Introduction to Experience Design: Mini Guitar

Friday, March 6, 2009

Mini Guitar

A friend of mine was telling me a story about how his friend always wanted to play the guitar but his parents couldn’t afford to buy one, even a cheap one! So one day he told me he went to the toy store and saw a toy called “Mini Guitar” which was very cheap. This guitar looked very different from a real guitar, first of all it did not have neck just a body, with some strings. He asked the store owner what is this mini guitar, the owner replied well this is very similar to a guitar but it is made with MDF which is a cheap material also this guitar doesn’t have a neck only few strings to play with which makes it even cheaper. One other good feature of this guitar is that there is no tuning required as long as the strings are tight enough. The strings can be replaced if they break or become too old. The he thought this is the perfect choice for the guy who wants to real guitar because it is like a real guitar but cheap enough to be able to get him started, so he bought the mini guitar gave it to his friend as a gift. Now that guy has a real guitar a good one, he busks around Toronto and often plays in gigs and small shows!!

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Experience Design is the practice of designing products, processes, services, events, and environments - each of which is a human experience – with the specific focus of the design activity being the quality of the user experience. In turn, the quality of any experience is a combination of factors which include individual or group needs, desires, beliefs, knowledge, skills, experiences, and perceptions. Experience design combines technological innovation with social innovation, psychology, linguistics, cognitive science, architecture and environmental design, information design, ethnography, brand management, interaction design, service design, storytelling, and heuristics (rules of thumb/intuitive judgements/common sense).

Accessibility
Objects and environments should be designed to be usable, without modification, by as many people as possible.
There are four characteristics of accessible designs: perceptibility (textual, iconic, and tactile), operability (wheelchair access), simplicity (remove unnecessary complexity), and forgiveness (minimize possible errors).

Example: Large elevators with wide doors for wheelchairs, handrails for standing, two sets of buttons accessible to people standing or sitting, redundancy in buttons such as numbers, icons and braille, and aural and visual feedback when buttons are pressed.

Affordance
A property in which the physical characteristics of an object or environment influence its function ... i.e. does it look like what it does?

Example: the round shape of a door knob affords holding and turning.

Aesthetic-Usability Effect
Aesthetic designs are perceived as easier to use than less-aesthetic designs. Aesthetic designs also foster positive relationships with people, making them more tolerant of problems with a design.

Example: Cell phones in general are not simple to use, but the early Nokia cell phone was perceived as easier to use than its competitors due to its colour covers and custom ring tones.

Constraint
A method of limiting the actions that can be performed on a system ... i.e. how do you know what it can or can't do?

Examples:
Physical Constraint: a three prong plug can only fit into the socket one way
Logical Constraint: given two puzzle pieces that fit in the same space, you logically deduce placement by matching the one with the closest colours
Semantic Constraint: a "do-not-enter" road sign
Cultural Constraint: you use cultural knowledge to know what side of the road you can or can't drive on

Feedback
Information received that is either confirming or corrective of some action. ... i.e. what tells you your input had an effect?

Example: the sound of the shutter opening and closing when you take a picture with a camera

Hick's Law
RT= a + b log 2(n)
The time it takes to make a decision increases as the number of alternatives increase. This law is most applicable to simple decision-making tasks in which there is a unique response to each stimulus [and] ... becomes less applicable as the complexity of tasks increases.

Example: As long as road signs are not too dense or complex, the time for a driver to make a turn based on a particular road sign increases with the total number of road signs.

Mapping
The relationship between controls and their movements or effects. Good mapping results in ease of use. ... i.e. which control operates which function?

Example: the knobs on a stove top which relate to the stove elements they operate.

Ockham’s Razor
Given a choice between functionally equivalent designs, the simplest design should be selected. Unnecessary elements decrease a design’s efficiency, and increase the probability of unanticipated consequences. It's best to cut away unnecessary elements for a more powerful design.

Example: Google's search page which contains no advertisements and information making it a simple and powerful design!

Performance Load
The greater the effort to accomplish a task, the less likely the task will be accomplished successfully.

Example: Modern slot machines no longer require the pulling of a lever or the insertion of coins to play ... inserting a charge card and pressing a button is all that is required.

Performance vs. Preference
Designs that help people perform well are not necessarily the same as designs that people find desirable. People may prefer designs that are pleasing to look at, compete well with longstanding designs, and contribute to user's self esteem and well being. The best method to understand a user's preference is to observe them while they are interacting with the design in real context.

Example: The Dvorak keyboard improves user's typing speed by 30%, but user's still prefer the familiar longstanding QWERTY keyboard.

Redundancy
The use of more elements than necessary to maintain the performance of a system in the event of failure of one or more of the elements.

Example: The Super Cow entry in the Houston Cow Parade 2001 ... was to sit atop a thirty-story tower crane for the duration of hurricane season....various forms of redundancy were applied to keep him attached such as: bolts, guy wire, steel hoof plates, steel cables, and double u-bolts on a steel cross member. Super Cow experience no failure, damage, or unintended flights during its four-month stay on the crane.

User Experience
The quality of experience a person has when interacting with a specific design.

Visibility
The usability of a system is improved when its status and methods of use are clearly visible. ... i.e. how do you know what state the object is in?

Example: the red dot on an alarm clock indicating the alarm has been set

References for Terms and Concepts:
Lidwell, William, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler. 2003. Universal Principles of Design. Gloucester, MA: Rockport Publishers.
http://interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/
http://www.about-elearning.com/e-learning-glossary.html