My+Lab+Assignments

// Design for the Other 90%' at // [|//http://other90.cooperhewitt.org///]  // is an exhibition showing low-cost design solutions for the 5.8 billion living in poverty, and analyzes thirty humanitarian design projects, which address basic needs in the areas of shelter, health, water, education, energy and transport. //   1. Shelter - Global Village Shelter This project was designed to alleviate poverty for the project's stakeholders because it provides a safe place for the user to live for up to eighteen months. During this time, the user can concentrate on other responsibilities such as finding work and taking care of their family rather than worrying about finding shelter. Health - PermaNet This project was designed to alleviate poverty for the project's stakeholders because it helps to protect its users from malaria. Countries such as Africa, which have high malaria rates, are often the victims of low economic growth. With the use of PermaNet, users are much less likely to fall victim to malaria, and thus, are more able to contribute to their economy by working and earning an income. Water - Water Storage System This project was designed to alleviate poverty for the project's stakeholders because it provides clean drinking water for its users. This allows the users to be healthier, as well as provides them with extra water for their crops during the dry season. This extra water could be used to help their crops grow, which in turn, would lead to more income for the farmers of countries such as India. Education – Solar Home Lightning System This project was designed to alleviate poverty for the project's stakeholders because it provides a wireless solar-power system to the homes of underprivileged families in India. This power source allows for children to have more time to devote to their school work (since they are able to have light in their homes at night); this can lead to higher literacy rates, and more educated youth in countries such as India. Energy – Solar Aid This project was designed to alleviate poverty for the project's stakeholders by providing hearing-impaired people in developing countries the opportunity to reach their full potential. Through the use of a solar-powered battery recharger, the hearing aid is much more affordable for those in developing countries. The hearing aid’s affordability means that it can be used by a larger range of people; allowing hearing-impaired people in developing countries to continue with their education and earn a living. Transport – Big Boda Load-Carrying Bicycle This project was designed to alleviate poverty for the project's stakeholders because it allows its users to carry more with them to and from their homes. This means that the user will not have to make repeated trips carrying water, food, and other daily necessities. The user will thus have more time to spend on other activities such as earning an income and taking care of their family.
 * Lab 2 **

2. Stakeholder analysis enables sustainable and socially responsible design because it takes everyone involved into account. By taking everyone who has a vested interest in the project into account during the design process, the wants and needs of the end user are incorporated into both the design process and the product itself. This ensures sustainable and socially responsible design by ensuring that the end user is capable of using, fixing, and recreating the product as necessary in the future; with little to no involvement from the outside shareholder.

3. Five characteristics of socially responsible product design: -improves the quality of life of its users -made of readily available/affordable materials -durable/sturdy materials and design -simple to assemble -little to no maintenance required

1.In three paragraphs, describe the role of Jan Chipchase in defining the role of cellphones in the developing world for Nokia, and the benefits of analyzing and defining their use in different cultures as part of their market expansion. Jan Chipchase plays an important role in the development of cellphones in the developing world for Nokia. Since is in direct contact with their future consumers, he is free to observe their daily lives and tasks which they must complete. He is also free to directly ask them about their wants and needs in terms of communication. Since Jan establishes social bonds, he is able to answer questions about consumers which would not be easily found out by Nokia through other means of research. By analyzing things such as what the locals keep in their pockets, Jan can help Nokia gather important knowledge on their consumer base.
 * Lab 3**

2. -human-centered design inclusive-capitalism - w/in country, people are making own income, not in the hands of large corporations (micro-financing) just-in-time – ordered when needed, no warehouse, no waste -3 billion people use cell phones -what do people carry daily? -keys, wallet, and cell phone cell phone – recovery tool, allows people to transcend space and time, personal & convenient center of gravity - where you keep the 3 items -how to illiterate people communicate? -delegation reverse-engineering – taking it apart to find out how it works, map how each component works

-cell phone towers are less expensive to build and maintain -home phones require customers to have permanent address and ability to pay a bill monthly -computers are costly and demand literacy -cell phone is more egalitarian why are cell phones so important? –extension of identity; can keep it if you move, similar to social insurance number, identity is mobile, not fixed on an address -speed of adoption is very rapid

__'The Story of Stuff'__ //'The Story of Stuff' with Annie Leonard at http://www.storyofstuff.com/ index.html is a cultural and educational phenomenon, and has had over 5 million viewers.// Annie Leonard defines the system of the ‘materials economy’ as the process by which stuff flows through the various stages. These stages are extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. Essentially, it is the process of where products come from and how they are disposed of. Consumers, the government, and corporations all play very important parts in the materials economy. After defining the materials economy, Leonard begins to describe the interactions within the system.
 * Lab 4**


 * Extraction** is the removal of natural resources. This includes cutting down trees, fishing, and mining. Leonard shares some shocking statistics regarding extraction, including “in the past three decades alone, one-third of the planet’s natural resources base have been consumed.”
 * Production** is the creation of products from the extracted natural resources. This stage often involves the use synthetic chemicals and toxins. These toxics begin to build up in the food chain, and are now present in our bodies. Those who are affected the most by these toxins are the factory workers. Although a low of toxics leave the factory as products, even more leave as by- products (pollution). “In the U.S., industry admits to releasing over 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals a year.”
 * Distribution** is the process of selling the aforementioned products to consumers as quickly as possible. The main goal of distribution is keep the prices as low as possible. Prices are kept low by paying store employees low wages, and skimping on health insurance. Costs are externalized; the real costs of creating products are not reflected in the price.
 * Consumption** is the heart of the system, the engine that drives it. Planned obsolescence basically means “designed for the dump.” Some companies actually produce stuff that is designed to become useless very quickly, so that we will throw it out and replace it with a new one. Now there is also “perceived obsolescence.” This convinces consumers to throw away something even if it is not broken or old. This is very obvious in certain sectors, such as fashion where trends dictate what is ‘in’ one month and out the next. Media and advertisements play a huge role in this.
 * Disposal** is what happens to all the stuff that we buy after we are done with it. In the United States, each consumer makes 4 1/2 pounds of garbage a day. Incineration is often employed in order to dispose of garbage, but it is even worse. Burning the garbage releases the toxins from the products into the air, and can even create new super toxics like dioxin (the most toxic man-made substance). For each garbage can a consumer disposes, 70 garbage cans of waste were made earlier in order to make the contents of that garbage. This means that even if each home recycles, there will still be tons of garbage.

The Flash presentation is organized in a very effective and logical manner. The categories comprising ‘the materials economy’ are organized in a chronological fashion, with each category at the top of the page, which creates a navigation bar. While Leonard is talking, the appropriate section in the navigation bar is highlighted. This encourages the reader to learn more about this particular section by clicking on the highlighted portion. This is useful because it gives additional information as well as clarifying any terms the reader may not be aware of. Another way in which the interface design is effective is the way in which form and content directly correlate. The animations used were all created in black and white for two distinct reasons. This ensures fast downloading, as well as ease of understanding the content without additional visual distractions. The animations directly relate to the narration; if the reader misses anything they can easily follow along with the animation. There is also a script included on the website, which is another method allowing the user to follow along at their own pace, or refer to after watching the video.

Physical computing is a fairly new term, which typically means the use of a tangible user interface. Through the use of sensors, data is represented in a tangible fashion.
 * Lab 7**

This visualization of data is useful in that it allows the user to see data. This ; not as abstract -dependent on sensors -can look at and understand data in new ways -changes visual representation of data eg: accelerometer in iPhone allows user to ‘feel’ changes; game play

exemplar: Dan is enabling a cyclist to signal without using their hands; simply by tilting your body causes the correct directional signal to flash -accelerometer attached to helmet, rider simply has to tilt their head -he has to define the threshold so that user does not unintentionally set of the signal light by leaning to one side -if there are two different thresholds, it figures out which one to use -cyclist can also activate signal with their hand if necessary

Sylvain Cottong defines ‘service design’ as ensuring that what a consumer sees from a business is planned out in an appealing way, and is a positive experience for both sides.
 * Lab 9**

-client is everything; interaction and presentation are very important -interaction/feelings are more important than products -if you are anxious, you lose some ability to problem-solve since you have narrowed your view -if you are happy/calm, the brain works better, problem-solving is easier -McDonald’s is a company who uses the human likes/dislikes to their advantage.. instant gratification -choice of typefonts, colours used, shape of bottle; visceral experience is very important/subconscious -illusion of familiarity -reflective: shows who you are as a person; eg: certain cars show status, money, expensive watch -best value -service economy is a very large portion of the economy of many countries

Service design is so important because it is the first interaction the consumer has with the company. This interaction can, in many cases, can 'make or break' the consumers' views of the organizations.

In addition to benefitting the consumer, service design also has several benefits to the company. These include easy to navigate websites, and increased sales and profits.