Thoughtful Chunk 4: Motion Graphics/Animation

Stephen Watkins - 2011 Showreel from Stephen Watkins on Vimeo.

I chose the above video as a sample of various ways to use visuals as animated graphics and because I really enjoyed watching it. Stephen Watkins, the video producer,  is an award winning designer and animator.  Read about his experiences and view further work at http://www.watkins.com.au/about.htm
and http://vimeo.com/user5779769/videos/sort:date 
The above particular video is a mash-up of some of his work in order for him to advertise his abilities and the quality and variety of his work, plus the many applications or methods he is able to use. I think it works very well indeed!

I have very much enjoyed creating animations with students that I have taught. We have created stop motion animations using a camera and many different materials, such as scrap materials, Lego, shapes, cut-out figures etc. I have used this process as a strategy for students to explain and teach to other students through the animation, a process, an idea, a story, a concept, etc. We have used his process to demonstrate mathematical, scientific, social studies concepts and ideas, plus animated "the how we did something" to demonstrate to parents. It appears to be very motivating to use and create with in this type of setting. From this creator view it is a worthy visual to create and use. The class Media Wiki will explore whether it is also worthy from a viewer's perspective and/or whether it is valid or appropriate visual representation for product tutorials, advertising, Web-pages and the like. Here is a link to the Animation section of our group Wiki: http://mediawiki6792011.wikispaces.com/Animation

In my User-Centered Design course, my group is at the development stage for an extension to the Virti-Cue product we have designed. We are considering and comparing the efficacy of different formats to use in presenting a series of tutorials for our users. We have played with the idea of using basic cut-out images to show the step-by-step actions needed to create a new story and add pictures using the Virti-Cue application. Here is our mini-sample:

Here we are trying out the idea that an animation can clearly map out and demonstrate a function or an action that would be more complex if shown in real-time video with the real objects: The person would be much bigger in relation to the item, and the item would need to be much smaller which would make this simple process much more complex to view and complicate the learning for the user. Also, here,  the application itself is simplified down to its basic functions, as a strategy for teaching and learning. An animation can be recorded at whatever speed is deemed appropriate for understanding to happen.

My own current understanding of animation as an effective visual representational method revolves around the notion that it is a sound way to show otherwise inanimate objects moving! This can be purely an artistic and fun endeavor or it can have some utility. For example, demonstrating how various parts of an item come together into a oneness: this may well  be an impossible and task to show in real-time video (length of film, size of item etc.) but could be shown by 'stitching' together each of the screen shots until the completed item can be viewed. In other words, animation can make 'alive' that which is not! An animation creates the illusion of reality which is very useful, for example, in the 2d environment of the computer screen: Here we can animate a 2d object and make the viewer see its 3d-ness. We can demonstrate the function of, say, various tools, both of the physical and iconic kind.

However, too much use of animation is a distraction as we see on many a web page. Here, the animations may have no purpose, no content that is of value or concern to the visitor, and does not serve to explain or demonstrate anything of worth to the user. Animations need to be carefully crafted so that they, for example, are not running too slow or too fast--losing the user in either boredom or eye-strain!

Here is a very simple student made animation demonstrating the use of Tangrams to create a Fish!

To be continued...

Thoughtful Chunk 3: Font Conference and Text Power

Below we have an amusing take on our fascination with the look and consequent meaning attributed to text. It also speaks to a more trivialized intention perhaps: that we spend too much time playing with appearance, rather than attending to message, of such text. Hmm....on the other hand, the very graphical use of, placement of, and stylistic choice of fonts, may be a very visualized way of utilizing the power of text to speak the message: This seems to be more and more the case in our increasingly digitize-able and manipulate-able world.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

For example, the following shows Gleekin's attempt to use the power of text to accentuate the meaning or message of Taylor Mali's spoken poem called, "What Teachers Make."
 

 Jakob Nielsen lauds the judicious use of text in Google ads, as, in this very visual of worlds, "Google ads force a focus on crisp and plain content that might actually communicate something in the second or two users typically allocate to reading ads" (Nielsen, Alertbox, September 2, 2001: Designing Web Ads Using Click-Through Data)

More below on Typography from Michael Bierut, who studied graphic design at the University of Cincinnati, and has been a partner in the New York office of Pentagram since 1990. Michael is a Senior Critic in Graphic Design at the Yale School of Art.

(Our class media wiki on Text and Typography has further examples and suggestions for using textual components effectively.)

Thoughtful Chunk 2: Using Your Smarts!

Don Norman: the Design of Future Things, April 2008 from IIT Institute of Design on Vimeo 

“In the past, it was indeed people who made machines smart. But we’re getting over that now. Now it is machines that make people smart.” Donald A. Norman: The Design of Future Things, p.178.

Although the above quote is from an imagined machine character in conversation with Norman, I feel great disquiet at calling machines, “Smart.”  Several definitions of the word found on the Web include:

•                showing mental alertness and calculation and resourcefulness

•                bright: characterized by quickness and ease in learning;

•                fresh: improperly forward or bold; "don't be fresh with me";

We are becoming very accustomed to talk describing technology as ‘Smart’ and/or ‘Intelligent’ which implies a level of independent thought that includes emotional, critical, and personal reflection. Surely this can only be ascribed to humans? After all, it is the ‘people’ who have constructed the distinctive language that describe these very particular human attributes and capabilities. Using vocabulary that holds special meaning for humans to describe the attributes of machines tends to accidentally or deliberately mislead.

Thoughtful Chunk 1: What's the use?

 Microsoft Kinect

 http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/706283/microsoft-taking-kinect-on-the-road-for-national-tour.html


“This difference in usage circumstances means that consoles can rely less on having a self-explanatory UI, whereas a mobile UI must have extremely high learnability.” Jakob Nielsen in Kinect Gestural UI: First Impressions

Nielsen uses a comparison chart to demonstrate how issues of usability differ in levels of concern for the user depending upon the context of use. According to Nielsen, Kinect, a game console that employs human gestures as it’s user interface, does have several weak usability areas. For example the games rely on human memory for game instructions as no visual help is afforded during play. Related is the inconsistency of feedback. However, Nielsen takes this opportunity to illustrate the different levels of importance assigned to certain usability issues. These may depend on the goals of the user in a specific situation. An extreme example, he suggests, is the possible difference in consequences of user error caused by less than attentive design, development and testing of the product: “your avatar ‘dies’ and restarts a level” or you “lose your job and investments.” Jakob Nielsen

This concept has great transference value to my future teaching practice: the efficacy and value of including certain technological processes and products may need to be considered in relation to the specific learning/teaching goals desired. What may not be appropriate for one educational setting/student need(s) may be very acceptable in another despite perceived areas of usability weakness or imperfection.