Reading Assignment / How People Decide

In the chapter "How people decide to take action"(since my book is a newer edition so the title is different), Weinschenk pointed out a lot of ways that people made decision. People do get influence under other people, even the environment when they are deciding. Some of them may deny it and say, "I am not going to get effected by the others". Most of the time, they are wrong. The book conducted information and test results about experiments regarding the topic. One of the scenario is that several people are taking a test in a room, most of them are going to act the way that majority of people react. However, if the tester is alone, he or she would report the time and leave the room. 

People also has a persona in mind, they choose to act and think a certain way that fits their own persona. Weinschenk said that big changes is almost impossible since people tends to stick with their persona, yet small changes can be done over time. 

When there are a lot of choices are presented, people can get overwhelmed by all the choices although they always ask for more options. They tend to think that more options means more power of control. Research showed that if there are lesser choices, there is a higher chance that people actually made a decision. In terms of product selling, if the real product existed  people would be more likely to purchase the items than seeing only images and texts.

Another interesting fact is that people actually care more about time than money, take the lemonade stand for an example. "Stop by and get a fresh lemonade. Spend some time" works better than "Stop by and get a fresh lemonade. Spend some money". Of course, there are other factors too, like their mood, status, and who they are with at the moment. 

In terms of making a presentation, the first speakers has the most power and control in the room. The participants will look at him or her as the "leader', so Weinschenk concluded that the presenter should contact anyone that may speak during the presentation, talk to them about the materials that they are going to present, how much time they have and other details. If the panel has more than one speaker, the presenter gets a chance, he or she should try to speak first.

Reading Assignment / Unit 8: How People Feel

definitions: 

amygdala versus thalamus

Amygdala - 
An almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans. It is shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing of memory andemotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system.

Thalamus - 
Amidline symmetrical structure within the brainsof vertebrates including humans, situated between the cerebral cortex and midbrain. Its function includes relaying sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex, along with the regulation of consciousness, sleep, and alertness. 

“Western Warmth” - 

nucleas accubens -
A collection of neuronsand forms the main part of the ventral striatum. It is thought to play an important role in reward, pleasure,laughter, addiction, aggression, fear, and the placebo effect.

attention restoration - 
It asserts that people can concentrate better after spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature. 

In "How People React Emotionally" (My book is a newer edition so the chapter titles are different), stories and interesting facts are very powerful. People pay attention when they hear "story", it often amused the audience. Everyone is a storyteller. Everyday we talked about our experiences in the day with our family or friends, we are telling them a story. Stories can also help the listener (or audiences) to put themselves in your (presenter) shoes. However, keeping the stories short and to the point would work much better than a long boring story. It has to be something that the audience care about, or relevant to the presentation.

People also enjoy surprises. It doesn't mean getting them gifts or giving them literally surprises. It can be demonstrations, use of new media, activities during the presentation. The presenter can also introduce new content that the audience were not prepared to learn about. Yet, most people feel secure if they know what is going on. If there is too many surprises, it can generate a negative effect. Making the audience feel safe is also important. Check on them to see if they are doing okay during the presentation, and also be sure they are comfortable in doing extra activities. 

Interact with the audiences is another thing to keep them paying attention to the presenter. Ask the audience questions, group activities or exercise can help them get "busy", and it is more likely they will be happier and enjoy the presentation more.

Reading Assignment / Unit 9: People Make Mistakes

First I want to declare that my textbook is a newer version, so the title of the chapters are a bit different with what Scott assigned. 

From the chapter, "How People React to you", Weinschenk brought up a lot of ways that a presenter can impress their audiences. One thing I found interesting is that any good presenter trained themselves to look professional, details like hand gesture, ways to dress and their expression. She gave an example of TV News reporter that how they can look slightly smiley even if they are presenting a sad news.

To dress similar like the audiences' preference and style, can help them paying attention to the presenter, even build trust in him or her. People tend to pay attention and trust people that they can relate to, or being similar to them. 

When one is presenting, he or she has the full control and authority of the room. It is important to appeal confident, and using the right gesture will help tremendously. Yet one needs to pay attention if the gesture will work in that particular culture and environment that they are presenting at.

There are a lot of rules and details that a presenter needs to pay attention to, even the finest detail, the audiences are more sensitive than we think they are. Weinschenk suggests one to practice his or her speech a lot, and to record themselves while they present.

Contest Entry submission print screen

Print screen submitted - printed

My entry

Thesis Proposal

Based upon my discussion with Tony Datillo, I have a much clear vision to what I will be doing for my senior project. I am extremely passionate and interested in Japanese culture. Besides, as a graphic designer, I want to make a good use of my ability to the fullest. I am aware of the situation about sustainability; I want to create products that helps promoting the idea of “reuse and recycle”.

Japanese design is delicate, elegant, clever and close to nature. It always inspires me. Furoshiki, the Japanese wrapping cloth, is a common tool that Japanese people uses daily, to wrap food or other items with. It is just a simple square cloth, but with people’s intelligence, they create different ways to wrap things according to the objects’ shapes and sizes. On one hand, it is a smart way to uses a simple item, a cloth; on the other, it is doing a big flavor to being substantial.

As a result, for my senior project, I will be creating a kit that contains the Furoshiki that comes in different shapes and sizes, along side with a website and application that educated the users about the correct steps of wrapping and folding. It could be a gift kit set, or simply a daily tool that people can use. I may be creating three-dimensional instruction manual, or infographics that are easy to follow.

For the website and application, besides the education and instruction portion, there will also be a social networking feature. Customers can upload pictures there, connect with other users, comments and interact with each other. Then it will allow culture and information exchange, and each users can expand their network and learn about other cultures’ traditions.

As a result, in my thesis, it is to figure out which way is the best way to construct an instructional manual. People often find that the existing instructional manuals or instructions kits hard to follow, especially for visual learners. Therefore, in my thesis, I will be researching ways to build a manual that is easy to understand, follow, also looking visually appealing. I will be looking at ways to give instructions; basically of ways to educate people of how to do things: “how to present packaging of how to do it.” My research critical will be technical writings like exploded view drawing, instruction manual and infographic as the visual explanation of the writings.

The goal is to find out the optimal way of creating a user manual for the most people. Not only having texts that support the visual well, the most important thing is that I have to create vectors or drawings that is complicated enough to convey the message yet someone can understand it at a glance. I will have to look at some past examples to examine what worked and what did not, and start off from there.

When I have enough data and instructions on hand, I will conduct research on Japanese cultural and wrapping skills. 

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Potential book list

1 - Information Design Workbook: Graphic approaches, solutions, and inspiration + 30 case studies 

2 – Creating Technical Manuals: A Step-By-Step Approach to Writing User-Friendly Instructions

 

3 - The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics: The Dos and Don'ts of Presenting Data, Facts, and Figures

 

4 - Information Graphics ,by Sandra Rendgen

5 - Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling

 

6 - 1000 Ideas by 100 Graphic Designers

7 - Furoshiki: The Art of Wrapping with Fabric

________________

Bibiliography

"Information Design Workbook: Graphic Approaches, Solutions, and Inspiration 30 Case Studies [Paperback]." Information Design Workbook: Graphic Approaches, Solutions, and Inspiration 30 Case Studies: Kim Baer: 9781592536276: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/Information-Design-Workbook-approaches-inspiration/dp/1592536271/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8>.

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"Creating Technical Manuals: A Step-By-Step Approach to Writing User-Friendly Instructions [Paperback]." Creating Technical Manuals: A Step-By-Step Approach to Writing User-Friendly Instructions: Gerald Cohen, Donald H. Cunningham: 9780070115842: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Technical-Manuals-Step-By-Step-User-Friendly/dp/0070115842/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8>.

"The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics: The Dos and Don'ts of Presenting Data, Facts, and Figures [Hardcover]." Amazon.com: The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics: The Dos and Don'ts of Presenting Data, Facts, and Figures (9780393072952): Dona M. Wong: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/Street-Journal-Guide-Information-Graphics/dp/0393072959/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8>.

"Information Graphics [Hardcover]." Information Graphics: Sandra Rendgen: 9783836528795: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/Information-Graphics-Sandra-Rendgen/dp/3836528797/ref=sr_1_2?s=books>.

"Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling [Paperback]." Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling: Jason Lankow, Josh Ritchie, Ross Crooks: 9781118314043: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/Infographics-Visual-Storytelling-Jason-Lankow/dp/1118314042/ref=sr_1_7?s=books>.

"SitePoint." SitePoint RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.sitepoint.com/7-tips-for-writing-an-effective-instruction-manual/>.

"Books." Amazon.com:. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books>.

"Furoshiki.com." Furoshiki, the Eco-friendly Wrapping Cloth. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://furoshiki.com/>.

"How to Use Furoshiki." In Focus: How to Use "Furoshiki" [MOE]. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html>.

"Furoshiki: The Art of Wrapping with Fabric [Paperback]." Furoshiki: The Art of Wrapping with Fabric: Kumiko Nakayama-Geraerts: 9781847738165: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/Furoshiki-Wrapping-Fabric-Kumiko-Nakayama-Geraerts/dp/1847738168>.

"How to Use a Japanese Wrapping Cloth - Furoshiki MIYAI Co.,Ltd." How to Use a Japanese Wrapping Cloth - Furoshiki MIYAI Co.,Ltd. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://www.studyjapan.go.jp/mm/ffs/007/en/furoshiki/furoshiki/index.html>.

"Freelancefolder." FreelanceFolder. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://freelancefolder.com/ten-great-technical-writing-tips/>.

"5 Tips to Creating an Infographic People Actually Want to Read." Social Media Today RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://socialmediatoday.com/kratzpr/822601/5-tips-creating-infographic-people-actually-want-read>.

"Web Design, Wordpress Themes, Graphic Design Photoshop,3d Max and Design Resources." Naldz Graphics RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://naldzgraphics.net/tips/infographics-designing-tips/>.

Gregory, Alyssa. "7 Tips for Writing an Effective Instruction Manual." SitePoint. N.p., 16 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.sitepoint.com/7-tips-for-writing-an-effective-instruction-manual/>.

"Drawing in 3-point Perspective." 3 Point Perspective Tutorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.automotiveillustrations.com/tutorials/drawing-3-point-perspective.html>.

"Perspective Drawing Basics." : 1-point, 2-point and 3-point Perspective. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.automotiveillustrations.com/tutorials/perspective-drawing-basics.html>.

"Alibre Options: Creating Exploded Views for Use in 2D Drawings." Cadalyst. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cadalyst.com/manufacturing/alibre-options-creating-exploded-views-use-2d-drawings-10454>.

"Exploded Views in Drawings." 2013 SolidWorks Help -. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://help.solidworks.com/2013/English/SolidWorks/sldworks/t_Exploded_Views_in_Drawings.htm>.

"Shop Exploded View Drawings by Bike." BDM RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.bdmperformanceproducts.com/selectors/shop-exploded-view-drawings-by-bike-2/>.

"Hexahexaflexagon." Hexahexaflexagon. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://home.gci.net/~rob/flexagons/>.

"Origami Flower Instructions." Origami Flower Instructions. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-flower.html>.

Project 2 Case Study - final

Open publication - Free publishing - More black

Reading Assignment / Unit 7: People Are Social Animals

Definitions: 

Dunbar’s number - 

A suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person.

mirror neurons - 

A neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another.

synchronous activity - 

An adjective describing objects or events that are coordinated in time.

Duchenne smile - 

A smile involving contraction of both the zygomatic major muscle (which raises the corners of the mouth) and the orbicularis oculi (which raises the cheeks and forms crow's feet around the eyes).

In "How People React to the Environment" (My book is a newer edition so the chapter titles are different), Weinschenk was basically laying out what a presenter should prepare before he or she conduct the speech. A presenter should always arrives early at the venue to check lightings, sounds, surroundings, even adjust the environment into something that is suitable for the speech. A presenter should also check with respondents of the host to make sure number of people that are attending the event; again, get things ready to present and be prepare. She also mentioned placement of the seating is a vital factor if the audience will be able to pay attention in the speech.

Timing is also an important factor. Before meal time, people tend to be tried and hungry and it is not the best time to deliver presentation. However, if one choose to do the presentation after the meal time, people are full and they will get sleepy if the presentation does not grab their attention. In other words, it is wise for a presenter to pick a time slot that lies in between meals and if the situation does not allow that, avoid talking about food during the presentation. Just make sure the audience are comfortable, consider the audiences' feeling.