4.26.2009

3.17.2009

Sushi with screens

Crave UK recently went for dinner at Inamo restaurant in London, where interactive touch-sensitive tables take your order. Each table has an overhead projector and a mouse trackpad, so your dining surface is effectively a PC monitor. You can customize your "tablecloth," play a video game against your companion, and order a taxi to get you home.
When you're ready to order, you can browse the menu, with each dish projected onto your place setting. When you've chosen, you can even see a live Webcam feed of your chef at work. The restaurant's founders say the concept evolved from the simple idea of "wouldn't it be cool if you could just hit a button and a waiter brought you another beer?" Watch our video for more.



A lot better video with explonations on CNET.
And article on Dezeen.

3.14.2009

藤子·F·不二雄不当交互设计师真是太可惜了

小时候看的机器猫里面的东西真的一个个都被实现了,
有一集不就是讲下面那个视频么~

机器猫给野比很多书,打开书以后只要用手拍拍书里面的东西就都可以掉出来了,
而且是3D的实体,关上书把东西放进去又是一本书了。

那本机器猫可是94年出版的啊~~噢买噶得~
他还顺便把故事板也画了=____,=!!!~
当漫画家的同时真的可以考虑兼个小职...









TAT-3D Eyetracking UI

3.13.2009

加个亲爱的~林肉曦同鞋看过来~哈哈~

刚在Youtube上面看到一个篮球爱好者收集你说的那个明星卡啦~
顺便他将"女朋友"这个你很想做的点与明星卡结合起来啦~
从2分20秒开始屏住呼吸~





bingo!!就是求婚!!
但是貌似不适合学生=_______=!!!
仅供参考呗~嘿嘿嘿~~~

3.09.2009

Outcome of user study

“优秀的设计来源于深刻的理解。”
周一布置周末去跟踪用户,第二天我就开始了断断续续的网络和实地考察相结合的调查方式,但还是由于自身经验不足,地域局限性,时间完整性等因素,导致不够完全的了解我的目标用户,虽然比第一次的User research要更进了一步,但我相信其实还是有很多东西是没有被完全挖掘出来的。

还是先说下经过这些天的了解,我重新再认识到的我用户。
界定在21岁的服装设计学院学生,这类人群正处于对这个专业由了解熟悉到进一步深入研究的转变,对于设计虽然萌发了自己的一些想法但由于知识吸收的广度和经验累计的深度外加个人天赋和努力程度 的不同,大多数人暂时还无法像一个成熟的服装设计师能宏观的从市场和不同用户需求方面完成一款做工精细,概念完整,大抵可以推向市场的设计,这也就是他们有别于成熟设计师的地方。
并且他们对于自身的定位还没有完全确定,虽然是服装设计专业,但形象顾问,艺人经纪人,服装杂志编辑等都还列在他们对于未来可能性之中。
他们的设计学习基本模式还是在大量欣赏累积模仿,到自我吸收再创造,而他们的问题就在于对于前者的吸入不足,于是很大程度上导致了后者的产出困难。而比赛又是一个可以让他们迅速成长的关键词。

网络调查包括:
●查看服装学院学生的BLOG,
●美国服装设计师真人秀节目《Project Runway》,
●各类相关视频,
●网络交流(有一点点小困难,现实生活中就不太想搭理访问者,更何况虚拟网络,即使金钱诱惑等也无法掳获芳心。这种不被认可而不配合以至被拒我还是给予充分理解的。)

实地调查包括:
IMG_2068
断断续续在师范大学服装学院蹲点,去了三次,大部分时间呆在工艺室,本想跟在大三同学边上一起上课,无奈他们最近的用户调查占很大部分,没在教室找不到人。所以,在服装楼里的也就是在做衣服打版之类的同学。虽然大部分人都是在忙自己的事,偶尔可以碰到老师来给学生讲评,但还是找到了稍微热情点的同学,并且通过几次熟悉后在现场做了调查并通过介绍跟拍了一个同学的课余生活。


数据搜集:
视频断断续续拍了有50多个,照片也有100来张,做了几个访问,发了一些问卷,视频和照片有些细节不知道用不用得上,但做为日后资料我也都保留下来了。等会就挑着传一点吧。
(视频好像有点杂,如果有需要我可以把所有的放在一起剪接一下。)


工艺室

单独采访(片段)

IMG_1988

做衣服的一些细节和场景片段












22521

根据访问和问卷,在整个做衣服过程中除了设计概念之外,
工艺方面最麻烦的就属打版了。
因为要测量,并且计算精确尺寸,再画出来,剪裁。
不能有丝毫误差,工序比较麻烦。
这项工序如果没做好,后面所做的一切就是白费了。
IMG_1852


共性问题(回答人数15人,取其前三名答案):
2

1.在你的手机中最常用的三个功能是什么?
打电话,发短信,拍照。
2.平时上网主要做什么?
QQ,找资料做作业,看电影电视剧。
3.休息时间喜欢哪些娱乐?
逛街,上网,听音乐。
4.包包常备:
手机,钱包,镜子。


key finding

●专业方面
1.材料
a.材料收集:
因为产品种类,信息流通速度,产地,价钱等限制了设计师对于配饰或者衣服零部件,布料等材料的收集和使用。有时候根本就得不到最新最前沿的材料信息,即使现在网络已经很发达。在做衣服之前跟随用户去了布料市场,发现就长沙地方的布料无论是款式和质地上都很局限,而且对于她们学生来说,太昂贵的布料也买不起。
212365




b.材料的性质:
对于并不是pro级别的服装设计师来说,很多时候在挑选材料的时候只凭借手感和视觉是不能清楚的知道一些材料的性质的,此点卖家也不一定能给出很好的答复。是否在水洗过之后还能够保持设计的原样或者大胆尝试了一种新材料但是不能确定它是否能够保证在一般情况下不易磨损或者是否还存在其他隐藏不良性质,很多时候设计师无从了解。
c.材料再创造:
创新,是一个设计脱颖而出的不二法宝。在调查过程中得知,颜色的创新性其实很受局限,但是服装的用料创新就有很大空间了。


2.雷同
这点和Place有很大的关系,因为做衣服都是在同一个工作室,在互相做设计的过程中很容易喵到其他人的设计。在不知不觉中就会因为他人的设计而影响到自己的设计,毕竟不像专业设计师已经行成自己的风格,这个时候学生很容易受到动摇或者因为没有灵感或者创新而出现同类似作品抄袭情况。
23222


3.用户调查&灵感来源
对于设计师来说给什么阶层职位的人,在哪个场所,走什么风格,用什么料,做什么式样,客户到底想要穿什么,这些都是需要一个认真的调研过程。他们会为要设计不同于自己熟悉的风格或者不属于自己擅长路线的服装而感到紧张,这一切的紧张和害怕源就源自于陌生。如何让设计师很好的了解用户的需求设计出适合的服装和我现在做交互设计的User research其实有异曲同工之处。并且他们的灵感来源也不仅仅是翻翻杂志看看时尚秀,很大程度上是来自对于用户背景的了解,和文化历史的运用。


4.做服装或饰品适合自己的时候也想要拥有,但是无奈要上交或者给客户。
dress2o


5.通过调查了解到一些关于现有工具的小缺点小缺陷小窍门,因为繁杂就不赘述了。


●日常喜好方面
1.收集化妆品,
眼镜,
杂志,
指甲彩绘,
往手机化妆品盒上贴膜和钻。
3


去了一位同学的房间,看了一下她的包包,拍摄了她的居住环境,还拍摄了一下她日常会上的网站。
我看到她包包中长备的数码产品就是PSP,MP3,手机

PSP是06年买的第一代,一直用到了现在也没换。一般会在教室,餐厅,等人无聊的时候玩。而她一般不太会玩游戏,而是下载了很多电影之类的放在PSP里。我问她为什么不干脆买MP4,她说因为PSP的屏幕比较大,而且因为游戏功能的强大即使不太玩对于心理也很有保障的感觉。

MP3是06年买的nano一代,相对于PSP,她好像更青睐于用MP3。

手机是今年过年后买的夏普,在这之前是用的NOKIA,并且对于NOKIA很有好感。但就是因为夏普在年轻人当中非常的热,她抱着试一试换换口味的心态买了。但是现在觉得娱乐还是NOKIA比较强大有点后悔。
但是关于手机她比较感兴趣,就多说了一些。像关于NOKIA的手机她自己的体验就是,虽然功能很强大,但是在她使用过程中一个很麻烦的事情就是要下很多软件才可以使用,虽然她的确很希望手机可以用那个功能,但就因为麻烦,她无法耐下心一个个去研究。她朋友介绍她去手机论坛泡上几天就可以了,但她不愿意浪费这个时间,所以宁可不用那些功能。最后手机还是还原到本质,仅仅打电话,发短信,照相。因为有PSP她很少用手机去玩游戏,因为有IPOD她基本不用手机听歌。很多就是因为已经有了更专业的设备,手机对于她来说就做一个漂亮的好手机将最本质的东西发挥到极至就可以了。

关于杂志,她的最大感想就是太大一本了,不方便携带,会在长途旅途上看。而且虽然买了很多杂志,但是她并不会仔细从头读到尾,而且先整体翻一遍,扫到有兴趣的图片就会仔细再看一下,就这么来回快速翻,找到自己感兴趣的再细读。

这是她在换夏普之前的NOKIA,喜欢blingbling和豹纹。我问为什么要贴?答案很简单,就是特别好看好玩。因为手机这种在外频繁使用的产品,对于它的装饰是一个可以展现自己品位特性的另一渠道。还有一个原因,就是喜欢看日系杂志,喜欢Ayu,偶像的爱好潜移默化的在影响着她的审美。
758012112282437956


而且最后我得到一个很有意思的结论就是为什么女生会想要尝试夏普而不买NOKIA,
很多人都是说,因为好贴钻。

821625457019448811




关于使用电脑,除了用绘图软件画画,找资料之外。blog和淘宝是经常使用的网页。blog里一般放自己平时的一些设计和搜集的一些时尚资讯,在网络里这样传播自己除了可以吸引到志同道合的人交流之外还让自己被更多人关注,做事更有激情。淘宝开了一家二手店,但还是以买为主,就是因为平时很喜欢逛街很喜欢买东西所以累积了很多用不着的商品,需要这么一个平台,在自己开的二手店里转卖出去。

IMG_2183



2.摄影(自拍与被拍)
a.在我跟拍的这个用户中,我发现她时刻会用手机中的照相功能。不管是自拍,还是去看芭比展览的时候拍娃娃。我问她为什么不用相机,她说就是觉得手机比较方便。而且之前我个人以为她们看到一切可以激发灵感的事物都会用手绘即时在小本子上画下来,但后来采访才发现,她的小本子就是记录一些很平常的事情。像需要纪录下来的东西她一般就直接用手机拍下来了。
211


请原谅我访问过程中的口吃T_______T



b.帮朋友当模特拍照
不知道是不是因为我在场,好像有点尴尬。


3.逛街
一般会逛化妆品专柜,服饰柜,和小饰品店。娱乐活动的中心内容就是逛街。自己喜欢是一点,专业也要求她要经常到商场逛逛,看看如今的流行元素。
IMG_2160



4.丑=特别=美

看芭比和乐高展的时候,因为之前她提过她从小就喜欢芭比,所以我问她那是否喜欢乐高,因为乐高和芭比的区别还是蛮大的。芭比属于唯美形的,而乐高的感觉比较偏像素,比较古怪。她说她也喜欢,而且特别喜欢海绵宝宝,喜欢一切丑丑的感觉的娃娃。后来继续聊天过程中以我的理解是,这个丑并不仅仅代表的是丑的含义,另一层意思即是特别,与众不同。
(那个……视频的声音偏囧80度)


IMG_2090


5.对于风格多变的追求
不仅仅是对于设计的服装要求多变,自己也会亲身尝试不同的风格甚至性别。并不既定自己于某一固定形式。
就在日常生活中,也许有时候很女人,有时候很中性。她说很喜欢这种反差较大的装扮,生活不能每天一成不变。
22


6.喜欢DIY,对于自己的物品再创造。前面手机贴钻也是很好的例子。
IMG_3939-1

Needs and Wants
●天赋
●灵感创新
●与众不同
●手绘
●手工艺技巧
●用户背景知识
●色彩敏锐度
●时尚信息整合
●新新材料收集再创造
●拍照
●逛街购物
●音乐

3.08.2009

Touchscreens and blind users

Reuters reports on a CES event emphasizing the needs of blind users and the risks of the touchscreen trend. Some excerpts:

The craze for touch-screen gadgets, sparked by Apple Inc's popular iPhone, is raising worries that a whole generation of consumer electronics will be out of the reach of the blind.
Motown icon Stevie Wonder and other advocates came to the world's biggest gadget fest, the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, to convince vendors to consider the needs of the blind. [...]

Advocates argue that if product designers take into account blind needs, they would make electronics that are easier to use for the sighted as well.

The good news is that manufacturers do not need to put large sums of money into making products accessible, nor would they have to forsake innovation, said Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation For The Blind.

"We don't want to hold up technological progress," he said. "What we're saying is, think about the interface and set it up in such a way that it's simple .... The simpler you make the user interface of a product, it's going to reach more people sighted or blind." [...]

With the popularity of touch screens, once simple products such as televisions and stereos have become difficult for blind people to use as they often require navigation of multiple menus that need to be seen to be used effectively.

"That's an increasing problem with new digital devices. It's easy to add feature after feature that's buried under menu after submenu," said Mike Starling, chief technology officer of National Public Radio, which is working on accessible options.

Manufacturers have been putting touch screens in everything from calculators and watches to computers and music players.

Sendero Group President Mike May, who is blind, joked, "Can I ski 60 miles an hour downhill? Yes. Use a flat panel microwave? No." Sendero makes GPS navigational devices that have an audio output for the blind.

There are also screen readers that give an audio reading of a phone's menu. But Anne Taylor, director of access technologies at the National Federation for the Blind, says they do not yet help her to use a touch-screen phone.

She said the ability to use a device without needing to look at it could help sighted people who are driving or older people whose eyesight is starting to deteriorate.

While blind users can buy screen-reading software for $300 upward, it tends to only work on certain phones, often the most expensive smartphones. Sendero said accessible technology is often expensive, and about 70 percent of the U.S. blind population is unemployed.

Taylor is using CES as a forum to present vendors a set of suggestions for product design that she sees benefiting both sighted and blind consumers.

For example, manufacturers could include an easy-to-use start-over button, different sounds for different menus, and controls with good tactile feedback.

Link:Touch-screen gadgets alienate blind(Reuters)

3.07.2009

Her Morning Elegance



我把骑单车那段来回看了好多遍,
好可爱呀,哈哈~

Loewe Commercial. Made me smile.



lol~

3.01.2009

draft of questionnaire and interview

●INTERVIEW(CONTEXTUAL INQUIRE)

老师星期一上课要求先做interview plan,周末再去进行跟踪调查。
但是我设定的用户是服装设计系的学生,他们周末不上课,
除非平时作业没有完成,才会有极少数人去工艺室。

虽然还可以周末去他们寝室用Focus group的方法进行调查,
但是权衡了一下还是觉得用Contextual inquire观察他们如何设计制作衣服比较适合。

就像老师上课说的“迭代”一样,我先去大概调查一下,
回来后再重新梳理一遍找出问题,再去调查一遍,这样效果也许会更好。

所以昨天下午本来打算先去旁听一节服装课并且做下小采访聊下天,
可惜他们作业之前也是需要用户调查,当天下午的课程临时取消了。
我找的用户也没见到面。

我就在整个服装楼里转了转,
发现一层楼有同学在制版,另一层楼的同学已经制好版开始做衣服了。
我就一间间进去,用Contextual inquire的方法先默默的站在他们后面看他们做。
然后尖着耳朵听他们的对话(囧),想听到些问题点什么的。
还有老师在做示范。

在观察的过程中有时候没看懂或者有问题就会问一下,
整个下午大概知道了他们做衣的整个流程,
了解了他们所用的一些工具,和遇到的一些小问题。

虽然刚开始进去的时候有点尴尬,但后来他们习惯我了,
我也习惯他们了,也就OK了。
过程中拍了一些照片和video。

因为这次调查比较匆忙也许还有很多该注意的细节被我遗漏了,
还有很多问题需要更进一步调查。
打算星期五下午和他们一起上一至两堂小课,
因为人比较集中,适合收发问卷和采访。
然后再去工艺室观察一下做服装的过程中我是否遗漏了的小点。

这是他们的工艺室,其他的照片等调查完了再一起整理吧。
未标题-1

●QUESTIONNAIRE

(我觉得我的调查问卷开放性问题是不是太多了,
但基于我自己本身对于他们专业并不了解太深,
我也无法给出合适的候选答案,担心会有错误答案引导倾向。)

1.在你的手机中最常用的三个功能是什么?

2.平时上网主要做什么?

3.休息时间喜欢哪些娱乐?

4.选择本专业的原因?

5.做衣服的时候会听歌吗?
A.经常 B.偶尔 C.从来都不

6.觉得收集时尚资讯方便吗?通常采取什么方法?

7.觉得整个衣服设计过程中哪部分最麻烦?为什么?

8.如果没有设计灵感,通常采取什么解决办法?

9.关于设计你习惯于独自思考还是有同伴一起讨论再解决问题?

10.现在学过的课程中最喜欢哪部分?为什么?

11.对于现在做衣服中所使用的一些产品满意吗?如果不满意,是哪件产品?为什么?

12.如果有新的机器,你会愿意尝试新的还是继续使用已经习惯了的?

13.你觉得对于服装设计师最重要的工具是什么?

14.你觉得对于服装设计师最需要具备什么品质?

15.在这个专业领域,你对自己自信吗?如果否,为什么?

16.想过拥有自己的品牌吗?

17.有非常喜欢的设计风格吗?如果有,是什么?

18.你会因为喜欢那种风格而模仿吗?还是仅仅在于欣赏?

19.你最想提高自己在专业方面的哪项技能?

20. 喜欢画草图吗?A.很喜欢,没事就画 B.还不错 C.没太大感觉 D.不喜欢

21.有自己很喜欢的时尚设计师吗?如果有,who?

22.觉得自己对于颜色和布料搭配的敏感性强吗?想过如何去提高吗?如果想过,如何提高?

2.25.2009

Concept

小小改良版

一开始怕自己的想法不能实现或者太夸张就有点被约束了,

所以我在后面有附赠3个bonus是刚刚想的,可惜没图>_<~
不知道对不对路,好像又有点过了=_____=!!!

不行我到时候再改改~


------------下雨天里的分割线-----------------


您可以点击PPT里面的全屏察看。


People&Place



我设定的目标用户:

21岁,女,服装设计师。
在校学生,有实习经验。

对于服装设计有着极大的热情,
对于最近和未来的流行趋势很敏感,

收集了很多时尚杂志和眼镜,
非常关注于色彩和材料的运用。
习惯随身带小本子纪录自己的突发灵感。

很努力,经常通宵在工作室做衣服,
梦想拥有自己的品牌。

开朗,童心未泯,有很多朋友,
喜欢逛街和上网。

但是不太善于与商家老板沟通,
有时会为没有设计灵感而烦恼。

Place:
工作室,秀场,布料市场,商场,Party/Bar。

2.24.2009

brainstorming

when:
清晨,上班前,夜深人静时,午餐时,过节时,工作日,周末,下雨时,艳阳高照时,寒冬,停电时,没有灵感时,低潮时,缺乏自信时,空虚时,心情烦乱时,极度亢奋时,工作做完时,人流嘈杂时。

where:
后台,在名牌时装发布会现场,KTV,狗狗训练营,巴黎,名牌时装店,自家电脑前,工作室,设计公司,T台,布市,街头,海边,咖啡厅,图书馆,健身房,老板办公室,高级法国餐厅,酒店,主题Party,缝纫机前,展厅,吧台前,电视前,录影棚,自家更衣室,单身公寓,SPA馆,STARBUCKS,音乐厅,沙发上,空旷的广场中央。

what:
留学,为模特穿衣,看秀,修改衣服,跟模特玩暧昧,手绘草图,喝咖啡,买Subway,经营自己的服饰店,上网浏览时尚网页,用电脑画图,看时尚杂志,购买保养品,为朋友搭配衣服,买布,找模特,找灵感,听音乐,跳华尔兹,健身,看画展,唱歌,环球旅游,被帅哥美女围绕,和朋友(Gay)定下周计划,做SPA,做瑜伽,玩逆向思维游戏,上Girlsense网站玩搭配游戏,挖掘新事物为生活添乐趣,一个人走路,照镜子,参加服装设计比赛,上购物网站,买鲜花,和名媛聊天,整理资料,拍照,化妆,自己当模特,收集眼镜,喂狗,涂鸦,听别人聊时尚明星八卦,摆弄玩偶,发呆,喝红酒,和朋友聚会,一心二用的边看时装周转播边接二连三的接电话。

conclusion:
1. 服装设计师周末在巴黎参加服装设计比赛。
2. 服装设计师在人流嘈杂的主题Party上上Girlsense网站玩搭配游戏。
3. 服装设计师低潮时在空旷的广场中央看时尚杂志。
4. 服装设计师缺乏自信时在电视前和朋友(Gay)定下周计划。
5. 服装设计师艳阳高照时在设计公司上网浏览时尚网页。
6. 服装设计师午餐时在海边画草图。
7. 服装设计师寒冬在STARBUCKS为朋友搭配衣服。
8. 服装设计师周末在SPA馆听别人聊时尚明星八卦。
9. 服装设计师夜深人静时在自家更衣室玩逆向思维游戏。
10. 服装设计师上班前在街头买Subway。
11. 服装设计师下雨时在老板办公室整理资料。
12. 服装设计师工作做完时在吧台前跳华尔兹。
13. 服装设计师没有灵感时在高级法国餐厅发呆。
14. 服装设计师空虚时在健身房挖掘新事物为生活添乐趣。
15. 服装设计师午餐时在T台被帅哥美女围绕。
16. 服装设计师心情烦乱时在音乐厅和名媛聊天。
17. 服装设计师停电时在工作室一心二用的边看时装周转播边接二连三的接电话。
18. 服装设计师极度亢奋时在狗狗训练营喂狗。
19. 服装设计师缺乏自信时在名牌时装店拍照。
20. 服装设计师寒冬在后台自己当模特。
21. 服装设计师在人流嘈杂的KTV修改衣服。
22. 服装设计师心情烦乱时在单身公寓用电脑画图。
23. 服装设计师工作做完后在布市摆弄玩偶。

2.23.2009

Can the Cellphone Help End Global Poverty?

SELLING TO THE OTHER THREE BILLION A cellphone shop in Accra, Ghana, which carries and repairs a variety of handsets.
By SARA CORBETT


If you need to reach Jan Chipchase, the best, and sometimes only, way to get him is on his cellphone. The first time I spoke to him last fall, he was at home in his apartment in Tokyo. The next time, he was in Accra, the capital of Ghana, in West Africa. Several weeks after that, he was in Uzbekistan, by way of Tajikistan and China, and in short order he and his phone visited Helsinki, London and Los Angeles. If you decide not to call Jan Chipchase but rather to send e-mail, the odds are fairly good that you’ll get an “out of office” reply redirecting you back to his cellphone, with a notation about his current time zone — “GMT +9” or “GMT -8” — so that when you do call, you may do so at a courteous hour.

Keep in mind, though, that Jan Chipchase will probably be too busy with his job to talk much anyway. He could be bowling in Tupelo, Miss., or he could be rummaging through a woman’s purse in Shanghai. He might be busy examining the advertisements for prostitutes stuck up in a São Paulo phone booth, or maybe getting his ear hairs razored off at a barber shop in Vietnam. It really depends on the moment.

Chipchase is 38, a rangy native of Britain whose broad forehead and high-slung brows combine to give him the air of someone who is quick to be amazed, which in his line of work is something of an asset. For the last seven years, he has worked for the Finnish cellphone company Nokia as a “human-behavior researcher.” He’s also sometimes referred to as a “user anthropologist.” To an outsider, the job can seem decidedly oblique. His mission, broadly defined, is to peer into the lives of other people, accumulating as much knowledge as possible about human behavior so that he can feed helpful bits of information back to the company — to the squads of designers and technologists and marketing people who may never have set foot in a Vietnamese barbershop but who would appreciate it greatly if that barber someday were to buy a Nokia.

What amazes Chipchase is not the standard stuff that amazes big multinational corporations looking to turn an ever-bigger profit. Pretty much wherever he goes, he lugs a big-bodied digital Nikon camera with a couple of soup-can-size lenses so that he can take pictures of things that might be even remotely instructive back in Finland or at any of Nokia’s nine design studios around the world. Almost always, some explanation is necessary. A Mississippi bowling alley, he will say, is a social hub, a place rife with nuggets of information about how people communicate. A photograph of the contents of a woman’s handbag is more than that; it’s a window on her identity, what she considers essential, the weight she is willing to bear. The prostitute ads in the Brazilian phone booth? Those are just names, probably fake names, coupled with real cellphone numbers — lending to Chipchase’s theory that in an increasingly transitory world, the cellphone is becoming the one fixed piece of our identity.

Last summer, Chipchase sat through a monsoon-season downpour inside the one-room home of a shoe salesman and his family, who live in the sprawling Dharavi slum of Mumbai. Using an interpreter who spoke Tamil, he quizzed them about the food they ate, the money they had, where they got their water and their power and whom they kept in touch with and why. He was particularly interested in the fact that the family owned a cellphone, purchased several months earlier so that the father, who made the equivalent of $88 a month, could run errands more efficiently for his boss at the shoe shop. The father also occasionally called his wife, ringing her at a pay phone that sat 15 yards from their house. Chipchase noted that not only did the father carry his phone inside a plastic bag to keep it safe in the pummeling seasonal rains but that they also had to hang their belongings on the wall in part because of a lack of floor space and to protect them from the monsoon water and raw sewage that sometimes got tracked inside. He took some 800 photographs of the salesman and his family over about eight hours and later, back at his hotel, dumped them all onto a hard drive for use back inside the corporate mother ship. Maybe the family’s next cellphone, he mused, should have some sort of hook as an accessory so it, like everything else in the home, could be suspended above the floor.

This sort of on-the-ground intelligence-gathering is central to what’s known as human-centered design, a business-world niche that has become especially important to ultracompetitive high-tech companies trying to figure out how to write software, design laptops or build cellphones that people find useful and unintimidating and will thus spend money on. Several companies, including Intel, Motorola and Microsoft, employ trained anthropologists to study potential customers, while Nokia’s researchers, including Chipchase, more often have degrees in design. Rather than sending someone like Chipchase to Vietnam or India as an emissary for the company — loaded with products and pitch lines, as a marketer might be — the idea is to reverse it, to have Chipchase, a patently good listener, act as an emissary for people like the barber or the shoe-shop owner’s wife, enlightening the company through written reports and PowerPoint presentations on how they live and what they’re likely to need from a cellphone, allowing that to inform its design.

more:(2/8)http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/magazine/13anthropology-t.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2

2.22.2009

Debut

交互设计的课程才刚刚开始,

还有很多地方需要认真学习.

这是第一次作业,关于User research.

我的研究对象是Fashion designer.

整个研究下来我自己初步拟定了一个concept,

不知道方向有没有错.

PPT下面附带了3个video.

A,关于29岁的职业服装设计师的访问

B,关于服装设计学院学生的访问

C,相关产品Girlsense的简单介绍

Problems:

1.需要归类并有效的管理大量的时尚信息

2.需要用sketch记录突然的灵感

3.对于颜色和材料的了解和选择

4.用户的喜好和反馈

5.做衣服耗时长

6.和商家的关系

7.灵感需求,对于未来流行趋势的预测


A



B


C

Girlsense和芭比都不太算针对于fashion designer出的产品,

只能算对于fashion有兴趣的人的产品,

而他们当中的人很有可能是以后的fashion designer.


欢迎给我提意见.

谢谢.

2.20.2009

FieldCREW - A User Research Technology Concept


Rob Tannen on 22 September 2008

At this past weekend's Design Research Conference(DRC2008), I presented on the topic of user research technologies - what's currently in use and some of the newer tools that can be applied to research.

One of the key points I discussed is the lack of tools that are specifically and intentionally designed around the needs of user researchers with respect to data gathering, analysis and communication of findings. To address that need, I've been working with the design team at Bresslergroup on creating a concept user research technology platform. While still under creative development, I took the opportunity of the DRC to present our work in progress.

The field-based contextual research workstation, or FieldCREW, is primarily targeted at improving data collection efficiency, particularly when studying complex, multi-dimensional work situations such as surgery in an operating room or a construction crew.




FieldCREW brings together a number of "near-future" technologies to support user research in two contexts:

When a researcher is working by him/herself and needs to play the role of both note-taker and videographer

When a team of observers is working together and needs a way to synchronize their observations around multiple events

The Workstation consists of the tablet and several wireless data gathering components (see illustrations in the slideshow below). The components include:

Wireless, remotely controlled tracking video cameras for audio and video recording

Handheld wireless taggers that allow each observer to tag key events of their choosing for later review - tagging is synched to a common timeline on the tablet

Subvocalization sensor allows the researcher to silently dictate notes that are automatically transcribed to text and stored on the tablet

The tablet manages and receives data from these wireless components and provides features including:


Video notation (i.e. telestrator) for annotation of events as they happen
Speech-to-text translation of recorded audio (and subvocalizations)


Access to stored and online project and research reference materials
Built-in storage and recharging for wireless components


Synchronization of all input sources (video, tagging, notes) for streamlined analysis



slideshow:http://www.flickr.com/photos/60194414@N00/sets/72157607435006771/show/

2.19.2009

Texting a signal of wider trends (bbc.co.uk, 11 January 2009 )

Ask anyone over 25 what digit they use to ring a doorbell and most people will pop up their index finger.

But ask a youngster and they are much more likely to extend a thumb.

"Where texting is happening they use the thumb," Anand Chandrasekher, head of Intel's ultra mobility group, told BBC News at CES.

For Mr Chandrasekher the change from index finger to thumb overturns decades of practice.

It shows the growing importance of mobile technology and how it can shift behaviour and who will be the big users of it in the future.

"The next generation of computer users is kids and the way they use it is totally different," he said, adding that the mania for texting, mobiles and the net was a symptom of a larger shift.

"If you look at what's happening underneath we think it's about the internet and the internet becoming pervasive," said Mr Chandrasekher. "People want it wherever they are."

But, he said, few people seem to want to use a mobile phone, even a smartphone, to get at all their online stuff.

Research by Intel suggests that 80% of people with a smartphone get frustrated when accessing the net with one.

The reason, he said, was because they only got a portion of what they were used to when they sat down in front of a desktop.

That frustration, said Mr Chandrasekher, helped to explain the growing interest in so-called netbooks - small machines that do a good job of connecting to the web but, before now, have lacked the processing horsepower of their laptop and desktop brethren.

Statistics released at CES by the Consumer Electronics Association show that in 2008 the sales of netbooks jumped by 63%.

The CEA said, in the US, about 10 million of the cut-down computers were sold. It expects sales of the machines to almost double in 2009.

This year it also expects that 63% of computers sold in the US will be portable.

"I remember three or four years ago there were models out there and they did not take off," said HP spokesman Reagan Lucas, "and here we are at the beginning of 2009 and the segment has really taken off."

But, he said, people were careful shoppers when they go looking for a netbook and were keen to get as many features as possible into the gadget they buy

"Everyone wants the mostest for the leastest," he said.

Netbooks launches

At CES, HP showed off its Mini 1000 series of netbooks that come with either a solid state or standard hard drive, 92% size keyboard and are based around Intel's Atom 270 chip that is optimised for smaller devices.

The Mini 1000 Mi series run a Linux-based interface that gives owners access to a few key common tasks, such as e-mail, web browsing, media watching and sharing.

CES also saw the launch of netbooks such as the Asus Eee T91, the pricey Sony Vaio VGN P500, Dell Mini Inspiron 910 and many, many others.

Mr Chandrasekher said many of the smaller computers shown off at CES and due to go on sale in 2009 go beyond the basic capabilities of the first generation of netbooks.

The next version of Intel's Atom chip would cut power consumption by up to 10 times, claimed Mr Chandrasekher and do much to make netbooks more capable computers.

"It might sound paradoxical," said Mr Chandrasekher, "but it took a lot of processing power to make a gadget's graphical interface easy to use.

"There's a lot of intelligence that can be put in to help with that," he said.

Younger generation 'key'

Intel is not alone in trying to limit the compromises people make when buying a netbook. At CES graphics specialist Nvidia demonstrated a prototype machine based around its Tegra chip family.

"We see an opportunity in this product segment as the performance is pretty bad in most cases," said Stuart Bonnema, technical marketing manager for Nvidia's mobile products group.

"The graphics are designed for Outlook and Excel rather than performance."

The Tegra chipset, based around the ARM 11 processor design, uses dedicated hardware to handle graphics rather than rely on the basic abilities bound to a netbooks core processor. Without that dedicated silicon, said Mr Bonnema, videos or films would be unwatchable on a netbook.

"It'll play back video at three or four frames per second that is supposed to be running at 24," he said.

Decent video and media handling abilities were likely going to be crucial for the younger generation of netbook users, said Mr Bonnema.

"It's likely they will be used to watch video or create and edit clips for YouTube," he said.

The first netbooks with the Tegra chipset onboard should appear before June 2009, said Mr Bonnema.