Shanna's COM585

Week 6

2006-02-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

BREAKING NEW GROUND!

In the reading; Web 2.0: Mistaking the Forest for the Trees, I give a great big cheers to Dave's point of having to break new ground. Sometimes I feel that technology is running out of control and we don't have enough tools to make sure it is making sense for our world. Perhaps being "technically savvy" isn't always a good thing. We think we might have all the answers and then we don't get it...I have always said; when you starting thinking you know everything you start to know nothing at all.

I believe it was Emerson that said that we should read books to just gain the knowledge and the history, but it should not be the only thing that forms our opinion. Design and development is all really new and it causes a lot of "cognitive friction", so why is it that we grab a hold of the same way of doing something over an over again instead of evolving. Am I starting to sound like Cooper?

That was the main thing that hit me with this reading!

Week 5 - Book

2006-02-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum

First of all, I picked this book because I wanted to see what all the talk is about. Also, I am a huge technology supporter only if it is value-added. I wanted to see what Cooper had to say about it, so that I would be able to learn from his ideology and experience.

Working in Human Resources has made me learn two skills that I appreciate: being strategic and selling myself. I think this book talks to both of those things. Questions such as; Why keep doing things the same way if it isn't working? Where can we go from here? How can I help corporations see the value in technology and to make it more user friendly and less "it looks pretty, all wrapped up in a computer bow" mentality?

I want to know how the software engineers mind work as well as the day-to-day user frustrations. I felt this book would give me more how to, but it is appearing so far to give me less of those particular PM skill.

Week 4

2006-01-30T19:31:00.000-08:00

BREADING WITH THREE THREADS

There are three threads that unite the two articles: Hierarchy And Contrast and Blueprints for the Web. The common threads are; knowing your audience, simplify and bring attention.

First thread is to know your audience. Do research, learn what others like, what attracts them and how they logically organize. Both articles refered to the end users and knowing what attracts your audience. Bluprints talk about doing an experient to discover how people organize similiarly and how they organize uniquely.

Second thread was to think logicaly about how to organize and make it easy to get the information accross. Simplify! Both writers believed that simplicity is the best key. If you have too much "noise" then it takes away from the information and confuses people. If you don't have an easy design or website layout then people can't get the information they need and become frustrated. Either way, you need to get the information to your audience.

Lastly, bringing attention kept the audience interested! The Blueprints article talked aobut putting in speciality areas for fun receipe categories. The H and C article talked attracting your audience with color, fon, italics, underlining and small caps.

Knowing your audience is really the common threads that keeps the bread twisted together. You can have flare and organize it the way you think makes sense, but what good does it do if you don't identify with your audience?

Week 2

2006-01-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH

Communication, Communication, Communication. Data all sounds the same if you don't put it in relevant and interesting terms. You can have the most brilliant person standing in front of you and you can miss all the information! I also wonder if we have sooooo much information coming at us do we miss ever giving our fullest? I get overwhelmed with the data around me that sometimes I can't consume it all or don't have the span or strength to do anything with it!

Organization, Organization, Organization. If you put it into something concrete, manageable and fun then it doesn't seem so overwhelming. The key to organization and communication might lie managing it for yourself. Because the truth is...Most of our companies are not organized and we might be alone in the front on many occasions.

Sale, Sale, Sale. The last key attribute to develop is not just the communication, but the true art of being able to sale information. We have to be able to guide and sometimes catapult listeners from data to information to knowledge and than to wisdom. What a challenge!

I loved the break down of communication in this article. I felt that it brought up many ideas for myself as I walk through presentations...Organizing my thoughts and making them stick and become alive with relevancy.

I can actually take the information of this article and utilize it as I develop presenting my information to groups of people.

Week 2 (Class On-line)

2006-01-10T17:54:00.001-08:00

Three personal goals for this quarter:

Strengthen my project management skills, such as organization, interpersonal communication and content contribution.
Learn basic design
Learn the fundamentals of DreamWeaver

Roles I would take on:

I would be willing to help with organization, documentation and facilitating for project time-lines. (Project Management) This may include using tools such as Gantt or Pert charts, communicating between team members and outside relationships, and being a champion for the reader (keeping the vision and mission in mind).

I would be willing to be a contributor. I would like to do research and if I would like to go a step further learning more software and design knowledge.

Roles I would prefer not to take on:

I am not as strong in editing and writing. I communicate and research well, however best for someone else to express the ideas and facts into a more cohesive content. I could help contribute content, however my strengths are not in editing.

Possible Project:

I still advocate for revamping a non-profit organizational website. It would be a functional website that can contribute back to a good cause. My second choose would be the Green Lake idea! I think it would be fun to highlight an active community near our neck of the woods, UW.

Sample sites for project:

Getty Images

Getty Images offers several orchestrations of handling multiple medias. It is visually appealing offering rotating art, so the product exposure is circulated and refreshing. I like the way it is organized, being user friendly.

Bombay Saphire

How visually appealing and the music adds attraction for me. It is warm, soft and fun to see. It has video segments that fade in automatically and all transitions are smooth by scrolling or fading in and out. They seem to understand the product and reflect it in their marketing.

AgencyNet

It has very easy ways to navigate and simple information that don't overwhelm me with choices. I understand the need for information, but what is the use if you can't find it?! Besides, this is how you do interactive websites! Okay, the scale might be completely out of our resource pool. However, I have learned to dream big and then scale down if need be! Could you imagine something like this if we did Green Lake? We can do an interactive map of Green Lake that guided the visitor from topic to topic.

Week 1

2006-01-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

Publishing Team/Notes on Design Practice Ah-ha's:

Both articles shared an overwhelming commonality in the importance of effective communication between a diverse project team. I find that to be the most important piece in the equation as well. I have been on many projects and have had members on the team that come from a plethora of disciplines in the organization. The key to keeping timelines and quality products is not just in the talent, but the how the talent talks to each other.

In specific, Erickson made me realize that we are always communicating and the design artifacts are pushing that communication along. Communication occurs regardless of your intent to communicate. In essence we are communicating when we choose not to communicate. Hmmm?

I do feel that Erickson left out an important piece in the design process: re-evaluation. Re-assessment/Re-evaluation is constantly occurring, thus bringing the design process in a evolving circle. Are we really ever done with a product?

How the readings might apply to my goals for the quarter:

I appreciated McGovern's definition of roles. In his list, my most interested area to develop further would be moderator. I do want to stretch my project management skills along with my technology skills. I don't want to necessarily be an expert on building a website, however I want to know the fundamentals that will allow me to manage a design team/project. I have a recruitment background and I have always believed that it was more value added to recruit people in disciplines that you have experience in. For example, a Registered Nurse might be more effective in recruiting nurses for a healthcare system. If I know the jargon and the basic mechanics I can build credibility through knowledge and understanding.

The readings helped me understand where my interests are. I like to manage projects/process, using my organization, technical and interpersonal skills.