Besides the theoretical or rather philosophical differentiation of analog and digital features, the media we use today, from audio, video, over photography to print, offers more practical explanations.
Speaking of analog and digital in the field of audio, from recording to playback, the differentiation only concerns the features of the audio signal. The signal, either analog or digital, will at least need an analog device for output – e.g. analog speakers resembling the audio signal into acoustic sound waves.
However the audio signal can be either an analog or digital model of a real (recorded) sound wave but also a model for a real sound wave – playing a string of an electric guitar creates an analog audio signal that runs through a cable and after being amplified will result in sound waves created by the vibrating membranes of the speaker. Similiar like this the audio signal can also be created digitally, e.g. by using a midi-keyboard.
Technical charecteristics On the one side, for analog audio, soundwaves are converted to an electromagnetic signal that’s stored as data on a magnetic tape. The sound quality or the amount of information that can be stored on the recording tape refers to the tape width and tape speed.
On the other hand digital audio uses so called pulse code modulation or PCM which is the primary method to store digital information. This method creates a model of sound waves by „storing a sequence of numerical values that represent the amplitude or intensity at various points along the wave“, referred to as samples. The two crucial factors for sound quality in digital audio is bit-depth, through wich the amount of possible values is defined and the sample rate defined in kHz.
Advantages and disadvantages The major disadvantage of digital audio is that there will always be a finite amount of samples. Even if you raise the bit depth and sample rate you will never be able to resemble anything between two samples or values. As analog audio with the electromagnetic signal resembles the sound waves more naturally it can „catch infinitesimally small variations in amplitude“ and thus smoothly fill the gap that would be between two digital samples.
However analog audio signals will always be featuring a certain ground noise coming from the recording components. Even if this noise floor is very low on tape, it will increase by running through more analog components like cables, analog effects or (pre-)amplifiers and can become a major distracting noise. In digital audio the noise floor of a 24-bit sound file is -144 dB which is practically no noise, though it still can add up running through analog components (in playback).
Besides the quality of information stored on analog media or digital sound files there’s more practical features that add on the advantages of digital audio.
Firstly, magnetic tapes can not only be physically damaged or destroyed but stored information will be deleted immediately when approaching them with a magnet.
Digital files on the other hand are nowadays immune to magnetic fields and additionally from one digital sound recording infinete copies can be made without losing information in contrast to tapes that will lose sound quality from copy to copy. Thus digital audio files can be easily reproduced and distributed enormously fast around the globe without the needs of physical storage.
Acoustic Features The acoustic features of analog and digital audio signals are subtile and often highly subjective but there are obvious differences. First of all, in this discussion you will very often hear that audio coming from an analog source (tape, vinyl) has something like a more warm and soft sound, whereas digital signals coming from digital media (CD, wav or mp3 files passing the sound card) feature a rather cold and harsh sound. Depending on how trained your ears are you will most certainly hear some differences like these when comparing the same audio played via different media.
However the acoustic features are rather connected to the nature of the playback device and nature of the media (vinyl = analog, CD = digital) than to how the acoustic signal was originally recorded. Because still it is possible to record and mix a song with analog equipment and put it on CD (after digitalisation) and of course digitally recorded sound can for example also be reproduced on vinyl after converting the signal into grooves cut into vinyl (a process that’s also necessary when converting audio signals from analog tape for vinyl).
Summing it up analog and digital sound recording, audio signals, reproduction and playback are simply different ways to model and resemble sound waves. Both have different physical and technical features resulting in more or less different acoustic perception of basically the same sound – call it the analog charme and warmth due to infinite small intersecting vibrations or the digital precision and sharpness due to the isolated samples.
The question is not which one is better in general, but which one suits your purpose best.
In den letzten Einträgen wurde das Western-Genre von verschiedenen Blickwinkeln aus näher beleuchtet und auch schon öfters über die typischen Charaktere und Figuren darin gesprochen. Sie sind ein zentrales Element in eigentlich allen Western und haben einen hohen Stellenwert in den einzelnen Geschichten. Das Besondere beim Western ist allerdings, dass fast alle Charaktere in einer Großteils deutlich sichtbaren Analogie gezeichnet werden und man daher „schon weiß“, um wen es in dieser oder jener Handlung geht; „man kennt die Figuren“, ihre Art und ihre Motive schon bevor man dem eigentlichen Plot näher kommt. Um welche Charaktere es sich dabei handelt, wird in den folgenden Zeilen näher beschrieben. Wie schon einmal angemerkt, spielen das „Frontier“-Motiv im Western, sowie der Konflikt zwischen Gut und Böse (bzw. „lawful/unlawful“) zentrale Rollen bei der Entwicklung der Figuren. Die Frontier-Bewegung dreht sich um die Etablierung von Zivilisation und der Erschließung von Grenzland, was für Konflikte sorgt. Nun aber zu den Personen: für „Recht und Ordnung“ sorgt in der Regel die Figur des „Sheriffs“, der für die Einhaltung der Gesetze in den jeweiligen Ortschaften zuständig ist. Er wird in vielen Western-Geschichten auch als „The Law“ bezeichnet.
Abb. 1 – James Garner in „Support Your Local Sheriff!“ (1969)
Law & Outlaw
Damit ist aber nicht gesagt, dass ihm das auch immer gelingt – auch er kann auf Abwege geraten oder schlichtweg scheitern. Ihm gegenüber stehen Personen, die sich in ihrem Tun durchaus unterscheiden können, die in der Regel aber eines verbindet: sie halten sich nicht an die Gesetze und werden deshalb als „The Outlaw“ bezeichnet. Dabei handelt es sich meist um Banditen oder Räuber, auf die in vielen Fällen ein Kopfgeld ausgesetzt ist und sich deshalb auf der Flucht befinden. Sie können alleine auftreten oder in Gruppen, dann bezeichnet als „Gang“. Typische Aktivitäten des Outlaws sind Überfälle auf Ortschaften, Züge oder Kutschen; die Anwendung von Gewalt ist Mittel zum Zweck und völlig legitim. Als dritten wichtigen Charakter ist der Revolverheld zu nennen, im Englischen als „The Gunslinger“ bezeichnet. Dabei kann es um eine eigene Person handeln, die eine eigene Rolle in den Geschichten einnimmt – meist aber trägt eine der bereits genannten Personen die Eigenschaften des Gunslingers. Dazu zählt vor allem der hervorragende Umgang mit dem Revolver und anderen Schusswaffen. Manchmal ist das aber auch das Einzige, was der Revolverheld wirklich kann, was ihn in gewissen Fällen zu einem Sonderling macht und er deshalb keinen Platz in der Gesellschaft findet.
Abb. 2 – Clint Eastwood in „The Outlaw Josey Wales“ (1976)
Cowboys & Drifter
Nach der Beschreibung von Gut und Böse in ihren Charakterformen, sowie dem Revolverheld als Eigenschaft (bzw. weitere Figur), gibt es noch zwei andere wichtige Personen, die typisch sind für den Western: Cowboys und „Drifter“. Vielen dürfte beim Wort „Cowboy“ ein klares Bild in den Sinn kommen – ursprünglich als Viehtreiber engagiert, der über eine Herde Rinder wacht und diese von A nach B quer durch entlegene Gebiete treibt. Im Western spielt die eigentliche Tätigkeit dabei kaum eine Rolle, die Aufmachung und die zugeschriebene Art dafür umso mehr. Der Hut, die Stiefel, ausgerüstet mit Revolver und Gewehr, stetig sitzend auf dem Pferd, abgebrüht, direkt und „hard-working“. Oft als Held gezeichnet, setzte sich diese Darstellung als etwas Generelles durch, und lässt sich auch in den anderen Charakteren wiederfinden. So etwa in der Figur des „Drifters“. Dabei handelt es sich um jemanden, der aus meist unbekannten Gründen in eine Ortschaft gespült wird, um dort Arbeit oder Anschluss zu suchen. Dabei verliert er nicht viele Worte, ist meist ruhig und weiß mehr, als man ihm auf den ersten Blick zutraut. Mit ihm sind alle grundsätzlichen Figuren des Westerns abgedeckt.
In my last blogpost I mentioned that by injecting meaning and context to experiences, we trigger an emotional response that can either be happiness, compassion, surprise or amazement. Those emotional responses can trigger a joyful experience. In the following you will find typical examples for joyful design considering and working with happiness as an emotional response to trigger a joyful experience.
Happiness
When working with “happiness” as a trigger for a joyful experience we can especially refer to a wide selection of visual cues. Visual cues that evoke a feeling of happiness, leading to a joyful experience can be the use of bright colors, multi-colored color palettes, round shapes, symmetrical shapes, abundance and multiplicity.
Colors, sprinkles, rainbows, bubbles and confetti–as embodiments of happiness–are perceived by a majority of people as joyful. [1]
M&Ms
A perfect example of design, working with all the visual cues arousing happiness is M&Ms (as well as Smarties, Skittles and Sixlets, to mention a few). The multi-colored (even if they all have the same taste), round-shaped, “chocolate beans” are amongst the most popular candies and their “happy” design for sure is a factor of success.
Over the years, marketing has helped build and expand the M&M’s brand. Computer-animated graphics, personification of the candies as characters with cartoon-like storytelling, and various merchandising techniques including the introduction of new flavors, colors and customizable merchandise have helped to increase the brand’s recognition as a (happy) candy icon. [2]
The perfect mix of happiness: multi-colored, round shaped and furthermore the use of mascots, humour and storytelling
As in the case of M&Ms, happiness and in consequence joyful experiences can be triggered by working with “visual cues of happiness” which are in most cases simply colorful, playful design approaches. But we can also arouse happiness by working with nostalgia or humor.
Happiness—Colorful, Playful Design
“HIKI is a fun, fresh brand for every body and everybody. The wonton color scheme is playful, and without direct logic. This allows the tall, chunky, san-serif typeface of the logo to be the hero of the design. This is a brand that doesn’t present itself as too masculine or feminine, meaning it is for every consumer at every age. HIKI is a masterclass in how a brand can have a blast without skewing too youthful. This is a deodorant brand that is sure to charm it’s way into the homes and hearts of consumers everywhere.”— Shawn Binder. [3]
The Brand Design of Hiki is a great example of how color can be used to create a fun, fresh and open minded brand (appealing) to everyone–just by working with simple visual cues that arouse happiness.
Happiness—Nostalgic Design
Many of the visual cues creating happiness remind us of lighthearted, past times and can evoke feelings of nostalgia. Those cues can remind us of our childhood, teenage days or let our minds travel to distant times or/and cultures. The feeling of nostalgia gets willingly triggered to create joyful experiences. [4]
Brand Design by Eggplant Factory for VT Cosmetics using the characters of Moomins to trigger the feeling of nostalgia.
Designers can use nostalgia to appeal to their audience on a feel-good level. By tapping into people’s desire to feel a sense of belonging, meaning, and security, designers can endow their creations with emotion and sentimentality that connects with their audience and elicits a pleasurable feeling. [5]
Happiness—Fun, Humorous Design
Humor has been recognized as being important in promoting people’s wellbeing and happiness. By thinking out of the box we can use this knowledge to create a joyful experience using fun and humour as a central element of design.
The illustrations of “Beak Picks” packaging got a fun twist by covering the birds head with the individual fruit/ingredient. This simple but clever and suprising twist brings not only a smile on the consumers face but can also create a spark of joy. [6]
[2] Wikipedia. M&Ms. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%26M%27s (last retrieved on 06.01.2020)
[3] The Dieline. Playful But Not Childish Hiki Sweat Products Know How To Have Fun. URL: https://thedieline.com/blog/2020/12/11/-playful-but-not-childish-hiki-sweat-products-know-how-to-have-fun? (last retrieved on 06.01.2020)
[4] The Dieline. VT Beauty & Health Lifestyle Brand. URL: https://thedieline.com/blog/2016/8/24/vt-beauty-and-health-lifestyle-brand?(last retrieved on 06.01.2020)
[5] Canva. URL: https://www.canva.com/learn/nostalgia/ (last retrieved on 06.01.2020)
[6] The Dieline. Vibrant Playful Illustrations Bring The Packaging For “Beak Pick !” To Life. URL: https://thedieline.com/blog/2019/10/11/vibrant-playful-illustrations-bring-the-packaging-for-beak-pick–to-life? (last retrieved on 06.01.2020)
Population aging is taking place in nearly all of the countries around the world. Technologies and users change, which leads to some well-trained users in the digital environment. Metaphors are no longer needed to use or understand the icons, also the relation of a mapped object to its counterpart in the physical world is no longer necessary for the younger generation. As an increasing number of the elderly has moved from simple cell phones to smartphones, the industry sees this as an opportunity to create a new market segment. The smartphone industry becomes more competitive than ever before, and therefore studies on the elderly users are highly demanding.
There are already graphic user interfaces (GUIs) that are especially designed for the elder generation. But the layout design is much bigger, simpler and not very appealing, transferring the message that the elderly are not capable to use smartphones.
To support such deficiency, it should be approached in a more positive way to gain trust in technology and above all also emotional satisfaction. Particularly for the elderly who start using the smartphones in their later years, an intuitive graphical guide is indispensable.
To understand what a GUI for the older generation of smartphone users should look like and how it can be used better, I looked at two studies that were conducted 5 years apart, one in 2015 and one in 2020 in Asia. These studies both deal with icon design and draw a connection to seniors’ preferences for skeuomorphic and/or flat design and show the different perceptions from designers and actual users.
When Apple released iOS7, it set off a graphical style trend moving from skeuomorphic to a simpler flat design. How to manipulate the degree of realistic appeal strongly influenced the identity of GUI design. To trace how GUIs changed from skeuomorphic to flat icon design, I looked at the IOS apps icons evolution, where the development is very clearly visible.
The Elders Preference for Skeuomorphism as App Icon Style (2015, Korea)
In a Korean study of 2015 researchers from the department of industrial design explored the value of skeuomorphism as an icon style particularly for the elderly people. For this study the researchers visited two senior centers in South Korea and recruited 38 participants ranging from 65 to 91 years. To identify the proper approach of skeuomorphism, they articulated two factors such as degree of realism and level abstraction.
The researchers identified what appeals more to the elderly smartphone users, particularly focusing on comparing the effects of skeuomorphism and minimalism. They picked Call, Contact and Camera icons in four different degrees of realism and metaphoric function each, in collaboration with designers. The first results were three tables and each displays the eight types of each Call, Contact and Camera icons according to the two abstraction levels and four degrees of realism. Considering the nature of elderly responses to the stimuli, the researchers planned a pairwise comparison to minimize cognitive workload. 84 cards with icons to compare were created and shown to the seniors. The first question the researchers asked was: „Which one looks better?“ (preference) followed by: „Which one do you think would perform the given feature?” (understandability).
The evaluation revealed that in deciding the preference for an icon, the degree of realism had twice the influence of the degree of abstraction. In particular, there was a positive correlation between the degree of realism and the preference. Regarding the degree of abstraction, the metaphorical style was preferred. Similarly, there was a positive correlation between degree of realism and understandability. Also the elderly considered the metaphoric style being better for understanding the meaning of an icon.
In conclusion, using the same metaphor from the real world has influence on the elders’ understandability, while illustrative and realistic representations play an important role on the elder preference. The elderly seem to prefer familiar expressions that look realistic, but still might need a cue to guess the function. In addition, this result indicate that there is a contradiction between actual usability and emotional judgment. It is expected for services targeting elderly users to depict an icon rather realistic and skeuomorphic than flat and abstract.
Skeuomorphic or flat icons for an efficient visual search by younger and older adults (2020, China)
In a Chinese study of 2020 three researchers from the department of industrial design investigated whether older or younger users perceive the aesthetics of icon styles in the same manner as designers and which style is preferred by which user age group. It also examines whether skeuomorphic or flat design is more suitable for the elder generation. The goal of this study was to help designers to find a suitable design style for people of all ages. There were 48 participants in total, 24 over the age of 60 (on average at the age of 72) 24 on average at the age of 23 years.
More than 97.8 million Internet users aged above 60 in China have installed an average of 28 applications on their smartphones. Icon images are intended to capture the user’s attention and thus play an essential role in target application searches. Nowadays, the trend of skeuomorphism in app icon design is giving way to flat design. But there is also a new design style evolving, which is called flat 2.0. This design type is almost flat but uses subtle 3D effects. The study emphasizes, that what the designer stresses is not always what the user notices or interprets. Sometimes user and designer have completely different perceptions. Examining this gap could help to reflect the role of this particular design elements.
Relating to previously created work in this sector, the researchers reflect that in terms of user experience and usability, younger adults prefer flat icon to skeuomorphism icon design. This has to do with the aesthetic and emotional satisfaction. The results from the older adults were the other way around. For the experiment, it was also important what kind of education, gender and level of smartphone usage the participants had.
The experiment started with a first task, where the participants had to rank the 72 shown icons with stars between flat or skeuomorphic impression. The second task was to click the icon that they considered to match the function name as fast and accurate as possible. The third task was to rate the perceived beauty of the flat and skeuomorphic icons on a scale.
The results imply that the younger participants could use the skeuomorphic icons more efficiently than they could use the flat icons and that they had an advantage over older participants in terms of this ability; however, aesthetically they appreciated flat icons more. In contrast, older participants searched skeuomorphic icons more quickly and accurately than they did flat icons, and aesthetically they appreciated skeuomorphic icons more.
After explaining the basics of exhibition design, I’ll go through a little of history with science centers and define a few of their characteristics. In the next article, I will present a world reknowned science center, the Exploratorium.
Science, society and science centers
Nowadays, the relation between individuals and science is quite complexe and paradoxal. In the 90’s scientists and engineers had some image problem, public having in mind the image of the mad scientist. George Gerbner studied the perception of scintists among 1500 television watchers and it appears that the more likely the person watches TV, the more likely she is to think scientist are odd and peculiar. A lot of progresses have been made through the years, but the COVID-19 pandemic reminds us of some shadows around the scientific world. Every year, studies are made showing indicators of public attitudes towards science and technology. Here are a few of them released by the Pew Research Center about 2020 Worldwide opinion on science and technology. As you can see underneath, the majority of people in 2020 say they have some trust in scientists to do what is right, but in the same way they feel that they doesn’t know enough about science to really understand the topics around it. The image of scientists depend a lot of the level of education of population, and the way media depict and explain science can really get the population confused.
[1]
As you can see, talking about science implies a broad range of implication : not only the knowledge but legal, ethical, environmental, economic, political and sometimes religious issues. The populations usually are not well informed about science and technology, which create both a challenge and an opportunity for science centers.
Science centers
Science centers are educational facilities using methods to teach science and technology. Those methods include the use of interactive displays, events and activities, web-based education programs and remote teaching and learning techniques [2]. The range of exhibits may be oriented towards natural history, earth sciences, pure science, science and technology or industry. Aerospace, underwater exploration, nanotechnology, digitization, artificial intelligence and genetics are just a few of the subjects that may be encountered. Exhibitions based on pure science focus more specifically on demonstrating phenomena, the scientific method and the process of experimentation. The focus is on discovering learning with strong hands on emphasis.
Different thematics of the coSA center fpr activities in Graz
The audience for the science center usually includes children of school age, teenargers and adults altough science discovery rooms for preschoolers may also be found in some science centers. But children are not the only people in our society who need to understand science. And by over emphasizing fun, we run the risk of literally losing the science in science centers. Interpreting science and technology for a broad and diverse audience is at the heart of the mission of most science centers, it should include both children and adults.
Science centers are community ressources that empower parents as advocates for their children’s learning. Through content-rich exhibitions and programs, parents and children can learn together. Science centers partners with schools and expand the learning resources for families. Through after school programs, vacation and summer classes, parents are able to expand the experience base for their children, this enhances the educational infrastructure for the entire community [3].
Presentation of a chemie experiment in the Palais de la découverte in Paris [7]. Through this show, people can have a direct access to chemists and discuss with them.
Sciences Centers evolved with interactivity
20 years ago, science centers virtually owned interactivity. Video games were in their infancy, most children’s museums were small, the children’s museum file had not experienced the dramatic growth of recent years and few other interactive options existed. The competitive universe of children based centers changed this. Children’s museums look very much like science centers. Natural History Museums, zoos and art museum now reach out to families and provides hands on experiences. Even themes parks which previously used passive dark rides incorporate hands-on exhibits because they have learned that hands on increases dwell time (the time spend by visitors in an exhibition). So hands on pays.
In the 1970 only 16 museums centers existed worldwide. Today, Science centers and science museums are present on all continents and welcome 300 million visitors [4]. Large science centers exist in smaller cities, and more are in the planning stages. The proliferation of science centers provides multiple opportunities for informal science education.
Nowadays, there is an explosion of interaction in all the entertainment sectors, and in medias. It’s a challenge for science center to keep showing entertaining and educational content. Indeed who wants to see something in a science center that you can see on the TV or somewhere else ? The approach used by science centers against this is to integrate what can be seen as meaningful interactive experiences with authentic objects and concepts that can’t be replicated out of the space of the science center because every object used is unique. In this way, space and material is way more important than in every other exhibition [3].
The challenge of children education
Although aimed generally at children from preschool age through to about age 12, experience has demonstrated the value of having separate areas designed to serve the developmental requirement of toddlers (aged 18 monthts to 3 years), preschool and kindergarten children (aged 4-6) and primary and middle school children (aged 6-8 and 9-12). In addition, children’s spaces must accomodate accompanying adults and family groups including parents, grandparents, and both younger and older children.
The range of exhibits that may be conceived for a children’s exhibition space is very wide, but in virtually every instance there will be an interactive element. Interactivity in the children’s gallery can be :
Low tech : relying on such activities as storytelling, role playing ,dress-up ; directed seeing, and puzzle solving ; facility demands might include low dividing walls surrounding a play area or special floor surfaces, but these are generally manageable within most building types
Example of a low tech activity by the “Mazes & Brain Games” of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Medium tech : which might involve working with clay, printmaking, such activites may demand water supply and drainage, food storage, animal care, and clean up facilities
example of medium tech experiment
High tech : using technology such as scientific apparatus or multimedia that may be as demanding of smart exhibition space as any sophisticated black box exhibition
example of high tech experiment from International Spy Museum of Washington, DC [6]
Intercreative exhibition spaces
More and more museums of all types are creating spaces and exhibits that offer different generations and market segments opportunities to interact creatively through diverse means such as performance problem solving hands on experience, experiment, creative writing, filmmaking, and many other activities. We may call the intercreative exhibition spaces.
Intercreative centers require specialized types of supports, storage and workshop space. They may feature living collections, moving water or wind tunnels, or industrial, transportation, medical, or military technology. Part of the ethos of these exhibitions is that visitors are invited not only to look at exhibits, but to learn by doing, so facilities must be designed for visitor participation, either right in the exhibition spaces or in immediately adjacent areas [3].
Science club in the fleet Science center of San Diego [6]
Planning and design of intercreative spaces may require the participation of specialists in the art, science or performance activity intended, or in the design of art studios, laboratories, workshops, rehearsal or performance venues, multimedia production facilities, TV or recording studios, or other specialized environments.
Most science centers resquires flexibiliy in their galleries so that the space can be completely reconfigured for each exhibition. Intercreative exhibition spaces require smart technologyu capability and flexbility of the location, setup ; and replacement of stand alone exhibit modules which are likely to change anywhere from every 2 months to every 3 to 5 years. For intercreative spaces incorporated within an exhibition space, the following requirements may apply and be specified in the design requirement for individual exhibits :
Access to power and data grids extended accross floors, majors walls, and ceilings
Level changes or the ability to build in structures provinding new levels and enclosures
Ability to create equipment pits in selected areas
Capacity for at least one school class (30 children) at one time
Storage for supplies and props, housekeeping and installation equipment nearby
Good service access via loading docks freight elevators, or hydraulic ligts
Public access for all age groups
Water supply and drainage
Air compressors
Sturdy washable surfaces
Specialized sound and light systems
Suspension capability for exhibit elements including electronics
Special acoustic treatments [3]
Intercreative space of the coSA center
An overview of Science Centers and institutionsaround the world
As we previously said before science center are getting more and more present worldwide. A few institutions are trying to promote their visibility such as the international science center. It is a yearly global event illustrating the impact and reach of all the world’s science centers and science museums. The last event was last year, because of COVID.
Cover of the website [8]
An other institution is the Association of science and technology centers, you can see their goals underneath.
Strategies of the association [9]
If you want to get an overview of the different Science Centers around the world you can go visit those links :
Our goal through the next articles will be to evolve our definition of a clumsy interaction in order to build one as complete as possible.
The controller
Recently I bought a new controller, very classic and battery operated. Here’s what happened to me when I decided to put batteries in. Locating the battery compartment was simple but opening it was more complicated. I first tried to open it by pressing the little button on top, it was my first instinctive action and it didn’t work. I tried again, 2, 3 times, and decided to read the instructions to see if I was using the right technique. The good point is that the instructions told me that what I was doing was what I was supposed to do, the bad point is that I didn’t know why it didn’t work. After several more attempts, I realized that I had to press the button while moving the compartment. This action could be instinctive but the pressure to be put on the button being quite important I didn’t dare to do it because of the risk of breaking the lever. This was my new clumsy interaction of the week.
Initially, I had analyzed this operation in the following way: “I decided to use an object, by interacting with it I make a mistake or can’t get what I want, that’s where the awkward interaction is born”. This was my starting point, when there is a problem in our interaction it becomes awkward, yet after reading the book The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman I realize that this is not correct. The awkwardness in the use of the object comes from its creation but I only recognized it as such when I realized that there was a problem. So to understand clumsy interactions, it is first necessary to understand their origin and to do this we must go back to the creation of the object or even the birth of the idea.
Origin of the object
To understand the origin of the objects, I researched who were the creators of the objects of our everyday life. Were they engineers, researchers, designers, salesmen, or just everyone who had an idea? Following my investigations, I would say that the objects of our everyday life have been largely thought of by specialists; by this, I mean engineers, researchers, and designers. It is important to know that it is mostly specialists who design everyday objects because this explains the origin of certain awkward interactions. Indeed, when an engineer, an expert, creates an object, he uses his experience and technical knowledge of this type of object to design it. His approach is strongly influenced by his way of thinking and is therefore mainly aimed at people who think like him. As Don Norman says, “Engineers are formatted to think logically. As a result, they come to imagine that all people think the same way and they design their machine based on that idea”. Therefore a casual user, who is not trained as an engineer, may have difficulty using the object, and that’s where the awkwardness comes in. In the next article, we will go deeper into the errors in object design that cause clumsy interaction.
At the extreme, this conception mode, which excludes the user experience, may explain the lack of usefulness or meaning of some objects. So during my research, I discovered an article called “35 inventions that will change everything”, it’s an old article from 2010. In this article, the author evaluates the different inventions he exposes according to two criteria: the probability that these objects will end up existing and their usefulness. This second criterion says a lot, let’s keep in mind that an object must meet a need.
Recognize clumsy interactions
Now that we have been able to establish a first cause for the appearance of awkward interactions. How can we identify, as users, the awkward interactions of our daily life? Don Norman in his book addresses 2 key notions: discoverability and understanding. These 2 notions are part of our interactive experiences. Discoverability occurs when we are facing an object for the first time, we quickly analyze it in order to know how to use it and what are our possible actions. With this first notion, it is easier to spot the awkwardness because we do not know the object and we will therefore notice quite quickly the problems we have to use it. Let’s observe ourselves:
Do we need to publish a manual?
Do we need to analyze its signage?
Do we instinctively know what not to touch?
Finally, if it is a new model of an object we already have, does it have the same codes as the previous ones?
Let’s now take an object we have already been around for a long time: How can we know if it is clumsy? Our study of the object must be more thorough, and we must try to understand why we use it like this, and moreover, if we have the right use for it, even the same use as our neighbor. In the same way, do we know all the uses? Let’s take the concrete example of the washing machine: very few people know all its functionalities and each one uses only the ones they need. Here the question is even to know if the sum of our partial uses is equal to total use. So many questions that will generate so many different answers depending on the users.
Conclusion
Conceptor, therefore, bear a major responsibility for creating awkward interactions, of which we users can be the victims. If we wish we can recognize very quickly a clumsy interaction thanks to the discoverability we can apply to objects we have been using for a long time.
Definition, in progress
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.
Now that we have established our first draft definition, with the designer’s role as a starting point, one may wonder about the importance of design in awkward interactions.
Source : Book: The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman, 2020 Article: 35 inventions that will change everything, L’actualité, 2010
Appraising the visitors by the use of interaction through films, sounds and materials
What is the engagement and what are the different types of visitor’s content apprehension ?
Engagement is the process of addressing a visitor directly by stimulating them and create positive memories or give new insights. For this to happens the designer has to make sure that he adresses all the target groups. The diverse audiences can be classified depending on the length of the visit (short, medium, long) or by the different interests and knowledges they have :
The expert : it’s a specialist, with a lot of knowledge around the topic. He often wants to sit and have specific informations to pursue his researches.
Frequent traveller : He has a reasonable foundation of knowledge and a general curiosity and is aware of museums.
The scout : he wants to travel freely in the space and have its own path to see the top layer informations. The challenge for the designer is to help him have a big picture without confusion.
The orienter : someone who has been here thanks to someone else or who doesn’t have any knowledge about the topic. He doesn’t know what to look for so is looking for something meaningful to them. Often children [1].
Falk’s different types of visitors [2]. To see which type of visitor you are go on this page : https://jewishmuseummd.org/intern-weekly-response-identity-and-the-museum-visitor-experience/
Depending of the type of museum, the visitor can go through different types of interaction and content :
Comprehension : History and natural science are more likely to feature contextual or thematic exhibitions where the artifacts, specimens or other objects on display are not intended to be studied as individual objects but related to each others. Graphics may be multilayered and combine words and images to aid visitor comprehension. The visitor is more actively engaged in the process of making relationships, studying tje graphics and labels as well as relating or comparing the objects to one another.
Discovery : An other mean of visitor engagement is the one in which the visitor explores a range of specimens appreciating individual examples. This is found in many natural history museums that have adapted visible storage means of display.
Interaction : the most kinesthetically involving mode of visitor apprehension is the one favored by many science centers and children’s museums ; in which staff, volunteers, exhibition apparatus or duplicate specimens identified as hands on Education Collection may be used to elicit a visitor response that triggers the transformative visitor experience, the discovery of meanings that affects the visitor’s values, interests, or attitude
Where is there interactivity in museums ?
Digital and multimedia techniques are currently providing more ways in which a museum can be participatory. Interactivity in museums can be found through materials, electronic devices, interactive displays, films and sounds. The museum experience becomes a high controlled environment with multi media and multi sensorial stimulis, immersing the visitor in the themes and contents of the exhibition.
In order to be efficient, there are several things to take in account when designing interaction for exhibitions.
For all interactives, visitors need to gain an idea of what they are interacting with, what is does and how it works in as short a time as possible, so approachability is important.
Visitors have limited time and patience for exploring and expending mental effort on an exhibit. There has to be some kind of reassuring feedback within seconds of the visitor beginning to use an interaction, so that he or she can see that their actions have had an effect.
If a new interface is introduced, this should be done consistently. The controls either have to be consistent with the way things are already done, and therefore rely on the visitor’s previous experience to help him or her to know what to do. It is also important to consider that some interfaces are intuitive to use, and call for learning whereas other are not [3].
The Wii controller in A is more intuitive than the PS3 controller in B for non initiate users
Benefits of sound and films :
Moderne audiences have become accustomed to ambient sound and moving images. Exhibitors are increasingly aware of the diverse learning styles of the visiting public. Many visitors are reluctant to read labels and many are primarily driven by visual and aural stimuli. For them, film and sound are the preferred means of engaging with a subject. Increasingly, film, video and sound are used as scenographic elements in an exhibition theme, as part of an overall immersive environment.
Interactive screen are more and more common nowadays in expositions
Designers use every tool available to create a total display that communicates the storyline throught every element : light, materials, moving images, and sound. Projections or videos are often used to create a visual backdrop that overwhelms the senses of visitors and immerses them in the subject of the display. Powerful images and ambient sound effectively isolate visitors and draw their attention to a particular theme or idea. Overwhelming them with images, sounds, smells and textures forces them to engage directly with exhibition and its theme. This approach which is common to art installations as well as exhibitions often involves interactives devices.
Inside soundBox, interactiv experience using sound at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. In this display, a group of people can mix a recording by standing our crouching to affect the levels of different parts. At another, motion sensors follow your hands and you can, like a conductor, influence the tempo of a virtual Nashville Symphony [4].
Devices such as acoustic guides, pda (personal digital assistants) sound booths and kiosks are useful additions to any exhibition and are important in enabling the visitors with different learning styles (auditory) to engage with its subject. But there are number of limitating factors that the designer must take in account when designing the experience, and the help of specialists is requiered.
Digitarium – Game Science Center in Berlin. The center shows applications with nex technologies, everything is based arounf interaction and implies the activ participation of the visitor with body movements, voice, occulary movement etc [5].
Materials :
The designer must consider a lot of things when deciding on which materials he will put on an exhibition, especially when for childrens. They must evaluate their fire rating, durability an whether they are suitable for a specific purpose. In addition to fire retardancy, and a material’s aesthetic properies, the designer must check its durability, order times, price, sheet sizes, ease of maintenance and assembly time and the skills of the contractors involved.
Fire retardancy is an important consideration to have when choosing a material
In reality, many designers develop a palette of materials they use consistently, introducing new ones cautiously and only when they are sure they will perform. A sample board, materials glued to a board is useful to show the range of materials used for each different aspect of an exhibition and is often shown to the client as part of a design presentation. It allows the designer to make minute adjustments to colours and finishes to ensure a good result.
One material data base among the one that exist, https://materio.com/[6]
In many cases, the materials that are chosen will last for the duration of just one exhibition. Howevber in the light of green design imperatives, materials that can easily be reused for future shows are preferred. Particularly for commercial exhibitors, it is essential that colours and textures are consistent with the visual identity of the company, and that finishes are consistent with its branding material.
For museum displays some materials particularly those used inside showcases are tested for conservation purpose. A toxic glue that fixes a laminate or a painted surface might be a potential source of pollutants that can accelerate the deterioriation of sensitive artifacts.
Technical drawing and implementation of the exhibition
The models, sketches and drawing are important means of showing a coherent design strategy and to discuss and share important ideas with the client. At the end of the discussion the designer has to turn the provisional drawings into technical drawings that can be read by contractors and suppliers and provide the information for the final built project.
For each part of the exhibit, the designer produces drawings at different scales starting with the largest which show the overall site and how the built project will fit in. hese drawings are collected, numbered and given titles. It should include measures perspective and any technical details.
Example of detailed plan [3]
Technical drawings for exhibitions are similar to those produced by architects and interior designers. With all exhibition drawings, figures superimposed on section drawings speak very eloquently about the relationship of the exhibits to visitors. Drawing of a range of visitors interacting with displays helps to determine the correct height for display panels, controls, buttons, screens and other interactions points.
Interaction drawing of the setup of the UK Pavilion Expo in Aichi, Japan [3].
Drawing for interaction devices often need to show the exhibit or display in a number of modes to make clear how the user interacts with it and what changes are triggered by the interaction. This may also be specified in words on the drawings, detailing the stages in an interaction and the intended visitor experience.
Before a completed design is handed over, the designer produces a checklist, called a snagging list which highlights snags or construction defects. Then the last step of the exhibition can go with the assembly of all the contents of the exhibition.
In unserer Zeit sind wir von Daten und Informationen umgeben. Rund um die Uhr werden in jeder Sekunde Daten generiert. Dies veranschaulicht der DOMO report aus dem Jahr 2018:
“Over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every single day, and it’s only going to grow from there. By 2020, it’s estimated that 1.7MB of data will be created every second for every person on earth.”
Via socialmediatoday.com | DOMO, How much data is generated every minute?
Testdaten
Einer der wichtigsten Punkte der Daten-Visualisierung sind die Daten selbst. Um realistische Testdaten zu analysieren wurden folgende Seiten recherchiert:
“DataBank is an analysis and visualisation tool that contains collections of time series data on a variety of topics. You can create your own queries; generate tables, charts, and maps; and easily save, embed, and share them. Enjoy using DataBank and let us know what you think!“
THE WORLD BANK bietet eine Vielzahl an Datenbanken und vorgefertigte Report Tools welche die Analyse erleichtern.
“Die Datensatzsuche soll Datensätze allgemein zugänglich und nutzbar machen und die folgenden Aufgaben erfüllen:
Sie soll ein System schaffen, das die Publisher geteilter Daten dazu motiviert, die Best Practices für Speicherung und Veröffentlichung von Daten anzuwenden
Sie soll Wissenschaftlern die Möglichkeit geben, anhand der Zitierung der von ihnen erstellten Datensätze zu zeigen, welche Wirkung ihre Arbeit hat
Da immer mehr Datensatz-Repositories schema.org und ähnliche Standards verwenden, um ihre Datensätze zu beschreiben, werden Nutzer im Laufe der Zeit in der Datensatzsuche zunehmend umfangreichere und vielfältigere Datensätze finden.”
Verbal and nonverbal communication in web-meetings
In order to give my research a framework of theoretical background, I am going to have a closer look on the sociological context of communication. Regarding the topic of web-meetings I want to find out, which communication channels we are using in presence meetings and which of them are used in web-meetings. Hopefully this will lead to the outcome of finding out what makes meetings “human” and which parts of it are missing in web-meetings.
Having a look on the way we communicate includes the research on verbal and nonverbal communication. What is exactly the difference between those two?
Verbal communication is often defined by communicating a message through one single channel: the usage of words. This happens distinctively meaning in a linear way. As soon as the words are written or said, the verbal communication ends. Meanwhile, nonverbal communication uses multiple channels such as physical action, sound appearance and motion to convey a message by combining them. This simultaneous usage of channels happens continuously. This means, that nonverbal communication happens without a spoken word and rather unconsciously. Next, nonverbal communication is often independent of any specific language or dialect. If we smile for example, it will be automatically understood as a friendly gesture (if this is the initial meaning).
We use regularly kinesics, haptics, appearance, proxemics, environment, chronemics, paralanguage and silence while communicating nonverbal.
Kinesics The study of how we use body movement and facial expressions. Example: A raised eyebrow as a sign for disapproval.
Most web-meetings are held with video streaming. Sometimes with all of the participants can be seen and sometimes only the main speaker turns the video in order to give the rest of the participants the chance to concentrate and to enable a stable connection. What we see is often the head and parts of the upper body. According to that, we could have the chance to read a facial expression and some movement of the upper body. We slightly can assume the body posture and can see the hand and arm movement from time to time. Do we actually need to see the lower body of our meeting partners? Usually we sit on tables while talking to each other and are used to read the body language in the upper body areas like face, hands and overall body posture.
Haptics The study of touch Example: A firm handshake as a sign of confidence.
Touching each other in online meetings is definitely not possible. The only thing the participants touch is their own input devices such as a mouse, trackpad or keyboard. We need them to write a comment or mute and unmute our microphone. Therefore the haptic input devices are connected to the meeting but do not really differ from the usual interaction with the computer outside of the meeting. What would happen, if we are able to send a small vibrations in order to greet to each other?
Appearance The use of personal appearance, objects and artefacts to communicate Example: Wearing a suitable outfit or constantly playing with a pen.
Turning on the video gives us the chances to check the appearance of our meeting partners. Does the outfit fit the meeting occasion? Web-meetings are often held in homeoffice environments, so the web-meeting dress code often does not exactly reflect the office styling. How does this affect the actual communication? If we are looking at an informal meeting occasion we can observe the usage of filters and background in order to dress up. This often leads to funny moments and can be easily understood without verbal communication. In addition to the ‘fashionable’ appearance also the natural appearance can be seen through video communication. The participants show themselves only from the front and in a sitting position in usual web-meetings. We do not get any information about their body height, the way they walk into the room and sit down or the side and back view of their appearance.
Proxemics The study of the use of interpersonal space Example: We get uncomfortable if somebody enters our personal space unexpected or unwanted.
Web-meetings are usual held in distance, so personal or relational space does not really matter. Each participant is has its own virtual space on the meeting interface. Beside the “only one person is talking with video input” situation, each participant gets an equal placement in the conversation. For example there is no group building by standing a bit nearer to each other. Therefore, we can assume that in comparison to the presence meeting there is no personal hierarchy because the participants can not show off their relational space between them. Does this make web-meetings even more impersonal or is this supporting a more equal conversation? If we think of a meeting situation of participants around one big table, we recognise, that we can not concentrate on all participants at the same time. We are not able to check the facial expressions of the neighbours next to us if we are not looking it them. In web-meetings environment we are confronted with the front view of all participants. In the presence meeting we maybe start a small side conversation with the person that randomly sits next to us. Beside the non-existence of multiple audio channels it is not usual in web-meetings to start such personal side conversation. Also it is not possible to address a message to a certain person through eye contact or other gestures, this has to be communicated verbally.
Environment The influence of the current space we occupy Example: A messy room or desk distract us from focused and concentrated work.
Imagine you plan a date. You probably think about your own appearance or possible topics to talk about. What you definitely will think of is an appropriate place to go to. Environments matter and can influence the nonverbal communication – even in group meetings. In web-meetings, the participants meet in a virtual space. As I mentioned before, there are usually no specific placement order. In comparison to that, presence meetings are strongly influenced be the conditions of the environment. Do we sit on a round table equally and can face each other directly? Or do we sit in a lecture hall and are facing the lecture but not each other? Are we influenced by the sound environment of a crowded restaurant? In my point of view the aspects of space and environment seems to be an important topic that is only barely touched in current web-meeting tools. Often there is the possibility of changing the background of the own video appearance. But that usual happens individually and intensifies the feeling of separation. The ‘together mode’ of Microsoft Teams brings all participants equally together in one virtual space what creates a sense of nonverbal cohesion. How does such virtual spaces affect the nonverbal ‘human’ aspects of web-meetings in detail?
Chronemics The study of the role of time in communication Example: Being on time creates another picture than being late
Regarding web-meetings with a lot of participants and/or with a lecturer, time can be an important considerable aspect. We can check the appearance of the participants mainly with their video or audio stream. Otherwise we can not be sure, if they are really joining the meeting and participate or listen. This affects especially the beginning of the meeting. Also breaks differ from presence meetings: There the participants are free to recharge energy on their own or to use their breaks to connect and reflect the information with each other, web-meetings do not naturally give the opportunity to network or connect. This also true for the end of the meeting, unless there is a follow-up meeting with certain participants.
Paralanguage The influence of vocal characteristics Example: The meaning of a verbal communicated message can be inverted by vocally expressed sarcasm.
As long as the audio is turned on and the internet connection is stable, participants of web-meetings are able to register paralanguage aspects of the speakers verbal communication. But as soon as they write comments in the chat, this aspects can not be included. Nowadays we therefore use emojis to underline the certain meaning of our written message. Sometimes, we even use only emojis to express our reaction and give our interlocutor the chance to detect our nonverbal communication characteristics.
Silence The influence not use words or utterances Example: Stop speaking in an argument can be a sign of resignation
Refusing verbal communication and being silent on purpose can be as effectual as the spoken word itself. In web-meetings the participants are often asked to mute their audio while not speaking. This can lead to a lack of participation: Turning the microphone on and off can be exhausting after a long timespan. If the video streaming is not possible, the muted participants also lead to a lack of reaction like hearable laughter or other auditive reactions. This can lead to a somehow silent meeting and end in a rather unemotional meeting vibe. It could be an interesting point to research how to ‘overcome’ the web-meeting silence in the case of bigger participant numbers.
In conclusion, video and audio streaming can already convey a lot of nonverbal clues. But there are also a lot of constraints that interferer them like muted microphones or seeing only the front view of participants. In my opinion there are already good solutions for some constraints and also a lot of potential so explore new ways of improving the communication possibilities and the human aspects within web-meetings (e.g. environment, reactions).
Thank you for reading! For the next entry I am planning to get an overview on the current web-meeting tools on the market. If you have any thought, idea or comment on that topic (or just for chatting), feel free to contact me – I would be happy to get in touch 🙂
I was born and raised during the IRAN_IRAQ war that’s why I care more about children, as I think children have missed their childhood in countries suffering from war and as an Iranian woman who has a history of working with marginalized and immigrant children in Iran, I think that one of the most important problems of recently immigrated children is the lack of effective and appropriate communication with local children, as well as unfamiliarity with the new rules, culture, and environment, which can cause much bigger problems in the long term.
In most cases even the language of these children is different, so teaching will be a difficult task for them, one of the methods that have been effective in my work experience is teaching through games and doing group art, so designing an educational method based on gamification for immigrant and refugee children can be on of the topics which I am interested into search and develop for my master thesis.
