The literature seminars have broadened my views on modern HCI design. The whole principle of reading articles and discussing about them is new to me and surprisingly useful. I filed my mind with questions and answers.
As Lowgren and Stolterman say, the overall character of a digital artifact cannot be described by simply adding up a number of particular quantities. The main purpose of product quality articulation is to develop the ability to make such judgments, which constitute a thoughtful approach to understanding the qualities of digital artifacts.
There are group of qualities dealing with motivation -playability, seductivity, anticipation, relevance and usefulness which affect the user’s motivation to continue using the artifact. These qualities are of great importance since you have to be motivated so you would continue using any kind of artifact. In our Digital Dinner if the user finds something interesting that would keep his eyes on our site (flash video, interesting picture) means we have achieved the goal, we have motivated the user.
Our immediate experience of interacting with a digital artifact, including our handling and perception of it is of a great importance too. Is there an appropriate result of the users move (does he like the response of clicking on the picture gallery?), can he control the artifact on the way he wants? Can we make the user engage so deeply in the task at hand that the world around is forgotten? Providing the right experience is a key point in the design.
When designing we have to take a view on the social outcome of our design. Is it inducting? Will our virtual diner provide connection between users? If we have broadened the user’s social life we have succeeded.
On the other hand, we still have to keep the transparency, efficiency and the elegance of our design. Our design should be combination of power and simplicity, rapid and error-free. Every designer should ask himself if he is providing the right USABILITY.
And at the end, what is the meaning of our design? As Lowgren and Stolterman say, the meaning of a product is never straightforward and unambiguous; it can never be obtained by the use of some objective scale of measurement.
Design is always an act of composition, of shaping a whole and its parts simultaneously.
I found the literature seminars of a great importance for this subject and the knowledge gained on those classes have helped me create the Virtual Dinner Design better.
