IST 659 – Information Design
2 March 2011
Joshua Kitlas
Field Study 2
Humans and computers living hand in hand
JoshuaKitlas [email protected]
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2
ContentsElements...................................................................................................................................................................................3
Relationships..........................................................................................................................................................................4
Flow.............................................................................................................................................................................................4
Function/purpose................................................................................................................................................................6
Boundaries...............................................................................................................................................................................6
Context.......................................................................................................................................................................................6
Comparison.............................................................................................................................................................................7
Analysis.....................................................................................................................................................................................7
SupportingInformation.....................................................................................................................................................9
1. TimelineofKitlas..............................................................................................................................................9
2. Brainstates..........................................................................................................................................................9
TimelineofKitlas................................................................................................................................................................10
BrainStates............................................................................................................................................................................11
Appendix.................................................................................................................................................................................12
Bibliography..........................................................................................................................................................................14
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Field Study Two
Elements
Theelementsofmystudyexistonseverallevels.
Therearethosethatareapparentandthosethatare
unperceived.
Someelementsaretactile,whileothersareintangible.
Somemakesenseandothersdonot.
Theyareconnectedandyet,theyarenot.
Thereareseeminglywhimsicalrelationshipsandothers
thataresetinstone.
Therearesomelimitations.
Thisisaconvergenceofgraphicdesign,computertechnology,softwaretechnology,andme
(Connolly,1999)(Wikipedia)(Meggs&Alston,2006).
ExecutingthisprojectwhereeverythingIdoisinfluenced.(SeeSupportingInformation1)
Thetangible,physicalelementsinclude:mykeyboard,mymouse,aUSBcable,anHDMIcable,a
ViewSonicmonitor,aToshibaSatellitelaptop,twopowerjacks,anelectricaloutlet,and
electricalwiringinmybuildingconnectedtoaregionalpowergrid.
Thevirtual,andsomewhattangible,elementsinclude:thesoftwaredriversconnectingmy
keyboardandmousetothecomputer,theWindows7operatingsystemthatrunsthecomputer,
thesoftwareintheAdobeCreativeSuite(Photoshop®CS5Extended,Illustrator®CS5,
InDesign®CS5,Flash®Catalyst™CS5,FlashProfessionalCS5,Dreamweaver®CS5,
Fireworks®CS5,Acrobat®9Pro,BridgeCS5,DeviceCentralCS5‐all
ofwhichI’mhugelyintimidatedby),MicrosoftOffice(Word,Excel,
PowerPoint,Outlook,OneNote,Publisher,Access‐onlyafewofwhich
I’mintimidatedby),GoogleChromeandFirefoxwebbrowsers.
Theimperceptible,yetphysical,elementsinclude:thegreater
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Syracuseareapowergrid,connectedtoanevengreaterregionalpowergridthat’sconnectedto,
amongothers,thoseinternationalthievesatNationalGrid(NationalGrid)whoarenodoubt
trashingtheenvironment,tosomeexecutives,employeesandshareholderswhowillprobably
neverthanmefordutifullypayingmyutilitybill(orintroducethemselvesforthatmatter)
Andthen,ofcourse,thereisme.
Iworkonthekeyboard,themouseandthescreen.Isketchoutconcepts,writedownwords,
drawpictures,eatcashewsanddrinkapricotnectar.Isearchformeaning,depth,images,
contentandinspiration.
Iamdrivenbyinvestigation,researchandanalysis.IamalsodrivenbythebrowniesIateasa
kid.ThewomanwhotaughtmehowtosurfinLosAngeles.Runningamarathon.Myinfluences
comefromeverywhere.
Ireviewthereadingsfromclass,findnewones,andevaluatetheevaluationcriteria.Checkit
again.Lookovermylastfieldstudy.Idonotwanttogetapoorgrade.
Relationships
Thereareanumberofrelationshipsinthissystemthatoperatesonvaryinglevels.
Therearephysical,mental,socialandemotionalassociationsthatplayapartin
enabling,disablingandmonitoringoftheflowandstructureofthisinformation
system.
Theprimaryrelationshipisathree‐wayconvergencebetweenthecomputer,thesoftwareand
me.HowwellIknowthesoftware.HowcomfortableIamwiththecomputer.Therearealsothe
relationshipsIhavewiththeclassandtheinstructor.DoIcareenoughtotrymybest?Isthere
competitionbetweenmyselfandotherclassmates?Theanswertobothisyes.
Allrelationshipsareinfluencedbymeandmyreactiontoelements(physical,mental,socialand
emotional)aroundme.
Flow
Theflowofthissystemstartsandendswithme.I’mthe
conductorofthiscreativitytrain.Withoutme,thecomputerand
softwarewouldsitdormant.Myinfluencesdefinetheflow.
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Whereitstartsandwhereitstops.
UnfortunatelyIamnotasbinaryasacomputerorsoftware.Itismycreativitythatfortunately
andunfortunatelypoursoutofmeatdifferingrates.Itsometimespoursoutofmeandatother
timesstaysbottledup.Whenitpours,itcanreallypour.
An example of an unfiltered thought:
WhatamIbreathing,smelling,eating,drinking,andwearing.DidIeat?Drink?Shower?How
longhasitbeensinceIlasthadareallygoodworkout?CalledmyMom?Dad?Grandmother?
Sisters?Whowasthatgirlwhousedtoliveacrossthestreet?IbarelyknowIllustrator.Weused
toplaytogetherwhenwewereinkindergarten,butshemovedawaybeforewewereinfirst
grade.AmIgoingtobeabletofindajobaftergraduation?IfImovetoLosAngeles,willtherebe
that‘bigendall’earthquakeorshouldIstayontheEastcoast?Isblueagoodcolor?Keslikes
blue.Iusedtolikeblue.Ilikeredmorethesedays.Whatwasthatsite?Thecolorsite.Withall
thedesigns?OHyesColourLovers.Letmefindagoodcolorpalette.Thesepostershavegreat
colorconcepts.Howdotheydoit?WhycannotIdoit?Ihatethecold.ShouldIcheckout
everythingyoulovetohateagain?WhyhavenotIgottenwordonanyoftheinternshipsI
appliedfor?GooglerejectedmeforthePolicyFellowshipprogramtheyareoffering.Thatisfine,
really.IamlisteningtoYankeeFoxtrotHoteltoomuchthesedays.Facebook.Email.
Goodthingtherearefunnels.
Now, after the funnel:
IbarelyknowIllustrator.Isblueagoodcolor?Letmefindagoodcolorpalette.
Someveryquickandbasicmathshowsthatthepostfunneldatais
roughly8%ofthepre‐funnelmess(Itookthewordcountanddividedit‐
16/210=.076).Thispartoftheflowoftheinformationanalysisand
responseprocessclearlycanhavevaryingresultsdependingonwheremy
mindtakesme.
Thisthinkingcloselyparallelsarecentstringoftelevisioncommercialsextollingthebenefitsof
theMicrosoftsearchengine(theycallita‘decision’engine),Bing(Microsoft,2009).Inthe
commercials,anactormakeastatementsuchas‘bail‐out’(referringtotherecentbailoutofthe
financialservicesindustry),anotheractorrepeatsthewordorphrase,butwithadifferent
meaning,say,‘bail‐out’ofasinkingship,whileanotherreferencesabaleofhay.The
commercialscontinueinthefashionuntileverythinggetssodistortedyouforgetwhereyou
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began.Itsimilarlyparallelsthe‘organized,butnotreally’styleofbloggingby'lifestylefordigital
natives'expertNalden(Nalden,2002).
Function/purpose
Thefunctionofthissystemissimple;itistheanalysisandinterpretationofinformation
preparedforevaluation.Itspurposeissimilarlystraightforward;todevelopagreater
understandingoftheinformationstudiespresentedinIST600–InformationDesignaswellas
thematerialpresentedinothercoursesthatareapartoftheSyracuseUniversityInformation
Schoolprogram.
Boundaries
Requirementsoftheassignment.Theneedforsleep.
Theneedforfood.Intelligenceandknowledge(orlackthereof).
Physicallimitations.Lengthoftheassignment.
Mywillingnesstowriteashortfieldstudy.Alongfieldstudy.
Inthegreaterviewofthesystem(inthiscasemyapproachtowork),viewingboundaries–
howeverinterpreted–fitavital,andperhapsunderappreciatedorevenunrecognized,rolein
theflowofthesystem.IftherewerenotaformtotheEnglishlanguage,thisassignmentcould
bewritteninanincomprehensiblemanner.Iftherewerenotlimitationstomyownabilities,I
couldconceivablywrite,edit,rewriteandresearchthisfieldstudyforever.
Limitationshelptoframethesystemandputsomeordertoit.Havingboundarieshelptodefine
thestructureofthefieldstudy.Thoughtheycanbeunseenandambiguous,theyare,perhaps,
‘themostcrucialdeterminantofthesystem’sbehavior’(Meadows).
Context
Thecircumstancesthatformthesettingforthisfieldstudyistheculminationofmylifeand
experiences(seeSupportingInformation1)joinedwiththeboundariessetforthinthefield
studyrequirements.Myinfluencescreateanswerstothequestionsposed:beitphysicaldesign
ofpaperlayout,designofsupportinginformationorinterpretationoffacts,dataand
information.
JoshuaKitlas [email protected]
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7
Comparison
Incomparingmysystemwithahuman‐onlyormachine‐onlysystem,therearebothsimilarities
anddifferences.Theybothsetouttoachieveataskorsetoftaskstothebestoftheirability.
Theybothhaveparametersthatdefinetheprojectortasktoachieveaswellasexpected
outcomes.Themostglaringdifferenceisthatwhenyouthrowahumanintopicture,the
likelihoodforconsistencycanbegreatlydiminished.However,whenasystemrequiresanalysis
ofanintangible,forinstanceemotion,amachine‐onlysystemwillfail.
Unlikemachines,humansareincapableofbeingprogrammedandhavelowerlimitstooutput.
Forinstance,toexpectahumantosew10,000socksinadayiscompletelyunrealisticwhilea
machinecouldconceivablyhandlethattaskplusmanyothers.
Ifapartofthehuman‐onlyormachine‐onlybreaks,therewill,providingthepartsareavailable,
beamuchgreaterchancethatthemachine‐onlysystemwilleasilybefixed.Ifahumanbreaks
downphysically,theywilloftenbeabletorepairthemselvesorgethelptorepairthem.If,
however,thehumanisexperiencingaterminalorpsychologicalbreakdown,thepieceswillbe
eithermuchhardertorepair,orunabletoberepairedatall.
Analysis
Thisfieldstudyisaboutmyinfluencesandthatspaceinbetweenthings.Thereactuallyisnot
anyspacetospeakofphysically,justashifting,amorphousareabetween
concept,execution,review,analysisandacceptance.Howtopullthese
piecestogetherandmakesenseofthemvarieswiththeprojectandmy
moodandhowIfeelwillbestconveythepointsI’mtryingtogetacross
(Tufte,1997).Thisfieldstudyisasmuchabouttheanalysisofahuman‐
computersystemasitisadissectionofmyhabits,influences,limitationsandunderstanding
(Norman,1988).
Inmyownegotisticalway,thisfieldstudyisallaboutmeandmyinfluencesandhowtheyaffect
myworkoperations.Itisnotjustwhatisplayingontheradiothismoment,orthatsliceofpizza
fromlunchorthevitaminsIgulpedthismorning.Whatisgoverningmyworkis38yearsofups,
downs,challenges,triumphsandexperiences.ThewayinwhichIactandreacttoinformation
willprofoundlyimpacttheproject.
Thingsareclearyetcaneasilybedistorted.Thewayoffilteringinformationthroughmyown
personallensandgainingmorearmsinthearsenalofinformationhelpsintheedificationof
JoshuaKitlas [email protected]
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8
whatisaroundme(Tufte,1997).Themoremyeyesareopened,themoreinformationthereis
tosee(Lester&Kohler,Jr.,2007).
Forme,thiswasajourney.IcametoSyracuseUniversitytopursueaLibraryandInformation
Sciencedegree.Thirstingformoretechnology,IaddedInformationManagementtothemix.
Curiousaboutdesign,ItookIST659.Now,especiallyafterthisproject,allIwanttodoisbean
InformationDesigner.
JoshuaKitlas [email protected]
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9
Supporting Information
1. Timeline of Kitlas
2. Brain states
1970s2010s
2000s1990s
1980s
visce
raa
rtistic m
om
en
ts in m
y
1972
Re
ad
y or n
ot,
he
re I a
mA
big
tha
nks to
Mo
m a
nd
Da
d1978
Wo
n first p
rize in
th
e to
wn
Ha
low
ee
nstre
et p
ain
ting
co
mp
etitio
n.
First time
usin
g
Lexis-N
exis
an
d u
nd
ersta
nd
ing
da
tab
ase
s
wa
tch
ed
in a
we
as
staff d
eve
lop
ed
first we
b p
ag
es
IST 600In
form
atio
n D
esig
n
MSIM
an
d M
SLISM
aste
rs Prog
ram
sa
t Syrac
use
Un
iv.
Start to
lea
rnd
esig
n so
ftwa
rea
nd
som
e c
od
e
Intro
du
ctio
n to
(& a
ba
nd
on
me
nt)
of vid
eo
ga
me
s
De
cid
ed
I liked
art
also
de
cid
ed
I ha
tea
rt an
d a
rtists
1989-91
1985
Olym
pic
s of
the
Min
d.
CBG
B Sun
da
yM
usic
Ma
tine
es.
Every w
ee
ken
d
bu
t Ch
ristma
sa
nd
Easte
r
1987-90
1982-85
Self-p
ub
lishe
d‘Sp
ellb
ou
nd
’.N
YC a
lt-roc
kfa
nzin
e
op
inio
ns e
dito
rfo
r HS
ne
wsp
ap
er
1989-91
2005
9600 ba
ud
c
on
ne
ctivity
to th
e u
nive
rsity’slib
rary syste
m
first time
usin
g
GU
I inte
rfac
eN
EXT te
rmin
al
co
mp
ute
r cla
ss
19921992-93
1994-95
1995-96
HS a
rt cla
ss with
Ja
ne
Ga
rne
sb
est te
ac
he
r/cla
ssEV
ER.
De
cid
ed
I liked
d
esig
n a
lso d
ec
ide
d
I ha
te d
esig
na
nd
de
sign
ers
2005
Intro
du
ce
d to
d
istan
t rel;a
tive
wh
o o
wn
sd
esig
n firm
in N
YC
2005
2010
2010
2011
Wh
ere
I w
an
t to b
eW
he
re I a
m(m
ed
ica
lly)W
he
re I
thin
k I am
Wh
ere
I am
righ
t no
w
josh
kitlas
JoshuaKitlas [email protected]
http://kitlas.com 347‐453‐2675
12
Appendix
Key moments in graphic design history
15,000 - 10,000 BC The first known visual communication, with pictographs and symbols in the Lascaux caves in southern France.
3600 BC The Blau Monument, the oldest artifact known to combine words and pictures.
105 AD Chinese government official Ts’ai Lun credited with inventing paper.
1045 AD Pi Sheng invents movable type, allowing for characters to be individually placed for printing.
1276 Printing arrives in Europe with a paper mill in Fabriano, Italy.
1450 Johann Gensfleisch zum Gutenburg credited with perfecting the system for printing type in books.
1460 Albrecht Pfister the first to add illustrations to a printed book.
1470 Nicolas Jenson, considered one of history’s greatest typeface designers, sets news standard for Roman type.
1530 Claude Garamond opens first type foundry, developing and selling fonts to printers.
1722 First Caslon Old Style font developed, later used for the printing of the Declaration of Independence.
1760 Industrial Revolution begins, setting the stage for advances in graphic design production.
1796 Author Aloys Senefelder develops lithography.
1800 Lord Stanhope invents first printing press made of all cast-iron parts, requiring 1/10 the manual labor and doubling the possible paper size.
1816 First sans-serif font makes a subtle entrance as one line of a book.
1861 Williams Morris, who became a highly influential figure in design history, sets up art-decorating firm.
1880 Development of halftone screen allows for first photo printed with a full range of tones.
1890 Art Nouveau movement begins and changes design, making its way into all types of commercial design and utilizing all types of arts.
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1917 James Montgomery Flagg designs famous “I Want YOU for the U.S. Army” poster. The poster, a self-portrait, was actually an American version of a British poster by Alfred Leete.
1919 The Bauhaus, a German school, is founded, eventually providing the framework for modern design.
1932 Stanley Morison oversees design of Times New Roman font, commissioned by the Times of London.
1940 First issue of Print Magazine printed.
1956 Paul Rand designs IBM logo using City Medium typeface.
1957 Max Miedinger designs Neue Haas Grotesk font, later renamed Helvetica.
1959 First issue of Communication Arts printed.
1969 Douglas Engelbart develops first computer mouse, setting the stage for the future tool of graphic design.
1984 Apple releases first Macintosh computer, featuring bitmap graphics.
1985 Aldus, formed by Paul Brainerd, develops PageMaker software. Brainerd coins the phrase “desktop publishing.” In the same year, New York firm Manhattan Design creates the MTV logo.
1990 Photoshop version one released, and physicist Tim Berners-Lee develops the World Wide Web, along with HTML and the concept of website addresses.
Source: (Meggs & Alston, 2006)
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