Who really knows everything about anything? Well I certainly didn't know much about my major (HCDE) when I applied, and even after taking the introduction course, I still don't know it all and probably never will, BUT I do have a greater insight into the HCDE process. It's always important to share your learnings and findings with others. Where's the fun in keeping everything to yourself? Here's my blog post that shows my insights into my quarter in HCDE 210. What is Human centered design and engineering? That’s the most common question I get when asked about my major. I had a vague perception on what it was and what it included when I applied. I knew that it was focused on users and their needs, and then taking that information to create a product that both looks pleasing while being functional. After taking the intro HCDE course, I learned that HCDE includes more in-depth steps to achieve the most affective and successful product. Each week we focused on an area of HCDE: Usability testing, user research, ideation, usability testing, information visualization, physical computing (prototyping), and of course interspersed with reflections and connections. I found that I most enjoyed designing and ideating. But I also realized that you need to know all of these techniques to make a project that focuses on the users. For example, you need the research to best understand your users and to create a user centered design. Coming in to this class, I thought that I was going to make a high-quality application or product, but I quickly learned that HCDE is all about the process. You can’t immediately make a tangible project, you have to go through the process. But I think that the design process is what makes HCDE and engineering both interesting and gratifying. Other than the design process, it’s also important to be able to present your findings and data to users and audiences. For this to be effective you must find a medium that resonates with your users; this could a magazine, blog, paper, or story board. If you can’t get across your ideas in a manner that your audience understands, it does you no good. At Sarah Fox’s talk, we learned that she couldn’t get feedback because of the lack of understanding between her and her audience. Once she chose the zine (magazine) her audience became active and interested in her findings. She could then use their feedback for her improve her project. This shows how crucial it is for engineers to effectively convey their facts and findings. I believe that empathy is an engineer’s best quality and tool. Engineers are always creating, but why are they creating? They’re creating for someone. That means they have to understand their users. We have to start putting ourselves in their shoes; it’s important while also being difficult to wipe our slate with presumptions and biases and completely immerse ourselves in learning about what our users value and need. As engineers, we don’t know what they need (as in a product); we are not better than others. We are meant to locate a problem that users face and then use their thoughts and concerns to create something that solves one or many of their problems. As the world is becoming progressively divided and filled with hate rather than love, it’s important for us as engineers to never forget who we are serving. Yes, engineers should create products that make profit, but that shouldn’t be our first goal. The first goal should be to create a product that puts the users’ needs first and tries to reduce most of the negative implications. An important aspect that engineers in the future need to consider is creating connections rather than division. It’s engineers’ jobs to create something to solve global problems that affect people worldwide. This reminded me of how the Kylie worked on her project to create connections between children. Her goal was to create an app that promoted team work and cooperation. This is what I believe to be the future and what engineers should try to include in their thought process and designs. After learning the components that make up HCDE, I better understand and enjoy the major. But most of all, I think that HCDE is an important study area for the future because it allows students like myself to take what our experiences and knowledge about the design process, engineering and understanding of user’s needs and apply that to an area of passion; the opportunities are immense.
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This was one of my divergent ideas for the ideation deliverable for my HCDE 210 class. This was one of the best projects that we competed in the HCDE intro class. I learned how to let go of my need for perfection and quickly create convergent and divergent ideations for futuristic cars. In general, I love thinking of unique ideas, but this project turned out to be more challenging than I thought. It was difficult to think of new, different ideas that represented different users or objects of spirit.
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