»visualisation«

Ulf Schubert, too, accumulated the essential demands on interface design based on Nielsen, J. (1993, Usability Engeneering):

• easy to learn/understand
• high efficiency: the interface allows the user to fulfill his/her aim fast and easy
• easy to remember even when you haven't used the programme for a long time
• low rate on mistake
• high degree of content and satisfaction: the user likes the programme since it helps to achieve set goals faster and easier

Followed by a list of smart slogans to be rememberd when designing:

• The best guess is not enough. (As in: you might wanna test drive your interface.)
• It's not the user's fault. (As in: well, it's kind of self-evident.)
• The user is not always right. Plus: the user is not a designer. (As in: after all you're the expert.)
• Less is more. (As in: if you didn't hear this universal design principle until now, it was about time. Plus: it's right. But: design principles are there to be overthrown as well.)
• Help doesn't help. (As in: if the interface is too complicate then something is wrong... wonder what?)

Since I believe in lists, I'll put them on my wall. (...und gut ist!)

And anyway, I had wanted to put a tiny little picture up.
It's a detail from Ulf's interface design. He had put little squares to give a short introduction on each class/file/subject/whatever. In order to show how many people where attending this class and to promote cooperative learning, each users was shown in form of a circle clustering onto the respective square. The circles were marked in different colors and had special features to show their online status, if they were available or if they previously had been marked in your list of friends (or any other characteristics which you might consider important....).
I just thought it looked cute. (And yes, I know, that cute is not the appropriate comment but it's true!)

It's done. What a relief. The structure board for my web application. I tried to put in all possible aspects of work. This might seem a little crowded at first but it reflects pretty much the collage I have in mind. Additionally, I will have to kick out points to which I will not get enough information. Thus:



click to enlarge ...

Tomorrow I'll add specific information about Poland to this abstract. Stay tuned ;-)

Janet hinted me towards "Karambolage". It's a programme running on arte, the French-German tv station. They pick out differences, sometimes just minor details between the two countries and explain where they come from.

They put their last four editions online, so I get to see them even without tv:

• in German
• and in French

I really like their concept of collages and presenting culture in little bits and pieces. Additionally they seem to have different designers each time: some styles I really like, others are too trashy for me but for sure always interesting...

from the emission on Oct, 29:


from the emission of Nov, 19:

How do I want to use the interviews?

For sure not as full-length interviews. I would rather want to use bits and pieces and assemble them new.

The most obvious would be to group various answers to one question. This could be done by either putting them together in a film or by to allow the user to click onto the various answers.

When I was younger I had a adventure book. At the end of each page you had to decide what the protagonist was gonna do. Accordingly you had to read further on page xy or on page yz. And at the end of each page you again had to decide between two options. I always tried to read all possible strings of the story at the same time but that of course didn't work.

The narrative concept's of storytelling try to catch up on this idea. Basically it's the whole idea of internet as Chrizi said today. Clicking and thus making a choice. There is no way to always know all the options but still it's the user who actively decides on which content he or she wants to get, to learn, ...

I mean this is not the new enlightment but the question is how to use it. In the moment I follow the results of a project where the user is seeing his/her very own documentation: Florian Thalhofer and Kolja Mensing interviewed the inhabitants of a huge immeuble (1600 people live there) for a project called "13.Stock" (unfortunately the English version is down so there is only a Polish translation). With every piece of interview you watch you get three other pieces to choose next.

I don't like their design that's for sure. But actually in the moment I'm not even sure if I like the idea and what I get out of that. I remember to have seen other projects with the same concepts so I still need to check that out. And hopefully come up with an opinion.

For the moment there is still what Chrizi came up with: take pieces of an interview and stop them at a certain point. The respective pieces would tell a typical story about working in Poland, some special cross-cultural encounter, or something like that. Just before the "strange" behavior the film would be stopped and the usere would have to guess what happens next. Thus to become aware of his/her own behaviorly patterns and expectancies.

This would be quite analogous to the method of culture assimilators and the story telling of critical incidents. Therefore it would also be necessary to find an appropriate Polish explanation for certain behaviors.

Mmmmmh..... I'm thinking about the web application's concept. Can you tell?



I saw a cover in the same style somewhere and it just visualized what I had in mind. Unfortunately .jpg killed the bright enjoyable colors. The blue should actually be turquoise. Ah, I don't like it so dull. :-(

If you do not see a navigation concept behind that.... I'm utterly sorry. I actually wanted to link to a page, seen ages ago, but I can't find it (instead I got stuck organizing my 'favourites'). I thought that it might explain where I wanna go with navigation but you'll have to wait.

Ha! I found the website: Steven Sebring. And it's nothing like I remembered:



The website works like a scrap-table with loads of stuff lying around. The different parts of the website are actually located on this table.



I definitely don't like how they put the content but the idea of navigation. Even though it would be even nicer if you could move the picture just using the mouse instead of clicking on a link and then the image travels for you.
But I really like that the image turns and does not only move on a horizontal or vertical axe.

marginal notes:
Somebody is into the idea of circles and navigating in circles.

Wonder who? :)

I'm still very abstract - sorry.

Don't see how I want to use pictures and film yet. I definitely don't want to use them the way they are but include them into something drawn myself.
My visual material will have to reflect different aspects of history, the education system, ... as well as interviews and photos of modern Poland - all that I want to express in one visual language.

The interviews will be the main part of my web application. From the interviewees I want to learn how they came about and what it is like to work in Poland. I want to learn about the challenges as well as about the rewards.
Though I focus on the individual stories I don't want to show the interviewee talking the whole time or even at all. My emphasis lies on the content. I want the interviewees to remain rather anynomous and don't want to merely draw attention on their faces. Thus I rather want to use the voices combined with some kind of animation.

I decided on the structure board to be so fullfullfull because it is reflecting the collage-character of the web application. There will not be a typical navigation bar with the main categories and their sub categories. Each screen will include several linkages which will take the user to different sights.

The page on "continued training" for example could link to "motivation" but as well to general "concepts of education". The later would for example link to the "model employee" since the way and content of learning reveal quite a lot about desirable character traits.

I'm not sure if it works. I can understand that people get lost but for now it's my working model. Maybe I can break it down into more general categories later but in the moment that would not help me much - I need the overview...