Weekly reading

In this module we have been given a academic paper to read each week. The papers have each covered different topics.
As a class we discuss the paper of the week in depth, talking about the content and the style of each.
It has been a useful process for me to do this as it gets me used to reading papers like this and I will start to become familiar with how these papers are set up and written. I will one day have to write papers like this myself so reading some is a good way to start learning more about them.

So far the papers we have read are:
. Circles and props—making unknown technology
. Annotated Portfolios
. Taking Our Sweet Time to Search
. Overcoming Procrastination with ReMind
. New Media, New Craft ?
. Distinguishing Concepts Lexicons of Interactive Art and Architecture

Circles and props—making unknown technology

Looking back, this was probably my favourite paper of all that we read. This paper peaked my interest in both technology and psychology. The paper talks about how future technological concepts can be created and introduces an experiment in which guests are asked to create technologies using materials they find on the table in front of them. This made me think about my process of coming up with new ideas – for example thinking of the design for a company logo. What is a better method; remove as much thought as possible and instinctively brainstorm ideas, or sit and think hard for a breakthrough? Probably a mixture of both.

Annotated Portfolios

Definitely one of the hardest of the papers to read, this paper was long and it used overly complex language. The paper discussed using annotated portfolios to present a combination of design and research. The writers showed this technique using some real examples, which I found to be the most interesting part of the paper.

Taking Our Sweet Time to Search

I enjoyed this paper. It was well written, well structured and interestingly challenged an idea that we are all accustomed to in today’s technology – fast searches. This paper gives a whole new perspective on the process of searching for information and gives some examples of how a slow search might work. It discusses how in some cases it might be better to take a more measured approach to searching for information and focus more on the process and journey. I liked the idea behind the paper and I especially liked how it challenged an idea that we are accustomed to in technology.

Overcoming Procrastination with ReMind

This paper was a useful read in that it discussed procrastination; something most would probably admit to doing. The paper explains why people procrastinate, which was useful as it allowed me to think about why I procrastinate. The paper offers its own way of dealing with procrastination – the ReMind machine, which they found to be successful. I couldn’t replicate the ReMind, but I did find the “continuous representation of goals” that the device creates to be something that I could replicate.

New Media, New Craft ?

Kristina Andersen, Danielle Wilde

Bill Gaver, John Bowers

Marian Dörk, Peter Bennett, Rosamund Davies

Matthias Laschke, Marc Hassenzahl, Jan Brechmann, Eva Lenz, Marion Digel

New media, new craft?

This paper comprised of the writer considering whether modern day digital design should be seen as an art and craft and he gives reasons as to why this may or may not be the case. But for me, the crux of the arts and crafts ethos was against mass production, the celebration of a unique, handcrafted product. This obviously is not represented with a piece of digital media that can be copied, pasted, and shared infinitely so I would have to say I disagreed with the writer who concluded that it should be considered an art and craft.

Kristina Anderson, Danielle Wilde

Bill Gaver, John Bowers

Marian Dörk, Peter Bennett, Rosamund Davies

Matthias Laschke, Marc Hassenzahl

Distinguishing Concepts Lexicons of Interactive Art and Architecture

A paper written by a name divisive in this industry, this is about how the meanings of industry-specific words have changed over time and how people’s ideas of the meanings of words may not be correct. He talks about this as if it is something that is exclusive to technology although this is not the case. Lots of words change meaning over time and this is not something unique to this industry. He makes reference to a lot of current examples of research or products, which makes the paper an interesting read in the sense that you can find inspiration reading it.