of information access, the staggering amount of information available via these sites can produce a kind of “information overload” that can bewilder, confuse, and even discourage users” (1). There are certain things we take for granted. The way in which these academic sites are set up is critical. The work goes on to state there is a “fundamental need for usability in library websites and usability testing…” (1). Everything has to be in the right place, properly linked while being accurate and clear for its viewers.

The relationship between Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is very important as well. The work talks about how sites should provide task support which enables users to achieve their goals or the company’s goals or needs while on the site. It should first and foremost be usable or user-friendly as I stated earlier which users can work “easily, efficiently and with few errors” (1). And lastly, user-centered design should have some type of clear interface design. Everything should be clear, concise and to the point making it easy for viewers to navigate through with full understanding of the site.

Wikipedia

I hardly ever use wikipedia, although it is the first thing to pop-up when I use the search engine, but after searching through the site I was a bit amazed.  I seem to have a greater interest then I intially thought I would have.  I am somewhat puzzled about the hundreds of “edit” buttons throughout the site.  If anyone could go in and edit the existing information, then what purpose does the site really serve?  Just a little curious, does anyone who uses the site on a daily basis have an answer?

            Technology has yet again prove its capabilities and advancements in society when dealing with online education and learning.  A few years ago, the only way to take a course was to sit in a classroom as the day’s lesson was being conducted by a professor or teacher.  Today, all of this has changed.  You can take a course, and not even know what your professor sounds like, let alone look like.  Starr Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff talk about the digitalization of education in their work “Education Goes Digital: The Evolution of Online Learning and the Revolution in Higher Education.”  The article states, “Online learning is the latest in a long list of social technologies that have been introduced to improve distance learning by adding various augmentations, substitutions, or blending of new pedagogical approaches and technologies” (1).  Online education is quickly adapting to many higher learning institutes around the world.  About a year or so ago, I thought online education was the worse form of education ever.  I could not understand how or why students were expected to advance in courses without the physical presence of a professor.  After taking an online course my last year as an undergraduate, I soon was proven otherwise.  Online education gives students a sense of independence and more importantly, responsibility. 

            The article goes on to state, “Online learning is a new social process that is beginning to act as a complete substitute for both distance learning and the traditional face-to-face class” (2).  I found this statement to be very interesting because distance learning is or has become a more common form of learning.  There are more and more sections and courses being offered online and there are more and more students becoming enrolled in these courses.  Technology is making a huge change in every aspect of life.  A few years ago, online learning would have been like a foreign language to many, but today is so widely accepted.  My one worry with online education is the future of “face-to face education” as Hiltz and Turoff call it.  There is and will forever be changes in life and society has to learn how to cope with and adapt to those changes.  We either have the choice of adapting to changes or getting left behind because time and advancements waits for no one.  These authors quote Charles Darwin when he says, “Its not the strongest of species that survives, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” (Origin of Species, 1859).  This quote can be directly applied to technology and the many affects it has on society because we have to adapt in order to survive.

 

            When concerning technologies advancements for entertainment purposes Eeva Kangas and Timo Kinnunen’s article “Applying User-Centered Design to Mobile Application Development” served as a great example.  Today we use our cell phones and mobile devices for just about anything.  Technology has made checking your email, instant messaging, and sending images quite effortless.  We can take picture and send them to others within minutes.  Technology has also allowed us to communicate with others without actually having to converse.  We also have the ability to send messages to many people at one time.  What is more important is the design of this technology that allows us to have such a luxury.  The article talks about the design process as they try to eliminate all errors and flaws.  The article states, “The most important aspect of the design process is to provide the user with the real usage context.”  It goes on to state, “For mobile phones this means users need to be able to touch the buttons and see software that feels like it is actually working” (Kangas/Kinnunen 3).  No matter what the technological advancements are society will forever in one way or another advance from these changes, but we must first adapt to before we can ultimately learn and improve.

The world and blogging

Communication has forever been known to man and it continues to grow and affect the world and how we relate to one another.  Blogging is the one form of communication that has emerged with such great force. “Introduction: Of Bloggers and Blacksmiths” written by R. Scoble and S. Israel states, “Mostly, it’s about blogging, the most powerful tool so far in this revolution” (Scoble/Israel 1).  There have been many other forms of technological communications such as the emails, instant messaging, text messaging and so forth, but none can compare.  Blogging has taken off so quickly because of its capabilities to reach large audiences in such a short period of time.  The key word is “audience.”  It is the audience who makes blogs what they are.  Yes, the writers are very important, but the audience are the ones who keep the communication flowing.  C. Anderson’s article “The Long Tail,” does a great deal of emphasis on how important audiences are.  The article states, “The first is the need to find local audiences” (Anderson 1). 

    How a message reaches the audience is very important.  Blogs, unlike the other forms of communications, messages and information are delivered to a large group of people in a short period of time.  Scoble and Israel’s article refers to blogging when it states, “It’s the first technology to enable a simple conversation to go instantly global” (5). Blogs enable people to state their opinions freely, allowing others to immediately respond and express their views on a particular topic.  I found the C. Thompson’s article “Blogs to Riches,” to be very interesting.  The revenue that is taken in by bloggers is amazing.  Bloggers can attract viewers by simply having an interesting title.  When it talks about A-lister’s and the simplest things that happen in their lives, the number of viewers dramatically increases.  Again, I would relate this back to the audience.  There is a particular type of person who enjoys blogging.  I believe all bloggers share a common interest, which I am not quite sure of as of yet.  People are always searching for the latest information or gossip, and blogs are the perfect way to inform the world.  Blogs can be educational and entertaining.  The article states, “By all appearances, the blog boom is the most democratized revolution in media ever.”  I find nothing wrong with people expressing their opinions, but I do find people stating their views as accurate facts a problem.  I am also worried about those who look for all of society’s answer on the web, meaning blogs. 

     The immediate emergence of blogs has blown me away.  I experienced blogging in this course and I would have to say that I am not as interested in it as others are. On the other hand, I am not sure why I took to other forms of communications so quickly.  Blogs tend to remind me of newspapers and books, where people tend to express too much information and thoughts at one time.  I find long blogs to be annoying because the internet is there to have information readily available.  When you have to scroll too long to read it becomes a turn off.  You have to know what you are saying and know how to relate that message to audiences in a proper amount of time.  Bloggers are making millions off of expressing their thoughts, which can only be viewed as a smart thing.  Blogs are beneficial because you do not have to pay for air time in order to make the world aware of your views.  Not only is it inexpensive to set up blogs, but then you’re still making a profit from advertisements in blogs.  Again the educational aspect comes back into play when relating to blogs.  The world is communicating and educating one another through blogs, and this system is constantly growing day by day whether one likes it or not.

Like mother, like daughter!

I never thought life after my undergraduate years would be so complicated.  I am finally living my dreams, but seem to be drained.  Working a full time job, attending grad school, completing a graduate assistantship, being a co-manager and choreographer of a dance team, and simply living and enjoying life is a hand full.  As a child when my mother would always talk about how tired she was, I would often think she was over exaggerating, but now that I am following in her footsteps, I finally understand her pain. She is mother, a wife, an owner of two day care centers, an educator, an actor, a singer and the best role model anyone could ever ask for.

She use to always tell me “wait til you’re living in the working world with bills and priorities and see how you like it”….well I’m finally here and I hate it!!!!!!!  Well not really, but I thank her for being who and what she is.  She has brains, beauty, talent and so much more, and I appreciate having her around to motivate and guide me to be young, successful, and focused individuals in life…I am my mother’s child!

Life is a game

Computers have had a huge impact on society’s way of receiving and transmitting vital information.  These same machines serve as a source of entertainment.  Chris Crawford’s work “The Art of Computer Game Design,” chapter 1, goes into great detail about games and how they are an important element in life.  No one would think something as simple as playing a game would be taken so seriously.  In this chapter, we see otherwise, he states, “Games are a fundamental part of human existence” (Crawford 1).  Crawford feels there is a deeper underlying message behind the use of game playing.  He states, “First, our liberal use of gaming terms promotes an exaggerated perception of our own understanding of games” (Crawford 1).  I find his analysis to be very interesting.  While playing games we tend to merely follow the instructions in hopes of finding the easy way out and to get to the finish line first.  We never actually think why and how the game was created, let alone what were the logistics behind it.  Every individual interprets games and its purpose in their own way. 

     

Crawford’s second obstacle is “ambiguity”.  As I stated earlier, no one cares about the concepts behind the game.  The last thing on anyone’s mind is what players should be getting out of this experiment which I would also call “gaming”.  The first words I associate with games are “winning” or “first place”.  My thoughts prove Crawford’s explanation when he states, “We have applied the principles and concepts of gaming so widely that we have watered down their original meaning” (Crawford 1).  I believe all games were created with an educational as well as entertaining purpose.  Unfortunately for society, we only seek the entertainment part of it.  When we think of play or playing we automatically associate it with games.

 

The term “play” is discussed in Johan Huizinga’s work “Nature and Significance of Play as a Cultural Phenomenon.”  Although society today use the term completely different from way back when it was originated, Huizinga gives a little clarification on its definition and history.  He states, “Play is older than culture, for culture, however inadequately defined, always presupposes human society, and animals have not waited for man to teach them their playing” (Huizinga 1).  I was not sure at first what he was trying to say, but have come to the conclusion that society sits around and waits for instructions and directions on how things should be done.  For every game that we come upon, there is a set of instructions.  Play is not something only related to humans, everyone source of life has some form of play.  Animals play, and in no way seeks instructions from humans, so why is it that we wait around to be instructed or told what to do and how it should be done.  A good statement by Huizinga is when he says, “In play there is something “at play” which transcends the immediate needs of life and imparts meaning to the action.”  He goes on to say, “All play means something” (Huizinga 1).  His thoughts make complete sense because everything is life was created with and serves a purpose.  I feel society fails to look at the educational aspect of “gaming” or “playing.” 

Play can be associated with everyone from children, animals, and adults.  It is a part of life.   Even though games are presented to us as source of entertainment, we have to seek the underlying message behind games.  All games have an educational purpose.  We have to not only dissect the game for what it is, but also think why it was created.  What is its purpose and what it trying to teach its players.  Users have to think about the creator’s intentions when creating this game.  Life is a game; we are continuously learning new things everyday and taking new paths and shortcuts to what we would like to call success or betting yet, “winning” in life. 

Lost….

It takes me a while to get from point A to point B in the real life, and sad to say it also took me a while to get from point A to point B in Second Life, as a matter a fact, I never made it to point B.  I guess traveling and navigations is just not my thing.  Thursday night while trying to get to the Berkman campus in second life to join the rest of the class, I became easily angered and frustrated.  I was so close, but so far.  I was always told I was not the best driver, and according to second life, I’m not the best walker either.  I kept falling off clifts, bumping into things, and running away from people who continued to approach me invading my so called “breathing space.”  And I thought living in the real world was tough….does anyone know the number to a cab service in second life who can take me to the next meeting?(lol)…………until next time, blessings!!!!