This “orbitrek” elite stepper bike, is an all in 1 excersise machine. This falls under Kinematic load. It limits the number of steps and process you have to do to exercise. All you have to do is walk on this machine, holding the handle bars, and it does a full body workout, with a repition of one swift movement.

This well known prouct, Proactiv falls under both Kinematic load and Cognitive load. It has used the “crunching” technique aswell as Kinematic load. It makes your face routine decrease down to only “3 easy steps” and does multiple things, such as, cleanse, tone and rapair your face, and give it moisture, it also rids you of acne.

Psychology studies the human mind and behavior, it helps undertand emotion, thoughts and behavior. This is very helpful in the study of design, as when it comes to design, we use our minds, our emotion and thoughts, and alot of designs are reflective of our behavior. To understand how and why we design, first we have to udnerstad psychology, we have to know how our mind works, the designs we see today are a reflection of that, a reflection of our feelings, emotions and thoughts, without psychology, there would be no design, each design created, no matter who it is by, uses ones mind and depending on the way we behave, depends on the design. This is why the study of psychology is very important, because pyscology and design relate to eachother, if we eliminate one, we wont have the other.

http://psychology.about.com/od/psychology101/f/psychfaq.htm. The New York Times Company (2009).

Guilfoil, J.K., Sandler, A.R. (1999). Built Environment Education: In Art Education.(P.118). Reston, Virginia

A “chunk” is another way of saying pieces of information, a human brain may only hold between 5 to 10 chunks at a time. For example, nine, eight, seven, those 3 words are counted as 3 chunks, but 987 the number, would be counted as only one chunk.  The chunking technique is easy, it’s simply cutting or reducing down information into smaller things, or more meaningful things.

Companies will tend to use the “chunking” technique in advertising, for example, 1800 Reverse,  Each letter in the word reverse signifies a number, together there would be 7 numbers to remember out of the word reverse, and adding 1800 would make 11 numbers, as our brain can only hold between 5 and 10 chunks, this company has put in a word instead of the numbers, so the word would count as 1 chunk instead of 7 numbers, and when they say “1800” on the adds, it is made to look and sound like 1 number, therefore, you are only having to memorise 2 chunks of information, which our brains are more than capable of doing. (http://www.successfulaging.ca/programs/memory/26.html)

Chunking is a method used in every day society, but mainly a method used in design and communication, in many designs, especially for advertising companies will use the chunking method. This occurs alot on adverts you see on television but alost on bilboards and signs around our community. This happens especially when it comes to telephone numbers, when numbers are advertised or written down somewhere, 3 or 4 numbers will usually be in one chunk, for example 0412 164 972, so rather then memorising 10 digits you are actually memorising 3 chunks of information, which makes it easier for our brain to grasp as we can only hold up to 10 chunks of information at a time.(Lou Larson, 2006-2009, website)

References:

Larson, L. (2006-2009). NLP Language Patterns for Advertising.  http://nlplanguagepatterns.blogspot.com/2009/03/meta-programs-in-advertising-2-chunk.html

 http://www.successfulaging.ca/programs/memory/26.html - This website contains no copyright or publisher information.

Performance load is said to be “the degree of mental and physical activity required to achieve a goal”. (Lindwell,W.,Holden, K., Butler, J. , 2003. P.148)

When we talk about performance load, we can talk about it being high, or low, if you were to encounter a high performance load it will be more difficult for you to excel in each piece of work and the errors and performance time will increase. If your performance load is low, it is the complete opposite, you will accomplish your goal with less errors and performance time and you will have a better probability of succeeding. Within performance load, you will find two types, these being, cognitive load and kinematic load. (Lindwell,W.,Holden, K., Butler, J. , 2003)

Cognative load is the “amount of mental activity”. (Lindwell,W.,Holden, K., Butler, J. , 2003. P.148)
Cognitive load will tend to involve things like your perception, memory and problem solving. 

Kinematic load is the “degree of physical activity”. (Lindwell,W.,Holden, K., Butler, J. , 2003. P.148)
This means in order to accomplish your goal it requirs a certain number of steps or movements or amount of force.

In total, design minimizes your performance load, it does this by reducing the cogantive load by taking away information that is not neccessary and “chunking” information.

Lindwell,W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2003). Performance Load. In Universal Priniples of Design (pp. 148-149. Massachusetts: Rockport.

As you can see the changes from my original powerpoint, on the left, to my new powerpoint (the right) are clearly evident. I have completely changed the background of each slide, my new powerpoint contails a light blue professional looking background, this makes it nicer to look at and more professional and not so much of a primary school powerpoit. The pictures have also changed in each slide, appart from the first slide, as i liked the way it is, it was simple yet effective and the overall design of it is very appealing. Ive added more variety and meaning to the pictures on the other slides containing the information, and i have made them relevant to the information on the slides. For example when talking about cancer, there is a picture of lungs with cancer, and when talking about how to get help, there is a picture of a hand helping someone out of a pile of cigarettes. Overall i think the new design of my powerpoint looks effective and professional, with a helping guide from the 6 aptitudes, i think i’ve accomplished a great new presentation design.

I think over all my assignment 2 powerpoint slide roughly meets the 6 aptitudes, i think it could of used more visual aids though, and maybe a bit more scope. I think i could of spent alot more time on design. At first i quite liked my presentation cos it was nice and simple, but then i realised, it was too simple, too plain, and just a bit boring. I think i definetly could of found some variety in the pictures. I think my over all presentation could of included more story, i think it was a bit boring, and uninteresting, and i could of made the topic into a lot more than it was.

I dont think that much thought was put into symphony and empathy and that could be improved, although with this presentation symphony and empathy wasn’t really that crucial for me to apply. I deffinetly could of acted on play a little more, i could of made my presentation more lighter, and added a few animations and sound effects in it. Althouhg considering all of this, i think my powerpoint did have quite a bit of meaning, i new what i was talking about in the information, and i think i portrayed it nicely. The things i will work on when improving my presentation is probably the overall design, adding more images that are appropriate and making it more pleasing to the eye, trying not to have it too simple, but then again not too full on either.

Daniel Pink (2006) states that “the future belongs to a different kind of person, Designers, Inventors, teachers, storytellers – creative and empathetic right-brain thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn’t” . We’re living in a different age and a different era where we value those who think differently.

The name for our new approach to things is “High Concept” this requires someone to create artistic and of course emotional beauty, and to have the ability to detect pattern and opportunities.  This is also referred to as, the right side of our brain, the left side of a brain, being logic, reasoning and analysis, which is still important in the conceptual age, however left brain alone isn’t going to help the future, right brain thinking is just as important as left.

In the conceptual age there are the six aptitudes, this includes, design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. Understanding these aptitudes is said to be necessary for professional success.

Design

Design is said to be an area of human experience, skill and knowledge it is what people use  to create or contrive for a particular purpose effect. (Jones, J.C. ,1970)

Design is important in every presentation, Daniel pink claimes that the best designs are done in such a way that it isn’t noticed or as obviouse by the observer/ consumer. Design tends to start at the beginning and not the end, it is said that design is not an afterthought, but merely something you think of before the actual completion of your presentation.

Story

A story is an account or recital of an event or a series of events, either true or fictitious. (Farlex, inc. , 2009)

A story will generally contain facts and data, and it’s said to be narrative imagining. We are all born to tell and recieve stories, and in our own way are all natural story tellers. The best way for certain information to sink into our heads is with a story, generally a true story. As kids we all loved stories, and looked forward to story time and show and tell, this is why when learning certain pieces of information we find it easier to grasp most concepts when it’s told in a story, because we enjoy them.

Symphony

 Symphony is when something is characterized by a harmonious combination of elements, a example of an element is colour. (Farlex, inc. , 2009)

In Presentation Zen it states that the best presenters can illuminate the relationships that we may have not seen before, thus meaning they can aslo see relatinships within relatinships. This helps us become better at seeing, and symphony hels us to be capable of seeing in a new way. Symphony is for people who can recognise patterns and simplicity it’s about using our logic, our mind and intuition.

Empathy

Empathy is identification with and understanding of another’s situation, feelings, and motives.  (Farlex, inc. , 2009)

Empathy is emotional, its allowing yourself to see what others think and feel, putting yourself in someone elses shoes and being aware of your own. It alows you as a presenter to subconsciously notice how the audience or viewer thinks and feels about your own work, its about being aware of your own.

Play

Play is when you can move or operate freely within a bounded space. (Farlex, inc. , 2009)

Humour and ‘playfulness’ can go a long way when it comes to presentations, it is said that people who are more humourous are often more productive people, the general thought is that business people are more productive, but this is not the case.  People will pay more attention to a presentation with some action and good old fashioned jokes rather than a boring straight forward presentation. If your presentation contains laughter, then you know people are interesting, and are paying attention.

Meaning

Meaning is something that is conveyed or signified; sense or significance. (Farlex, inc. , 2009)

There i alot of meaning behind presentations, if a presentation goes well for you, it can mean the world, a possible promotion, and make your day, where as if it goes not so well, this effects you emotionally and you will tend to have a pretty shocking day. This is why meaning is an important factor in presentations. You can easily make an impact and a difference just in one presentation, you can do this by having the right material, and giving meaning to your presenation, show the audience that you want to be there.

( Reynolds, G. , 2008), (Maureen Mitton, 2004)

References:

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/trinity/watdes.html, J.C. (1970) “Design Methods and Technology: Seeds of Human Futures”. – Jones

http://www.thefreedictionary.com, Farlex, inc. , 2009 – Defintion for the 6 aptitudes.

Mitton, M. (2004) Interior Design Visual Presentation. A Guide to Graphcs, Models and Presentation Techniques. (pp. 21-26). Hoboken, New Jersey.

Reynolds, G. (2008) Presentations in “the Conceptual Age”. In presentation Zen: Simple ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (pp.14-9). Berkeley, CA: New Riders.

1. The Iphone

 The Iphone clearly meets the aesthetic udsbility effect principal. It’s appealing to the eye, and it’s slim, modern an sleek design does not appear just on the outside. With its easy to use touch screen, not having to fiddle around with a series of buttons. All the applications are set out on the screen with large icons that are easy to read and see, the iphone comes with many appealing applications, from one that helps you chose which restaurant you should go to, to one that tells you what the weather is like anywhere in the world! The iphone is one of the best aesthetically designed phones yet, with its user friendly style and sleek shape, its ability to be an ipod and a phone in one, it makes it the most desirble phone yet.

2. Lamborghini Gallardo                                            

 Cars are a product found in every day society and suroundings and they are constantly challenged to meet the aesthetic usability effect principle.
The lamborghini Gallardo does this, it has a modern and expensive look about it, a car you look at and immedietly think, that’s a fast car. With it’s sleek black leather interior design, and a car a shape so aerodynamic that it looks fast when it’s not even moving, with the illusion of a futurastic men in black or batman car, and a V8 engine, this is an extremely sleek, modern and expensive aesthetic designed car. This car allows people to develop certain emotions and feelings towards it, people owning this car will evoke a certian kind of love, and attatchment, and go as far as to name it, when people do this, the car is usually referred to as a female, as it is treated as elegant, fragile and beautiful, and therefore carries most female traits. The Lamborghini Gallardo very much so meets the easthetic usability effect principe.

3. High Heels

Heels are a very aesthetic design. They are designed initially for women, to make them not only taller, but make their legs appear longer and slimmer, and make their bottom have a nicer shape. Each pair of heels designed are done with precision, each has a creative look about it. When picking out a pair of heels, each detail makes a different, if heels aren’t aesthetically appealing to the eye on their own, they won’t look any more pleasing on your feet. Each heel has a unique design and each designer fights to meet the aesthetic usability effect princible to make their design desirible to women. As men will tend to evoke certain emotions and feelings toward cars, this is similar to how women feel towards shoes, woman will fall in love with shoes even if they don’t own them, and nuture and take special care of them, and treat them like a child of theirs, shoes are an importan part of a woman’s life, and therefore shoes must meet the aesthetic usability principle in order for women to be attracted and therefore buy this product.

References:

The Iphone – http://res.sys-con.com/story/aug08/643366/iPhone3G.jpg

The Car – http://www.fantom-xp.org/-/Lamborghini_Gallardo_Superleggera.htm

The Heels – http://media.photobucket.com/image/stiletto%20heels/fishingpuddycat/Pleaser%20sandals/DOMINA-1192.jpg

Aesthetics is said to be the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty, as in the fine arts. (Answers Corporation, 2009)

The study of aesthetics leads back to ancient times and is said to contain both the theory of beauty and art and it investigated the theory of objects and aesthetic experiences. ( Wladyslaw Tatarkiewicz, 2005)

Throughout the week 10 learning portfolio reading on Aesthetic-usability effect, i discovered several things. Reading 10 claims that the more aesthetic a design is the easier it is to use, rather than a less aesthetic design.

Aesthetic Usability effect is similar to aesthetics of a human, human attractiveness allows us to make first impressions of people, this influences attitude formation and measurably affect how people are perceived and therefore treated. Aesthetics will play an important role in the way a design is used it is said that an aesthetic design are more effective at promoting positive attitudes, people will name and extend feelings toward designs that have promoted postive attitutes.

Significant  long term usability factors  found in designs that are successful are certain feelings that people may bring to mind, being affection, loyalty and patience toward a design, for an example this is mostly common in cars, a well aesthetically designed car will be loved by the owner, the owner will share affection towards the car by naming it and taking good care of it.

Therefore it  is proven that more aesthetcally designs are more socially accepted and liked, this is why we should always aspire to created aesthetic designs as they are much easier to use and much more liked in society than a design that is not aesthetic.  (Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. , 2003), (New York Times  Company, 2009)

References:

http://www.answers.com/topic/aesthetics, Answers Corporation, 2009.

http://atheism.about.com/od/philosophybranches/p/Aesthetics.htm, About.com , a part of the New York Times  Company, 2009.

Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2003). Aesthetic-Usability Effect. In Universal Principles Of Design (pp.18-19). Massachusetts: Rockport.

Wladsylaw Tatarkiewicz. (2005). History of Aesthetics. In Three Volumes, Volume One (pp.1-5). Enlgand, London.