Exercise 3.3 Speculations – Gary De La Cruz
Collapse | Governance | Logo | Outrage
In 2018 Santa Ana implemented the MemoryBoard project. It was a permanent interactive art installation designed to preserve the memories of places and the time one spent in them. 3 MemoryBoards were installed in the Downtown area at the major gathering sites. People contributed photos and video to the MemoryBoard System through the large scale touch screen interface. Aside from the large touchscreen, the fanciest piece of tech built into it (at the time) was face recognition. So as a person approached it the system would detect the face, retrieve and display all the photos linked to it. The project was designed to exist for generations. One of it’s goals was to preserve memories of Santa Ana’s places and people so it could act as a digital interactive time capsule for future residents.
The designers made a significant effort make the system resilient so that it could last a long time: Heat and water resistant glass and plastic enclosures for the touch screens. Solar panels captured enough energy to completely power the different parts of the system. Solid state memory so there were no moving parts. And ethernet cables run underground between the 3 sites and control room creating a closed network.
15 years later the Great Internet Slowdown happened. The proliferation of IOT devices had reached a saturation point that brought the internet to it’s knees. Everything was connected to the internet. Your shoes, the fillings in your teeth, yours cats. Everything depended on fast internet connections, power companies, cell carriers, cars and pretty much everything broke. Except Santa Ana’s MemoryBoards.
Generations later.
Pollution had always been a big problem but the effects during years of the Great Slowdown were devastating. We always knew there was a link between pollution in the air and memory impairment, but when people stopped trying to educate and better themselves, this sent their mental capacities on a dangerous downward spiral. People stopped going to school, stopped learning. People were forgetting who they were, forgetting their histories, names and what they looked like.
Santa Ana residents were struggling with everyone else, but in some ways a little less because of the MemoryBoards.
It became a daily ritual to make the trek from all parts of the city to the 3 MemoryBoards. It became the only way to remember yourself, your name and your past.
Visitors arrive.
Outsiders began arriving in the city hearing of the mythical MemoryBoards that could show you who you are. When asked for their names they couldn’t tell you, they just held out a piece of paper a small distinctive drawing. To 21st century eyes these were symbols of what they called ‘corporations’ or Logos. These people were NBC, Pepsi, McDonalds, CNN, Shell and so on. Their identities had been reduced to corporate logos. They didn’t even have the imagination to design their own.
At first the residents were fine with the newcomers moving into the city and using the MemoryBoards, but then the word got out to distant places and the crowds became unsustainable. The lines to use the MemoryBoards began to stretch past a day and this was unacceptable. “They are risking our memories, we must protect them“. The city government in partnership with it’s police began a policy of testing the lengths of memories that came out of the MemoryBoards. Anyone with less than a year’s length had to leave the city. Outrage spread amongst the outsiders, a storm was brewing outside the city.
And so began the ‘War to Remember’.
Exercise 3.2 Personas – Gary De La Cruz
Persona
Scenario
Gloria has been concerned with speeding cars in her neighborhood. Her children and their friends like to play outside next to her house. Some new businesses have recently popped up down the street and have become very popular. They attract people who are new to Santa Ana who may not be aware that they are very close a residential neighborhood. Gloria wants to voice her concerns about their speeding and decides to use the Santa Ana Community Cloud board to share her thoughts. She creates a post about speeding in local neighborhoods. She doesn’t have the resources to research the issue on a large scale, but in the coming days she learns that other residents who have been using the Community Cloud board agree with her. This agreement creates a trending topic and gives her the confidence and evidence to approach the city council to do something about the issue. In the coming months, the city responds by putting up new signage in Gloria’s area warning drivers to slow down.
Storyboard
Project 3, Experiences (Pitches & Options) – Gary De La Cruz
Project 3 Selected Option
Site specific interactive memory repositories for Downtown Santa ana
Project 3 Two Options
Option 2 Gentrification glasses
Project 3, Experiences Initial Pitch
Interactive Large Screen Word Cloud Installations throughout Downtown Santa ana
Downtown Santa Ana is the intersection of a wide array of people and social classes coming from near and far:
-Upper class
-Working middle class
-The poor
-Immigrant
-Homeless
-Young and Old
-People coming to experience the Arts and Fine Dining
-People coming to conduct government/legal business from all over Orange County
The Downtown area is a walkable area with a number of open air plazas, parks, and restaurants. It has its fair share of blight, and crime but it also is experiencing a revitalization with the arrival of new businesses that cater to a wide audience in a historically minority and poor community (for the past 40 years). Many long time residents and business owners fear and resent the changes they see around them, but many embrace it. This is the typical story of gentrification. Change is unstoppable but I think a little understanding of the other side ’s perspective will go a long way in alleviating tension between the groups who live and do business here.
The Interactive Word Cloud is a mirror, its a tool to understand the real-time collective character, mood, feelings, worries, joys of a city in a large scale. Large interactive screens can be installed in the open air plazas, food halls, shelters, and government buildings. People can touch or speak to interact with the wall. All the displays are connected to a common analytic engine that can parse the text and voice to extract its meaning and aggregate patterns which will be displayed back.
Exercise 3.1 Narratives – Gary De La Cruz
Cucumbers
Peel and Chop
Form and Prepare
Add other fruits
Serve and enjoy.
Monetize, start a business, learn the ropes.
VIOLATION! Stumble and fail. Learn the city health codes.
Restart, regroup, rebrand, navigate the system and follow the rules.
Shut down for the day and do it again tomorrow.
After a while grow and expand.
Offer more delicious choices.
The lines start small.
But then the crowds come.
Project 2: Mappings Part 3 (Final) – Gary De La Cruz
Link to PDF of full resolution map images for Final Map and 5 Initial forces
For my final map I wanted to demonstrate how Downtown Santa Ana is an area of the city full of contradictions: of conflicting, competing and complementary forces. Santa Ana is the county seat for Orange County. The Civic center area in downtown contains a number of government buildings: Court houses, federal buildings, city hall, hall of record, jails, and police headquarters. This means people from all over orange county come into downtown to work as government employees or lawyers, serve on juries, and or to handle other government business. Santa Ana is also ground zero for the homeless problem in Orange county, because the civic center area is public land the homeless have set up encampments in this area with little resistance. To alleviate the problem the city has repurposed an abandoned transit center and made it into a year-round homeless shelter with a capacity for 400 people. I also counted those in the jails among the homeless, while they are not out on the street, I think of being in jail as a form of homelessness. I did this also to highlight the statistic that those released from jail are at a higher risk of becoming homeless on the streets, and also the homeless are at a higher risk of being incarcerated. I represented the civic center as a solid yellow surrounding line because generally the people who come to this area generally stay in this area, probably because they are hesitant to explore other areas of downtown due to perceived danger. Probably as a result of this the city has installed a number of 10 foot high surveillance/assistance poles (I’ve counted 7) with video camera monitoring of the area, with a help button and an intercom system to communicate with the central command center.
I wanted to highlight walkable and congregating nature of downtown as part of my Gathering force. Santa Ana is home to a number of public open-air plazas, performance areas, and food halls. Santa Ana is a city that celebrates with monthly art walks that take over some city streets, annual parades, including the OC LGBT pride parade, and 5K runs. The city has also installed walking path markers in the ground for a 1.5-mile route that highlights historic buildings and landmarks in low/slow traffic and monitored areas.
Santa Ana is also 78% Latino and to not represent the impact of their language on the space would leave out an important force. I added the force of Language and represented it not as who speaks it, but as the businesses and institutions (mainly restaurants, cafes, eateries, churches, retail stores, markets, clinics, salons) that cater to English speakers, Spanish speakers, or both. I judged each space by the signage and advertisements on display that could be seen while walking past it. I got rid of my Historical Architectural force because, it tells a story about the city through time and I’m more interested in the present state. I also got rid of the places of worship force but instead integrated those churches as institutions that cater to the local population in the same way retail and dining place do.
Exercise 2.3 Geographies – Gary De La Cruz
I live in an apartment complex adjacent to a large retail shopping district and a few miles from John Wayne airport. I wanted to highlight and contrast the qualities of the world inside my gated community and outside of it. We are next to a major street and a busy intersection where cars occasionally speed down. If you listen closely you can hear planes approaching the airport. To reach my apartment I pass through 2 locked barriers that can be opened either by a transponder, or by entering a code on a keypad. Inside the gates you can get see a manufactured sense of community. Lampposts resemble streetlights seen in a historic district even though this community is less than 5 years old, manicured lawns and hedges. It’s not uncommon to see people walking not just one but two dogs at a time. And during this awkward time of year between halloween, thanksgiving, Christmas and veterans day you can see a mishmash of holiday decorations fighting for attention. Some which have been leftover from Halloween and some laid out way to early for the upcoming holidays.
Project 2: Mappings Part 2 – Gary De La Cruz
Attributions:
-Plaza Icon, Parks icon, Stadium, Dove icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com is licensed by CC 3.0 BY
-Art Deco Building:By Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK – Chrysler Building 1Uploaded by Magnus Manske, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21107852
-Mission/Spanish Revival Building: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Revival_architecture
-Victorian Building: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_architecture
-Italian Renaissance Building: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Farnese
-Colonial Building: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/HopeLodge_HistoricSite.JPG
-Classical Revival Building: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassical_architecture
-Episcopal Church: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shield_of_the_US_Episcopal_Church.svg
-Methodist Church: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Logo_of_the_United_Methodist_Church.svg
-Catholic Church: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church
-Church of Scientology: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scientology_symbol.svg
-Metropolitan Community Church: http://mccchurch.org/
-Christian Non-Denominational: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
-Presbyterian Church: http://All-Silhouettes.com
Exercise 2.2 Architectures – Gary De La Cruz
Map 1 Home – Gary’s apartment layout illustrating use of space and lighting sources
Map 2 Apartment Community
Map 3 Surrounding Neighborhood, The District at Tustin Legacy
Project 2: Mappings Part 1 – Gary De La Cruz
I selected Downtown Santa Ana for this project. The area I scouted includes the Civic Center, Fourth Street Market Business district, and Artists Village area. My initial 5 force observations are Restoration, Surveillance, Spirituality, Gathering, and Homelessness.
1 – Restoration of Historic Structures
Santa Ana is one of the oldest cities in Orange County. There are many buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s. An active Historical Preservation society maintains the histories of these buildings and advocates for the preservation and restoration of those that are left.
2 – Surveillance
At least 5 security surveillance poles have been installed within the last year throughout downtown Santa Ana. The poles are equipped with a camera at the top and at eye level, an emergency 911 call button, and an information request button. The video from the cameras feed back into a central command center. The cameras are part of the city’s response to rising crime in the city. They serve to provide reassurance to visitor’s safety and to protect the business interests of the developing and newly popular area.
3 – Spirituality, places of worship
Santa Ana is home to a high concentration of churches and places of worship within walking distance of each other, many of them congregating in historic buildings. Some of the religions represented include Catholics, Scientologists, Presbyterians, Christian Evangelicals, Methodists, and Pentecostals,
4 – Gathering places
The downtown area has many open areas that are host to various cultural and regional gatherings and celebrations throughout the year. These include poetry readings, band performances, art displays, food festivals, farmers markets, art walks, arts & crafts festivals, to name a few. Some venues also host competitive games such as the football stadium and the eSports Arena.
5 – Homelessness
Homelessness is a problem throughout Orange County but is most visible in Downtown Santa Ana. Within the last 5 years the city has seen an dramatic increase in the homeless population with many people camping out and living on public government property in the Civic Center area. Recently an abandoned transit center have been converted into a homeless shelter in the middle of downtown.
Exercise 2.1 Informations – Gary De La Cruz
Strategies:
1 Iconic Representation
Each of the 195 stations in Mexico City’s subway/metro system is marked by a distinct icon representing unique landmarks, famous historical figures, cultural actives & artifacts, animals or other symbols referencing the city’s colonial, Catholic, and indigenous past.
2 Orientation Sensitivity
All of the lines representing the metro routes are oriented either on the horizontal/ vertical axis, or on lines differing by no more than 30 degrees from these axis. These line orientations make it easier on the user to process the map, lines differing by less than an angle of 30 degrees are harder to distinguish.
3 Proximity
The 2×2 grid for 1,5,9,A is positioned closest to the Pantitlan station icon and is used to indicate that this station is an common start/end point for the 4 routes: 1, 5, 9, A. Things that are closer together are seen as more related than things farther apart. The 4 colors used in the 2×2 also reinforce which route name corresponds to which line: 1 is the pink line, 5 is the yellow line, etc.
4 Inclusivity & Accessibility
The Mexico City metro system was designed and built in the 1960s at a time when the literary rate was low. The station icons were designed from the beginning to allow the large population easily navigate and adopt the new transportation system. Literacy rates have risen since then, but since the metro design worked so well, as it grew they kept the iconic representations and added new ones. Today the metro system map is easily understandable for international visitors who don’t know Spanish.
5 Uniform Connectedness
The stations of a route are connected by a line. This is particularly helpful for routes that are not straight lines, for example the blue line which goes horizontal and then vertical. Things that are connected by a line are perceived as more related than things not connected. Also routes that cross, where a station services intersecting routes are distinguished by intersecting lines at that station. Color also reinforces the relation of connected stations as part of a route. Additionally mixed color icons represent intersecting stations.
Graphics: Gary & Gilberto
Object I Love, Object I Hate
Object I Love:
I love the Ozeri electric wine opener. It demonstrates the principle of Flexibility as it offers 2 primary features: it removes the foil at the top of a wine bottle (using a detachable foil cutter that twists off the top of the device), in addition to removing the cork.
The hourglass shape of the device demonstrates Anthropomorphism, and makes the wine opener attractively stand out among the cold, stainless steel, straight angled devices in a kitchen. Drinking wine is a relaxing social activity and the aesthetics help to promote this mood too. The hourglass shape also demonstrates the Affordance of grasping, particularly grasping in the middle section of the device. The 2-directional button demonstrates good Mapping, however the user may have to adjust his Conceptual Model of what he thinks the direction buttons corresponds to during the process: First when positioning the drill on the wine cork pressing the Down button (while gently pushing the device Downward), twists the drill Down into the cork. Second removing the cork out of the bottle requires pressing the Up button, which can be mapped to the movement of the cork itself (the cork is coming Up and out of the bottle). Third and lastly, pushing the Down button twists the drill to move the cork Down and out of the clear plastic section of the device.
The wine opener demonstrates the principle of Feedback in the blue LED light that shines through the plastic when the drill is twisting. This is particularly useful if one is in a loud environment where the person can’t hear the motor working, or if one is opening the bottle in a dimly environment, having that little light can help a person position the drill correctly over the bottle. Lastly the clear plastic casing acts as a Physical Constraint against the drill point touching something it’s not supposed (the plastic acts as a barrier that can prevent a physical injury).
Object I Hate:
I hate my TI-36X Pro scientific calculator. The designers of this calculator were smart in grouping together related buttons using the Gestalt principle of Similarity. Numeric buttons are colored light grey, function buttons are dark grey, and the operator buttons are reflective silver. But this is where the problems start. Reflective silver in low light or very bright light environments makes these buttons hard to see, it’s literally a Visibility problem. I don’t have all the operator button locations memorized so sometimes as I enter in numbers for calculations I have to twist and turn the calculator to see the operators so I can press the right one. All the buttons give audible and tactile Feedback when pressed, there is a good click sound from each press. However, the designers probably didn’t think of testing this calculator in a quiet classroom during a math test. I’ve used this calculator during tests for a statistics class and the sound of the clicks was so loud I was worried I was disturbing other students.
A demonstration of bad Feedback is the lack useful of descriptive information when displaying an error. For example I could double press ‘+’ by accident and continue entering numbers. The calculator happily allows it but doesn’t say anything until I hit enter and all it tells me is “SYNTAX Error”.
Demonstrating the Mapping principle, there is a 4-direction button pad that can be used to navigate a cursor around the 4 line display. However, the mapping between the cursor and directional pad can break down, there is an alternate cursor mode that I frequently accidentally trigger which causes the cursor to cycle between previous answers (at the current cursor location) instead of moving around the screen. One good design principle I can point out is the Physical constraint next to the on/off button. There is a raised plastic notch in the bottom left corner of the calculator that prevents accidental presses (only for this one button).
Chairs in Gary’s life
This chair is part of a set that includes the coffee table and a second chair, its located in my living room in front of the TV. The back folds up against the seat and can be stored snuggly and inconspicuously under the coffee table. Most people who see the set with both chairs folded underneath have no idea that its more than a table. I have no formal dining table so this set conveniently acts as a substitute.
This is an ottoman storage chest I keep in the living room up against a wall. I store toys and games in it for when my toddler nieces come to visit me. I also use it to store video game controllers. I’ve very interested in dual purpose furniture that can do a lot with a small space. I like having people over so this ottoman expands my seating capability without having to bring in extra chairs from storage.
It wants to be a bar stool and an accent chair at the same time. This chair sits at my Kitchen island/counter. I eat and study in the kitchen area and needed a chair that would be high enough to reach the island, but that would be comfortable enough for sitting in long periods. The back and the arm rests make me feel secure, as I have an irrational fear of falling off the back of a stool.
This is my chair of last resort, I keep a couple of these in a storage room and only bring them out when I’ve exhausted all other chairs. It is sometimes neglected and overburdened; it’s one of my only chairs I’ve stood on. It is sturdy, reliable, cold, off balanced, easy to store, and is redeemed by it’s one touch of grace: a padded seat.
This little stool is about 15 inches tall and is in my living room. I like objects that complement my space and the things in them. The small profile makes it the perfect height for sitting at my coffee table. The round shape makes it fit well for sitting at a corner of the table, perfect for a gathering of people when I need an extra set. Round shapes like this also store well in corners. The white color matches the walls of my living room so when I don’t need it the chair disappears into the walls, out of sight. The faux fur fabric is not my style, but I love the soft feel.
Histories: Gary De La Cruz
Strategy: Latency Reduction
Latency is the time it takes for a user to receive a response from a system after a user interaction. Latency affects how interactive user perceives the system to be. When the user is burdened with excessive latency he may think the system is broken and may either repeat the interaction putting unnecessary stress on the system, or he may just give up on the task. Loading screens and spinners should be removed where possible, network delays should be masked by preloading data and anticipating what website resources the user will need for subsequent webpages or tasks. When the technical abilities to limit latency have been exhausted, the designer must deal with the latency by keeping the user informed, don’t let the user think an interaction was not registered. If the user has to wait then manage their expectations by keeping them informed of how long the delay is or by distracting them to keep them engaged with the system.
Bruce Tognazzini, First Principles of Interaction Design, accessed October 13, 2017, http://asktog.com/atc/principles-of-interaction-design/#latencyReduction
Original source image
http://asktog.com/atc/principles-of-interaction-design/#latencyReduction
Online image
Robot assisted surgery
https://www.nuh.com.sg/news/media-articles_837.html
Real world image
Card chip reader typically take about 5-10 seconds to complete a transaction. The delay is a limitation imposed by the technology, therefore to prevent the user from removing the card prematurely and getting into an error state the terminal is forced to display a wait message. Target, The District, Tustin
Strategy: Dunning-Kruger Effect
The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where a low skilled, incompetent person is unable to see their own inability and as a result overestimates his or her competence. The converse, (though seen less) is also true, where a highly skilled person underestimates his own abilities, and overestimates the skill in others. Mastering a complex skill requires practice and self assessment over time. Since people suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect are unable to see how bad their performance is, they are never able to self asses, move up the skills ladder, and thus never improve their abilities.
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, The Pocket Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2015), 40.
The Dunning Kruger effect can be applied to design by offsetting the effect by helping the user to understand how they are performing. For example by creating opportunities in a design that allow a person engaged in a task to see how well they did, showing how their performance compares to others, providing prompt relevant feedback, and by keeping future tasks locked until lower level tasks have been mastered. A design can exploit the effect in a negative way also. For example a system could make it difficult for the user to see how well they are performing, or deceives them into believing they are doing well in order to keep them engaged with a task.
Original source image
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, The Pocket Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2015), 40.
Online image
Zepp Golf 3D swing analyzer
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HJZ52ZM/A/zepp-golf-2-3d-swing-analyzer?fnode=4a&fs=fh%3D35f7%252B3493
Real world image
Realtime leaderboard display at K1 Speed, Go kart racing track, Irvine
Strategy: Signifiers
Signifiers are properties of an artifact, device or system that communicate to the user specifically where interactions should take place with the design. They are perceivable marks or sounds that tell the user what the appropriate interaction behavior should be. They are like useful signs, signals, drawings, or labels but don’t have to be as overt or intentional. For example an unintentional signifier can just be a perceived affordance that is unambiguous, like an on/off light switch.
Norman,Donald . The Design of Everyday Things (USA: Basic Books, 2013), 13-16.
To contrast the design principle of Affordances with Signifiers we can look at the example of paved roads and lots. Given a car, the relationship between the wheels and the road together demonstrate the affordance of driving across the pavement. But it is the property of painted lines on roads and in lots that indicate the possible actions a driver can take. The lines and markings are signifiers that indicate where the driving (or ceasing of driving) can take place. On paved roads they can indicate where one can turn left or right, where you need keep driving straight, where you should avoid driving over, or where to stop the vehicle to park.
Original source image
Signifier left/right arrows on a touchscreen
Norman,Donald . The Design of Everyday Things (USA: Basic Books, 2013), 21.
Online image
The swipe signifiers on the IOS shutdown screen
https://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-use-lockscreen-in-ios-10/
Real world image
Stripes on the pavement indicate where one can park their car. The District Parking lot, Tustin
Strategy: Rosetta Stone
Rosetta stone is a technique of communicating new information that must first be unlocked (or decoded ) by a set of commonly understood elements, known as the ‘key’. The elements of the key act help bridge the users understanding the new information. The information that makes up the ‘key’ must be made obvious so that the user can interpret it and use it as a reference when examining the new information. The new information should be presented in stages with stages building on each other: The previous ‘key’ plus the newly unlocked information will act as the ‘key’ for the next stage.
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2003) ,206.
The Rosetta stone technique is commonly used in educational learning platforms when introducing new concepts. The presentation of the material is structured so that the first principles taught are demonstrated in relatable terms. Once a lesson has been mastered, the next lesson is unlocked and builds on the concepts taught in the previous. The previous lessons become a new key for understanding new concepts.
Original image
The plaque for the Pioneer space probes with messages designed for potential extraterrestrial encounters, and the Rosetta disk; a human language archive designed to last thousands of years.
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2003), 207.
Online image
Crossword puzzle, the connecting letters of solved word in a crossword puzzle can help lead you to fill in intersecting words.
http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2010/06/tarzans-simian-sidekick-sun-6-6-10.html
Real world image
The key signature at the beginning of a measure lets a pianist know how to interpret the notes that follow (which notes are sharpened or flattened; white or black keys on the piano), without the key signature a pianist would never be able to play the melody or harmonies correctly.
Kojo Kondo, The Legend of Zelda for Piano, The Wind Waker Movement II, Measure 56 in D flat major (USA: Alfred Music, 2015), 28
Strategy: Threat Detection
Threat detection is a human evolved (and animal) ability that quickly allows us to identify threats. The visual system automatically detects things like snakes, spiders, and angry threatening faces. Because this is an ongoing subconscious process it triggers quickly, but it can be prone to mistakes when we react to everyday things that have features resembling threatening stimuli. For example water hoses, or wavy lines could be mistaken for snakes.
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2003), 236.
This strategy can be applied to design by integrating threatening imagery to attract and hold the user’s attention to your design, especially in intense high stimulus environments where many elements are competing for the user’s attention. It can also be used in the opposite way by influencing human behavior to avoid certain actions. For example it can be used to keep people away from certain areas, or limit unwanted behaviors.
Original source image
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2003), 237.
Online image
Bus advertisement for a Zoo
https://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/copenhagen_zoo_snake_bus
Real world image
Snake Shield, Lowes, The District at Tustin
Strategy: Uncertainty Principle
The Uncertainty Principle states that the act of measuring a variable can affect the nature of the system enough that it alters the measurement in a way that makes the measurement invalid. This depends on how expensive and invasive it is to get the measurement. Using computer event logging as an example we can understand the principle. Creating log files that periodically record details about a computer’s performance will consume computer resources, which can degrade computer performance just by the virtue of recording this information. The level of invasiveness required to measure the performance will dictate how the overall system performance is taxed, for example checking a performance variable multiple times a second and recording that information to a file immediately uses more computer resources than checking every minute or hour. A system doing frequent lookups and writes will appear busier than usual and will result in performance metrics that inflate or deflate whatever variable was being measured.
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2003), 244.
This principle can be applied to design in multiple ways. Designers should be careful to use minimally invasive measures, not only with technology but in social and behavioral ways. For example when interviewing people about their impressions with a product or service they should be careful how the questions are formed so that the participants are not put on the spot or pressured which can result in dishonest answers. This principle can be used to promote positive behaviors too, for example a common weight loss technique is to keep a diary of all the food one eats throughout the week. This awareness alone can trigger a self analysis and reflection that can lead a person to adjust their diet make healthier choices.
Original source image
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2003), 245.
Real world image
Monitoring my Prius’s mpg metrics while I’m driving makes me more aware of how I handle the car and sometimes causes me to ease up on the gas pedal to conserve more gas.
Strategy: Uniform Connectedness
Uniform Connectedness is a Gestalt principle of perception that states that elements connected by lines or grouped by regions are perceived as more related than elements not connected by lines or grouped. One strategy of Uniform connectedness is to connect 2 or more elements directly by a line. The other strategy of Uniform connectedness is to group 2 or more elements by an enclosing region or a shaded area. This is the strongest Gestalt grouping principle, and overrides proximity and similarity. So for example 2 similar elements that are next to each other can appear related however this relation can be easily broken by simply drawing a line connecting each of these elements to foreign entities.
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2003), 246.
Uniform connectedness can by applied in design by organizing control panels with many switches, buttons or functions. Connecting lines can be used to imply a sequences of steps. Region shading can be used to associate text with corresponding controls, or to group together common functions.
Original source image
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design (USA: Rockport publishers, 2003), 247.
Online image
Dialog in comics is matched to the corresponding character by drawing the dialog bubble around the text and having the line connect to the character.
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Comics
Real world image
Whirlpool Microwave button panel, Tustin