Divya 123's Blog

My Work

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:55:29 +0000

Assignment 1

Assignment 2

Caricature

Another Activity

Types of Websites

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:15:27 +0000

Presumed Credibility

‘Presumed Credibility’ is based on the general assumptions of the user’s mind- ‘Wikipedia’ is a popular search engine on the web because a lot of people think that ‘Wikipedia’ is good and reliable.

Reputed Credibility

‘Reputed Credibility’ is based on third-party endorsements, referrals or reports. ‘Livescore’ is recommended by a number of soccer magazines online and in print because it not only gives information on forthcoming matches for championships throughout the world but also updates scores as matches are being played.

Surface Credibility

‘Surface Credibility’ is based on first impressions and simple inspection. The ‘Yahoo’ site for instance, gives us the idea that it is easy to use. It has a wholesome, harmonious design with colours that go well with each other. Everything is categorised, conveying the idea that a simple click is enough to go wherever we want to.

Earned Credibility

‘Earned Credibility’ is based on first-hand experience that extends over time: ‘Google’ has become really popular over the years because it has provided excellent customer satisfaction and now according to Seo Consultants, 70% of internet users use ‘Google’ in the United Sates [“Seo Consultants: Top Ten Search Engines, 2009]

Anticipated Issues that may affect a user’s perception of credibility

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:04:08 +0000

If user is not being able to distinguish content from ads in websites
If link links to a site that is not credible to the user
Whether site automatically pops up windows with additional ads
Whether site gives contact details, e.g. phone number, physical address, email address
Whether site provides articles and references them properly
Whether the site links to outside articles
Whether or not site provides immediate response to user’s queries
Whether the credentials of the author of articles on the site are mentioned
Whether the site sends user confirmation mails on user’s transactions
Whether the site lets user browse through past records
Whether the site has been updated since user’s last visit
Whether the site looks professionally designed
If site has a link that does not work
If the site has a typographical error
If the site is unexpectedly available

Why Wikipedia is not accepted as a reference

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:49:37 +0000

Wikipedia is a really popular website among people who look for information because over time, it has built a really good reputation for itself. There is not one single person who does not know about Wikipedia and there is no single person that has not ever referred to Wikipedia at one point of time for information. It is really common and is used by millions of people every day.

As students, I think we are discouraged to use Wikipedia because it is used by everyone and when we are downloading information from that website and include it in our work, there is absolutely no difference between the assignments that different students are going to give in. All of them are going to have the same things written down in their assignments and there will no longer be any originality or style in that piece of work.

Also, it appears as a sort of spoon-feeding method in the sense that every piece of information is instantly provided to the student so that he/she does not have to look anywhere else for it. It does not encourage the student to look elsewhere which might actually lead the student to hand in better quality work because then, he/she can explore different perspectives and facets of whatever they are researching.

Article Summary and Critical Analysis

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:48:26 +0000

Importance of evaluating credibility of websites

Nowadays, a lot of the information we obtain comes from the internet and we get access to thousands of websites providing the kind of information we are looking for. However, it is important to be selective about the information we are using as well as its sources because that improves the quality of our own work, especially as students. When working on a paper, the information that we provide and reference should be credible because that will in turn make our work credible (Burniske, 2008).

There are a number of things that we have to keep in mind when evaluating a website or when taking information from it as there are a number of factors that influence our perception of credibility concerning a website. It depends on the degree of trustworthiness of the website itself, and the fact that we believe or browse more on a specific website because it is recommended to us by friends, or they have a reputation of being reliable, accurate and dependable that they have built over time (Fogg, 2003).

Personally, as a student, if I did not evaluate the credibility of the websites I used for downloading information, I think that could get me into serious trouble because it would in turn compromise my work and the information I used from there. I could get bad marks for not having double-checked information that I included in an assignment.

Burniske, R.W. (2008). Literacy in the Digital Age. Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press.

Fogg, B.J. (2003). Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. Amsterdam, Morgan Kauffman Publishers.

Three visual examples of products/artifacts satisfying the design principle of Performance Load

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:46:19 +0000

Car keys

Nowadays, people no longer have to insert the key in the keyhole of the car door to open it. With an advance in technology and design, pressing a simple button is enough. This device enables the user to unlock or lock the car or boot from a distance and this satisfies the principle of performance load because it involves a decrease in the amount of physical and mental effort that was present in the act of locking or unlocking a car door or car boot. The user no longer has to perform the physical action or fiddle with the keys before taking out the right one or think about ‘Did I or did I not lock the car?’

http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/m/mi/mikecco/616444_car_keys.jpg

Bookmarks

In the past, the websites that were interesting or useful to a user could not exactly be saved. Either it had to be written down on a piece of paper or the link had to be copied, pasted and saved on a word document. That of course goes without mentioning the hassle you had to go through before accessing that same website again- you miss an ‘h’ or a ‘/’ and there you have to re-type it all over again. The bookmarks system makes this easier. As soon as we see a website to which we think we want to come back to we just click on bookmark and save the link automatically. Here also, we see how the amount of physical and mental effort/activity involved formerly in this process is drastically reduced.

http://foliovision.com/images/2007/06/imagesaddthis-sites.gif

Electronic Calculators

Electronic calculators also satisfy the principle of ‘Performance Load’ in the sense that formerly, people had to calculate everything on paper. Therefore, they not only had to look for a pen and paper and write all of their calculations but also exert their brains extensively to make it carry out all those additions, subtractions, multiplications, divisions and so on. The use of the electronic calculator has reduced the amount of physical and mental effort involved in calculations significantly because it performs the work for us.

http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/508128/4179648/0/1195461632/ELECTRONIC_CALCULATOR.jpg

The Necessity of a Study of Psychology in Design

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:36:21 +0000

Psychology is all about how the human mind works and it is rather useful to know how exactly the human mind works in order to be able to deliver powerful and effective design that leaves the desired maximum impact on the audience. A study of how people perceive certain things, how they think about things and how they automatically relate to or associate themselves to something that, according to them, has positive connotations is useful as it gives us the key to appeal to them in the way that they want. One cannot really go wrong with it because it is such a real reflection of what people want or expect from a specific product.

The “chunking technique” in relation to Design and Visual Communication

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:32:27 +0000

“Chunking” is a “strategy for making more efficient use of short-term memory by recoding information”. [“Chambers: Glossary- Chunking Principle, n.d.]. First evoked by a Harvard Psychologist called Miller, it has been proved to be particularly useful in communication. Chinking means that all information should be presented in small digestible units. We read and process tons of information everyday and chunking helps us do that effectively because it focuses on the way that the information is presented.

This is because “when written or verbal information is chunked effectively it is logical, organized, and consistent. This enhances your audience’s ability to understand what is going on” Chunking is used most commonly to organize or classify large amounts of information, especially when there are no obvious patterns in the material, or as a tool in classification. The phenomenon of chunking as a memory mechanism can be observed in the way information is grouped in our day-to-day life. For example, when recalling a number such as 14101946, group the numbers as 14, 10, and 1946, to create a mnemonic for this number as a date, month, and year [San Diego County School of Education: Chunking Information, n.d.]

Chunking as such becomes important in the field of Design and Visual Communication because, in essence, it is something that enables us to communicate our ideas and information effectively to our audience/consumers. Chunking makes remembering and assimilating easier for people so that they can relate positively to whatever information we are giving out through design and visual tools that we are using to communicate. As I mentioned above, people usually have to deal with reading and processing information everyday and the last thing they need is another ton of information thrust onto them to be processed. Chunking allows us scope for regrouping, re-organising and simplifying information so much so that it is communicated in a simple yet effective way.

Chambers: Glossary- Chunking Principle. [n.d.]. Retrieved October 22, 2009 from http://www.chambers.com.au/glossary/chunk.htm

San Diego County School of Education: Chunking Information. [n.d.]. Retrieved October 22, 2009 from http://kms.sdcoe.net/differ/21-DSY/53-DSY.html

Article Summary and Critical Reading

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:30:52 +0000

In this article, we are told that the principle of performance load should be taken into consideration when carrying out a task. This principle can be basically summarized in the sentence: “The greater the effort to accomplish a task, the less likely the task will be accomplished successfully”. This principle is based on two other principles which are “Cognitive Load” and “Kinematic Load” (Lidwell, 2003).

The former refers to any amount of mental activity involved in accomplishing a task while the latter refers to the amount of physical work required to accomplish a task [“Usability First: Usability Glossary”, n.d]. Obviously, both help us in carrying out and completing tasks but both have to be considerably toned down when it comes to design as it is important not to overwhelm or overload the consumer’s brain with an excess of unnecessary in formation. There should be a minimum amount of cognitive load as well as a minimum amount of kinematic load so that the user/consumer finds the product easy to use/consume.

Cutting down cognitive load would basically mean removing unnecessary information, breaking apart data that is to be remembered and making memory aids available to help deal effectively with complicated tasks and other tasks that involve a lot of automation and memory (Sweller,1988). On the other hand, cutting down kinematic load would include taking out unnecessary steps/instructions in several tasks, and by decreasing overall motion and amount of energy as well as repetitive movements invested in a specific task (Fleming & Levie, 1993). In short, we remark that it is essential to keep in mind the principle of performance load because it gives us an idea about the amount of mental and physical effort we should spend when dealing with a task so as to be able to deliver more efficient and effective results.

Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2003). Universal Principles of Design. Massachusetts: Rockport.

Sweller, J., (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning, Cognitive Science. Camberwell, Victoria, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Usability First: Usability Glossary. [n.d.]. Retrieved October 20, 2009 from http://www.usabilityfirst.com/glossary/term_1075.txl

Fleming,M. L., and Levie,W. H. (1993). Instructional message design: principles from the behavioral and cognitive sciences. (2nd Ed) Educational Technology Publications, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Re-designing of Assignment 2

divya123 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:28:59 +0000

I could have used the idea from my Creative Report to include the element of story-telling in my presentation which would be a dialogue between Sponge Bob and Patrick to illustrate the idea of Global Warming.