My ambitions and the actual implementation

Dec 2009 16

As this blog eventually will be containing loads of information, I have from the beginning had an ambition to make the navigation and structure as simple as possible. Therefore I have placed a global menu at the top of the site, so the user can easily get around. The most important thing about the site is of course the blog, so I placed this on the front page. The front page also contains links to all the categories, which are equal to our courses at ITU. The fourth category is called “Everything Else”, and this is where I post things that does not have anything to do with the courses.

Personally I am a huge fan of RSS-feeds, so when I saw that the RSS-button was placed in the bottom of the site when using this theme, I decided to move it to the top. It should be easy for the reader to subscribe to my posts.

As I mentioned earlier, the global menu shows links to all the pages. The “About Me” page is a static page telling a bit about the person behind the blog. The “Group 12″ and “Guerrilla” pages are imported feeds from my two group blogs. I have chosen to show these feeds on my website, because I want to show everything we do at ITU. The “Changelog” page is also a static page. If you want to read more about why I have chosen this solution, you can read this post.

I have placed a tag cloud on the front page, so that my visitors can get an overview of the blog content right away, when they enter the site.

One of the things I would consider changing some time on the future is the blog title. I think it looks a little too boring right now and does not match the rest of the design as well as it could. I would like to use a more untraditional font, that I could save as a jpg-file instead of just one of the standard web fonts.

I also meant to add a different color to the active links in the global menu. Unfortunately I did not have time for this due to my many, many troubles with the server at one.com. It was quite a pity that I did not have the time for this, because I think it is a very important part of the overview and usability, that the user at all times is able to see where he or she is.

If you are curious to see more about the structure of this site, take a look at the wireframe and blueprint.

I have chosen to blog in English, because I want to reach a larger target group. I am considering studying abroad for one or two semesters, and my plan is to continue with this blog through my entire education at ITU.

The blog is optimized for Firefox 3.5.5 and a 1440 x 900 px screen resolution. I know that some things look different in other browsers or on bigger screens, and I would like to solve that problem some time in the future. For now I do not know how to but hopefully I will learn some day…

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The nightmare before hand-in

Dec 2009 16

The past two days I have had a lot of trouble loading the blog. Most of the time I have not been able to edit the content or post anything. I actually could not see the blog at all.

Trust me, these are not screens you want to see the day before hand-in…

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Tonight around ten o’clock all the other students’ ITU-blogs broke down as well. Around midnight they were up and running again, and now things finally seem to be back to normal with my blog too, but it is almost too good to be true. I am keeping my fingers crossed for no more errors and server troubles.

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The group work

Dec 2009 16

In the beginning of this semester my FPW-group handed in assignments together and worked on the group blog. But as it turned out the blog and group work on this course were not part of the exam, we stopped blogging as a group and focused on our individual blogs. But we did create a group contract and agreed to meet every week and help each other with the personal blogs. However this did not work out. As we got closer to the exam hand-ins everyone worked by themselves at different places and times. In my opinion the FPW group work was lacking a clear purpose, and as it was not a part of the final exam evaluation it became trivial to all of us. Some of us have helped each other out when blog troubles came up, but we did not meet every Friday as it says in the group contract. We figured out that it is much better to just meet whenever a problem occurs.

The fact that there has not been so much work with the FPW-group does not mean that I have not been given inputs and ideas from fellow students. I have been studying with other students from the course, whom I have met with every day any way. It seems easier to just ask the people you are with instead of having to arrange a group meeting.

I see what the FPW-group was originally meant to do, but as I mentioned it just became irrelevant because their was no final group hand-in for the exam. The group had both strengths and weaknesses. I think we all had very different opinions on design and layout, and we could definitely use that when discussing our personal blogs. Every group member had different skills, so we could help each other out. But one of the main problems with the group was that no one took the initiative to meet or do anything as a group. I think that if there had been a group exam project on this course, we could have worked together way better than we actually did.

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BIID exam project

Dec 2009 14

Exercise is an important factor in order for elderly people to stay healthy and fit, but as we grow older many of us tend to become inactive, if nothing or no one encourage us to work out or get out.
This report describes the process and my reflections on the interaction design project “Elderly Men In Motion”. By interviewing an informant and analyzing his opinions and answers we came up with the idea for a portable travel guide called FINN, which has the purpose of helping elderly people to feel more safe and comfortable when using public transportation.
FINN is directed at healthy, elderly men who is already in good shape and likes to go out and experience new things. The purpose of the portable travel guide is to motivate the target group to use public transportation instead of travelling by car.

Our BIID exam project entitled FINN – Transportabel Rejseplan” can be found here

bilag 1: interview
bilag 2: brainstorm
bilag 3,4,5: storyboards
bilag 6: idétabel
bilag 7: sketch
bilag 8: vision
bilag 9: personas
bilag 10: prototype 1 – tegnefilm
bilag 11: prototype 2 – stop-motion
bilag 10: feedback

Bilag 1: Interview

Bilag 2: Brainstorm

Bilag 3: Storyboard1

Bilag 4: Storyboard2

Bilag 5: Storyboard3

Bilag 6: Idégenerering

Bilag 7: Sketch

Bilag 8: Vision

Bilag 9: Persona

Bilag 10: Prototype 1

Bilag 11: Prototype 2

Bilag 12: Feedback

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BIMK exam project

Dec 2009 06

Interactive marketing is becoming more and more common in the public sphere. An example of this is a campaign that DSB had in the Fall of 2009. Posters showing 2D-barcodes were put up in trains and on platforms, so that passengers could use their mobile phones to scan a barcode and be directed to e.g. a website.
In this paper we describe the campaign, analyze the visibility and use of it, and discuss possible reasons for the recipients’ reactions to the 2D-barcodes and service, based on both a qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Our BIMK exam project entitled “2D-stregkoder i S-toget” can be found here

And the appendix here

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Slides for presentation

Nov 2009 22

Slides for our presentation for BIMK tomorrow can be found here

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Balloon night

Nov 2009 18

Monday night we all took a break from exam projects and studies. We hung out in the Scrollbar and played with balloons and made silly hats and animals, which are now hanging in the atrium at ITU.

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Meeting with Bjarki

Nov 2009 13

We met with Bjarki yesterday to get some feedback and advise for the BIMK exam project. He was very positive and told us that the work we had done so far was good. We recorded the meeting, and you can find the video here

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Prototype presentation

Nov 2009 11

Today we presented our prototype in the design lab. We showed our animation of Jørgen using the device – you can watch it here

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The foosball effect

Nov 2009 04

Today we worked with prototypes, and we wanted to develop the idea that we presented last week. We sat down in the scrollbar and tried to come up with something great, but our brains seemed to be pretty empty. To get some help we asked Anni to come and talk to us, and she suggested that we took a break and moved around for a while to clear our heads. So we decided to play a game of foosball, which turned out to be quite a success. When we got back to our sketches at the table, we were all full of energy and ideas.

To try something different we decided to take away the car from our sketch and ask ourselves the question: What would happen if Jørgen only had the bus to bring him to the opera house?

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This would change the situation a lot. Jørgen told us at some point, that he doesn’t use public transportation as he finds it uncomfortable and complicated. We came up with a device that will help him take the bus and train without getting lost or being stressed. The assignment was to create a prototype, so we got some materials from the design lab to demonstrate the size and look of our product. I’m now working on a short Flash-movie, that will show how it all works, and we will present the idea next week.

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