The Toy Videos

Toy No. 1

OPEN  and the lights blink.

TILT and the light flow in the direction of the tilt.

PAT and the lights blink.

Toy No. 2

STRETCH away from each other and the light glow mildly.

MOVE towards each and the lights blink quickly.

TOUCH hands and the toy vibrates.

Toy No. 3

When the toy is right side up. 

CLAP/ tap/ shout and the lights blink.

When the toy is Upside Down.

BEND the finds and the toy plays notes. Both fins have to be bent at the same time in order to sound. 

MOVE the handle from one extreme to the other changes the pitch( higher-lower) of the notes produced when both fins are bent.

First PCB for the Touch Toy

These are horrible names and they will change any way heres the first PCB layout. Its the simplest of the three but much more complicated than anything Ive done before. Its off for printing and assembling and hopefully will work when I get it back.

The other two layouts are almost done. Im simultaneously working on the look and feel. Will post sketches tomorrow.

Experience Prototyping

Experience prototypes are simulations to investigate and 
reveal the quality of the experience. Prototypes come in all forms,
shapes and sizes and consist of whatever is appropriate at
a point in time. They can be quick and dirty to obtain feedback 
on design intention or highly crafted solutions for in depth 
usability evaluation.

Building a prototype to explore and evolve an idea, when put in
the hands of a user can uncover unanticipated issues or needs.

Detailing the interactive experience is integral to the development, 
iteration and refinement of a design concept.

..from tracy currer

Notes from an Experience Prototyping Presentation on slideshare

the five core skills of a design, according to Bill Moggridge are...

1) to synthesize a solution from all of the relevant constraints, 
understanding everything that will make a difference to the result

2) To frame, or reframe, the problem and objective

3) To create and envision alternatives

4) To select from those alternatives, knowing intuitively how to 
choose the best approach

5) To visualize and prototype the intended solution

STEPS

1 Understand the Experience

2 Communicate the Experience

Describe it, Diagram it, Model it

3 Explore the Experience

Whats it like? who uses it? What does it require of people?

What are the barriers?

"As an observer of user evaluations one knows very quickly if the 

designed experience is a good one. If it is people get so involved

in the experience that they forget about the limitations of the prototype."

"Experience Prototyping isnt about a tool kit of techniques, but rather an 

attitude and language to solving design problems."

" Get really good at low-fi prototypes, thats where the real learning happens"

- Jane Fulto Suri.

How to Sketch Interactions

A talk by Jonas Lowgren at Stockholm University in 2004 In interaction design as in any design discipline, sketching serves several purposes. It is a way to think. Ideas develop and grow in the conversation between eye and hand. Sketching is not merely a matter of documenting images that are already complete in the mind's eye. Thinking occurs, quite literally, in the manual actions involved in creating the sketch. It is a way to communicate. Design ideas are made available for others' inspection, appropriation, criticism and development. It is a way to persuade. Other stakeholders in the design process may be convinced of the value of a design idea through sketches. There are, of course, many requirements that could be posed on sketching techniques. Here, I focus on the demands that sketching techniques be expressive (to explore the envisioned use situation in some detail), sketchy (to reflect the tentative nature of the ideas), and versatile (to handle a wide range of use situations including mobile use in physically demanding environments, for instance). Kinds of Sketches Pencil and Paper Sketches Storyboarding Video Prototyping Pitch Movies Animated User Sketches Interactive Prototypes More......