PowerPoint PresentationSlide 2Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18INDIS has organized its projects within three general programs:Slide 20Slide 21Slide 22Slide 23DesignandDevelopmentE/ME 105"Engineering Design of Products for the Developing World"Nov. 16, 2006 LectureDesignandDevelopmentToday…Human Factors: the Product Interface.Models and Effective Simulation in Design.Development and Design Research in Guatemala… Design without Borders.DesignandDevelopment… it is possible to visualize an ergonomics problem as an interface problem...Human Factors:An Interface ProblemArce, after Bailey and Norman.DesignandDevelopmentSome issues to consider when designing the interface:Different kinds of users need different interfaces for the same product (a product must have multiple interfaces).The intellectual process between “perceiving the world” and “executing the action” is a natural one - i.e., we all do it…… however, it is influenced by relative factors such as age, gender, culture… Human Factors:An Interface ProblemDesignandDevelopmentFor instance, colors… there is a “psychological meaning”, for colors, but that is often challenged by cultural meanings…Human Factors:An Interface ProblemAnother example: “straight forward” reactions… many times the user interpretation and response to a system stimuli is influenced by cultural values.DesignandDevelopmentSo, a model is one of the main tools a designer has available to test user interfaces.Such models should allow the designer to:Test different interfaces across different users.“Measure” the cultural factors implied in the user’s response to a product.Human Factors:An Interface ProblemDesignandDevelopment“Model” Definition:“A complex analogy, specifically chosen by its user (the designer) to describe the structure, functions and / or mechanisms for a problem / solution.” Design ModelsEfficient SimulationEvery model is a “simulation”… it is not the “real thing”Depending on its purpose, some characteristics of the actual product are not present in the model…e.g., size (the model is a scale model);Materials (some - or all - materials are simulated)DesignandDevelopmentIn many instances, some sort of code needs to be created - e.g., in some geography maps the color in different areas tells the user how “high” the land represented is… Design ModelsEfficient SimulationThat requires an agreement between the model creator and the model user (many times such agreements are grouped in “standard rules”) The more abstract the model is, the larger the number of “conventional rules” both, the model creator and the model user, have to know to create and use the model…DesignandDevelopmentThat is to say, the level of abstraction in a model is in direct proportion to the number of codes needed to create and use it. Design ModelsEfficient SimulationFor example, the following is a very abstract model used to describe and explain something…The abstraction level is very high, as well as the amount of “training” needed to understand it and use it… let alone to create it… E=mc2DesignandDevelopmentAlso, something very remarkable in this example is how effective the model is: with minimum resources - i.e., paper, a pencil and some symbols, one is able to represent very complex things (if we know the code!). Design ModelsEfficient SimulationIn other words, once we go through the rather long and “painful” process of mastering a code, abstract models become very efficient models…Other examples of abstract models: music notation, written literature… E=mc2DesignandDevelopment“Model” Types:So… Models can be classified in terms of their “abstraction level” Design ModelsEfficient Simulation-+Abstract ModelsIconic modelsConcrete ModelsFormulas,Textual descriptionsVirtual 3D Modeling, Maps, Technical DrawingsPrototypes, Mock-ups.DesignandDevelopmentEvery one of these categories have advantages and disadvantages: Design ModelsEfficient Simulation-+Abstract ModelsIconic modelsConcrete ModelsSteep learning curve. Very cheap to make. Easily modifiable.Easier to understand with little training (no codes needed),Expensive to make.DesignandDevelopmentSometimes, it’s argued that a discipline is more mature when it uses the more sophisticated abstract models…- e.g., An engineer can represent a bridge with a mathematical formula, a designer or an architect would do it with a scale model… Design ModelsEfficient Simulation-+Abstract ModelsIconic modelsConcrete ModelsSteep learning curve. Very cheap to make. Easily modifiable.Easier to understand with little training (no codes needed),Expensive to make.DesignandDevelopmentDifferent types of model are used through the different stages during the design process in a back and forth way…Usually, but not necessarily, very abstract or iconic models at the beginning and very concrete ones towards the end…Design ModelsEfficient Simulation-+Abstract ModelsIconic modelsConcrete ModelsSteep learning curve. Very cheap to make. Easily modifiable.Easier to understand with little training (no codes needed),Expensive to make.DesignandDevelopmentDesign ModelsEfficient Simulation-+Abstract ModelsIconic modelsConcrete Models012345menor de un metroárea de precarga amplia (capacidad)seguridad para los recipientesseguro para operario en el camiónseguro para operarios en el piso(transporte)descarga librefácil de limpiardurablemecanismos simplessimplesa de construcciónDesignandDevelopmentAlso, when testing or validating a solution proposal, different types of model can be used, depending on:The factor that is being tested- e.g., usability, aesthetics, production, assembling…The nature of the user - e.g., main user, the mechanic in charge of maintenance, an user with a low literacy level Design ModelsEfficient SimulationDesignandDevelopmentOn that regard, when dealing with “design and development” projects it is very clear then, that a full-scaled, very realistic, functional prototype (a concrete model) is a good thing…However, just consider that it could be expensive, hard to make, hard to test (specially when you are “there” and we are “here”); also, it is hard to change things…Design ModelsEfficient SimulationDesignandDevelopmentI will encourage you to:Device different models to test different factors- e.g., a scale model to check on