1. I think this class made me a smarter consumer. I now know how stores try and draw me in and have me buy other things. I know the different design tactics of stores and how to avoid the impulse buys.
2. Have fun with it and just go with the flow. This seminar will help you on more than one level. You will become a better speaker, writer, and presenter.
3. Don't be afraid to get involved in the discussions early and often. Class goes so much better if you get involved instead of sitting in the back and not saying anything. Also let your personality show in class. It is a great way to meet people because it will probably be your smallest class and you will really get to know everyone else.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Thesis
1. Calder Field House and Angell Field must be improved.
2. I plan to address the size and price constraints. Both of these have a lot of things to do with improving the two things because to renovate these it will take a lot of money. The most important trigger points are the stands for the fans, and renovating Calder because it is outdated and it needs to be upgraded.
3. There are five readings that I can use to help write my paper. The five are The Experience Architect, Product, Services, and Branding Strategies, The Three Levels of Design, The Design of Everyday Things, and City.
4. "A good conceptual model allows us to predict the effects of our actions. without a good model we operate by rote, blindly; we do operations as we were told to do them; we can't fully appreciate why, what effects to expect, or what to do if things go wrong. As long as things work properly, we can manage. When things go wrong, however, or when we come upon a novel situation, then we need a deeper understanding, a good model."
This is from The Design of Everyday Things. For a big project like this you will need a great model.
2. I plan to address the size and price constraints. Both of these have a lot of things to do with improving the two things because to renovate these it will take a lot of money. The most important trigger points are the stands for the fans, and renovating Calder because it is outdated and it needs to be upgraded.
3. There are five readings that I can use to help write my paper. The five are The Experience Architect, Product, Services, and Branding Strategies, The Three Levels of Design, The Design of Everyday Things, and City.
4. "A good conceptual model allows us to predict the effects of our actions. without a good model we operate by rote, blindly; we do operations as we were told to do them; we can't fully appreciate why, what effects to expect, or what to do if things go wrong. As long as things work properly, we can manage. When things go wrong, however, or when we come upon a novel situation, then we need a deeper understanding, a good model."
This is from The Design of Everyday Things. For a big project like this you will need a great model.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Campus Analysis
1. I observed Hoben lounge area in Hoben hall at Kalamazoo College. The purpose is to have a place to sit and do homework as well as a hangout spot to meet with friends. I made my observation on Sunday at 930.
2a. The area looked as if it was unorganized but it works for the style of the room. There are two fire places on either side of the hall and two entrances. There is a doorway that leads to the kitchen and that is the only way to get to the kitchen. The room is well lit so everyone can see what they are working on or who they are talking to.
b. There is a lot of seating and different types of seating. There are many couches and chairs in the lounge. The good thing about all of the seating is that it is movable so it is ideal. You do not have to worry about if you are having a group conversation and someone else wants to join in, they can just pull up a chair. There are some tables to do homework on. There are two types of chairs, one type goes with the tables to do you homework on and the other type is a relaxing chair.
c. There were a lot of people in there around the time I was in there doing all sorts of things. There were a group of people talking and eating pizza on the couches near the kitchen. On the other side of the room there were three or four people reading and doing other kinds of homework.
d. The floors are mostly carpeted and nice to look at and walk on.
e. The sound level was kind of at two extremes. When I was by the kids with the pizza it was loud and they were all talking. As I moved to the other side of the of the room the noise level dropped and it was easier to read and do homework.
f. The materials used to build this place is brick, carpet, wall paper.
3. This area projects a relaxing feel. The area displays this by having the two fire places. There are big comfortable couches in there that can be moved to where you want them. It is nice that the room does not have to be perfectly organized because it is not that type of room. I am almost positive that this is the image that the school wanted to project to the students but at the same time the room has a sort of fancy feel so when it is cleaned up and organized it looks great.
4. People interact with each other and their surroundings well. Everyone talks to everyone and it is a great place to meet new people because if you sit in there you almost have to meet new people. I think that is a good thing for a lounge to do because it is a great place to meet people.
5. I find the design of this place interesting because during the day and in the afternoon when people other than students are around this place can look so elegant and nice. If you look at this place at night it is a whole different place. I think it is a very important to have a room that is both elegant and relaxed.
2a. The area looked as if it was unorganized but it works for the style of the room. There are two fire places on either side of the hall and two entrances. There is a doorway that leads to the kitchen and that is the only way to get to the kitchen. The room is well lit so everyone can see what they are working on or who they are talking to.
b. There is a lot of seating and different types of seating. There are many couches and chairs in the lounge. The good thing about all of the seating is that it is movable so it is ideal. You do not have to worry about if you are having a group conversation and someone else wants to join in, they can just pull up a chair. There are some tables to do homework on. There are two types of chairs, one type goes with the tables to do you homework on and the other type is a relaxing chair.
c. There were a lot of people in there around the time I was in there doing all sorts of things. There were a group of people talking and eating pizza on the couches near the kitchen. On the other side of the room there were three or four people reading and doing other kinds of homework.
d. The floors are mostly carpeted and nice to look at and walk on.
e. The sound level was kind of at two extremes. When I was by the kids with the pizza it was loud and they were all talking. As I moved to the other side of the of the room the noise level dropped and it was easier to read and do homework.
f. The materials used to build this place is brick, carpet, wall paper.
3. This area projects a relaxing feel. The area displays this by having the two fire places. There are big comfortable couches in there that can be moved to where you want them. It is nice that the room does not have to be perfectly organized because it is not that type of room. I am almost positive that this is the image that the school wanted to project to the students but at the same time the room has a sort of fancy feel so when it is cleaned up and organized it looks great.
4. People interact with each other and their surroundings well. Everyone talks to everyone and it is a great place to meet new people because if you sit in there you almost have to meet new people. I think that is a good thing for a lounge to do because it is a great place to meet people.
5. I find the design of this place interesting because during the day and in the afternoon when people other than students are around this place can look so elegant and nice. If you look at this place at night it is a whole different place. I think it is a very important to have a room that is both elegant and relaxed.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Principles of Marketing
1. Design affects marketing in different ways. Design affects marketing with packaging, labeling, and brand. All of these things have to be well designed for a product to do well. With packaging a product has to look viscerally appealing as well as be very functional. When you have packaging you have the primary container and the secondary packaging. Primary container is what you hold when you are using the product such as the tube of toothpaste, but the secondary packaging is what the tube came in such as the box. A label must be all visceral and reflective. If you have a label that looks great and shows off your company well then you have done your job. If you have a certain brand you can sell a product for much more money. People who loved Heinz ketchup were willing to play 100 percent more than a brand that was similar.
2. Branding and experiences have some of the same things in common but are on different time scales. For an experience you want it to last a life time. With branding that is your final goal to get people to use your product for a lifetime but it rarely happens that way. With a brand it is an experience but a short term one unless you had a really good experience with the product.
3. Kalamazoo's brand is based on its marketing. They want to be seen as a prestigious school that has tough academic standards and produce happy and successful people. They also have the brand on the cloths and products that they sell. When I see a big orange K i think of Kalamazoo College. They do a great job of putting their name on everything they have and making it noticeable. If you walk around the college you will see almost everyone with some kind of Kalamazoo gear on.
2. Branding and experiences have some of the same things in common but are on different time scales. For an experience you want it to last a life time. With branding that is your final goal to get people to use your product for a lifetime but it rarely happens that way. With a brand it is an experience but a short term one unless you had a really good experience with the product.
3. Kalamazoo's brand is based on its marketing. They want to be seen as a prestigious school that has tough academic standards and produce happy and successful people. They also have the brand on the cloths and products that they sell. When I see a big orange K i think of Kalamazoo College. They do a great job of putting their name on everything they have and making it noticeable. If you walk around the college you will see almost everyone with some kind of Kalamazoo gear on.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Experience Architect
1. There are many important points in this article. The first point is take little steps. Doing little things to your product can sometimes change it dramatically. The example that Kelley gave was great, Where the company mixed the antifreeze before hand to make your product easier to use. Another important idea is the use of trigger points. These are important because if you are a company and you are about the same with all the other companies but you do or have one thing better than the rest, the customers will goto your company . The last main point is that companies need to mix up what they are doing. If a company has been around for many years and they are the same every time you go in, people will get sick of the store. A good way to get people to keep coming back time and time again is to do what you do differently from the rest. Take Mongolian Bbq for example. They have it set up so when you want to get your food you can have it your way and have different options for what you want. That is a great way to keep people going back time and time again.
2. As Kelley says, experiences are something that you will remember forever. If you design a customer product most of the time people will not remember it five years from now. If you provide a customer with an good experience, chances are the person will keep going back because they know and trust your company now. They are similar because they satisfy the customers wants and needs.
3. If i were to design a activity i would have a day of bowling. Bowling is a great way to just sit around, relax and have a good time. I think it would be a great way to take your mind off of the school work we had if it was for even a few hours.
2. As Kelley says, experiences are something that you will remember forever. If you design a customer product most of the time people will not remember it five years from now. If you provide a customer with an good experience, chances are the person will keep going back because they know and trust your company now. They are similar because they satisfy the customers wants and needs.
3. If i were to design a activity i would have a day of bowling. Bowling is a great way to just sit around, relax and have a good time. I think it would be a great way to take your mind off of the school work we had if it was for even a few hours.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Third Place
1. When Ray Oldenburg talks about a 'Third Place" he is talking about a place to get away places where you have to act a certain way. Oldenburg says that if you go to work you act like you are at work, if you goto church you act like you are at church, but when you are at a third place you can just act like your self and nothing has to be formal so you can just be yourself.
2. A Third Place should be economical and political. A sound economy has to have three kinds of capitol: physical, human, and social. As for political, real democracy is more social than political. This means that people go out and talk about what they like and they vote on it.
3. I think a good example for a potential for a Third Place is Jazzman's Cafe. It is a good place for people to sit around and relax and have nice drink. They have nice booths in there for people to sit at and you can be as loud as you want to be. A way to make the cafe better would be to add more just lounging chairs and maybe a tv to give it an even more relaxing feel. I think Jazzman's Cafe has great potential to become a Third Place on Kalamazoo's Campus
2. A Third Place should be economical and political. A sound economy has to have three kinds of capitol: physical, human, and social. As for political, real democracy is more social than political. This means that people go out and talk about what they like and they vote on it.
3. I think a good example for a potential for a Third Place is Jazzman's Cafe. It is a good place for people to sit around and relax and have nice drink. They have nice booths in there for people to sit at and you can be as loud as you want to be. A way to make the cafe better would be to add more just lounging chairs and maybe a tv to give it an even more relaxing feel. I think Jazzman's Cafe has great potential to become a Third Place on Kalamazoo's Campus
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Wikipedia Address
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Submissions/Boy%E2%80%99s_Junior_National_Tennis_Championship
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