Captain’s Log:

So in the excerpt of “Designing Interactions” by Bill Moggridge, he talks about different techniques for studying people and how they interact with things in their life. In the excerpt, he speaks specifically of 4 different types of ways of studying people: Learn, Look, Ask, and Try. After reading, I felt the “Look” type of study would be the most beneficial in a study, especially the “A Day in the Life” method. Basically, this method entails that the observer follow the subject for an entire day and document how he or she interacts with certain designs. Obviously,  the observer would have to view the subject  from far  away since if he/she  was close to the subject, the subject might change their behavior in response to them knowing they are being observed. Something this study would be useful for specifically would be seeing how people try to interact with  certain devices or objects, such as televisions, washing  machines, revolving doors, the metro-card machine in the subway, etc..

A project I would use this method for would be how  people use their cellphones and what they use them  for. I did a study on this subject before but my method for obtaining information was just  asking  people  a series of questions. I realize now that people can  say things they use  their phone for  but they  really don’t. So by  observing,  I think I would be able to get  better results.

Captain’s Log:

So I finished reading “The Psychopathology of Everyday Things” by Donald Norman and  it’s basically an article about how certain designs  meant for interaction between people can be confusing to use. While I read, I had mixed feelings of understanding and belief. I could believe about the story of the woman how couldn’t figure out her high-tech washing machine but the guy that got stuck in revolving doors is ridiculous. Anyway,  I could see the point of the reading was that some designs’ functions might not be so obvious to  some people rather than others. As for times where I found it  hard for me to use a certain machine or use some sort of  software, nothing really good comes to mind. I could write about how my family can be incompetent when it comes to tech in general like  how my grandmother can’t figure out how to open her  contacts on her cellphone even  though there’s a shiny  button for it but that’s not what I think could  be a good answer since I ‘m supposed to tell of a time where  an  interface was confusing.