Last Day!

We have 4 things on the agenda for today:

1) Turn in your papers on the book you choose to read

2) Present in a group what you learned from your book

3) Student Course Evaluations

4) Surprise!

Yucca Mountain

In regard to our Ikea trip. Here is a link you may want to look at:
http://www.kelake.org/archive/projects/the-ikea-shopping-experience.html


Taken from the Desert Space web site

"Introduction and Challenge

The Desert Space Foundation presented an exhibition comprised of winning designs in a variety of media that engage the challenge of creating an effective universal warning sign/permanent marker for the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mt., Nevada.

The purpose of the warning sign is to deter intentional or inadvertent human intrusion or interference at the site and to effectively communicate over the course of the next 10,000 years (the projected duration of the volatility of the waste) that the integrity of the site must not be compromised in any way in order to safeguard humanity from the release of the radiation contained within."

Just to give you an idea of scale. Bradbury Brook, a site in Minnesota, has artifacts from the Paleoindian era dating back to 9,500 BP (Before Present) and it is believed to be only a few thousand years after man first migrated to North America.

Your job is to design a warning sign for people 10,000 years from now. Consider what type of iconography will still be relevant 10,000 years from now. What language, if any, will you use?

We will break into 3-4 person groups to work on your designs. The last 45 minutes of class will be devoted to making sharing the designs class discussion.

IKEA Field Trip

Tuesday (5/1/07) we will be having class at IKEA at 6:30. We will meet at the hot dog stand near the checkout. We will spend some time going through the store (about an hour) and then we will spend some time talking about the experience. Please bring a pen and paper so you can take notes about how the store is designed, how the signs are designed and how people uses the store. Think about what the intended experience is supposed to be and how well it seems to be working for customers. By and large, are the people in the store using it the way you believe the designer intended them to? You will record what you think in your journal. What seems to be working... I would like you to offer any critiques you may have of the experience.

Final Presentation of Project 4

Today each team will present the final design of their site and findings from the second round of user testing.

Each team will need to post their site process and design on their journals.

Then we will watch "The Persuaders."

Another work day

We are racing to the finish line for project number 4. By the end of class Thursday (4/19) you should have all the changes made to your site and ready to do user testing number 2. This way you will have all weekend plus a day on either side to do your user testing. On Tuesday (4/24) you will give in-class presentations of your final design. You will also need to post the first design, summary of comments and final design on your journal sites. Thursday the 26th will be the last day of this assignment. We will be debriefing and doing some team evaluations.

Also today we looked at the usability design of H & R Blocks free, online tax site.