Final Post

If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
--William Morris

1. What seminar readings, exercises, or assignments were most challenging, interesting, or rewarding for you? Why?
My favorite readings were from Norman's The Design of Everyday Things and Emotional Design. They were easy to follow and a great base of knowledge for all the discussions we had afterward. "The Science of Shopping" and the chapter from City were my other favorite readings. They were especially effective because we had the opportunity to apply them to real life in our Retail Analysis presentations and our exploration of downtown Kalamazoo.
The Wikipedia paper was very interesting, but I'm still not really sure how it relates to design. I liked that we could really write about anything. I wish we had spent a bit of class time discussing what everyone had researched. I want to know if other people have stories behind the topic they chose.
The final presentation was the most difficult assignment. The size of the group meant a lot of ideas that often conflicted. It was also difficult to find an article for the class to read, a bit of direction would have been appreciated. Overall, I think our presentation turned out well.

2. What are the most important things you learned in this seminar?
Before this class I only knew a little bit about graphic design. I had no idea so many things had to be considered when designing a product, store or city. It is easy to infer basic principles about  visceral and behavioral design, but I never would have thought about reflective design. I am definitely a more informed consumer now.

3. How might you use this learning in the future?
Every time I buy something I will evaluate it using some of the criteria we discussed during class. I am thinking about a major in anthropology/sociology or psychology and I think this all applies to some extent. It is also just interesting information to know.


And with that, I'm done blogging.
So long.