1. What is the thesis of this article?
The author invokes the use of the work “handmade” throughout this article to give us the idea that the web
is a
physical thing that people have built together. The web now is almost infinite; it is difficult for us to
imagine the complete scope of it. Nowadays, most mainstream websites are being built by machines or large,
multinational companies. The author wants to remind us of the early days of the web—where everything was
hand-coded by individuals, where websites had a personal touch, and where print media shared a symbiotic
relationship with the web. In short, the author is feeling nostalgic about the days when the web was a
smaller,
more manageable entity. The physicality of the web is a point that is reiterated multiple times.
An important point raised here is how the web is almost like a physical archive. Looking back at old,
handcrafted webpages almost feels like peeling away layers when we discover what lies beneath—which is
generally
low-resolution images, audio files, page errors and missing links. We do view them from through different
frames
(modern browsers), but the webpages themselves continue to exist in the very medium they were
created.
2. Carpenter describes the handmade web as a form of resistance. In your own words, what is being resisted?
The author is resisting the place the web has become now. They are resisting against how impersonal the web
has
become. When the web was first created, people owned their identities through the pages they themselves
created.
However, nowadays people are dependent on a selection of bigger websites to simply host their own
identities.
Half the people using Facebook apparently have no idea that they’re using the internet at all. This just
goes to
show the extent from which people have become detached from the web. The author is trying to resist the “big
companies” that currently have made the web so disengaging, and instead is feeling nostalgic about the days
when
the web was a smaller, safer, and more intimate place. They say that their own website is based off of a
template that they created all the way back in 1997. The author doesn’t seem too keen on changing this
anytime
soon either—they want to resist the mainstream web and have said that they would stubbornly put off updating
their website template until it’s no longer cool to have vintage, out-of-date designs.
3. Reflecting on your own experiences, what are other examples of drawing attention the "physicality" of the
web?
Some web apps designed for reading books are examples that come to mind. Here, the user needs to make
swiping
motions, almost like physically flipping the pages of a real book. The experience of swiping continuously to
flip through pages draws attention to the physical body. The author does say that reading the web on an iPad
isn’t effective because it takes us away from the “handmade” web, but reading books on a web app on a device
like an iPad does highlight the physicality of the web, in the sense that the continuous flipping motion
transforms the virtual space of the iPad into a real book. Some of these apps are extremely well-designed,
with
users being able to control the brightness, font type/size, and even add notes, annotations, and highlights.
This example strays away from how the author describes a ‘handmade’ web, which is a small, intimate space
hand-written by individuals, but this example does seem to fit in the small section where the author
describes
how a space on the web almost seems to translate into a physical one.
1. What is the thesis of this article?
The article is titled “What Screens Want”, and the author tries to come to an understanding of precisely
that.
In a word, he comes to the conclusion that screens want to “change”. He starts off by saying that software
is a
malleable medium, and that it changes shape easily and regularly. However, screens have affordances, and
when
designers figure them out, it is only then that they are intrinsically designing for screens. These
affordances
haven’t ever been tied to aesthetics, as the screen is inherently neutral. It doesn’t really matter what an
object looks like, the screen just wants it to move or change. Designing for screens is figuring out how to
manage that change. So, the affordance of a screen is something the author calls ‘flux’, or the capacity for
change.
Flux can usually be categorized into three levels in any instance of designing for screens. Low flux
includes
small mutations that simply require a bit of processing and a malleable display surface to show the change.
High
flux encompass immersive interactive pieces, which is rarely a good idea on the web but are excellent in
physical spaces. Medium flux is what web designers focus on, as it clarifies interactivity by allowing
elements
to respond to that interaction. All of the elements’ information is baked into their behaviours and not
their
aesthetics. Hence, a designer’s work is not only about how things look but also about their behaviours in
response to interaction. Half the work comprises designing the in-between state of elements as they adapt
and
morph. Designers are becoming more aware of this in recent years due to the increasing popularity of
responsive
design and its resistance to fixed states.
2. Where do you stand with the two ideological camps: flat and skeuo?
The flat camp proponents for flat designs—who say that since screens are flat, its designs should be too. I
personally lean more towards the skeuomorphic side, wherein visual elements are used to mimic real world
objects. The author does say that both sides don’t particularly matter, since screens are inherently
neutral.
That the aesthetic of the objects doesn’t inherently affect anything about the screen, so any justification
given for a design cannot be anything related to the inherent properties of a screen. However, purely on an
aesthetic point of view, skeuomorphic designs make an intuitive experience for the users as they get
familiar
with the functionality of the designs right after looking at them. It is not made for all types of websites
on
the internet, but it does assist in developing stylish and creative design elements. It helps build a
creative
identity for any website or app, which means users will be able to develop a stronger association with the
style
if it’s done correctly.
3. What is a zoopraxiscope and how does it relate to web and interaction design? Find another example from
filmmaking or another medium that has inspired digital design.
Before 1872, photography required a subject to stay extremely still, i.e., photography captured life, but
never
its essence—movement. However, a man named Eadweard Muybridge took 12 photographs of a running horse in a
span
of seconds. This project was the first time humans split the second as a measurement of time. After taking
these
12 photos, Muybridge set out to reanimate these stills. His first attempt included printing the photographs
radially on a glass disc and spinning it while it was lit from behind, projecting these images onto a
physical
screen. This was one of the first origins of the screen, as people realized that light needs to land on
something to show itself. This setup was called the zoopraxiscope. If this device is considered as one of
the
main inroads into the creation of screens, it can be said that web and interaction design is as heavily
inspired
from filmmaking as it is from graphic design—They both work on screens, manage time and movement, and they
change.
Another medium that has inspired web design is print, or more specifically newspapers. The basic principles
of
web design overlap heavily with those of news design, and are practically indistinguishable. For example,
let’s
take the phrase “above the fold”. The content printed here in newspapers is the first thing users see when
they
pick up a newspaper. It is often the one and only chance to entice readers and to get them to buy a copy.
This
space above the fold is the main domain and will contain the most important story of the entire paper.
Hence, it
usually consists of big headlines, flashy pictures and key information. The same applies to websites, which
is
also why the terminology has carried over. The “above the fold” part, or the homepage/landing page of the
website is the most viewed part of a website and the principle is the same—grab the user’s attention and get
to
the point.
1. How does Drucker define the term "interface"? How about the process of designing interfaces? What is her
opinion
of interface design processes as they are generally handled today?
Drucker defines an interface as a mediating structure that supports behaviours and tasks. It is a space
between
human users and procedures that are governed by complicated protocols. An interface disciplines, constrains
and
determines what can be done in a digital environment. It is not simply a portal into the online world with
menu
bars and icons, or a “thing” that makes it easy for us to interact with what is “really” happening.
According to Drucker, designing interfaces falls under a field called Human Computer Interaction, or HCI.
Interfaces use visual conventions such as icons as a cue for their behaviours and their use. While designing
and
building interfaces, designers chunk tasks into carefully defined segments to prevent any ambiguity in
defining
the part’s functionality. Designers analyse user needs and translate them into functional requirements, and
the
concepts of prototypes, user feedback, and design are put through iterative cycles. The design process also
takes cultural differences into account, because across cultures, there are different degrees of tolerance
for
ambiguity and uncertainty, preferences for individualism or collectivism, and different attitudes towards
inequalities in power relations.
In today’s time, interfaces are designed with a notion of continuum of experience, and it is never broken by
engagement with representational content. We think ofinterfaces as environments for doing things and
structuring
behaviours, and thus we remain linked to the idea that reading the digital environment is restricted to an
analysis of its capacity of doing things. This becomes a very restricted, highly structured, bounded and
discrete environment. This makes sense for interactive interface design, as dynamic information
visualization
flattens the planes of reference and processing so that they appear to be a single, self-evident surface.
However, she criticizes it as a naive approach, no matter how usefully it might serve a particular
function..
Drucker states it is essential to theorize the interface and its relation to reading as an environment where
varied behaviours of situated persons will be enabled differently according to its affordances. This will
shift
us away from interfaces in the HCI world into fields closer to graphic design and media theory.
2. What is Drucker's notion of "Humanistic Design"?
According to Drucker, humanistic design is built primarily on the belief that the aesthetic materials of a
design will be studies, used and analysed, not consumed. There are some common features between each product
that uses humanistic design, where the products (websites in this case) are designed to allow multiple kinds
of
use and pathways, views into data and content through analytical process, as well as reading experiences.
Taking
examples of content models that come from critical study, bibliography, and other traditions rooted in
appreciation and engagement with cultural materials, Drucker analyses archival websites to highlight aspects
of
humanistic design. Each site optimizes the use of graphical organization for navigation and orientation.
What
distinctly makes these encyclopedia sites and archival sites grounded in humanistic inquiry is the
combination
of content models derived from the conviction that individual reading makes the experience new each time the
site is visited, reiterating the concept that the interface supports production of reading rather than the
consumption of experience.
Another crucial aspect of humanistic design is user engagement. With the example of ‘We Feel Fine’, Drucker.
Explains how the user is a part of the feedback loop each time data is refreshed. She states that the
dimension
of registering affective qualities of human experience transcend the mechanistic boundaries of computational
processing into a dynamic relationship with living beings who have continually differing experiences. As the
force and shape of this interpretation begins to register on humans who contribute to cultural materials,
incorporating processes of assessment and reflection has the potential to produce new ways if gauging and
engaging with the effective experience of being a human.
3. As a process, what factors do you feel are central to the design of interfaces that are missing from this
article?
It is essential to include a key list of factors while designing interfaces. In her book, Drucker covers a
few factors, one of them being taking insights from literary, cross-cultural and gender studies to create a
well-informed, accessible user interface that promotes inclusivity. However, in the 40-page excerpt, she
doesn’t
cover all the necessary factors. Some other key factors central to designing a good interface include making
a
design intuitive and familiar. Designs need to have as short an onboarding time as possible, so that people
with
varying levels of tech-savviness are all able to figure out the purpose of the design relatively quickly.
This
is necessary because this saves the user time and effort. It means that the user is not going to get lost in
the
structure of the webpage or application and will not struggle to find their way out or what they want.
Familiarity also needs to be a key component. Most people have already interacted with hundreds of
interfaces,
and thus have built up a mental schema of an interface in their heads. An interface with a steep learning
curve
has a high chance of inducing cognitive strain, and they might seek out another interface that is easier to
use
and comprehend.
Another key factor includes designing interfaces that are responsive to different platforms. It is essential
to
build an interface that can adapt to any screen size to ensure an optimized experience. For example, it is
more
convenient to use a phone nowadays than it is to open a laptop to browse the web or use a search engine. In
this
case, designing for different screen sizes taking into account factors like screen orientation becomes
important. And these designs need to be consistent and clear across these platforms. Drucker states that
designers should embrace ambiguity, uncertainty, and the lack of fixity or singularity, and this can be true
while building the concept for the design. However, across platforms and throughout the product, it is key
to
make sure that all units of a design look like they function seamlessly. This also helps in developing
clarity
for the designs, which comes from the simplicity using the product and simplicity in how the product looks.
1. How does Manovich see the opposition between database and narrative? Manovich talks about computer games
as a
form of Interactive Narrative. Can you speculate on other forms of interactive narratives (in our culture or
imagined) that aren't computer games?
A database is a structural collection of data. It is not a simple collection of items, because the data
stored
in a database is optimized for fast search and retrieval by a computer. In a cultural context, a database
represents the world as a list of items as it refuses to order this list. Contrastingly, a narrative creates
a
cause and effect relationship or trajectory of seemingly unordered items. In this case, a database and a
narrative are opposites. They both compete for the same territory of human culture, but they employ opposing
methodologies to make sense of the world. Media objects may or may not explicitly follow database logic in
their
structures, but they are all inherently databases—creating work in new media is the equivalent of
constructing
an interface for a database. The works may engage users in behaviours and activities that are quite
different
than going through a database, but it is all the same under the surface.
In this light, however, the concept of narrative is redefined. Now, the user of a narrative is traversing
databases and following links as established by its creator.
Hence, an interactive narrative can be understood as the sum of multiple trajectories through a database. A
traditional, linear narrative is simply one particular choice made within an interactive narrative. In a
world
of new media, the word “narrative” is used as an all-inclusive term, and is usually paired with
’interactive’,
another overused term. Hence, a number of database records linked together is assumed to constitute an
interactive narrative. However, a user also needs to control the semantics of elements and the logic of
their
connections if the resulting object is to be classified as a “narrative’. In short, a database can support a
narrative, but there is nothing in the logic of the medium itself that would foster a narrative’s
generation.
Based on the above classification, even the simple act of going shopping can be categorized as an
interactive
narrative. A catalogue of items is presented as the database, and the user crafts their own journey when
they
browse through the items present, picking and choosing the items that they want to put in their shopping
cart
and ultimately purchase. They might even change their minds about purchases while checking out—it all
depends on
the mentality and the shopping habits of the user, and each experience is unique.
2. Database as Symbolic Form was written 19 years ago now. What has changed? What hasn't changed? Did
Manovich's
predictions come true?
Despite being written 19 years ago, Manovich’s words still hold true to this day. 19 years ago, new media
was
still evolving, and it wasn’t a part of daily life like it is now. Still, the basis of it remains the same—a
user makes choices at each new screen in a website, and it results in a linear sequence if screens that is
then
followed. However, websites and other new media objects do not limit themselves only to a linear narrative
anymore. An online non-linear narrative guides us on how to behave (click/scroll), how to think
(block/restrict
content) and even how to feel (user management). In today’s world, there are so many entry points into any
given
website, and the user has access to a number of devices with different configurations that they may use to
access the site. This means that while building new media objects, the audience role is predefined within
which
they build their own narrative: they may land at any point within the tory that is being told, and they may
choose to leave just as suddenly. Furthermore, the story or the narrative that the user walks away with
might be
different from the one the author intended, and accordingly, the narrative is built to evolve through
multiple
platforms to engage more participation.
In fact, this is what Manovich predicts. He says that the concept of databases may provide a new concept for
thinking about ourselves and how our lives are organized. He says we continually want new media narratives
and
we want these narratives to be different from the narratives we’ve seen or read before. This holds true even
today. The new media artists, be it filmmakers, video game makers or website designers, are constantly in
pursuit of experimenting with narratives, or breaking out of the confines of a linear narrative to produce
new,
experimental, and exciting experiences for the observer. They are constantly working towards reconciling
databases and narrative forms. The new goal is to transform a normally ‘static’ and objective database into
a
‘dynamic’ and subjective form while simultaneously intertwining it with a narrative. It was the goal all
those
years ago, and it is the goal now.
3. Can you draw a connection between Manovich's ideas and your plan for your final project?
I want my index to be quite abstract and artistic, rather than having content organized into any hierarchal
or object oriented network. I want to be able to employ the principles of a non linear objective to create a
fun
and engaging experience for a user or an observer, and break away from simply providing the illusion of a
narrative when the user is perusing the list of works. I think this feeds into Manovich’s ideas of combining
a
database and a narrative to build a new form. I am aware of the fact that the user might enter the website
through any point (not necessarily the homepage or the landing page), and I want to encourage that. I want
to
encourage the fact that they are free to navigate the space as they please.
Manovich proposes that the modernist notion of medium specificity is obsolete, yet some aesthetics are
synonymous with computer screens. In other words, the design needs to be new-media specific. He says that it
is
possible to arrive at new kinds of narratives by focusing attention on how narratives or databases work
together, given the fact that databases play a key role in computer based design processes. I agree with
this
and with my index, I want to figure out how a narrative can take into account the fact hat its elements are
organized into a database. He encourages us to find new ways to store vast amounts of data, to automatically
classify, index, link, search and retrieve it to lead to new narratives. I do not have a fixed idea yet of
how
my index will be designed, but I don’t know if I will necessarily follow the above guideline. While thinking
of
novel ways to present information specifically tailored to new media is encouraged, I might also want to
incorporate design elements of old media in my work. It might be fun to create a unique user experience with
a
blend of new and old media objects.
1. Why does Laurel SchwulstLinks to an external site. advocate for individual websites over social media? Do
you
agree with her? Please explain your answer.
Schwulst states that in today’s time, there is a lot of technological friction and social pressures that
come
along with building and maintaining a website, because the web today is a completely different version of
the
one that was initially built. Social pressure is particularly relevant in today’s day and age, where
universally
popular social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram Snapchat and Pinterest prioritize advertising in
place of
user needs. User friendliness isn’t high on their list of priorities, which is why users feel some degree of
anxiety while using or even thinking about using social media. Schwulst also states that it is important
that
the web works for individual people rather than the big social media companies because the “web” is losing
its
definition otherwise. The web is called what it is because it is a “web” of interconnecting nodes that form
a
larger network. This network needs to be built and guided by individuals to retain the original meaning of
the
web.
Social media is a loud, confusing, chaotic and messy place, and it’s more beneficial to individuals to then
have a personal website where they are in charge of their narrative. People could build their websites any
way
they’d like—boring, unpredictable, bizarre, soothing—the list is endless. They can act as both author and
architect of the website simultaneously, where when they put their energy into building a website, the
website
in turn helps them build their own identity. Individuals, particularly artists, would benefit if we steer
away
from social media corporations and focus on building our own websites. Artists build worlds, first for
themselves and then for others around them when they share their work, which is why websites are important
where
they can act as both author and architect, each informing the other in a self-perfecting loop, which is
incredibly nurturing to an artist’s practice.
2. In this article, Schwulst outlines several metaphors defining the behaviour of websites. Write a
paragraph
describing your own metaphor for a website. Put that text into its own simple website designed to extend
that
comparison. Upload it to your Github server and post the link here.
Website Metaphor: Layers of Soil