Assignments

Week 1 Assignment:

Part 1: Students will analyze the user experience of ADM building. Carefully observe and document with photos the way finding of the building (location, entrances/exits, signage, spatial organization etc.). Look at its ease of use. Observe how the design of the building affects behavior.  Be thoughtful and critical about what works and doesn’t work.  Prepare a group presentation to share findings in class and discuss observations in the class.

Part 2: Find two maps of a building or place you have visited – one map is badly designed and the other is well designed.  Be prepared to explain your examples and bring maps to class. Think of a time you were lost in a place and write in your journal how and why you got lost.  What about the user experience didn’t work for you?

Part 3: Choose two objects that you use every day (you cannot pick mobile phones or laptop/computer) and analyze their design using the principles described in Chapter 1 of The Design of Everyday Things.  Imagine describing what the object is and what it’s designed to do to someone who has never seen it before.  Is it intuitive or frustrating? Come up with three ways to alternate the design for that object and see how it changes its function.  Make drawings and notes in your journal.

Part 4: Write a response to the reading and write TWO questions on the writing.  Write a minimum one paragraph to be emailed no later than midnight Saturday before the next class.

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 Week 2 Assignment:

Part 1: In your group, organize your documentation and notes from the observation and analysis of the MRT and create a slide-show presentation that you’ll share in class.  Observe, take field notes, identify where things go wrong and what idiosyncrasies you notice through your observations. What are some unusual things that you notice?  Make sketches, notes and document with photos to carefully analyze the user experience during this field trip. Make observations on how other people move through public space.

What solution would you propose to the “things that go wrong”? Remember, to think about scale in that your proposal might be simple or more complex.  Consider what the challenges might be to implement your proposal.

Part 2: Read the attached Chapter from Jan ChipchaseHidden In Plain Sight: How To Create Extraordinary Products For Tomorrow’s Customers.  (2013)  Send me (by no later than midnight on Saturday), a response to the reading and two questions.  Please send it to me as a word or PDF document with your name in the file.

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 Week 3 Assignment:

Part 1: Think of a way in which you could develop an experimental map using images, sounds and stories. Some ideas… What else would we use if we didn’t use maps to find our sense of place? How would you map the sounds you hear every day? How would you map emotions? How would you map the overlooked peoples or places of Singapore?

Part 2:  Read CH 1 Annette Kim, Sidewalk City: Remapping Public Space in Ho Chi Minh City (2015)