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= Tutorial Question #1 =

Describe Jonathan Ive and his theory of "undesign" in relation to his work at Macintosh.
Jonathan Ive is an English designer and also the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple Inc.

His theory of "undesign" means creating and understanding a hierarchy of things that are not important by removing those things that are all vying for your attention. "Undesign" consists of getting design out of the way. It's about thinking, "Of course it's that way, why would it be any other way?" Other companies want you to be aware of how clever the solution to the problem is. Ive doesn't want consumers to think about what engineers and designers have gone through in order to come up with a particular design for a product.

If you look at an Apple product, the features it offers cannot be seen by just looking at the product. The design is plain, but effective. On an aluminum Macbook, the indicator light on the side of the computer is only visible when it is indicating it is in sleep mode, otherwise, it is not visible. There are no useless features on the outside of the computer that make a consumer think, "What does this do?" Simple, power button, keyboard, camera, and trackpad. Each button on the keyboard is self-explanatory, volume up, down, mute, etc. The necessities are given, and the result is exactly what Ive said, the consumer thinks, "Of course it's that way, why would it be any other way?"

= Tutorial Question #2 =

2) Which category would interest you to do research further for your group project, and why?
1) The product that interests me the most is the Drip Irrigation System in Asia. It interests me because it reduces water use by 30-70% and increases yields by 50%. This kit enables small crop farmers and families to affordably operate under little water conditions and little funds. This regulation of water improves the quality of crops by controlling the amount of water consistently each time and and is consistent. The cost effectiveness of the Drip Irrigation System, customers generate and average $10.00 additional household income. It also interests me how such an affordable

2) The category that interests me to research further for my group project would be health. My reasoning for this choice is that I'd like to make daily life easier, and healthier in countries where people live a low standard of living. Each day, in poverty-stricken countries, 12,000 children die from malaria, respiratory illness, or unsafe drinking water and unhygenic conditions. I'd like to find a way to drastically reduce this number through designing a life-altering product. Through further research, I can find ideas that can be used to create an initial concept and prototype. This initial concept or prototype may also allow a farmer to maximize profits while minimizing expenses.

= Tutorial Question #4 =

Write six paragraphs, one on each stage of the 'materials economy', and define its interactions. (6 paragraphs/one stage each paragraph)
=== Extraction involves chopping down trees, blowing up mountains to get the metals inside, use up all the water, and wipe out wildlife habitats. We have used up one third of the planet’s natural resources. ===

Production, simplified as toxins in. Toxins out.During production, factories put toxins into the production system that are then brought into our homes, workplaces, schools, and even our bodies.Such toxins include BFRs, brominated flame retardants.BFRs make things more fireproof, but are extremely toxic.So toxic that they are neurotoxins.Women of reproductive age are working in these factories and working with these reproductive toxics, carcinogens, and more.Toxics then leave the factory as products, but even more leave as by-products, or pollution.The industry admits to releasing over 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals per year in America.

Distribution is selling all of this toxic contaminated product as quickly as possible.Their goal is to keep prices down, by keeping inventory moving.They externalize the costs, meaning the costs of production are not captured in the price.We, as consumers, are not really paying for the stuff we buy.The people who are paying are the people who have lost their natural resource bases such as clean air, clean water, and fertile land.

Consumption is defined as using up of a resource.99 percent of the stuff we run through this system is trashed.So 1 percent of the stuff we harvest, mine, and transport is actually kept.Companies use effective strategies such as planned and perceived obsolescence in order to keep consumers consuming.Planned obsolescence is when products are designed to be useless as quickly as possible so we will toss them and go buy a new one, such as notebooks, coffee cups, and computers.Perceived obsolescence is when we are convinced to throw out stuff that is still perfectly useful.Companies change the way stuff looks and maybe add a new feature, such as cell phones, appliances, shoes, clothing, even cars.The way we demonstrate value is by contributing to this arrow of consumption.National happiness is declining because we think happiness can be attained through consumption.

Disposal is when garbage is either dumped into a landfill or it is burned in an incinerator and then dumped into a landfill.Incineration releases all of the toxins from the production stage up into the air, but it is much worse; it creates new toxins, such as dioxin.Dioxin is the most toxic man-madesubstance know to science.Incinerators are the number one source of dioxin.Upstream pollution is manufactured by-product, air, or water pollution, from manufacturing.A lot of things can’t be recycled because they contain too many toxics or it is actually designed to not be recycled in the first place.

Another way of protecting our planet through the materials economy would be through green chemistry, zero waste, and closed loop production.Green chemistry protects the environment, not by cleaning up after a polluting process, but inventing new chemistry and new chemical processes that do not pollute in the first place.Zero waste is a guide for people to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are resources for others to use. It means designing and managing products and processes to reduce the volume of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. And finally, closed loop production seeks to eliminate toxic inputs, protect workers, communities, and the environment along entire supply chains, use renewable energy, and eliminate superfluous consumption.

= Tutorial Question #5 =

Bodystorming
Bodystorming can be easily described as simply brainstorming, but done with the body. By using your body to brainstorm, you can try to relate yourself to the problem that is being solved. One can also observe a normal day of a person who needs the help.

A group can then physically act out this user experience that they need to improve. This way, the group can feel what the user feels when participating in a particular activity. This allows them to pinpoint important aspects of the design that needs to be addressed and improved.

Doing these three steps, designers can easily answer questions related to the user's experience that allow them to design a life changing products. This designed product would have less flaws as a product that wasn't bodystormed. This is what makes bodystorming so effective when creating user experience centred products.

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= Tutorial 6 Wikiquestion =

Write a short, one paragraph synopsis of each of your 3 favourite product designs. Describe why you like the design in your responses.
1) Antibacterial Film - An Australian company studied a type of seaweed in which natural compounds prevent bacteria from gathering. It developed a film that prevents bacteria from colonizing by "jamming" or interfering with the signals used by microbes to communicate with one another. When applied to contact lenses, this film prevents infections without helping to create superstrains of harmful bacteria. I like this because I wear contact lenses and I think about how much chemical solution I empty down the drain daily and what effect does putting this solution in my eyes have on my vision and body.

2) Self-Cleaning Paint - Using the microscopic structure of leaves, which repel water, the German company's scientists came up with a paint with similar structures that repel water in the same way. Doing this, the rainwater washes away any dirt. This eliminates the overuse of the Earth's freshwater to wash vehicles for example, along with the toxic chemicals that are used in conjunction to wash these vehicles.

3) Bio-Inspired Colour Displays - engineers and scientists developed a display that mimics the way a butterfly shows off its brightly coloured wings or a peacock displays its plummage. This technology has the potential to reduce the amount of electricity that electronics and cell phones consume. I like this innovation because it affects a large part of our population. The vast majority of people in our country alone have a cellphone along with televisions and computers that are used daily. If this technology was used by every new product we may be able to cut down the rate of consumption drastically.

= Tutorial 7 Wikiquestion = === Describe how he defines 'design as a collaborative process', and cite two examples of how creators involve the people they want to create for in their work, according to Bill Moggridge's lecture (1 paragraph each/3 paragraphs). === === Find an online example of a product which utilizes his principles of collaborative design which involves people in it's design. Cite its URL, and describe it's design process in two paragraphs, and how it's involved it's user(s) in a paragraph (3 paragraphs). ===

Design as a collaborative process is about working together in teams. Teams of people who have different backgrounds, different design disciples, different design disciplines, etc. You need an intimate relationship with each other, meaning you all are coming together and willing to brainstorm together with a common goal and belief that the shared mind is going to be even more effective than the sum of their individual minds.

One example of how creators involve the people they want to create for in their work, according to Bill Moggridge's lecture is participatory design. Involving the people we design for. By integrating surgeons to become part of the design team, the end result of a medical instrument was much better, as the surgeons felt it was their project as well making the design team much more effective.

A second example of involving people they want to create for is including people in the blood donor process. Gives the opportunity for those who give to be recognized for their donation. Allows those who are thinking of giving to see why others give and see other people by humanizing the process.

An online example of a product which utilizes his principles of collaborative design which involves people in its design is Facebook. Facebook is a social networking network site that allows users to collaborate ideas and thinking on thousands of ideas and projects. Not only on ideas and projects, but without personal contribution and collaboration of voices and opinions Facebook wouldn't be anything or even successful at bringing upon change.

Facebook involves users posting what they feel is important or what needs to be heard in different groups or event pages. While allowing users to comment or share absolutely everything on the site, collaborative thinking flourishes in this type of environment.

Facebook is also not limited to a particular group of people; It is available to anyone who has an e-mail address and can use a computer. Allowing access to everyone allows people from different backgrounds and parts of the world to brainstorm together as a more effective shared mind.

= Tutorial 8 Wikiquestion = === Describe how Natalie Jeremijenko has based her research on 'new technologies are are opportunity for social transformation' to perform 'small actions that can amount to a significant effect to improve local environmental health' (2 paragraphs). Choose 2 projects on How Stuff Is Made and write about how they are made (1 paragraph). Why is it important that we understand how stuff is made as part of our systems analysis and design process? (1 paragraph) ===

Natalie Jeremijenko's research on 'new technologies are an oppotunity for social transformation' to perform 'small actions that can amount to a significant eddect to improve local environmental health' by building greenspaces such as marshes through the city of New York. Through this action the marshes take in the toxins and release them as clean output. This helps what Natalie said about our illnesses aren't caused by aging and bacteria, they are caused by changing environment around us.

Also, the research on keeping tadpoles as pets enables us to see how they react in clean and dirty water. Because of their low body mass and density, they are sensitive to environmental changes. She also directs the xDesign Environmental Health Clinic, which develops and prescribes locally optimized and often playful strategies to effect remediation of environmental systems, producing measurable and mediagenic evidence and co-ordinating diverse projects to effective material change.

//Fortune cookies// are made from 4 basic ingredients; sugar, flour, eggs, and water. A machine then squirts batter into griddles in a rotating wheel that bakes them at approximately 375 degrees. The paper fortunes are loaded into a tray and are released individually and a mechanical arm holds the fortune as another arm sweeps the cookie from the rotating wheel. Once the fortune is on the cookie, the machine folds the cookie. After the cookies have hardened, they are inspected and sent back into a machine that individually wraps them before being shipped to their destination. The //American flag// is produced in China. First, computer controlled embroidery occurs. Then human labor is required for detailed work on the flags, along with tailoring and sewing. The flags are then ironed and then human labour is again required for striking grommets. The flags are then packaged and shipped away.

It is immportant that we understand how stuff is made as part of our systems analysis and design process so that we can address fair trade issues and make ethically conscious decisions during the process. Ethically conscious decisions include environmental and humane processes.