Deleted Media, November 5
On November 5, I sorted the media by file size and deleted the files listed on the first five pages. Below are screenshots of the affected files.
Note that because these screenshots have been resized according to the instructions (ideally less than 100kb, and absolutely less than 200kb) they do not zoom well. If you want to include dense files like this in your posts—and there are many cases, such as your final Project 2 maps, where you will want to—please use a file sharing service. For example, click here to download the full resolution versions of these files.
Graphics: Cindy and Francis
Exercise 1.3: Shirin & Juan
Graphics: Francis and Cindy
Graphics: Gary & Gilberto
Graphics: Juan and Shirin
Exercise 1.3 Graphics – Joyce Xu
Graphics: Amin & Calvin
CC Tennis: Shreya & Paul
Katherine + Michelle – Exercise 1.3 Graphics
Exercise 1.3 : CC Tennis, Team : Anuja Maria
Mia_Sarah Final Product
Miyuki_Joyce
CC Tennis: Michelle + Katherine
Exercise 1.3 – CC Tennis: Michelle + Katherine
Graphics: Saine, Jonatan
Graphics: John Delshadi
CC Tennis: Maria and Anuja
CC Tennis: Sarah and Mia
Creating a Haunting: An Exercise of CC Tennis
A transformation narrative of an object of everyday use. Beginning with a chair and transforming it from something ordinary to something terrifying. The narrative begins with one small clue to the haunting to come, and ends with the familiar chair turned into an object of fright.

CC Tennis: Youngri Kim & Jennifer Du
EXERCISE 1.3: Gilberto and Gary
CC Tennis: Davidson and Jeff
CC Tennis: Jennifer & Youngri
CC Tennis: Jeff & Davidson
The Chairs of Shreya’s life
Work
This is my work chair, where I spend majority of my days, between 9-6pm (and sometimes later!) I usually have my dog on my chair, while working (as seen in the 2nd picture, taken by my coworker who finds it very amusing). I’m not sure how that started, but she did that at my last job, and it just carried over (yay for dog friendly offices!). Although I find my chair pretty comfortable, I know sitting all day isn’t the best either. Luckily, I have a standing desk, so I try to balance sitting and standing as much as possible.
This is the ledge(?) area right outside my work, where I sometimes go to take calls. It is also the area our participants wait before a study starts, so I often look at this area before studies, trying to find a person that looks unfamiliar or lost. They usually sit here, looking down on their phone, waiting for someone to grab them before the study begins since our office is pretty high on security. I’ve sat on this ledge before for about 10-15 minutes, and it is definitely not very comfortable. The surface is extremely hard, and there is no back support, which has led me to crouch over. You can tell it was meant more for decoration than actual functionality, but there are plenty of people I’ve seen from my work who hangout here randomly as well.
This is a couch that is in our UX Bullpen. We have meetings here, with other couches also facing toward it. This couch will always remind me of Blizzard, because they are EVERYWHERE. There are at least 10 or so on each floor and within every building – to give you a picture, there are 22 buildings in total in Irvine HQ, and I’m sure these couches exist in those too. These couches are also extremely comfortable. My favorite meetings are the ones that happen around these couches, because they feel informal, and also give a feeling of comfort to just sit on a couch with some other coworkers, and just talk about a project.
Personal
This is my car seat, where I spend about 30 – 50 minutes/day. My commute to work is fairly short (15 minutes), so I’m not in my car too often. I do LOVE the seats in my Nissan though – people have actually commented on how comfortable the seats are (and car seats are pretty rare to comment about). The seats are known as “Zero Gravity Seats” which I didn’t know about until I purchased this car a few years ago. Now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get back to regular car seats!
This is the couch in my house, which doubles as a bed. This was my first “big” purchase when I moved to Irvine, and I remember it took me at least 2-3 weeks trying to make the decision to purchase it. I really wanted a sofa that could turn into a bed, in case I had visitors. But that meant it would be a pretty large couch, and I wasn’t sure how that would look in my living room that is filled with smaller furniture. I’m really glad I made the purchase though, because this couch is incredibly comfortable. I’ve taken lots of naps here, entertained lots of guests, and also had guests use the bed.
This is my swing, my next “big” purchase after my couch. It also doubles as a bed (can see in the 2nd picture). I bought it this last summer, because I really wanted to enjoy my patio and the garden I had grown. After watering my plants, I like to sit here and enjoy my garden and have some tea. I’ve also added a bunch of lights all around the patio, so its really nice to come sit on the swing at night as well. Swings were a big part of my childhood, and definitely remind me very much of “home”. Growing up, my grandmother’s house had a swing, and now, my parents also have a swing at their home. It might be something that runs in our family 🙂
This is my bed, one of my favorite parts about my apartment. I love the lights behind the bed, and the tapestry, because they all make it feel “home-y”. I do majority of my homework on my bed, because I don’t have a study desk (it’s my PC/gaming desk instead…priorities?). Its also the place I come to relax after a long day, and hangout/cuddle with my dog (seen lurking in this picture). It is absolutely necessary for me to make this space my “comfort” zone, which is why I have my air purifier that sends bursts of lavender aroma right next to it too.
The Chairs of Jonatan’s Life.
Kitchen Bar Stool: From time to time whenever time permits we get to sit down in these bar stools when hanging out around the kitchen area. Although, for me these a too tall, which then leads to being super tall (already 6.5ft as is), we frequently use these as a way to engage in a conversation, more relax, eye to eye, somewhat standing position which makes for a great quick conversational seating. However, the ones who use these bar stools the most are my kids: 3 and 6, they find these very fun to sit on as they have breakfast every morning in these stools, which makes them very functional for them.
Kitchen Banquette Bench: Although I won’t argue that this bench looks great in the kitchen but we find ourselves utilizing this bench to place items like, backpacks, lunch boxes, other random items because it makes it a perfectly convenient place to set items while going in and out of the kitchen, but it has a flat surface which makes it even more intriguing to set items in there. As for the seating, we rarely sit in here, not because we find it uncomfortable because of its wooden surface, but rather because it is not functional. You can sit to chat which someone is in the kitchen working away, or perhaps to put on your shoes, or something along those lines, but because behind the curtain is the window and a molding of the window/frame isn’t very comfortable to support your back on it, therefore we barely use this area as a seating area.
Couch; Entertainment Seating: in a way this couch is the main divider between the living room and the kitchen. With its soft pillows and padded seats, this makes it a very comfortable sitting area. This makes me feel relaxed, almost too relaxed, and it is very functional as more than one person can seat in this couch, whether to converse, or do some work on your laptop, this makes it an ideal place to seat. Sometimes the bottom cushions keep sliding down (away from the couch) and this makes it a frustrating moment where you have to keep pushing those in, so this type of couch even makes you feel an emotion, so you think about how to seat, and what the consequences might be if you’re there for a long time or if you move around. Very comfortable nonetheless.
Living Room Chairs: These chairs remind me of the bucket seats of a racing car due to its side-backrest and armrest pieces that secure you in place, almost like you can’t move. It is fair to say that I’m 6.5ft tall, so to me this isn’t the first choice of seating if I want something comfortable, but rather it makes you feel some sense of power if you may, like you’re the host of the party, or maybe because of the very tall backrest it resembles the chair from Game of Thrones, which suggests a high power, or something. For me, I find myself using these chairs when I’m wanting to seat upright/straight, and want to be focused, although the cushion is very comfortable, the backrest doesn’t have much padding, which leads to my point above, to sit up-right.
Patio Chair: This patio chair is located in the back part of my house, I have two of these chairs are make for great seating, these are very comfortable, big, but not too heavy, easy to move around, and good overall chairs. The bottom part though, is very deep (from the front of the chair to the backrest of the chair), so if you’re a bit short, then you will have to sit all the way back, which would probably lead to hanging feet, if that’s your thing, then go for it! I use these types as much as possible, whenever outside with my kids or socializing. This chair is functional for what is meant to do, it has metal armrests, and the cushions are very padded. One thing is that the backrest isn’t very tall, so if you want to rest your head…well, good luck with that.
Vehicle Seat: the driver and passenger seat of one of my cars. I purposely chose this car vs the other one because this is my wife’s main car, its main purpose is to take you to and from work, is not very big compared to our other SUV vehicle, but it is functional indeed.
Things that I love: It offers a high headrest for a smaller vehicle, it is leather and is very easy to clean, the lumbar controls are located in the door which is very easy to access the controls rather than being next to the seat.
The thing that I hate (though that’s a harsh word): I don’t like that this seat doesn’t go lower than proposed, and me being tall it is easy to reach the top with my head.
Dining Table Chair: I find this chair to be practical, it serves most of the functions of seating, any purpose, any relationships you may have with a chair, you can do with this one. This chair is very functional because I use it to eat with the family, I use it to work from time to time, I use it to do my school work, use it to engage in a conversation, or simply to visit with someone. It is comfortable, offers nice padding, nice padded backrest, and is tall enough where you can either keep your feet on the ground or even big enough where you can put your feet up.
Home Office Chair: This is where I spend most of the time/day, seating in this chair, but I don’t mind it because it is by far the most comfortable chair I have. But is it a ball? Well, its a ball inside a frame with a back support, all you need to do is sit and relax and the ball does the rest. As we read in the book 1000 chairs, it mentions “The timeless problem associated with this physical relationship is that however much a chair seat may be softened, the pressure of the bone will eventually be felt on the flesh of the buttocks as uncomfortable”. This is exactly why I have this chair because the ball takes the pressure away from my bone/flesh/body. This is a very comfortable chair, it makes me feel awake, it makes me feel alert, it makes me feel like I’m contributing to my body’s health.
Strategy: Top Down Lighting Bias
Based on the idea that humans are accustomed to how things when lit from overhead from the sun, this strategy refers to the design bias for showing objects and people as lit from above or even the top left. When ignored, the effect appears eerie or unnatural.
Definition Source: UPoD
Source: UPoD
“Kiss Me Deadly” dir. Robert Aldrich, 1955. Subversion of top-down bias for dramatic effect in famous last scene.
Strategy: Readability
Readability
Readability refers to easy to understand something is. This is in contrast to legibility, which is more to do with how easy to read letters and form words. There are couple known methods of determining how readable a text is with a score that evaluates the length of sentences, how many sentences, number of clauses, word length, and number of syllables, to name a few. Famous readability formulas are called the Flesch formula, the Dale Chall formula, and the Kincaid formula, which tells you which grade they estimate the reader needs to have attained to comfortably read the text.
Definition Source: UPoD
Source: UPod
Source: Microsoft Word readability score
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Source: Original photo, college campus bulletin board. Comparing the readability of two events: a nursing open house (made more readable with bullets) vs. a faculty lecture (low readability).
Strategy: Face-ism
The ratio between a subject’s body to face in an image can change the perceived meaning of the image. That ratio is called face-ism, and is measured on a scale of low (an image without a face) to high (an image of only a face). When shown an image with high face-ism the user will focus on the subject’s intellect and personality more than a full-body or low-faceism image..
Source: UPoD
Source: UPoD
This is an example of what participants in a study drew when asked to draw a female and a male. The study found that men were typically drawn with detailed and larger faces, while the form of the woman was given more emphasis than her face as drawn by both men and women.
“Face-ism” by Dane Archer and Debra Kimes and Michael Barrios http://www.uic.edu.hk/~jkulrich/english/reading/faceism.pdf
Source: Original Photo, back to back spreads in a magazine
Strategy: Accessibility
Accessibility
An accessible design is created to be used by the most users representing a variety of abilities. Accessibility is discussed in for categories, according to UPoD: operability, perceptibility, forgiveness and simplicity.
Operability refers to a design that is universal for all abilities. Perceptibility is when any user can perceive a design regardless of the level of sensory control. This is done through using multiple sensory responses, like haptic and audio. Forgiveness is a design that utilizes good constraints and clear affordances to reduce user error. Simplicity is to avoid the overcomplication so more people can use the design and easily understand it
Definition source: UPoD
Source: UPod
Source: W3
Source: Original photo, Braille on building sign.
Strategy: Hunter-Nurturer Fixations
Hunter-Nurture Fixations
This design principle references the biological behaviors of boys and girls to have interests that align with hunter and nurturer characteristics, respectively, during early childhood. This behavior does not appear to be solely a result of stereotypical gender role enforcement, as male and female Vervet monkeys also behaved in this way. UPoD describes hunter behaviors as “object motion and location, weapons and tools, hunting and fighting, predators and physical play.” Nurturer behaviors include “form and colors, facial expressions and interpersonal skills, nurturing and caretaking, babies, and verbal play.”
Definition source: UPoD
Source: UPoD
Source: Ninjago vs. Barbie, toys targeted to the same age group
Source: Original photo. “Kids, go grab some favorite toys.” The boy has a fake knife in his teeth, in case you’re wondering. As the second born, my daughter grew up in a house of balls, cars, trains, etc and turned the balls into family groups, had mommy cars lead baby cars, etc.
Strategy: Constraint
Constraint
This design strategy limits the actions that a user takes, either through physical constraint or psychological constraints. Physical constraints include paths (like a swipe or scroll), axes (a rotary dial or a trackball) and barriers (the computer screen edges or an electric plug). Constraints are helpful to minimize user’s mistakes and slips by making the error difficult or impossible to make in the first place.
Definition Sources: UPoD and NNG’s “Preventing User Errors: Avoiding Unconscious Slips” by Page Laubheimer (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/slips/)
Source: UPoD
Source: “Taking Donald Norman’s Design Principles to Web Design, Part 2” by Patrick McNeil (http://www.howdesign.com/web-design-resources-technology/donald-normans-design-principles-applied-modern-web-design-part-2/).
Source: Original photo (dishwasher liquid container as example of constraint to prevent user error)
About This Course
Informatics 282: Design and Prototyping integrates principles of design process with an introduction to time-based media and the methods used to design new interfaces, environments, services, and products that focus on the orchestration of user experience. You will be exposed to the characteristics of new design opportunities made feasible by digital technologies and the pivotal role of time and attention in contemporary design. Through lectures, analysis of a wide range of examples in communication, interaction, and experience design, and through studio-based assignments that provide opportunities for practical application and insight, you will be introduced to basic concepts, methods, tools and techniques used in the assessment, definition, and design of interactive experiences.
Informatics 282: Design and Prototyping is a course in the Master of Human Computer Interaction and Design program at the University of California, Irvine.