I learn to be a PERVERT in this module – the experience of using a PERVERTED approach.

Alright, for people who are reading this post, you probably think, there he goes again, talking some nonsense and seeking attention. Well… all I can say to this is… I love marketing? To me the basis of marketing is to talk the talk and grab attention of customers.

Let me tell you straight in the face, I learn to be a PERVERT, the module is all about PERVERTED, and even our lecturer was also “perverted” to give us nightmarish assignment! (kidding about the last part! =P) So have I gone insane, sick, or simply PERVERTED? Before this post garners me a F grade for slandering, let us first examine the word ‘pervert’ in its most literal sense from wikipedia:

Perversion is a term and concept describing those types of human behavior that are perceived to be a deviation from what is considered to be orthodox or normal. Perversion differs from deviant behavior, since the latter refers to a recognized violation of social rules or norms (although the two terms can apply to the same behavior).

Two things can be gathered from the above definition, that being perverted is human, and being perverted suggest an action that has not been immediately recognized as a violation of social norms. Picasso’s cubism was initially seen as a perversion of fine art. Duschamp’s “fountain” was also seen as another perversion of art. Perversion to me is hence the “dark side of innovation”, something that is truly made from a mind of creativity, but social rules and norms did not allow it. Why else would a serial killer made top headline news, if not for the innovation of violence deployed? (BIG DISCLAIMER: I do not support nor condone violence though. And I do not see such acts as art.) Well… this aint my idea of this module anyway…

The true meaning of being a PERVERT.

Alright, cut the crap and get down to this self coined term. PERVERT is nothing but a useful acronym that if a designer sees it, he or she will remember it for life. Yet I felt using the guidelines as laid out by the acronym, one can truly design a wonderful user-centred experience. Now… behold… the PERVERT.

P – Perception

Perception is everything in a product design and especially in the marketing of a product. Before a product is being physically used, users would already perceive the use of it. This perception can be formed in many ways, from past experiences of using similar product, to mere hearsay from other sources, be it media or other people. The first question any designer would have to ask is what would the user perceive of my product? Already the conceptualization of the product starts from “perceived perception” of the user!

E – Emotion

Emotion is a strongggggg factor in determine whether the product is a success or failure. What kind of emotions would be evoked from the product? The most featured laden, hyper functional product would still be a failure if people are either pissed off or emotionally negative from using it. It is a factor that is beyond logical reasoning… people can reject a product simply due to the reason: “I just don’t feel like using the product.” This is where the four pleasures of analysis come in handy.

R – Reaction

Now the product is somewhat made, or at least a prototype of it is released. What is the user’s reaction to the product? When there’s an action, there’s always a reaction. This reaction indicates success or failure in the product. In doing user evaluation studies, it is basically finding out the reactions made when users interact with the product and determine if the reaction made is positive or negative. If there’s no reaction at all… it is also a clear feedback of misuse in the product.

How to test reaction? We have user evaluations in the form of interviews, ethnographic studies, self reporting and many others... all done in the name of reasearch. Perhaps the letter R can be seen as Research, yet i personally feel that all types of research boil down into observing and interpreting reactions.

V – Visuals

Visuals can be taken in the literal sense of simply visual appearance of the product. This is to do with the aesthetics of it. Does the product look pleasing and pleasurable to use? As was taught in the example of the lobby, the “first contact” of the product by the user must be aesthetically pleasing to ensure subsequent contacts. It is a very intuitive thing – although “beauty lies within skin deep”, a good outward skin somehow induces people to assume the beauty within. Also as mentioned by Don Norman - Attractive Things Work Better.

E – Education

What form of education user must take to muster the product? Some products are just pick up and use, needs no formal training. But things like a car, musical instruments, computers… they need some form of education before one can develop a wholesome experience with it. Hence this factor of education is rather underrated, but is designers would think through how it incorporate a fun pleasurable learning experience of the product with the actual use of the product, I believe the product is gonna stay with the user for a long while.

R – Realisation

What would the user realize of the product? If the user realizes the CD-rom is a good paperweight or coaster, then it is a failed product. But if users realize the CD-rom contains vital knowledge that would change the very lives of the users, then this realization would add into a wholesome user experience.

T – Thinking

Otherwise known as the reflective part of using the product. This is the aftermath of the user experience and it determines if the product is ever gonna be used again. After going through the perception of the product, emotionally feeling something, react to the using of it, visualise the product, educate himself with the product, realize the potential of the product, he or she would sit back and just think… whether it was all worthwhile using the product. This is the final leap to the successful user experience.

Hence presenting to you what I have learnt: Perceived Emotion Reactive Visual Education Realisation Thinking Experience Design.

Throughout the course we first learnt how to perceive something... via the assignment of perception of a bad design. What seems bad to one ... may not be bad for another. Why is this so? Perception is everything.. and highly individualistic. Emotion... well... we learnt the four pleasure analysis and how to apply it in Reverse Marketing Analysis. Late in the course we learnt aboout the circumplex of emotions. Emotion is beyond reasons and logic at times, and a fulfilling experience is most often linked to positive emotions being felt. In fact one can forget the details of the experience, but one can never forget how he or she felt at that time. Reaction... well I believe Research = finding reactions, hence throughout the course we learnt various methods of finding reactions from the users. Visual asthetics would complete the experience and would just be as important as the functions themselves. Why else would buildings seek to be iconic and monumental? The rest of the factors like Education, Realisation and Thinking are not highlighted in the lectures, but I found them highly important to take care of especially in my final project.

Most of the website have to be intuitive, hence learning curve have to be smooth. If a site is too difficult to "learn", it will lose its time-starved audiences. People also must have the right realisation of the product. What use is there for a CD-rom to become a coaster? What use is our website if it's just another match-making site? And lastly, people would need to reflect upon a product and think about it in a positive light. Thus the circle is complete.... User will undergo being a PERVERT, UX Design is PERVERTED.

I am truly PERVERTED.... =p

"Say Like Never Say Like That"... afterthoughts of User Research Smoke and Mirror

(The above title is a direct translation from mandarin: 讲好像没有讲一样！)

The die die must read article had alot of thought provoking points, but at the end of it all it seems to lead me back to square one. So to do or not to do user research? The article seems to be hinting that most user researches are ... crap. It is via pure GUT feeling (recall the pot bellied picture that Mr Reddy showed us in one of the lectures) that you get the inspirational design. And very often, simple common sense would lead to the same answer as empirical studies. From a design perspective it's probably true! Let us see why...

To me user design experience is very much an individualistic experience. It differs from person to person, and factors such as gender, cultural upbringing and age. Let's take some interesting example:

How about a Karaoke bar, complete with bottles Remy Martin XO and beautiful bar hostresses? To some middle age businessmen, it would be a priceless experience there. To a young kid, there's nothing appealing there. To a housewife... the husband will be so dead if he was found there! With this in mind it is common sense that one shall not build a gym that resembles a funeral parlor, one shall not make an item so heavy that is meant for a body builder. We are making something for a specific user! However like what the article mention, sometimes in a bid to appease some of the key stakeholders (i.e. the ones that give you money), it is build for them instead of the real target audience in mind.

I came across one interesting web example:
http://cedysworld.com/en/index.php?Insref=domain_com/

Looks like a kids website right? But look at the one promoting the site: Mercedes Benz! Wow... to me it's so ironic, promoting a brand that is more towards the older population to kids! What user research was made for the creation of such website? I wonder...

Anyway the article pretty much is a variant of Dead Poets' Society. Poetry, like a good design, is not created via rules and procedures, but by inspiration, creativity and sometimes abit of luck. The part where the teacher asks the students to rip off one whole section of a poetry book is still etched in my mind.

It confuses me then... are rules and procedures really insignificant? I remember working in an F n B outlet where one of the first things I was told to do is to read the Standard Operating Procedure. (SOP) for mixing certain drinks. I could be creative and try to mix my own composition of drinks... but I will get into trouble with the boss.... ahhhh! Now I get it about the part on research as a political tool! You need facts, figures, statistics and SOPs... simply to show that you are doing something and doing it "right". This "right" method may not necessarily be the "best" method, but it has been codified and "backed" by the very power of quantitative authority. Ever heard of the old adage "number speaks louder than words"? There is always the idea that numbers provide a more authoritative and asserting statement than mere words. A simple example... one can go on and on describing how a man looks like, how much white hair he has, how dry is his skin etc... but one phrase: "He is 50", conjures almost the whole image of him.
Still I am in suspended animation... to research or not to? One thing's for sure... we still need to do the card sorting exercise... which the article indicated that it is not scientific...

Say Like Never Say Like That... in the end still must do card sorting exercise!

On a side note... I am coming to the point of evaluating the whole concept of user experience. Throughout it seems that designers must have the assumption of User is king, User is everything. But I'm not sure... is it really true that all products should be user centred?

Assume now that we have a product that is extremely difficult to master. That only a few in the world would be able to handle that product. Can it be successful? For me who is musically challenged, I regard the violin as one example. For me to play the violin, it will simply make terrible noises. It is not at all intuitive, even if it's just simply movement of the bow and string. But if say I take time to master it, I believe there is much pleasure to be gained. So is the violin a user centred design? Not really... it is... activity centred.. or even learning centred to some extent!

Learning from the "old" and the "new" - Assignment 4

This project had been fun and fruitful, even though it touted as a nightmare project. Basically I think our group turned it into more like a "dream" project, where we did alot of dreaming and imagining things (or are we simply hallucinating? haha!)

This assignment's task is as follows: "Improving Learning Experience in Lecture Theatres". Mr Reddy has taught us many approaches throughout the weeks. Our group sat down and went through the many approaches and found that not all the methods can produce solutions. Here is a write-up of how we came about with our unique approach of using Feng Shui as basis of observation.

Initial Stage - Problem Dissection
First our group chose to be a group of designers who is tasked to design a LT that will improve learning experience. We are also quite solution-centric as we had hoped that whatever information and data we gathered we can use them to solve or improve current situations.

We start by looking at the question carefully and interpreting each and every word so that we can get the exact requirement from our supposed "client", schools and universities that have LTs.

Improve - to make better. The first word itself is taken with much caution. Can a bad LT be improved? Yes, definitely. How about a "good" LT? Yes, there is still room for improvement! How about a so called "best LT in the world" kind of LT? No matter how good or bad the LT, we believe in making in even better. Thus we ensured that throughout our observation we should not only look at the bad points of LT, we should look at the good side too.

Learning - the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge. Who is the learner? Who gives the learning? Where is the learning? The system of learning via lectures, where one instructor teaches many students, is an age old system, as pointed out by Donny's group in their presentation. Hence some of the basics of an LT should already have been established, such as lighting, sound, room temperature, notes etc. Hence perhaps we are to look at the non-obvious elements, such as the surroundings of the LT?

Experience
Experience is not in the product but it is in the interaction. The way the product is understood in the real environment. Experience can be influenced by:
- Environment
- Time
- Place
- Other people interaction
- Previous experience

•

(From Mr Reddy's notes)

With the above in mind, as designers we cannot possibly influence the last two factors as those two occur in the past. We cannot control the flow of time, but perhaps we can dictate what time is suitable for a good learning experience to occur. What we noted here is that for a change of experience to occur, the most likely factors to influence would be the place and the environment. In our case, our "place" is taken to be the LT (or inside the LT), and our "environment" would be the surrounding campus (outside the LT).

Lecture Theatre
We defined the LT as such - large formal spaces, tiered and with most seats fixed. Have a seating capacity of 100 or more students and the focus for students tends to be on an individual instructor at the front of the room. Lecture Theatres allow for the teaching of large numbers of students, particularly in undergraduate classes, and are cost efficient in terms of student to teacher ratio.

From the definition we can immediately pick out the characteristics of a typical LT:
- large and spacious
- tiered
- fixed seats
- large seating capacity

•

•

We strictly did not include seminar rooms and classrooms as the requirement is for LTs, not such rooms. If Siminar style learning sessions were deemed to be much better than learning in LTs, then might as well tear down all LTs and build more classrooms and seminar rooms. This lead to a side issue that perhaps... it is always the case of "not enough teachers" in schools and universities?

Coming back, once dissected the sentence, we recombine the sections to see what is our exact task-
To make the learning environment better for students and teachers who experience their learning and teaching in a Lecture Theatre, which itself is a large formal space that holds many students and just one teacher.

Second Stage - Choosing methodology

As mentioned earlier, we're a solution-centric group. The method we chose must provide results which we can use as a solution to improve learning experience in LTs. Looking at all the methods taught by Reddy, here's a breakdown of what could be used, what we used, and what should not be used at all:

First "useless" method - Reverse Marketing Analysis

Yes, the very assignment that we just did was the first to be struck off from our list of methods. What I strongly believe is that this method is favorable for products which are customisable to individual users. (Hence the word TARGET marketing) The handphone is a good example of a highly customised product. But for an LT which requires to be "one size fits all", how can we customise it to individual students and teachers? Hence since RMA is not used, the 4 pleasures analysis was also struck off as the analysis would only be relevant to ONE single student and not a cohort of students.

Second "dunno how to use" method - Visceral, Behavioral, Reflective design identification

Perhaps it would be useful if we see the "LT" as a product and take note of its visceral, behavioral and reflective design. But again, it depends from individual to individual. An "old and rickety looking" LT may be classic to some. A state of the art LT would be complicated to others. Hence this method is again catering more to highly customised products like cars, chairs and many other examples provided by us in our blogs.

Something struck my mind at this point- there isn't really a so called "personal" space within the context of "using the LT". It is not like using the handphone or sitting on the chair where it is personal, just you and the object of use. A LT is a communal space, that needs to be shared by hundred over people, at the same time and also at different times of the day. Thus we must note to look for methods which would engage to a large group of people.

Third "How the heck to use?" Method - Cultural Probe

It is unclear how we should go about using this method, even though we believe it could have gathered a wide range of data. Hence this method was abandoned quickly even before we begin to "probe" its relative use. =P

Forth "Looks promising" Method - Technology as experience

When we look at LT as a "technology", a place encompassing teaching aids technology, this would be a good method. Later on, we realise that the FOUR THREADS of EXPERIENCE framework has its links to FENG SHUI!!!

Take a look at this:
Compositional - how do the elements of an experience fit together to form a coherent whole.

Feng Shui - emphasises on the balance of elements within an environment i.e. The Ying and the Yang energy composition.

Emotional: What emotions color the experience for us?

Feng Shui - color affect our emotions and experience.

Spatio-temporal: What effects do place and time have on our experience?

Feng Shui - one of the main concept of Feng Shui is 天时地利人和 tian shi di li ren her, which literally means "Heavenly Timing, Fruitful Ground, Harmonious Person". Hence spatio-temporal effects are greatly emphasised in Feng Shui

Sensual - What does the design and textual and the overall atmosphere make us feel?

Fen Shui - talks about items and artefacts which improve overall energy "chi" of the place, and atmospheric conditions such as the level of 杀气 sha qi (killing atmosphere) within the room.

With the above in mind, we reckon the potential use of Feng Shui in our study. We adopted the fact that when looking at the time frame, we must look at "before lecture begins", "during lecture" and "after lecture" to have a holistic view of the whole learning experience.

Fifth "no time to use" method - laddering

We thought of interviewing people using laddering approach. But as I have mentioned that we shall use methods which involve a mass of people, and the lack of time to interpret the data collected from laddering interviews, we decided not to use this method and went on to use the final method taught to us:

Final "what we did use but modified" method - Ethnography/observational studies with the combination of ... Feng Shui!
"What people say is not what they do. Ethnography highlights differences between what people perceive they do and what they actually do."
We totally agree with the above statement. By interviewing students, I think we would get probably lots of complains from them. I guess this has its basis on Heizberg's hygiene theory on motivators and demotivators.

We hence chose the non-invasive method of ethnography and began walking around the campus and sitting in lectures. As we ourselves are students it is easy to blend in with the surrounding and began our investigation.

Alas the all important explanation of why we chose feng shui. Feng Shui to me is a naturalistic science which look at environment placement and arrangements. As mythical as it seems, there is evidence that NUS itself is built based on the reccommendations of Feng Shui masters. Our very own Campus Observer Team has interviewed a Feng Shui Master and below's the link:

http://campusobserver.org/2006/October/27/fengshui/fengshui.htm

Btw Ng Chien Hao is one of our fellow CNM coursemates so you can look for him for more info! And below is one of the supporting quote for Feng Shui:

Abstract as geomancy may seem, there seem to be some believability and logic behind this ancient art that has often been written off as mere superstition. According to the IFSA, feng shui is classified under the study of Physiognomy, a form of Chinese Metaphysics that involve the observation of appearances through formula and calculations.

Stage 3: Findings

Our group went around NUS and make notes of the surroundings, especially areas directly outside LTs. We were just taking photos here and there, and to tell the truth, at that point of time we weren't sure what to do with the photos taken. Then as I began to find some solutions online, I just thought to myself, what is the most "low tech" solution I can think of? The idea of Feng Shui just came about suddenly, and I realise how we can tie in ethnography to Feng Shui.

According to the teachings of Feng Shui, there is always a need for balance and harmony in placements, where the level of energy "chi" is constant. What we are looking for are the colors and the arrangement of the surroundings, so as we as students would achieve balance with the surroundings. Below would be the four aspects of Feng Shui as stated from our research:

4 aspects of Feng shui: BEPT

Environment – Internal and External

Internal – warmth of the room, smell, the lightness or darkness, interior design and decorations

External – landscaping, the surrounding buildings, features that can affect the building such as large body of water or a cemetery

Building – architecture and design of building Eg: the shape and floor plan within the building aspect

People – how people are best aligned in the building. Feng Shui is about the placement of people and furniture, their interaction with one another to create different circumstances

Time – Feng Shui is based on the Chinese Oracle of Yi Jing (book of change) which states that all things undergo change

Based on the above, we made the following findings:

NUS External environment

Crouching tiger - sits on Kent Ridge Hill, the biggest of three reclining tiger hills

- a tiger land is more suitable for studies

- female & silent tiger: make students more ‘docile’ students

Hidden dragon

- formation of Kent Vale

Result: forming a favorable “crouching tiger, hidden dragon” formation, signifying NUS campus as a place to unleash potential.

Roads surrounding the campus are like two arms embracing the school – indicates auspicious and protective

According to Ba-Gua (eight trigrams), one of the basic principles of Feng Shui, the West area of your space is the one "responsible" for the beneficial (or not) energy connected to your children's well-being. When treated properly, it can create an auspicious flow of energy that will encourage your child's love for learning.
- therefore based on the map of NUS, Faculty Arts and Social Sciences lies at the West side of the whole area.

·

Bad external environment along AS1, AS3 leading to Lecture Theatre 9 and 10

- straight and long walkways

- lots of stairways

- Gives students lots of stress; tiredness; does not give a happy feeling; claustrophobic

Improvements to be made

- plants and trees break the straightness of the walkway, as beautiful scenery activates sheng qi (lively energy)

Inside the Lecture Theatres

Lighting to be checked and maintained as this affects the Yin and Yang balance of the atmosphere.

Conducive Room Temperature to be maintained

Clutter to be avoided as it blocks energy flow

·LTs have to avoid the element of fire, avoid having red wall color, artwork with fiery energy or a big red sofa or red/purple area carpet as according to Feng Shui directional analysis, the West direction possesses the colour of metal gray. West is also incidently the best directional placement for educational institution (think about it, NUS, NTU... they are in the west!)

·
To strengthen this area, use Metal (white, gray) or Earth (light yellow, sandy) colors, thus to go for a carpet with predominant earthy colors and white furnishings.

Beautiful art pieces to be hung within and outside lecture theatres

·You can display them in either white, or metal frames. The combination of these items will create a beneficial flow of energy.

·Anything that is beautiful is sheng qi = that means positive life force

Addition on water fixtures à recall that water activates yang qi (sheng qi)

eg. Ponds with beautiful corals and fish à benefit a tiger land and helps make students more proactive and enthusiastic

Have also Internal circular design within the LT– a round ceiling or a ceiling with round patterns represent Heaven that is forever moving Circular design brings dynamic "chi" (life force)

Stage 4 - reflections

I guess I wouldn't need to elaborate on our high tech solution cos it was quite clear we were going for something grandeur... and costly! But we did aim to achieve something really priceless, and an dome shaped Lecture Theatre with a wide dome screen would really bring out a sense of "larger than life" experience. Of course I hope not to pay $20k a month just to have such an LT! haha...

Anyway think overall we had an interesting perspective of mixing new knowledge with old ancient methodologies and interesting results come about. What we were limited are perhaps feedback from users of Lecture Theatres. A survey could be done but to be accurate it must gather as many responses as possible. We find the shortage of time against us, hence we did not proceed with carrying out a school-wide survey.

Nevertheless, observational study has its advantage of getting "real" results. By being passive observers of the environment, we let nature takes its course and can take note of what is really going on in the environment. I think somehow when we "inform" people we are carrying out studies, they would tend to be on their best desirable behavior. Yet our scope would be limited to what we have observed - other people can also give valuable insights on their own experience.
Yup, so the best method would have been a combination surveys, interviews and our own observation studies. What would have been a good research would be to add studies carried out by Peh Li's group. Their group possess the most solid laddering process and mapping laddering results with Extrinsic/Intrinsic Factors.

But time is always a factor and we couldn't possibly manage all of them effectively. I'm glad though our group came out with something unique and memorable. Cheers!

PS: Just a disclaimer here. Pls do not quote us in any information regarding Feng Shui and deem them as the ultimate truth. We ourselves have varied sources regarding Feng Shui studies and have yet to prove them as legitimate. What we do want to achieve is to test if the ancient practice of Feng Shui do stand the test of time and see if it's applicable in this assignment.

Phone for Olandra!

I had the above person in mind while doing this. My group was initially doing about a girl who likes Hello Kitty and is basically an "Ah Lian" who frequents Orchard Road. I decided to add lots of twist to the profile and out comes Olandra!

Olandra Tan, 21 years old, singer/entertainer at Modestro Pub

Olandra Tan graduated from Institute of Technical Education College Central with a NITEC in Service Skills (Retail) 2 years ago and is now working as a full time singer in Modestro Pub. The regulars in the pub would know her as the tall and pretty red haired lady with an angelic voice.

She is a single child who lives with her mother and grandmother in a 3 room HBD flat in Woodlands. Her parents divorced when she was 15 and since then her interests in studies had dropped and would skip school to sing KTV with her friends.

Olandra was once a rebel with a fierce personality. She would argue over the slightest things and had been involved in fights which resulted from staring incidents. But on the inside she was a lonely soul, yearning for attention from her peers and her father. Before the divorce, her father doted on her very much and had encouraged her to be a singer. But during the divorce, her father lost custody and would only be allowed to see her once a week. Olandra’s mother is strongly against her to sing and wanted her to pursue a proper education. As an act of rebellion, Olandra deliberately failed her N levels to disappoint her mother.

Yet the turning point came when 4 years ago her father passed away. Deeply grieved, she vowed to respect her father’s wish to become an aspiring singer one day. In ITE, she was no longer the teenage delinquent, but a keen learner. Her modules had taught her how to groom herself to look professional and to speak proper English and Mandarin. She worked hard and became one of the best students in her course.

Just before graduation, she and her friends went to Modestro Pub to chill out. There was a singing session where anyone in the audience could choose a song and sing with the complement of the live band. Olandra took up the microphone and began to sing, and impressed the audiences. The manager was also very impressed and requested Olandra to be a regular singer and entertainer for his pub. From then on, Olandra’s performance became a regular hit in the pub.

Olandra now exhumes flair of confidence and eloquence. Expatriates in the pub have been coming regularly just to see her sing. After performances she would often come down and chat with them with her eloquent English. There were nights where her performances were so well received that she received tips that amounted more than her regular monthly salary. But Olandra aspires to sing on a bigger stage one day, thus she has been preparing for the next Singapore Idol competition. She idolized a Taiwanese singer called Zhang Hui Mei (A-mei), as this popular singer also started out singing from a pub.

On her off days, Olandra would enjoy shopping with her friends. Pink is her favorite colour and would often be spotted in pink overalls. Her favorite hairstylist is Reds Hair Salon and she chose to dye her hair red simply because of her liking for the salon. She still enjoys a good karaoke session with her friends and would pick up songs from her idol A-mei.

Olandra likes to swim to keep herself in shape. Swimming would also remind her of her late father where he would often bring her to the neighborhood swimming complex and taught her how to swim. Also interestingly it was her father who taught her how to hold her breath and he believed it was one method to improve her singing technique. Olandra would sometimes shed a tear or two as she missed her father a lot, but she would often keep a smile and told herself that she did what she could to make her father proud.

Olandra is currently single even though she has lots of suitors who are regulars in the pub. She treats her work professionally and the most she would do in pub would be to have social conversations with the patrons. She would reject any advances made towards her and would turn down monetary offers in exchange for an indecent proposal. Olandra’s relationship with her mother has improved as she has learnt to be forgiving and understanding and cherishes what she has around her. Her mother also has accepted Olandra as an accomplished singer and hopes to see her making it big in the entertainment scene one day.

Four Pleasure Analysis of Olandra

Physio-pleasure:

• Olandra swims regularly and is a good way of keeping herself in shape. She does not want to have broad shoulders though thus she doesn’t swim too intensively.
  
• As a performer she is particular about her overall appearance and spends time and money on her hair. She would choose clothes and accessories which would be aesthetically pleasing to the patrons in the pub. She believes in looking professional even while singing, she would not choose clothes which are too revealing, but rather make her look elegant and sophisticated- Need Pleasure
• But off work, anything goes. She likes pink very much and would believes that pink clothes are forms of escapism to a lost teenage year, where it would have been better and more carefree.
• She would probably like a good session of spa to relax and find inspiration in her singing. - Appreciation Pleasure

Socio-pleasure:

• She would like to spend time with her mother and grandmother during her off-days, as they are the only family that she has now. - Needs Pleasure
  
• As her work is at night, she seldom has time for her friends who would be working while she rests at home. Her social circle would probably be limited to the live band members and staffs in Modestro. As such she feels that the band is like a second family and would do all sorts of activities together. - Needs Pleasure
  
• She would probably receive lots of contacts from her patrons, but the relationship is mostly kept as acquaintances. She does however likes the attention given upon her singing. - Appreciation Pleasure
  

Psycho-pleasure:

• She likes reading entertainment magazines to keep herself updated of the entertainment scene. A sense of satisfaction would be derived when she knows she has the best info among her peers - Appreciation Pleasure
• She likes surfing the web, emails and online chats and see if anyone talks about her or would want to talk to her. From online sources she would also know how popular her pub is - Appreciation Pleasure
  
• She would tape down episodes of American Idol and list down what the judges say about the contestants. She practices very hard to be the next Singapore Idol or Project Superstar. - Can be both needs and appreciation pleasure
  

Ideo-pleasure:

• Olandra is not exactly an ambitious by nature, but she is driven by her love for her late father and would excel to make her father look proud.
  
• She hopes to find a husband that would be as good as her father. But so far most of her suitors are superficial according to her.
• Coming from a background where once she felt lonely and uncertain, she believes in helping out her friends whenever she can, to overcome fears and loneliness in life.

Based on the above information, I would propose the product specifications for Olandra’s handphone:

Style

• Chic and elegant, just the right size for her hand.
• Pink cover as she loves pink and looking at pink soothes her mind.
• Buttons can be easily pressed and illuminated as she works late into the night and might feel tired. Also to enable her to dial for a cab fast.
• Phone which fits snugly into her purse or bag.
  

Functions

• Good calendar function to keep her appointments, rehearsals and performances in schedule.
• At least 2.5 or 3G technology so that she can surf for entertainment news.
• At least 2.0 megapixel camera to take photos after performance sessions.
• Lots of internal memory space as she needs to keep lots of contacts and photos in her phone and would prefer to have a lag free phone.
• Up to 6 hours of battery life so that she will not miss an important call.
• Phone lock function as the place she works at would have lots of strangers coming in and out, and would not want anyone to look into her private messages.
  

The LG KG800 Pink Chocolate phone would probably be the closest specs.

Pleasure with Handheld Gaming

Alright, another post on video games. But hey, it's my passion and interest after all! And it's one of the products that I keep in touch with very often. A few assumptions have to be made before going on with the review:

1. The products are assumed to be tested on the same time, at the present moment. Every product that came out were "new" and fashionable when it was first launched. What you felt about a new product now could be the same as what you have felt when you find a similar product years ago.

2. The products are assumed to be fully functional while being tested. That means even when a product has been out for a long time, we assume that that product we're testing is still working at its optimum condition.

So yup without further ado, let me present to you the review of 3 handheld console game systems, comparing the visceral, behavioral and reflective sense of things.

Product 1: Nintendo Gameboy (1989 Original Version):


The grandfather of all handheld game consoles which use the catridge packs. Prior to the gameboy, handheld gaming was limited to electronic games which consist of devices which is designed to play only one game, using liquid crystal display. The Nintendo Game and Watch series are the popular handheld electronic games of the 1980s. (For more info check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handheld_electronic_game , but we shall now focus on the Gameboy)

The popular puzzle game Tetris was shipped along with the Gameboy and it was the defining game that made the Gameboy globally popular. It was also one of the longest surviving handheld console of its time, lasting almost 13 years before it was finally overtaken by newer handheld game consoles. Nevertheless let us review the Gameboy now and see what experiences it would bring us:

Visceral:

The design looks blocky and unappealing. The dot matrix screen look primitive. But the Gameboy does possess a nostalgic look, where somehow the design instantly reminds one of the late 1980s and early 1990s where technology was more about functionality than form. The plain control interface showed that it was designed to be solely as a gaming machine. (There were add-ons such as the gameboy camera later in the mid-90s, but those devices failed to impress the market)

Behavioral (while playing tetris):

The controls are simple and intuitive. Sound is expected to be sub-par by today's standards. Screen has no backlight, thus you have to find a good spot with ample lighting to play the game. Colors are limited to greyscale display.

Reflective:

Playing the Gameboy now would lead to a feel of nostalgia, of the classic Nintendo 8-bit era. Games then were more focused on addictive gameplay, rather than flashy graphics. But the Gameboy feels outdated, unsophisticated and obsolete, and seems that only puzzle games are worth playing on the Gameboy. It is also associated to children as there was a period where the Gameboy was popular solely due to Pokemon.

Product 2: Nintendo DS

(For simulated product testing you can try this: http://www.warioware.biz/touched/launch/index.html )

DS can stand for "Dual Screen," and Developers' System, from Nintendo's belief that the system "gives game creators brand new tools which will lead to more innovative games for the world's players." First released in 2004, the DS is innovative in a sense that it provided input using a stylus, a first for handheld console gaming, and a microphone that allows limited voice control in some games. How does it fair according to the exprience rating?

Visceral:

Sleek and stylish; the dual screen is a unique refreshing change from a single screen display.

Behavioral (while playing Wario touched!):

Using the stylus to control is unique. But switching from stylus to gamepad is cumbersome at times.

Graphics are bright and colourful. Sound is catchy and chirpy. Controls are intuitive and simple. Had fun exploring the microphone function where for some games, you need to blow into the microphone to push the objects.

Reflective:

Innovative gameplay, but right now most of the good games come solely from Nintendo. Not exactly mainstream type of console.

Product 3: Playstation Portable

Among the 3 this would have been known by many who are reading this blog. The PSP is currently the most popular handheld console, but is it really the best?

Visceral:

Looks sophisticated. Sleek and high performance hand held console.

Behavioral (While playing Ridge Racers) :

Check out what Amirul said in his blog about the PSP. The PSP seems to be designed for people with small hands. Alot of buttons, but control wise it's not that comfortable as both the DS or even the Gameboy.

Graphics are definitely the best in PSP, but somehow there's lag experienced while the game gets too intensive. Soundwise it's the superior of the 3.

The PSP is also capable of playing video recordings and MP3. Memory card serves to be useful in storing saved games and multimedia.

Reflective:

The PSP is the mainstream choice. It is easier to find another person having a PSP. I would probably buy a PSP out of the 3 choices...

Wait a minute... didn't I just say about the controls and the lagginess being below from DS and Gameboy? Hmm... Network effect or lock-in effect somehow plays a part too. Even though some "bad designs" are made, if it was able to gather enough consumers to use them, it will form strong lock-in. The QWERTY keyboard is a good example of a bad design that is still popular. Despite the fact that the keyboard was made to slow down typing speed of typewriters, modern day computers still follow the exact same layout of a type writer!

Warming up to... a bad design?

What a way to kickstart this module... by coming up with a baaadd design! Haha.. but no matter, I shall jump straight into action... As I'm a true blue gamer at heart my example will be taken from the world of video gaming...

Many of us probably know Nintendo as the makers of great games and consoles like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, The Nintendo Gameboy, and soon to be coming Nintendo Wii... but among all these unforgettable game play experiences is one forgettable gadget that ... nicely put is ahead of its time when it comes out, but others wish it never come to light...

presenting to you the Nintendo Virtual Boy:




Looks very futuristic eh? Until you realise you got to put this thing onto your head for hours while staring only the colours red and black! (Ooo it matches the colour of the console.. bah!)



For those who are into video gaming you would perhaps marvel at the nice looking controller and the "promise" of true 3D graphics on a 32-bit system. But how are the games like? Look below:



Erm, true 3D graphics?? And no the colours are not edited... this is exactly what you see in game. And how do you play it?



Besides looking incredibly geeky, you probably get a bad headache looking into the deep "vortex" of red and black, strapping on the "portable" console that weighs 2 pounds... and people having more fun watching you.... er.... having fun.

Alot of info can be accessed via this website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Virtual_Boy

From this site I'll pick out the points that answers the assignment questions:

The console was designed by Gunpei Yokoi, inventor of the Game & Watch and Game Boy handhelds, as well as the Metroid franchise. While compact and seemingly portable, Virtual Boy was not intended to replace the Game Boy in Nintendo's product line, as use of the system requires a steady surface, and completely blocks the player's peripheral vision. According to David Sheff's book Game Over, Gunpei never actually had intended for the console to be released in its present form. However, Nintendo had grown impatient with the amount of time that he had taken with the project. It wanted to focus on the Nintendo 64, and quickly rushed the Virtual Boy to market.

Hype surrounding the device before its release included public musings by Nintendo that the device might resemble a gun set vertical, projecting a 3D image in the air above it. The actual device was considered a disappointment compared to this description when it arrived.

'...the Virtual Boy produced very impressive 3-D effects, although the monochromatic graphic style proved to limit the appeal of the visuals.' - (NOA website) [1]

The Virtual Boy was a flop in the marketplace, for several reasons:

• To fill in for the long delay in the development of the Nintendo 64, it was pushed to market before it was ready. Not only was it rushed out the door, but the public was unwilling to spend so much money on what they saw as a stopgap videogame system, especially knowing the Nintendo 64 was coming shortly.
  
• It was marketed as a portable system, but it was not as portable as gamers thought it should be. Due to its size and weight, the Virtual Boy was nearly impossible to use while in motion, and doing so could cause damage to the unit.
  
• It was considered too expensive, with a $180 initial price.
  
• The console's box and manual warned that the display could cause eyestrain and eye problems, especially for those under 7 years of age. Despite having been added primarily for liability reasons, the warnings frightened away potential buyers. Some that did buy it suffered from headaches or even seizures from short times spent playing games on the machine.
  
• Many believed there was a poor selection of games available at launch, and very few software developers wanted to invest time and money in such a new, unproven gaming system. This led to a circular supply-and-demand problem and resulted in a system with few games available. In total only 22 titles were available between the North American and Japanese markets.

• Additionally, there were few plans for any flagship titles (such as Metroid, Zelda, or Star Fox) or popular third party titles (such as Final Fantasy or other Squaresoft games) to be released.

• Other game problems were related to the format of the console itself, which did not seem especially suited for certain types of games, giving players the impression that it was a rather limited system.
  
• The base of the system could not be adjusted vertically. This meant that the system has to be placed on a table to play (which could be uncomfortable) or that users had to lie down to use it.

• The base was also somewhat flimsy and replacement parts were not very common.
  Due to the nature of the Virtual Boy system, other players could not watch, which took away the social aspect of gaming. A multiplayer option was in the works, via a cable that would hook two units together, but the product failed before such an addition could be made.
  
• Because of its failure in the Japanese and American markets, the console was never released in Australia or Europe. This contributed to a supply-and-demand problem (undersupply) for Nintendo products (especially Super Famicom and SNES games) in the middle of the 1990s that existed mainly due to continuous delays of the Nintendo 64.
  
• The failure of the Virtual Boy was regarded by many as the catalyst that led to Gunpei being driven from Nintendo. According to Game Over, the company laid the blame for the machine's faults directly on the creator.

I think this assignment is more about my own reaction. I am fortunate (or unfortunate? depending on perspective... ) enough to try out this console during its short tenure in Singapore. Before I got to know how the gameplay was, I admit that it looked futuristic and worth trying. But it failed terrribly in its promise on graphics and sound is horrid, if you even call stereo bleeps and chimes as sound. It somehow made me not touch anything Nintendo for quite some time, until recently where attempts for innovation are once again made via the Nintendo Wii, one of the next gen console games which the swerving and natural moving of the controllers control in-game characters. The pictures alone that I posted probably shows why it was such a flop.