What do you think of Maeda’s observations on simplicity and emotion?

What I think the excerpt “emotion” from John Maeda’s book The Laws of Simplicity is trying to get across is the fact that you can express emotions with just as much diversity as you can when you are talking to someone face to face. The need for human emotional interaction is still present in our world of high speed data transfers, It is only natural that certain things can be done to express on self through text and still make the reader feel the emotion that the writer want to convey. The most simple version of this would be writing out something in CAPS. It shows the recipient that you are trying to come across as unpleasant or screaming at someone.
How can designing for emotion foster engagement?

Like a person that people want to be around because his emotional intelligence, I feel that a product can have the same type of magnetism if built to elicit a specific emotion. If a person buys a product and forms an attachment to it like they would with a person, There is a likelihood that when a new version of a product comes out the attachment to the company not the product necessarily will lead them to buy the new one.
Is there an object or design that you are attached to?

There isn’t a specific product that I have formed an attachment to, its more an attachment to a company and the software it uses. I loved my first Motorola and since then I have continued to buy Motorola products since then. When they began to make smart phones and they used the android O.S. it just made the products they made that much better for me.

What do you think of Maeda’s observations on simplicity and emotion?

I can really relate to some of the point that was brought up in the reading by John Maeda, “Emotion. I was especially interested in the section where he discussed Shintoism. This is something that I have felt my whole life but had no clue whether it was taught it even exist. When something or an object does not cooperate with what I’m trying to do with it, I will somehow deprive the object of its natural state as a form of punishment. Now that I know that there is an actual term for it, I feel less crazy. I do a lot of graphics work and I always feel that simple is better; however after reading this article, Maeda has certainly shown the importance of complexity when related to emotion. When dealing with an item that a designer intends to market, emotions play a huge role with the item or brand longevity in the market place.

How can designing for emotion foster engagement?

In order to capture the emotions of the majority, information and ideas has to be considered from a large arrange of people with different personalities. Any time you put together a group of different opinions and input, the act of engagement will come natural.
Is there an object or design that you are attached to?

If there is an item that I am attached to, it will be my cell phone. Like most people today I almost feel naked without it.

Group members: Corey and Richard

1 ) Location : Celeste Cafe

2) We observed people more less eating, reading and primary keeping to themselves. The booths were filled with couples that kept their conversation between each other.

a. The person that we spoke to was nice enough to answer questions; however he still gave me the impression that he’d rather not be bothered.

3)

Persona 1

a. Age: 30

b. This person is from Staten Island. this person have a contemporary look with a mix of old school. This person appears to be looking for something

4) This person is interested in having a good drink and a good time.

5) This person see this space as a place to go for the environment and good people. As well as a good drink.

6) This person will use the project to determine the best time to go to the space.

Persona 2

a. Age: 24

b. This person is from Brooklyn. this person have a casual look. This person appears to be familiar with the area.

4) This person is interested happy customers, lite work, stuffed animals, pop-music, trinkets, blogging and soap operas.

5) This person see this space as a place to go for a job, big tippers and enthusiastic co-workers.

6) This person will use the project to predict when the space have the most people in it.

Persona 3

a. Age: 36

b. This person is from Mexico. Very pretty lady. This person is not familiar with the area.

4) This person is interested meeting new people.

5) This person see this space as a place to meet new people.

6) This person will use the project to meet people.

Persona 4

a. Age: 24

b. This person is from Manhattan. Young man with med build.

4) This person is interested in art and nature, and meeting like minded people

5) This person see this space as a place to eat and read.

6) This person will use the project to meet likeminded people.

1. What is your prototype of? This is an app that works and communicates with the automobile navigation system, and fuel gage. It tells you whether it will be cost effective to switch to a hybrid based on you travel pattern.

2. How do people use it? Interactive touchscreen allows you to monitor/view details of your gas consumption and travel distances. The app records the amount of money spent and gas consumed over a period of a week, month and year. it also provides a “can I make it” that tells you if you have enough gas to make it to the next station

John Madea excerpt of his book Laws of Simplicity titled emotions spends a lot of time talking about how emotions affect context and how our designs should trigger emotions. I find this read a very good one personally. He starts with the popular phrase of  “form follows function” a quote from Louis Sullivan that has been taught to death in our curriculum (but for good reason) and spins with “feeling follows form.” The phrase (I think) means that feelings or emotions are conveyed through a certain  form.  For example the author describes an email his daughter sends him; the email reads “I love you” but the message is not interpreted as simple as that because of the way it’s written. Writing I love you all caps with and a pink font still says I love but for the person reading it bears more of an impact and it’s more genuine than the typing in in the browsers standard type face. Maybe even humorous provided the context and the relationship between the folk communicating. It attempts to capture the nuances in spoken communication. Thus feeling follows form as demonstrated in this example.

I have to say though that this created some cognitive dissonance for me.  Minimalism has been a way of life  for me. Forms follow functions is just as good as a quote from the bible to a Christian for me. I may have been mistaken but it seems John Madea was telling  me to embrace the opposite. Instead of stripping something down to the bear necessities we should now decorate it’s design with the hope of triggering emotions? I read on. He further explains that modernist design led to objects looking clean which he claims is similar too to the design principles traditional Japanese design. But object of Japan design essentially have a “soul” which forces a natural connection between itself and the user. That’s a powerful message because as a designer you want everything you create to make a difference in the life of the user and that’s what Madea is saying about emotion in design. It gives the artefact a soul which people will feel and care for over a lifetime.

I really like the design in the dark stalkers series specifically the promotional art done by Kinu Nishiura. It’s sort of a comedic spin on classic hollywood monsters which normally frighten me but I find these very charming

My favorite character in the DS series. She’s clearly inspired by little red riding hood but she definitely won’t let herself get eaten by a wolf.

When I see this character I feel two emotions. At first she seems to be a harmless little girl, very adorable too. Then when she pulls out grenades from her dress and grins with madness you’re like “oh damn! This character is hilariously awesome!” I’m very attached to this character.

After reading “Emotion”, an excerpt from John Maeda’s book “The laws of simplicity”, I realized that most of our items that are used on a daily basis have been designed to be simple looking. For example the iPod, a monotone object but with a sleek design. John went on to say how these simple designed items show no emotion and this leads to people to accessorize the item in a way that makes the item have some form of emotion. To me, I feel like companies create items with a simple design so mass manufacturing the item would be easier and consumer can spend more money on the item by buying accessories.

In my opinion, a lot of art is designed with emotion and is meant for viewers to engage the art. For example, the artist can create a piece and viewers would walk up to the piece and ask themselves questions like “who are these people?” or “these look like the mountains I can see from my house.”

There really isn’t any object or design that I am attached to. In terms of design, I lean towards simple designs, nothing blingy. If I had to pick one object I am attached to, I guess I would say my iPod classic. I believe it is the last iPod with the wheel released by Apple. To me, it reminds me of times where people were asking each other what music they had on their iPod and not comparing their stats in Angry Birds or Temple Run.

In this reading Bill Moggridge talks about how designers design better when they take the future end user in to consideration. This meant know how the end user would use the product and how they would engage the product over the course of its lifetime. With that information you could determine how you would design a product that is center more around having a  user friendly experience. His team at IDEO took it a step further and developed a deck of cards that show 51 ways to learning about people. This is helpful because people are complicated and if your end goal is to satisfy everyone of your consumers then it best to get brainstorming all the possibilities. So this deck of cards includes ways to learn about the users, ways to observe them, questions to ask and showing them prototypes.  These cards helped take the complicated and some what intimidating task in to a some what fun and inspiring board room meeting.

In this week reading “Emotion” by John Maeda he talks about how many of our modern day items have been designed to be “simple”. By simple he means a usually one color with a sleek design. He went on to talk about how an about with such a simple design show no emotion and some people even go out and buy cases or even customized the items they buy in order to produce the emotion response that we expect from said item. The fact that we stepped away from crafting items in order to make more in mass production also has a lot to do why they are simpler and less elegant than things a while ago.

John Maeda “Emotion”

After reading John Maeda Emotion, I found it to be quite interesting. He describes how design can affect a person. His mother thinks simplicity is ugly but to me, I find modern simplicity to be very attractive. He goes on and say how his mother like “bling” stuff and find simplicity stuff to be cheap. An example he used was the iPod, which I agree with him. Apple’s gadgets design are almost all based on simplicity yet they are in no way cheap. In my opinion every has their own perspective on design, it can be  extravagant or very simple. Willing to look at other design with an open is the best bet to improving yourself.

A design that will trigger a person’s emotion instantly would be a ring. As we all know, a ring means a person’s commitment to their significant other. It could be a couple’s ring, engagement, or marriage, what ever the case may be, the person giving it is showing their emotion of happiness and well as the person receiving it. A little design can bring out a lot of happiness for two people.

A design that I’m very attached to is my first pair of ice skates and till this day I still have them. Even though they don’t fit anymore but it brings back a lot of memories. I still remember when I first tried to ice skate, I kept on falling and wanted to give up. My grandfather said I can’t give up just because I hit a bumpy road. In life I will run into many bumpy road, will I just give up because of that and become a loser? After hearing that I continued on trying to ice skate and when I finally skated without falling for the first round, it was one of the best accomplishment feeling a little kid could have. I still take out the skates and look at it every time I feel like I’m stuck on something in life.

I got around to reading John Maeda’s thoughts on Emotion and how it affects people today and I have to say I found it very interesting how little designs can have huge effects on people’s minds. He spoke about how his mother dislikes greatly any objects that have a plain design to them. I believe that she said it makes them look “cheap”. Although there are some objects with plain designs on them such as the iPhone, I would hardly call something like that “cheap”. However, Maeda points out that we as humans design things in order to give them a more personal touch or a sense of style; something that makes them stand out from the rest. Designing things with emotion in mind can have a hugely positive effect on people. For example, the creation of a beautiful statue can insight many emotions in a person. A better example would be the construction of the Freedom towers. There are many lingering feeling after the tragedy of 9/11 and the creation of these new towers can make people feel like their hope and security is returned or it can serve as a memorial to the people who lost their lives. Something like this can cause people to relate and be attached to said objects in many ways. An object I’m attached to would be my very first and only basketball I received when I was 4. I was so happy when my dad got it for me since he knew I liked to emulate Micheal Jordan back when was still a player in the NBA. Although it was too big for me to really play with at that time, I grew up with it and I still have it with me to this day. When I look at it now, I can still remember all the times I played with it as a child quite vividly. Especially the times when my dad has beaten me on one on one’s.