Thesis Response 1

Flynn Joffray – Tangible User Interfaces

http://scottmansfieldais.com/?p=4416

Flynn discusses the art of learning behavior in relation to user interfaces.

Overall, I enjoyed Flynn's thesis. It was informative and relevant to today's events in web technology. I also found similarities in our chapter reading to Flynn's thesis. There were grammatical errors but not severe enough to distract from the overall theme. While I enjoyed quite a few points of the thesis, most of it was references to other writers and I would have enjoyed hearing Flynn's take on the process and where, or how, he would apply the process. Below are some key points that caught my attention:

• Really liked the example where he likens the Apple II computer to “form follows function.” The computer was simple in that it had a keyboard, a monitor and a disk drive and that these peripherals were there in order to complete an operation.
• There are a lot of particular challenges that have gone into making the interfaces we see today, and of course, there are many methodologies that are utilized to execute these interfaces. Some of them concentrate on pure functionality while others concentrate more on humane levels of interaction. An interface is humane if it is responsive to human needs and considerate of human frailties. If you want to create a humane interface, you must have an understanding of the relevant information on how both humans and machines operate.
• Cognetics: the ergonomics of the mind
• Cognitive conscious and cognitive unconscious – play a role and are just as important a role as taking into account the size of a human hand when designing a keyboard. Unconscious processes are the processes we use unconsciously, like braking when we come to a stop while driving. A cognitive conscious process is something we have to do out of the ordinary, typically a new situation or learning process. These processes are also referred to as “branching.” Repetition of a cognitive process will make it an unconscious process.