by Carina Steindl -

Comparative Analysis of fake and proper Fact-Checking Sites #P1

This is an introduction to fact-checking sites and a clear definition of false information streams.

From politicians to marketers, from advocacy groups to brands — everyone who seeks to convince others has an incentive to distort, exaggerate or obfuscate the facts. This is why fact-checking has grown in relevance and has spread around the world in the recent decade.

According to a paper by Alexios Mantzarlis “MODULE 5 – Fact-checking 101” the type of fact-checking happens not before something is published but after a claim becomes of public relevance. This form of “ex post” fact-checking seeks to make politicians and other public figures accountable for the truthfulness of their statements. Fact-checkers in this line of work seek primary and reputable sources that can confirm or negate claims made to the public.

Alexios Mantzarlis also wrote about two moments, which were particularly significant to the growth of this journalistic practice. A first wave was kick-started by the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, assigned to PolitiFact, a fact-checking project launched just over a year earlier by the St Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times) in Florida. PolitiFact’s innovation was to rate claims on a “Truth-O-Meter”, adding a layer of structure and clarity to the fact checks.

Truth-O-Meter by PolitiFact

The second wave of fact-checking projects emerged following the global surge in so-called ‘fake news’. The term, now co-opted and misused, describes entirely fabricated sensationalist stories that reach enormous audiences by using social media algorithms to their advantage.

Vote Early False Information

This second wave often concentrated as much on fact-checking public claims as debunking these viral hoaxes. Debunking is a subset of fact-checking and requires a specific set of skills that are in common with verification.

The difference between Fact-checking and Verification

In part two an analysis and comparison of cloaked websites, which are sites published by individuals or groups who conceal authorship in order to
disguise deliberately a hidden political agenda, and fact-checking sites will be done. Therefore the websites will be compared on the basis of the following factors:

  1. User Experience (Survey about fact checking websites credibility)
  2. Design Differences (Typography, Images, etc.)
  3. Content (Expertise, Rigour, Transparency, Reliability)
  4. Overall Usability
by Tina Schart -

Forms of therapy for people with prosopagnosia – Part 1

Short detour into how we humans actually perceive faces

There is a model that describes how we humans perceive faces. 
It happens in several phases and starts with the brain identifying something that looks like a human face. This is also the phase where we perceive basic visual things like size, figure-ground or orientation. After that, the face is mentally represented while at the same time the brain distinguishes what gender the person is and how old he or she is. In the next phase, the facial features that we perceive are compared with each face that we have stored in our brain and if the face matches we have the feeling that we recognize the person. After these phases we come to the fourth and last phase and we remember the name of the person.

Bruce and Young’s model of face-processing from 1986

Forms and treatments for Prosopagnosia 

People with this condition can see every detail of the face. The difference between the brains of these people and people who can recognize faces is that the collected impressions cannot be combined into a complete picture. Since no other cognitive areas in the brain are affected in prosopagnosia, it is not considered a disease. It is more of a dysfunction of the brain, or a genetically determined perceptual weakness. Therefore, the term face blindness is not actually correct, but is still often used to describe this condition.

Once again briefly as a repetition: aquired prosopagnosia develops by for example an accident or as a consequence of an illness, developmental prosopagnosia is since birth and remains in most cases a lifetime.
For simplicity, from here on aquired prosopagnosia will be shortened to AP and developmental prosopagnosia to DP.

As mentioned in my previous blog post, there is no guarantee of cure. The condition can improve, regardless of age or gender. However, if the damage to the brain is too great, no cure and little to no improvement is possible. Since every condition is different, all training programs must be customized to the person’s needs. Other important points to consider are: does the person only have problems recognizing faces or also objects. In the worst cases – apart from the typical consequences such as anxiety, difficulties with finding and practicing a job or generally social interaction with others – things such as food or doorknobs can no longer be recognized or it is necessary to learn to read and write again.

This image shows a brain scan of a 14 year old girl who was unable to recognize both faces and objects due to a medical condition when she was 8 years old. She had to relearn how to write and read.

There are many training programs that are supposed to help to remember faces or at least to be able to distinguish them. If therapies are actually successful, it is in most cases the fact that these effects do not last long and the therapy must be repeated after a few months. Interestingly, sometimes minor distinctions are made in the programs depending on what form of condition it is. This is because certain mechanisms in the brain, related to face processing, can be modified or changed, at least in people with DP.

Spoiler: Two specific cognitive training programs have been found to work best for AP and DP. One is face morph training and the other is holistic training. These two trainings were the most likely to show improvements.

(Next up in Part 2: Treatment approaches in acquired Prosopagnosia)

Sources

  1. Rehabilitation of face-processing skills in an adolescent with prosopagnosia: Evaluation of an online perceptual training programme, Sarah Bate, Rachel Bennetts, Joseph A. Mole, James A. Ainge, Nicola J. Gregory, Anna K. Bobak, Armanda Bussunt (04.11.2019), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343935303_Prosopagnosia
  2. Approaches to Improving Face Processing in Prosopagnosia, Joe DeGutis (2016), https://www.cdnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Degutis_12.13.pdf
  3. Face Processing Improvements in Prosopagnosia: Successes and Failures over the last 50 years, Joe DeGutis, Christopher Chiu, Mallory E Grosso, Sarah Cohan (8.2014), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264940858_Face_Processing_Improvements_in_Prosopagnosia_Successes_and_Failures_over_the_last_50_years
  4. Face to Face Prosopagnosia Research & Community Spring 2020, o.A. (Spring 2020), https://www.faceblind.org/assets/files/newsletters/Face%20to%20Face%20Newsletter%20-%20Spring%202020.pdf
by Katsiaryna Palishchuk -

Crypto Art

Small Introduction to “Redesign” Topic, firstly.


Speaking with supervisor, person advised me to narrow down my topic. What is kinda complicated, since I still have no idea, where it leads.  So to say, I still believe that redesign is more about changes, when do they start and to what lead.

Thats true,  we can’t find the answer on question «when will we finish to redesign things» since it is rhetorical.  New solutions, technologies, people, ideas. Redesign is about our world itself.


So, I decided to narrow topic to redesign as flow of time, where we discussing results, influences, slightest changes. No questions, only observation and disсussions.

And now back to the main theme:


Redesign of Art. Crypto Art.


In previous topic I described the contemporary art and how that will probably change in future or presence. And I miss one important detail — crypto art. Sounds like new contemporary, isn’t it?

СryproArt — synthesis of art and cryptocurrency. At first glance, combining cryptocurrency and blockchain with fine art may seem like a strange idea. Street art, graffiti, memes — all these types of contemporary art are quite suitable for the crypto world, but the words “cryptocurrency” and “painting” rarely appear in the same sentence.

Bitcoin and the entire explosion of modern digital currencies have been a technology that has transcended currencies and is ultimately transforming a whole host of industries in truly important ways.

To understand the appeal of crypto art, it is worth accepting one idea about blockchain: blockchain technology allows digital assets to become scarce.

Blockchain is a fairly new technological platform that connects millions of devices and is open to everyone. The Harvard Business Review describes it as “an open distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties in an efficient and verifiable manner on an ongoing basis.” If you have never heard of blockchain, you may be familiar with Bitcoin or Ethereum cryptocurrencies that use such technology.

Being a digital media-only artist is very difficult due to the nature of digital media, which can be copied indefinitely. It is not unique, and people just weren’t interested in collecting it and appreciated it as closely as physical art in the real world.

Also, demand is influenced by the fact that new collectors have come to the world art market. Now, they are millennials, who grew up in the digital age. They need instant access to information, including prices for works of art. 

This is a revolutionary concept: what is digital can actually be unique. Yes, what is digital can be rare, which means that, finally, digital media can be owned and collected in the same way as physical objects.

Usually the idea when it comes to cryptocurrencies is that when using blockchain, coins always look the same. With the help of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), you can tell right away that this token is for this work of art, and this token is for this work of art. 

Crypto Art (NFT) can be divided into two groups: First generation and second generation.

Several questions arise, right?

The first and most important question: why does anyone pay for something that is already in the public domain?

There is a difference between downloading a picture or animation to a computer and owning the original backed by an NFT token. The files you download are worth nothing, while the NFT-backed painting is an original piece of art from the artist. In the same way, everything happens in the physical world. You can download a photograph of a Van Gogh painting or order a hand-drawn replica —  in any case, such copies will not cost as much as the original. In the digital world, only owning an NFT token will allow you to sell or gift a piece of art, as well as receive a percentage of subsequent resale.

Second question: why is crypto art so expensive?

The presence of value is always associated with a lack of something. The scarcity of digital art is again confirmed by blockchain and NFT. In addition, people themselves endow any objects in our world with value, including in the digital space. Why are collectible cardboard athlete cards selling for thousands of dollars on Ebay? Designs of objects in computer games, T-shirts and even napkins with autographs of stars, and the actual banknotes themselves are of value only because people agreed so. In the case of crypto art, value is invested by collectors. Someone buys it for speculative purposes, while someone just wants to support the author with a coin. Crypto coin.

There is no generally accepted concept of what crypto art is, but it can be described by the following principles:

1. Digital nature. Digital art can be created, published, purchased and sold completely electronically.

2. Geographic independence. Artists from all over the world take part in the creation of the works. CryptoArt is the first truly global art movement.

3. Democracy. Everyone is encouraged to create artwork and popularize the movement, regardless of skill, achievement, class, gender, race, age, religion, etc.

4. Decentralization. The tools developed reduce the influence of art brokers and increase the power of the artists themselves.

5. Anonymity. The use of pseudonyms allows artists to create and sell works of art while remaining anonymous (if preferred), freeing them from social judgments.

Now digital art is going through its inception, driven by the development of technology. The number of artists and community members will only grow. And there is every reason to believe that CryptoArt is a completely new page in the history of art.

In my opinion, the phenomenon of crypto art, supported by these principles and promising NFT technology, deserves understanding, and early adopters and investors can be well rewarded in the future for their contribution to the development of the community in the early stages of its existence.

by Katsiaryna Palishchuk -

Contemporary Art Definition

We can easily distinguish Renaissance from Classicism, and Impressionism from Cubism, but is it so easy to understand what contemporary art is?

Contemporary art in its current form was formed at the turn of the 1960s and 70s. The artistic quest of that time can be characterized as a search for alternatives to modernism (this often resulted in denial through the introduction of principles that were directly opposite to modernism). This was expressed in the search for new images, new means and materials of expression, up to the demoterization of the object (performances and happenings). The main goal was to distort the concept of spirituality. Many artists followed the French philosophers who coined the term “postmodernism”. We can say that there has been a shift from the object itself to the process.

The most notable phenomena of the turn of the 1960s and 1970s can be called the development of conceptual art and minimalism. In the 1970s, the social orientation of the art process became noticeably stronger, both in terms of content and composition: The most notable phenomenon of the mid-1970s was feminism in art.

The late 1970s and 1980s were characterized by a weariness of conceptual art and minimalism, and returning of interest in presenting, color, and figurativeness (the heyday of movements such as the New Wild). In the mid-1980s, the rise of movements that actively use images of mass culture — campism, East Village art, neo-pop are gaining strength. The heyday of photography in art also dates back to this time — more and more artists are beginning to turn to it as a means of artistic expression.

The art process was influenced by the development of technology: in the 1960s-video and audio, later computers and in the 1990s — the Internet .

The beginning of the 2000s was marked by disillusionment with the possibilities of technical means for artistic practices. Destructive concepts have done their pernicious work. At the same time, constructive philosophical justifications for contemporary art of the 21th century have not yet appeared. Some artists of the 2000s believe that Modern art is becoming an instrument of power in a “post-democratic” society. This process arouses enthusiasm among representatives of the art system and pessimism among artists and professionals.

A number of artists of the 2000s return to the commodity object, abandoning the process, and offer a commercially profitable attempt at modernism of the 21th century.

Aсcording to the iesa portal, contemporary art —is “the art of today,” more broadly includes artwork produced during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It generally defines art produced after the Modern Art movement to the present day. However, modern artwork is not just art produced during a specific time-frame. This genre of art does have its own approach or style that distinguishes it from others. 


The distinctive features of art include its versatility, timelessness and belonging to the entire human race, its ability to unite and inspire. It is hard to find any canons in this art direction. The definition is quite vague. People can draw classical paintings, mix different textures and conduct amazing performances.  A review thrown by a passing person can change the fate of the artist and his exhibition. It is not necessary to get any art degree to be an artist. Instagram, dribble, behance — access to the internet, desire to create or destroy — social media gives the possibilities. That works in both sides and everyone can be an art critic, if he would like to — comments, postsharings, reposts.

What makes today’s art especially challenging is that, like the world around us, it has become more diverse and cannot be easily defined through a list of visual characteristics, artistic themes or cultural concerns.

https://www.iesa.edu/paris/news-events/contemporary-art-definition

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/beginners-guide-20th-c-art/introduction-20c-art/a/contemporary-art-an-introduction

by Valentina Riedisser -

5 Fragen, die man sich bei der Entwicklung seines Instagram-Branding stellen sollte

  1. Wen willst du ansprechen?
  2. Was tun du für deine Follower?
  3. Wer bist du als Marke?
  4. Wie kommunizierst du?
  5. Wie präsentierst du dich?
  1. Wer ist dein idealer Kunde/User? 

Um das herauszufinden beantwortet man für sich die untenstehenden Fragen. Diese sind etwas abstrakt und natürlich sind die Antworten fiktional und an keine reale Person ausgerichtet. Es ist auch unmöglich User mit genau den Eigenschaften zu finden, die man sich von ihnen wünscht. Allerdings dient diese Persona lediglich dazu einen Leitfaden zu finden, an dem man sich orientieren kann und User anspricht, die ungefähr diese Kriterien aufweisen.

  • Wie alt sind sie?

18 – 30 (35)

  • Wo leben sie?

Graz bzw. Steiermark, Österreich, deutschsprachiger Raum

  • Was machen sie beruflich?

Entweder in der Kreativbranche tätig oder in einem anderen Berufsfeld, jedoch interessiert in Design und Ästhetisches

  • Was sind ihre Hobbys?

Lesen, Pflanzen, Kreatives (malen, zeichnen, handwerkliches), Interior Design, Typographie, Liebe zu Details

  • Was schauen sie gerne auf Netflix?    

Friends, Dokumentationen über andere Länder, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Rick and Morty, Mindhunter, The Witcher, RuPaul’s Drag Race

  • Wer sind ihre Lieblingsmusiker?         

John Mayer, Hozier, Phil Collins, Upbeat Indie, 80s Pop

  • Wem folgen sie sonst noch?

ProCreate, Levitzo, Adobe, marienova, dariadaria, best.dressed, Jean Jullien

  • Welche Art von Bildern & Inhalten posten sie in ihren Stories?

Katzen- & Hundebilder, Bilder vom eigenen Zuhause, Ausflüge, Essen, Selfies

MOODBOARD

Ein Bild, das Text, viele, verschieden, Haufen enthält. Automatisch generierte Beschreibung
  1. Was ist deine Mission? Was möchtest du mit deinen Followern teilen? Was haben sie davon?

Meine Erfahrungen mit und im Design – Tipps. Meine Arbeiten und den Prozess dahinter. Mein Leben als Student, Teilzeit UX & UI Designer und Privat. 

  1. Als persönliche Marke (Einzelperson, keine Firma) kann es schwierig sein, eine Markenidentität aufzubauen. Du wirst nie in der Lage sein, dich selbst vollständig zu repräsentieren. Welche Charakterzüge von dir wären also für deine Follower am ehesten nachvollziehbar sein? Wer wäre die beste Freundschaftsfigur für den Kunden, den du ansprechen willst? 

Lebensfreude, Humor, Kreativität, tollpatschig, fleißig

Was sind die Extreme? 

Frech, bunt, ruhig, entspannend – versuche, deine Marke mit Adjektiven zu beschreiben.

Bunt, lebensfroh, entspannt, kreativ.

  1. Die eigene Sprache deiner Marke macht alles stimmiger und verbindet sich mit der idealen Zielgruppe. Finde heraus, wie du am besten mit diesen Personen kommunizierst und versuche dabei authentisch zu bleiben, was wirklich schwierig ist. Man kann sich auch andere Instagram-Accounts als Beispiele nehmen, achte aber darauf die Sprache, Stimmung und den Vibe nicht zu kopieren. Das ist vor allem schwer, wenn man diese Art von Kommunikation häufig hört – übernimm diese also nicht, sondern wähle eine Variante, die für dich und deine zukünftigen User passen soll. 

Ich will alle gleich ansprechen, also genderneutral. Wissensvermittelnd, aber nicht hochnäsig oder bewertend. Aufgeschlossen, rücksichtsvoll und akzeptieren. Ehrlich, Fehler eingestehend. Lebensfroh, inspirierend.

  1. Design. Es sollte alles stimmig aussehen. Instagram ist vor allem eine sehr visuelle Plattform und wenn man dann auch noch kreative Inhalte postet, sollte das Design passen. Ebenfalls sollte man sich Themenbereiche aussuchen, die man auf seinem Profil behandeln möchte. Denn die Bildunterschriften sind ähnlich wichtig, wie das Visuelle und sollten deshalb zusammenpassen. 

Idealerweise hat man 3 Themen, über die man regelmäßig schreibt/postet.

Und dann gibt es noch verschiedene Typen von Posts. Das kann sein „weiterbildend“, „motivierend“ oder „verletzlich“/“teilend“ (Lebenserfahrungen). Beim letzten Punkt geht es darum ehrlich zu sein und Erfahrungen zu teilen. Z.B. das Gefühl zu haben nicht genug zu Arbeiten. 

3 Themenbereiche: 

  • Design: Illustration/ UX&UI Design
  • Studium
  • Leben (Interieur, Katzen, Privates)

Quellen: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFRbfeMg7-M  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUC669AA-Vw&list=TLPQMTAwMjIwMjESzlKs08XrVQ&index=4

by Valentina Riedisser -

Wo findet man neue Follower?

Unabhängig davon, dass man regelmäßig neue Inhalte auf Instagram posten sollte um an Reichweite zu gewinnen, gibt es noch andere Möglichkeiten neue Follower für seinen Account zu gewinnen. Man kann also etwas nachhelfen und versuchen durch andere Mittel und Interaktionen neue Accounts auf sich aufmerksam zu machen.

Location-Tags

Um Leute zu finden, die sich in deiner Gegend aufhalten. Fremde Personen werden dir eher folgen, wenn dir die gleichen Accounts wie ihnen folgen. So wirkt man vertrauter und wie die Person von nebenan.

Hashtags

Gut für nischenbasierte Profile. Finde Hashtags, die für den Inhalt, den du postest, relevant ist, und finde Leute, die diese Dinge regelmäßig posten. Möglicherweise wollen sie dir ja folgen, wenn du ähnliche Inhalte hochlädst.

In den Kommentaren

Gehe zu bekannten, einflussreichen Accounts auf Instagram und schau’ dir die Kommentare an. Interagiere mit den Leuten in den Kommentaren, beantworte vielleicht sogar Fragen in den Kommentaren anderer User. Dann sprichst du mit Menschen, die bereits engagierte Follower sind – wenn sie dir also folgen, ist die Wahrscheinlichkeit höher, dass sie auch viel mit deinem Profil interagieren.

Fotos in denen branchen-führende Accounts markiert wurden

Schau’ dir Bilder (von anderen Accounts) an, die einflussreiche Branchenführer-Accounts in ihren Posts getaggt haben. Diese Profile haben möglicherweise ähnliche Interessen wie du. Bei kleineren Accounts werden deine Kommentare eher gesehen.

Die Fotos der eigenen Follower

Personen, die dir folgen, haben möglicherweise Follower, die auch daran interessiert sein könnten, dir zu folgen. Wenn du mit deinen Followern in Kontakt trittst, stärkst du eure Beziehung und sie werden deine Beiträge häufiger in ihrem Feed sehen. Aber man muss hier selektieren, denn die Interaktionen müssen sinnvoll bleiben, d.h. nicht mit jedem Profil willkürlich interagieren.

Quelle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hYlkl0uNIA&list=TLPQMTAwMjIwMjESzlKs08XrVQ&index=1

by Corinna Kornherr -

User Research Methode: Eye-Tracking

Bei der Überlegung welche User Research Methode getestet werden sollte, erschien die Eye-Tracking1 Methode als interessant. Hierbei wurde nach Programmen gesucht die, das Eye-Tracking erfassen sollen und dann auch getestet werden. Bei der Suche wurden zwei Apps ausgewählt:

App „Access“

Beim erstmaligen öffnen der App muss das Gesicht gescannt werden, indem man einen Punkt auf dem Smartphone verfolgt. Des weitern ist auszuwählen wie man weiter „klicken“ will, dazu stehen Optionen wie blinzeln oder Lächeln zu verfügen. Wenn dann alles kalibriert ist, bekommt man ein abgespecktes User-Interface in dem man Apps wie zB Facebook, Youtube, Netflix und Google nutzt. 

Fazit:
Die App lässt sich teilweise nur schwer bedienen(siehe Video), jedoch mit viel Geduld funktioniert sie. 

App Eye Camera

Die App funktioniert simpel, einfach aus dem App Store herunterladen und los geht es mit den Fotografien. Die Elemente, die beim Eye-Tracking erfasst werden, werden gelb markiert. 

Fazit:
Die App scheint zu funktionieren, jedoch wäre es spannend zu Wissen woher die App ihre Daten bezieht, leider habe ich im App Store keine alternativen gefunden, um diese Resultate zu testen bzw. zu vergleichen. 

Eye-Tracking by Brainwaves

Zusätzlich zu dem Thema Eye-Tracking möchte ich auf einen Ted Talk hinweisen der sehr spannend ist: „Eye tracking by brainwaves“ Hierbei wird ein Prototyp gezeigt, der einerseits die Bewegungen von den einzelnen Gehirnwellen und andererseits die Augenbewegung aufnimmt. Somit kann genau erfasst werden, ob jemand die Augen offen hat oder nicht, aufmerksam ist oder nicht und ob man sehr konzentriert ist oder nicht.

1Eye-Tracking: Mit der Hilfe eines Eye-Tracking-Geräts wird genau gemessen, wie der User auf natürliche Weise mit Websites, Anwendungen, physischen Produkten oder Umgebungen interagiert.

by Benedicte Rozant -

Clumsy Interactions through everyday objects 09: Culture influences our interactions

Have you ever eaten with chopsticks? I’m pretty sure you have, but if I ask you if you’ve always known how to use them, your answer will certainly vary depending on your culture of origin… As a westerner living in Europe, I did not have to use chopsticks on a daily basis to eat when I was a child. In my family, we ate very little Asian food and when we did I preferred to take cutlery that I knew either knife, fork, or spoon because it was simpler and required less effort for me. My interactions with chopsticks were for a long time very awkward and I had to face the problem by eating in a Chinese restaurant where having no choice but to use chopsticks I learned how to use them. This awkward interaction that I experienced with chopsticks is specific to my Western culture and is reversed for Asians when confronted with a fork and knife. Let’s try to understand how our cultures frame our behaviors and interactions.

The influence of our cultures

Each culture has its own conventions, these are cultural constraints that generally induce specific behaviors. These constraints define a set of authorized or prohibited actions in social situations as well as the use of specific objects whose origin may or may not have evolved over the course of history and may depend on the climate, the environment…. When we go to a foreign country and we are not familiar with the cultural norms, we can have awkward behaviors that will be badly perceived by the inhabitants of the country. Any designer whose ambition is to design new objects that will be used all over the world must therefore integrate these cultural constraints.

The examples that will follow are mostly based on cultural habits that can trigger awkward interactions for foreigners, the easiest cultural differences to identify from my point of view, exist between the West and Asia.

Why do we drive on the left in almost a third of the countries in the world?

Let’s first try to understand why this disparity in traffic. To do this, let us go back to antiquity to see that men already crossed each other on their right. The reason: most human beings being right-handed, our ancestors carried their sword on their left leg to draw it easily. When the horse became the mode of locomotion for noblemen and men-at-arms, the use of left-hand traffic continued for the same reason. Thus, when two knights crossed each other, their swords could not touch. This would have been clearly interpreted as a duel provocation.
It is said that right-hand traffic dates back to Napoleon, although the theories on this subject differ. Before the appearance of the French emperor on the international scene, soldiers attacked first from the left and then only from the right. Legend has it that Napoleon reversed the direction of the attack to cause confusion. Then, he would have imposed right-hand traffic in all the countries he had conquered. Another theory is that Napoleon was left-handed. This, it is said, is the reason for this great reversal: putting his opponents in difficulties, he could more easily attack them and thus optimize his chances of victory. Master of Europe, Napoleon then imposed right-handed traffic on the “national roads”. Everyone, except… the undefeated English. This disparity in traffic patterns today forces us to build different cars but also to adopt different driving behaviors depending on the country. It generates awkward interactions for any foreigner who has to integrate codes and behaviors contrary to his own.

Did you know that the Chinese are tetraphobic?

Indeed they do not like the number 4 because in the Chinese language the pronunciation of the number 4 is very close to the pronunciation of the dead word this number is therefore considered a symbol that brings bad luck. This could be an anecdotal fact yet it has its importance including in the design. In 2017 the OnePlus phone brand was changed from OnePlus 3 to OnePlus 5, thus avoiding the creation of the OnePlus 4. Why did this happen? Precisely for this reason, the Chinese company did not want to name its phone after a symbol of misfortune. It could be said that changing this name in reference to a superstition could be considered silly, yet it is certain that many Chinese would not have bought the model if it had contained the number 4 in its name, this would not have been the case in another country. We can therefore deduce that any interaction including the number 4 is doomed to failure in China.
This shows us that even if an object can be considered perfect, the symbolism it will have from one country to another, for example through its name, will have an impact on the use that people will have of it or even on the willingness of people to have it.

Hygiene, did you say hygiene?

I have a friend who has often been to Japan, it is a country she loves and whose inventions and culture she loves to discover. However, there is one thing she has never gotten used to Japanese toilets. The first explanation I had in mind when she told me about this toilet was that she didn’t understand how to use it. Then, while researching, I realized that the way Japanese people approach hygiene is different from ours. Indeed, for Japanese people, toilet hygiene includes a washing ritual. Thus, toilet washing features are considered essential for them and ¾ Japanese households are equipped with washing and drying toilets. While for my friend these functionalities are more of a gadget, funny to test once or twice but then she would come back to her use of the toilet as she does in France. So the object is not clumsy but the vision of the use we have of the object is different from one culture to another, so my friend was interacting clumsily with the object but this clumsiness was voluntary because she did not want to use the object in the same way as the Japanese.

Tea or coffee?

The Chinese who make our coffeemakers, however, hardly drink any coffee, at least not for the older generations. So they don’t have a coffeemaker in their homes.
Everybody knows that they are big tea consumers, but this goes beyond the consumption of a local product because over the centuries a strong tea culture has developed and has become a very representative element of Chinese culture. The practice of tea culture elevates the spirit and wisdom of human beings. Tea has a very close relationship with Chinese culture, and the study of this tea theme, with its rich content, covers a wide range of disciplines. Tea not only embodies the spirit of Chinese civilization, it also embodies an ideological form. There is no doubt that it has been beneficial in strengthening the social realization of the people and the appreciation of art.
This culture is, therefore, a major brake on the increase in coffee consumption. And despite the installation of Starbucks coffee shops the Chinese drink an average of 1 cup of coffee per year. I found it interesting to learn that in order to increase coffee consumption, a Chinese inventor developed a bag that allows coffee to be brewed in a cup, thus mixing the culture of tea and coffee. Will this attempt at interaction be successful? We will see.

Conclusion

Clumsy interactions can have cultural origins and take place during our travels abroad. However, cultures are increasingly moving towards a common or mixed culture. So what will happen in the future, what will be the place of our cultures of origin in our behavior and interactions?

Definition

  • A Clumsy interaction doesn’t happen at the moment we use the object, it was there before and can come from the designer and his personal vision of the use of the object.
  • A Clumsy interaction can depend on the conception of an object and more specifically on the design of the experience related to this object when trying to manipulate it, activate it, make it work, and understand it.
  • A Clumsy interaction has several causes, one of which is mostly conceptual. When the origin of the awkward interaction is inappropriate and deliberate behavior, it is then a human error of the user.
  • A Clumsy interaction can be the result of a lack of curiosity.
  • A Clumsy interaction depends on the level and type of emotions the object will generate in the user before, during, or after its use.
  • A Clumsy interaction can exist and not exist at the same time all depends on the society and culture in which one lives.

Sources:
Book: The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman, 2020
Article: De l’art des toilettes au Japon, Saniclean.fr
Article: Pourquoi les Anglais roulent à gauche et nous à droite, lePoint.fr

Haptik - Feedback - Hapticons
by Alexander Moser -

Hat Haptik eine globale Sprache?

Hapticons sind haptische Muster wie ein benutzerdefiniertes Vibrationsmuster, das ein Telefon ausgibt, wenn ein bestimmter Freund anruft. Es kann auch verwendet werden, um komplexere Informationen zu kommunizieren, sogar das vollständige Alphabet, aber diese Muster müssen vorher gelernt werden und werden nur von einer bestimmten Gruppe von Menschen verstanden. 

Ein wichtiger Faktor ist die Häufigkeit, mit der der Benutzer das Feedback erhält. Wenn er mehrmals am Tag damit in Berührung kommt, kann dies von Vorteil sein und sich schnell in seinen Alltag integrieren.

Mit Hapticons können auch Stimmungen bzw. Emotionen angemutet werden, die je nach Kontext einer Anwendung dem Nutzer etwas signalisieren.

Hapticons

Durch die Intensität bzw. durch die Frequenz eines Vibrationsmusters können bestimmte Reaktionen angemutet werden. Als Beispiel werden Vibrationsmuster mit einem gleichmäßig ansteigenden Frequenzband, von Nutzern durchwegs als positives Feedback wahrgenommen.

Hapticons

https://medium.muz.li/haptic-ux-the-design-guide-for-building-touch-experiences-84639aa4a1b8

Alexander Moser
https://www.alexander-moser.at/

by Valentina Riedisser -

Fake It ‘Til You Make It

Oft geht auf Instagram um Reichweite und Bekanntheit. Manche Leute würden fast alles tun, um dieses Ziel zu erreichen. 

Dafür gibt man manchmal ein Leben vor, dass man in dieser Form gar nicht lebt. Man will vor allem einen ereignisreichen und interessanten Lifestyle präsentieren, um Leute für sein Profil zu begeistern. Aber einen hohen Standard sollte man für gewöhnlich dann auch halten, um die gewonnenen Follower nicht wieder zu verlieren.

„I Faked Being Rich On Instagram For A Week (And This is What Happened)”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fffv7pjHjt8&list=WL&index=29&t=805s

Christian Adam ist ein, auf den Bahamas lebender, YouTuber. In seinem Video gibt er eine Woche lang vor reich zu sein, um neue Follower zu generieren. Als Vorbild hierfür nimmt er den Rapper Drake, der über 55 Mio. Follower auf Instagram hat. 

Christian gibt auf seinen Fotos vor einflussreicher, wichtiger, cooler und reicher zu sein, als er wirklich ist. Dafür photoshopt er sich in andere Szenarios, wie zum Beispiel in Privatjets, auf Bühnen oder in Tonstudios. Seine Engagement Rate (Interaktionen auf seinem Profil) stiegen stark an und er kam sogar mit mehreren Posts auf die Explore Page – was sehr gut ist, um neue Follower zu gewinnen.

Gegen Ende präsentiert Christian – obwohl er sich oft sehr erfolgreich in Bilder gephotoshopt hat – wie ihm seine Follower vorwerfen, die Bilder seien nicht echt. Er beschreibt mit Absicht Fehler begangen zu haben, um die Aufmerksamkeit seiner Follower zu erregen und sie zum Kommentieren zu verleiten. Er gibt an, sich absichtlich auffällig verhalten zu haben, wie z.B. Posts zu löschen, nachdem sie Kritik bekommen.

Es sei dahingestellt, ob Christian nun absichtlich Fehler in seinen Bildern eingebaut hat oder nicht. Fakt ist die negative Kritik der Community wir eher kommuniziert wird als positive. Macht man mit Negativem auf sich aufmerksam, wird die Engagement Rate steigen, da Personen diese Beiträge vermehrt kommentieren und teilen. 

Christian Adams beschreibt “fooling people by not fooling them”

Das Fazit dieses ein-wöchigem Selbstexperiements: fast 2000 neue Follower, mehrmaliges Erscheinen auf der Explore Page, jedoch ähnliche Like-Zahlen wie zuvor ohne starke Steigerung. Für mich bedeutet das, dass man nicht unbedingt einen anderen, unrealistischen Lebensstil präsentieren muss, um Aufmerksamkeit zu erregen, sondern Inhalte teilen kann, die aufregen und in irgendeiner Form kontrovers sind.

Wie schmeckt ein Baby-Delfin?

Ein gutes Beispiel dafür ist ein Post des YouTubers Inscope21, der 2019 ein Bild eines Baby-Delfins teilt und angibt dieses mit seinen Freunden zu essen. Nicht nur seine 1,6 Mio. Follower sind empört über den Post. Viele andere große deutsche Influencer melden sich zu Wort und sprechen sich gegen Inscope21 aus und es gibt Schlagzeilen in vielen deutschen Zeitungen über den Vorfall. Die Kritik ist enorm, die gewonnene Reichweite jedoch auch. Denn 600.000 Personen sehen sich das Bild auf Instagram an. Auf YouTube wurde das Video am gleichen Abend noch von 1,2 Mio. Menschen aufgerufen.

Fake Baby-Delfin (3D-Druck)

Nach einigen Tagen klärt der YouTuber auf: Bei dem Delfin-Baby handelte es sich nur um einen 3D-Druck. Der Post war eine Kampagne für das Unternehmen Followfish, die auf die Überfischung der Ozeane und die Gefährung vieler Fischarten durch Beifang und illegale Jagd aufmerksam machen.