Utah Design Thinking

This is what happens when you get 40 super smart students, one brilliant star and an odd instructor together to talk about how design is changing the world.

[utahdesignthinking]

Can you find examples of products or experiences that are better because they match some of these ideas? What about things that failed because their designers ignored a lesson from 150 years ago?

[utahdesignthinking]

aaaaand some more.

[utahdesignthinking]

These are some of my photos from when I did the project, and a couple that I've found around campus the last couple of days. 

I promise that you guys will need all of the time to get all 26 letters, get on it!

-Stella

[utahdesignthinking]

This project is pretty tricky, and unless you're constantly looking, you're going to have a REALLY hard time. If you put it off, I promise that you'll have a hell of a time finding quality negative spaces.

Due: October 15

e-mail me with any questions ([email protected])!

-Stella

[utahdesignthinking]

Awesome Opportunity

Hey all,

I don't mean to spam you with this, but Jim Agutter is running a workshop for professors on the student experience tomorrow and needs a handful of students to go in as "experts." 

It's tomorrow (Wednesday the 19th) from 2:15- 3:00 up at the Officer's Club (just beneath the dorms), so not very long, not very far away and you will get the opportunity to tell professors what feedback/criticism they give or don't give that is helpful to you and your experience here at the U.

This is an incredible opportunity to get involved with some really neat stuff that Jim is working on, and let professors know what you really think. Jim is the director of the Design program and it can't hurt to get to know him! 

E-mail me at [email protected] if you're interested!

See you in class,

Stella

[utahdesignthinking]

3 Good/ 3 Bad

I went through and checked out everyone's 3 good design posts & 3 bad design posts and Shaun asked me to reblog a handful of the best ones, so that's what's happening. I picked these for a variety of reasons. Either they made me laugh, they showed that you were noticing cool things, or they made a point to explain why that thing was good/bad design (and explained it well). 

Here are the links to the blogs I chose, check out what they saw!

- Stella

http://benmingo.tumblr.com/

http://chaseomatic.tumblr.com/

http://grahamreynolds27.tumblr.com/

http://kendradalley.tumblr.com/

http://brendonzhang.tumblr.com/

http://mustafadesign.tumblr.com/

[utahdesignthinking]

Required reading for world changers.

[firepython-blog]

Well, I’m just going to assume that people can see my posts in this, um, whatever part of the website I’m currently in.

For this post I think I’ll talk about this tumblr website. Not the whole website, that would take too long. I’ll just mention the sign up page. The two pictures above are not duplicates, but two different pictures! Amazing! The one on the left is the the log-in page for the site, the right one is the sign-up. The only difference is an extra white bar. I spent an embarrassingly long time trying to figure out how to sign-up when I was starring at the answer the entire time! I thought I was still in the log-in page. Even when I figured it out, I didn’t know if it would work. There’s not even anything saying “This is the sign-up page”. When designing, please make things usable BEFORE making it compelling.

Feels good to get that off my chest.

[haydenolsen-blog]

The Splice menu is an excellent example of design,  It has only the logo and a circle.  The logo moves with your mouse and the circle appears when the mouse is centered, encouraging the user to click there.

[matthew-parkin-blog]

[utahdesignthinking]

Not only does this utility knife look awesome with its metal and blue finishes but changing blades is safe and easy.  Most utility knifes have a release button that often breaks are requires you to push and pull to get a blade in or out.  NOT SAFE!   

[4funsies]

I Think I’ll Stand…

Ironically, these are the seats in the design and architecture building. You would think that a building such as that would contain the epitome of design in every aspect, especially the seats where people spend the most time. A chair is supposed to be comfortable; it’s not. A chair is supposed to offer some kind of support; it doesn’t. A desk is supposed to be easy to use; it’s not. When you’re in a class, you’re supposed to be paying more attention to the teacher than trying not to slide out of your seat. The problem with this chair/desk thing is that the seat is angled down, the back of the chair has a hinge that’s too flexible, and the desk attachment is small, awkward, and (for me at least) counter intuitive to put into position. I’ve been sitting in the same chair since class started, so maybe it’s just my seat, but I find is hard to believe that the other seats are any different. This definitely belongs in the “bad design” pile.

[4funsies]

Plastic Packages… 

Let’s pretend that the creators of this plastic package opener weren’t morons and instead had a sense of humor and/or irony… the product I have an issue with isn’t the opener but the problem they were trying to solve, the hard plastic packaging it comes in. The only thing more frustrating than these packages are the packages CD’s come in. Is it so hard to perforate them or something to make them easier to get into? We’ve all had to deal with these before, so I don’t feel like I need to explain why this belongs on my “bad designs” list.

[4funsies]

Worst Cup Holder Ever…

What made the people at Nissan think, when they were designing the Cube, that it was a good idea to put a cup holder at your feet, out of reach, and too small for anything other than a kiddy size cup? If you even try to put a normal drink in this holder, assuming you don’t care about not being able to grab it again without opening the door, it tips over and spills if you happen to take a turn. Good thing you have six other cup holders to choose from in the front… you never know when two people are going to be in need of seven cup holders…

[utahdesignthinking]

It's ironic that we're using tumblr for a design blog, because the tumblr interface is designed like...ugh.

I know that it's designed badly because it's taking me way too long to figure out how to do pretty much anything. For example, I don't remember how to find my inbox. I found it once. You'd think it's on the Dashboard, because that's where you control stuff in cars. But no, it's under Untitled.

Also, how do you comment on pictures? You can tell me if there's a comment button on this picture, but I haven't found one so far. Maybe if you reblog it I'll see it? But then you have conversations splitting off like the branches on trees, so how do you know what other people said? Where I would find out that you reblogged it? Probably in my email's Spam box, like the verification email I sent to myself three times. Or maybe in the super secret tumblr inbox. Or on the Dashboard. I'll just click all over the place until I find it.

Also, how do you change your blog's title to something other than Untitled? You'd think it's in Blog Settings, but it's not. I give up. My blog is Untitled.

[utahdesignthinking]

This is a soap dispenser. You've probably used it thousands of times but never had to think about it. Just push forward on that lever thing with your palm and a perfect dose of soap dispenses into the same hand you're operating it with. It's beautiful.

Just one thing wrong here: the dispenser is mounted sideways in the corner above the vanity. At shoulder height. It was really awkward to use.

[mitchridd-blog]

This sink is pitiful in design. They put the handles directly under the shelf so they are hard to turn. In addition to this, the paper towels come out into the sink, so they get wet regardless. 

[utahdesignthinking]

Here's something that people can use as a surface to sign checks and receipts while using a wheelchair at the supermarket.  It rotates right out of a little slot and it's at a good height if you're seated, so if you're standing up, you probably won't even notice it. I haven't used it while seated, but it looks good to me.