A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

I wholeheartedly agreed with Norman’s question about the dreary way that number facts are presented. This was in direct correlation to Vicente’s example of the nuclear reactor operators’ dilemma in analyzing a dizzying array of numbers and dials. Vicente’s presentation of Beltracchi’s temperature-entropy diagram is an excellent example of the power of image over text for delivering a message clear, concisely and quickly.
The diagram above displays what I have been showing to parents on parent-teacher interview night with respect to their student’s “learning zone”. For some students, their learning zone is wide; hence they can learn or are motivated to try homework even when it is perceived as too easy or too hard. For some, their zone is quite narrow, avoiding practice they perceive as unnecessary, redundant basics or questions that are too difficult even to attempt after first glance. It is my job to open their minds to open their Learning/Effort/Motivation zone. By focusing on the learner and their individual learning backgrounds, styles, desires, and abilities enhances my teaching practice.
Focusing on the learners in developing learning tasks, and in my particular case, the learning shell, will enhance my design skills and thought processes.


Following Leo Fender’s example (Vicente, p78) I will endeavour to watch real users really using my product, and take their feedback under serious consideration.
Perhaps their feedback will give me insights into how to provide feedback to them. Will I annoy them with beeps and buzzers? Will I chastise them with high pitched boings as they answer incorrectly? Extrapolating from Norman (p103) I would hope to use pleasurable sound coding to indicate an error. It is my suspicion that a pleasurable sound may lead to users perceiving lower stress and also a willingness to try again, even after receiving corrective feedback. Corrective feedback need not be punitive, only informative.
What stemmed from a mess of green and red on my foolscap, eventually became this interconnected map of ideas that leads me to my next goal in teaching and learning. As a math teacher, I often strive to teach the beauty of mathematics, the interconnected ness of method and madness, of numbers and language. This encourages me to motivate students to see the broader, more holistic view of numeracy, numbers and mathematical problems; as the Japanese say “See the whole mountain”. In doing so, this would lead me to follow Vicente’s (p88) advice to “tailor products not just to the body but to the mind”. I would like now to extend that for a long term goal as a designer, to reach beyond just the body and mind, but to reach into a student or user’s nature, spirit and psyche. Maybe then I will have created something truly educative.

Reflections on Norman Chapter 3 and Vicente Chapters 4 and 5

It seems these readings are very timely as we begin our website development. I am trying to keep Vicente’s advice and avoid the psychological labyrinth many users need to follow as they enter such realms as web portals and phone message centers. I am trying as much as possible to follow human nature and leave digital breadcrumbs for people to follow back and understand where they are in the website as well as multiple entry points for the same page. In doing so, I hope to be able to create a site that is easy for most people. One thing I found particularly interesting is the behaviour coding that causes either grief or comfort for users. While there is no possible way I can make using the site a tactile experience, it can become a positive visceral experience as the colours I hope are pleasing and colour coding will help visitors navigate through the site and return as easily as possible.

Norman presented a contrasting, albeit not all together conflicting view still emphasizing the importance of the visceral level of design. It seems that for many products, the success is in the packaging not in the product; clearly he understands how to “sell the sizzle not the steak”. This led my design as I tried to choose a template that was simple in its design and colour scheme. Similar to Vicente’s work, it may be challenging to create a site that affects all senses. Clearly we cannot follow Subway restaurant’s lead by leaving the door open to our stores and employ the lure of freshly baked bread to attract our customers, so our challenge will be to create something that connects to the visual and audio senses of our users. Perhaps I may be able to connect to their reflective nature with the use of pictures and quotes on my page. While at the same time trying not to alienate their reflective level by avoiding their psychological labyrinth mentioned previously.

I appreciated their advice to seek feedback from real users in a natural setting and to take feedback sincerely as the “iterative design process is the heart of effective user centered design”.
One point puzzled me though. While we are advised to avoid the user learning the site as well as material, it seems that the site’s success may not be entirely dependent on this. England’s magic roundabout and the insertion of batteries are two examples that people live with everyday yet continue to use even with their extreme behaviour coding. Is this a function of the design mantra “Learn it once, remember it forever”? Or is it the fact that at this juncture in time there is no other option?

All the while I read about design this week I was reminded of Arthur C. Clark who is quoted as saying “If we have learned anything from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run and often in the short run – the most daring of prophecies seem laughably conservative”

Reflections on Norman Prologue, Chapters 1 & 2, Vicente Chapters 1 &2

Intuition
It seemed almost impossible to log in today as I haven't used this blog nor my gmail account for over a year. Finally after many poundings on the keyboard, I found the memory in my own head to log in.
This was in direct violation of Norman's argument that my brain should have been prepared for such an endeavour. Sitting in my comfortable office chair in my well-lit main room, the smell of the brownies my sons made today still wafting in the air, with a full belly and a freshly brushed set of teeth I should have been ready to deal with armeggedon - but found myself pounding on the keyboard just to get started. It seems that even with the best of visceral conditions, stress can still occur.
I found it very interesting that while in class the instructional design left the visceral aspects of colour, aesthetics to last, Norman put great emphasis on it as a motivating and stress reducing factor in digital environments. This made me question, "Is there a finite order with which to proceed in developing Computer Based Learning Environments (CBLE)?" I am certain the answer will come in the chapters that follow.
With respect to Norman's optimal visceral conditions, while I agree that people should perform better under those conditions, how as the designer can I control for that in the users environment? Unless they are working in a lab under direct supervision, it seems a bit hard to control. Perhaps we can remind our users to light their favourite Yankee candle prior to sitting down to work.
Vicente's first two chapters seemed to reinforce the ideas presented in class that we must first think of needs not wants. Needs for the product in our lives, needs of the learners, needs of society.
However, both readings made me come to the realisation of the challenge that lies ahead in creating CBLE's as we have a massive responsibility to attempt to predict human nature, human intuition and all the foibles that humans have. This lead me to question "Can or does one technology fit all?" Again, the answer may come later.
One point I particularly appreciated was as technical sophistication increases so does the need for social interdependence of the instructional designer (Vicente, P41).
What bound the two chapters together was the entry point of designing motivation for instruction. Keller's (1983) ARCS model of Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction for developing learning environments I believe is strongly associated with Norman's and Vicente's work.
To conclude I return to Vicente's work (p35) when it came to setting up this new blog. Unlike the onboard oil check of the Mercedes-Benz, creating this blog did not cause me to think too much.

References

Keller, J.M. (1983). "Motivational design of Instruction", In C.M. Reigeluth (Ed.) Instructional Design Theories and Models:An overview of their current status" Hillsdale, NJ. Earlbaum.

Norman, D. (2005). Emotional Design. Basic Books, NY.
Vicente, K. (2004). The Human Factor. Random House, Toronto.