The strategy behind my line of questions was to prime the interviewee and get them thinking about how they navigate using digital interfaces and hand held devices. Further priming involved a second line of questions around how they might navigate using strictly analog or traditional wafinding and signage. The goal here was to get them to make their own (perhaps subconscious) connections and disparities between these two different ways of navigating.  I chose a line of questions that shed neither a positive or negative light on one or the other, but just to get them draw their own conclusions around the two different modes.

I added some situations for each line of questioning so that I wouldn’t get generic response, but rather a focused response about the two opposing navigational modes.  I wanted them to picture themselves in a situation and reflect upon their answer, rather than having them answer based solely upon the question in whatever environment they were currently in.  I felt that this would help to keep the answers unbiased and add a sense of realness.  I wanted to connect their heads with their hearts when answering the questions.

A further grouping of questions was specifically asked after they had a chance to answer without bias that was purposely slanted towards my stance in my thesis statement, without revealing my thesis statement directly.  I felt that this would allow them to interject their own personal views, which were centered upon my thesis, but not yet putting any of my words in their head.

The follow up to this was to present them with my thesis statement and ask them to reflect.  The subject was not aware of my thesis statement, or my research topic specifically (although they may have drawn their own conclusion by this point). I felt that this would provide me with an honest gauge of my topic and thesis statement from an outside perspective.

NOTE:
I did not alter the grammar or syntax of any of the responses.

Research topic interview questions:

General

Do you generally know where you are going before you set out, or do you find your way as you go?

generally yes I know I’m going. I would say the ratio is 60 to 40%.

Do you ever stop to ask directions, or find it easy to ask for directions if you feel you do not know where you are going?

Yes, I would rather ask for directions then be frustrated.

Have you ever gotten lost in a parking deck, parking lot, mall, or hospital (or other location), even though you had a general awareness of your location?

Yes even though I’m very good at location and direction. Hospitals are the worst.

If so, can you describe specifically why you got lost?

Primarily a lack of signage, other reasons would include Areas look similar or identical to others within the location.

Navigation aids (Digital)

Have you ever used Google Maps (or Mapquest, or similar online service) to get directions?

Yes, many times. Primarily to understand the amount of time it takes to get some more the distance ticket.

What about a GPS (either in a vehicle or a hand held device) system to find directions?

Yes I rely on a GPS system built into my vehicle. I use it primarily to find locations for the first time.

What’s your preference (either an online service, GPS system, or written/spoken directions)?

I prefer a GPS system or any type of system that would allow me to  access the directions hands-free.

What do you find beneficial about your preference over the other options?

The big benefit of a GPS is system is that it’s hands-free and easy to use and understand.

What are the drawbacks (if any)?

The main drawback is that if you need to use the system and I am Already driving, I have to pullover to either set the system or search the System. It also has a very annoying tone of voice.  Also you have to be in the vehicle to access the information so you can’t necessarily plan a trip without getting in the car.

Some services (such as Google maps) have alternate transportation modes (by car, by public transit, walking and bicycling), have you ever used any of these options?

Yes I have used Google maps walking directions. I have found them to be useful in navigating through areas while on trips.

Some of these services also allow you to alter your route (depending on traffic patterns, speed, or route specific options such as avoiding types of routes) have you ever used these features, if so, do you find them useful?

Yes, I have used this type of service often in my vehicle. I can look ahead on the screen or in most instances the unit will predict there is congestion ahead. This is very helpful when You are pressed for time or focused on your commute.

Do you generally trust directions provided by computers or hand held devices?

Yes I do trust directions provided by most devices. I have had experiences with services such as MapQuest and even my new vehicle GPS system where the directions were misleading or incorrect.  The latter has been minimal but when it occurs it is frustrating.

Navigational aids (analog/traditional) (consider being in an unfamiliar and potentially confusing location such as a mall, a large parking lot, parking deck or other location)
 
Do you generally feel directions provided by signage (or maps) are easy to understand enough to only look at them once before you understand where specifically your destination is?

I would say generally, yes for signage but there are many directional signs that are very frustrating or misleading. I do not find traditional paper maps to be very intuitive or quick to understand when Looking for specific routes (especially long trips).

Generally speaking, once you reach your destination, are you able to find your way back to your starting point without further directions?

Yes for the most part. It depends on how complicated the route was to begin with.

Do you feel that navigational aids (such as maps or waypoints) are posted frequently enough?

No. I find that many areas need better signage that are easier and quicker to understand. I often find that maps that are posted in the areas of towns, cities and places like malls are Often not clear or not truly representative of the space they are focused on.

Do you feel that navigational aids (such as maps or waypoints) are logical?

The use of these navigational aids are very logical; however, they are often not used correctly Or not effective.

Navigational aids (analog/traditional) (consider traveling in an unfamiliar location such as a new city or public transit system)
 
Do you generally feel directions provided by signage (or maps) are easy to understand enough to only look at them once before you understand where specifically your destination is?

I would say 30 to 40% of the time signage is easy to understand.

Generally speaking, once you reach your destination, are you able to find your way back to your starting point without further directions?

Yes, although it does really depend on how complicated the route was to begin with.

Do you feel that navigational aids (such as maps or waypoints) are posted frequently enough?

No. I think there are areas that can use more.

Do you feel that navigational aids (such as maps or waypoints) are logical?

Yes if they are correct and accurate.

Navigational aids (analog/traditional) (consider a situation where you must navigate through multiple areas to a specific destination – such as from your car, through a parking deck, to a particular building, to particular space within that building, which may require taking stairs, elevators, and navigating through corridors or doors)
 
Do you feel that you are able to navigate confidently without mild to moderate stress or confusion?

In most situations. I have had experiences where it is difficult to find your way out to where you want to go because of a lack of signage.

Do you feel that you would be able to find your way to your starting location easily?

To find my way back to the starting location? Yes, I feel that once I never paid a path I usually retain that information and I’m able to follow it back.

Would you feel confident that you could alter your route on the fly and still find your way without the aid of further navigational help?

Yes in most situations.

Consider being in a hospital room or in a large department store in a mall, would you be able to point in the direction of the nearest exit or the direction of your car?

After a moment of understanding where I am within the building, I would say about 75-80% of the time I would be able to.

Would you at any point be able to tell which direction is North, South, East or West?

After a moment of understanding where I am within the building, I would say about 75-80% of the time I would be able to.

General

Do you feel that there is great room for improvement with traditional wayfinding (signage) systems? If so, what would those improvements be?

Yes. Larger print so anyone could quickly glance and understand what The signage system says quickly.  Also, the use of symbols and color could improve usability. Interaction is also an area that could improve experience.  The use of technologies such NFC, etc. could really eventually make it extremely difficult to get lost.

With the advent of mobile devices and services such as Google maps, do you find yourself relying less on traditional wayfinding (signage) systems?

Yes, but they are still critical and can evolve with technology.

Consider this statement:

User’s needs, habits and expectations in how they navigate have evolved as a result of hand held devices and digital interfaces.  Wayfinding strategies derived from these devices and interfaces can be applied to traditional (analog) wayfinding systems, providing complex information and cognitive value to the user.  This will not only make analog navigation clearer, but more effective. Traditional wayfinding must evolve to match the new user’s expectation or risk becoming outdated and no longer useful.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement? If so, why?

I do agree. Technologies that exist today and emerging technologies in the future can really change for the better or ease the way we move around. I can see a day when I can walk down the street and the signage around me would change based on my needs.

 

Reflection

I noticed an underlying theme in the answers, which was that this particular individual, (and what I assume is the case for most people) was concerned with ease of use more than anything.  How easy it was to navigate in all aspects, traditional or analog, and with digital interfaces directly translated to the perceived frustration level and by extension the ability to navigate. For example the user stated that asking for directions was an easy choice to avoid frustration.  I had thrown this question in there not really knowing what I expected the answer to be or how it would relate specifically to my topic. I drew the connection with ease of use as it relates to a successful trip regardless of if the user has utilized an interface, GPS or an analog system.

Another crucial answer that stuck out to me is the fact that this interviewee demonstrated (through his answers) a strong sense of confidence in their ability to navigate, but still admitted that there were particular instances (hospitals, in this case) where navigation is difficult, despite knowing in advance where they were going.  I felt that this was right in line with my research and thesis statement.

The interviewee stated that how long the trip was going to take was an important piece of information that digital interfaces and hand held devices provided.  I feel that this is one of the key strategies that can be applied to traditional systems that currently does not exist. Providing this data in traditional wayfinding would greatly increase the users cognition about where they were and where they were going.

A couple of the questions mentioned the ease of use of hand held devices (specifically GPS units in automobiles) because they were hands free.  This was interesting to me, because traditional navigational aides (with the exception of hand held maps) are already hands free (signage).  Perhaps this is one instance where traditional navigation has a leg up on hand held devices.

It was interesting to note that the subject felt a sense of frustration that they had when forced to pull their vehicle over to operate the GPS unit, showing no regard for the safety implications of not having to do this.

It is also interesting to note that the interviewee felt that traditional signage was typically confusing or misleading, implying that digital interfaces and hand held devices are superior in regards to clarity.  This is a chief reason why I feel that traditional signage may face obsolescence if it does not adapt.  To further this concept, the interviewee also suggested that it was not only traditional signage that was fault, but the user as well, stating that maps or way points are often not used correctly.  This could be a result of poor signage, or an incompetent user, a combination of both, or the former resulting in the latter.

I feel that the subjects answers in regards to spacial cognition were very interesting.  The interviewee stated that if given a moment, they could (for the most part) be able to tell East, West, North and South even if placed in a department store (while not stated in the question, I presumed there would be no windows).  I don’t find this the case personally, and suppose that one’s “sense of direction” may vary wildly from person to person.

I believe that the answers to the final two sets of questions were a good boost of confidence and validation for my thesis statement and research in general.

Overall, this was a great experience, and I think that these types of interviews should be conducted much more often on the front end for more projects and assignments both in courses at SCAD as well as in the real world.  I feel that there are insights gained from these types of exercises that is often overlooked or even considered, and it helps to make a much more well rounded solution.

After some feedback from Professor Wales, I have revised my thesis a bit more, focusing on a clearer explanation of what it means to be “obsolete”.

Professor Wales feedback:

“You are closing in on your premise but it needs to be explained a bit better. You don’t need to define ‘wayfinding’ in this context. that will be understood. Define what you mean by obsolescence so it is clear. how will this new paradigm make our navigations more clear? How are things different today than they were ten years ago? (these are questions for you to mull over as you recompose your thoughts.)”

REVISED THESIS STATEMENT:

User’s needs, habits and expectations in how they navigate have evolved as a result of hand held devices and digital interfaces.  Wayfinding strategies derived from these devices and interfaces can be applied to traditional (analog) wayfinding systems, providing complex information and cognitive value to the user.  This will not only make analog navigation clearer, but more effective. Traditional wayfinding must evolve to match the new user’s expectation or risk becoming outdated and no longer useful.

Annotations

“Design Principles for Wayfinding”

In this article “Design Principles for Wayfinding”, the author defines three basic design criteria for making information spaces effectively navigable. First whether the navigator can discover or infer his (or her) present location; second, whether a route to the destination can be found; and third, how well the navigator can accumulate wafinding experience in the space (“5. Design Principles for Wayfinding”).  The author supports these three criterions by outlining several principles that wafinding systems should employ, and provides illustrations to support several of the principles.  The purpose of the article is to provide a basic outline for creating effective navigational systems and speaks in a very matter of fact tone that is authoritative yet does not speak down to the audience, which provides the author credibility with their assertions.

“Delightfully Lost: A New Kind of Wayfinding at Kew”

In this article Dawson and Jensen outline an in-depth commissioned study of the Kew Gardens visitors’ motivations and information needs around its facility.  The aim of the study was to guide the development of new mobile applications.  The article covers the scope of the study which included over 1,5000 visitor-tracking observations, 350 mini-interviews, 200 detailed exit interviews and 85 fulfillment maps, providing the Kew an incredibly useful insight into its visitors’ wants, needs and resulting behaviors (Dawson and Jensen). The study is interesting in that it explores how the counterintuitive idea – to help visitors become “delightfully lost” – has influenced mobile thinking at the Kew.  The study outlines visitors’ social, emotional and spiritual, rather than intellectual motivations during their time visiting.  The paper seeks to uncover the impact of mobile development, marketing and design and what principles apply to outdoor visitor attractions, and what effect that will have on future mobile developments for the Garden. The study is written in an easy going and caring voice, allowing users who may not be familiar with the concept of mobile applications to easily grasp the goals and outcomes for the Kew Gardens.

“Space Syntax And Spatial Cognition. Or Why the Axial Line?”

In this article, Penn describes space syntax (theories and techniques for the analysis of spatial configurations) research, which relates between how people move in different settings (both urban and in interior building space).  Penn tries to outline not only how people move bases on this analyses, but also attempts to understand why people move in the ways they do (what are their motivations?).  Penn reviews syntax research and cognition for individuals in the environmental space.  The research proposes that cognitive space, defined as that space which supports our understanding of configurations more extensive than our current visual field, is not a metric space, but topological (Penn).  Through this research, Penn is able to graph (and reasonably predict) how users will move about within a space.  This article is written for the scientist, and uses high level thinking and explanations to derive at various conclusions.  Readers in this space need to be interested in the topic to make it through both the research and conclusions.

“You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon, but Get Lost in the Mall”

In his book “You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon, but Get Lost in the Mall” Ellard writes whimsically about how humans are essentially lost in their own environment.  Ellard draws parallels between animals with superior navigational skills, as well as some human outliers who are exceptionally directionally sound.  Ellard tries to decode why humans, with technological advances in navigation, are prone to being lost. “In the age of GPS and iPhones, human beings it would seem have mastered the art of direction, but does the need for these devices signal something else—that as a species we are actually hopelessly lost.” (Ellard). Ellard points to several directional challenges that we face and ties them to our own (distorted) mental maps.  This book concerns itself with not only the cartographic ineptitudes of humans but also delves into the deep seeded psychology behind how our brains are constructed to orient ourselves, even from an early age.  Ellard uses several comical stories and references through the book, making this an entertaining and educational read.

Annotated Bibliography

“5. Design Principles for Wayfinding.” Web. 5 Feb. 2013. http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/infoarch/publications/mfoltz-thesis/node8.html

Dawson, Emily, and Eric Jensen. “Towards A Contextual Turn in Visitor Studies: Evaluating Visitor Segmentation and Identity-Related Motivations.” Visitor Studies 14.2 (2011): 127–140. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2012/papers/delightfully_lost_a_new_kind_of_wayfinding_at_

Ellard, Colin. You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon, but Get Lost in the Mall. 1st ed. Anchor, 2010. Print.

Penn, Alan. “Space Syntax And Spatial Cognition Or Why the Axial Line?” Environment and Behavior 35.1 (2003): 30–65. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. http://eab.sagepub.com/content/35/1/30.short

So here is the “final” (or is it “finalfinal” or “finalA” or “finalB” or “final1a” ha ha…)

User’s needs, habits and expectations in how they navigate and find their way have evolved as a result of hand held devices and digital interfaces.  Wayfinding strategies derived from these devices and interfaces can be applied to traditional (analog) wayfinding systems providing complex information and cognitive value to the user. Traditional wayfinding must evolve to match the new user’s expectation or face obsolescence.

Went with a version of option 2, clarified some of the text and tried to be more assertive.

Trying some different options for my thesis statement.  With these, I’m trying to use less words, and less big words.  The idea is to state the big idea in it’s simplest terms.

Not sure if I have accomplished that.

Option 1

Hand held devices and digital interfaces have evolved users needs, habits and expectations in how they navigate and find their way.  Strategies from these devices and interfaces can be applied to physical world wayfinding systems to provide complex information and added cognitive value.

Option 2

Users needs, habits and expectations in how they navigate and wayfind have evolved as a result of hand held devices and digital interfaces.  Wayfinding strategies culled from these devices and interfaces can be applied to real world wayfinding systems providing complex information and cognitive value to the user.

Option 3

Hand held devices and user interfaces have caused user needs, habits and expectations in how they navigate and wayfind to evolve.  As a result, real world wayfinding and navigation systems no longer provide the complex information and cognitive value users are accustomed to. Design strategies from hand held devices and interfaces are transferable and can be applied to real world wayfinding systems to accommodate to the new user.

I’ve been using Zotero (mainly because it was free – but also because of the integration with MS Word).  So far so good, it was fairly easy to install (plugins) with both Firefox and word.  However, I have Word 2008 on my mac, and

Word for Mac 2008 lacks support for Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), making it impossible to create a toolbar. (VBA support has been restored in Word for Mac 2011, and the Zotero plugin for Word 2011 includes a toolbar in addition to an AppleScript menu folder. )  So as a result, the Zotero word processor plugin for Word for Mac 2008 doesn’t offer a toolbar, instead adding a “Zotero” entry to the AppleScript menu (the manuscript icon to the right of the Help menu):

This makes the integration with Word a little less than advertised, but is still much easier than typing out citations, and makes organizing and correctly formatting bibliographies in various styles a snap.  This alone makes up for any “inconveniences” with my older version of Word and the Zotero plugin.

With all this said, it’s disappointing that I’m just now learning about these services (they would of come in super handy in previous classes and research papers).  I guess you’re never to old to learn!

Aside from that, the interface is familiar (even though I’ve never used it before) and learning it is simple.  At this point, until I’m proved otherwise, I don’t see the need to try out any of the other applications (RefWorks, EndNote or Mendeley).  If I run into some serious limitations, I’ll explore those options, however for the time being, Zetero is working well for me. Some of the features in Mendeley are appealing to me (mobile applications) but with services like Pocket, not having a mobile version isn’t a deal breaker or necessity.

As a result of hand held devices and digital user interfaces, users needs, habits, and existing knowledge of wayfinding has changed.  How can digital wayfinding strategies be applied in real world wayfinding systems to provide complex information and cognitive value to enhance navigation?

For this free writing exercise I’m a bit hesitant on which direction to go.  I’m torn between writing about what I know about spatial cognition and what I want to get out of this exercise.  I know that I’m not supposed to write with anything in mind, but rather just let my mind wander.  Which ironically is in complete opposition to what the crux of my thesis is about, which is to say that spatial cognition revolves around the notion that you know where you are in your space.  Not only which way is up and which is down, left, right, north, south etc. but where you actually are in your physical environment.  For example, I’m in my living room facing East, and if I wanted to go to my garage I would know exactly which way to face myself and start walking, which door to open and what turns to make.  If you were in my living room, and I asked you to walk to my garage, you may not know where to turn or where to go.  This is spatial cognition.  You would know where you were, but not necessarily where you were in your space and how that applies to going somewhere else.

So it’s a bit ironic then that I’m not sure where to go with this exercise.  I suppose that the free writing, or just letting your mind wander is supposed to take me to a place that I may not of thought to look for ideas.  Again, I think this is ironic, considering my subject.

One example that come immediately to mind are when you park your car in a multi-tiered parking deck, or perhaps at a large theme park, or airport, where there are not only thousands of parking spots, but there may also be many levels or parking areas.  We all know how challenging it can be to get back to your car.  Who hasn’t walked around, pressing the car lock or unlock on our key fob, or maybe even trying to set the panic alarm off so that we can hear and locate our car.  Our spatial cognition is limited because of unfamiliarity with the surroundings, and surroundings that are similar, or confusing.  There are various ways that signs help us, either color coded (you parked on the green level), or with numbers (you parked on level 4).  Further indicators may be available to us as well, such as sections within the green level (you parked on the green level, in section G5).  These are a tremendous help but can still pose basic positioning problems once we get to our car (how do I get out of here?).  The problem isn’t limited to just the parking deck. To further illustrate this example, suppose that you drive to a hospital, wind your way through the parking deck and then have to follow a series of corridors, elevators, lefts and right turns, various reception decks or even different building to find a specific location within the hospital to visit a friend.  This is where spatial cognition is valuable.  Once in the room, would you know how to get back to your car and back out of the parking deck?  It can be confusing to say the least.  This can be particularly difficult if we are in an unfamiliar city.  To add another twist to the story, lets remove the parking deck part of the story and suppose that you took a train or sub way to the hospital.  The entirety of your travel to the hospital may have been underground in a foreign city.  This further diminishes our spatial cognition when we can’t see where we were turning or how far we were traveling while we were en route.  Once in the hospital room, if I asked you to point in the direction of your house or apartment, would you know in which direction to start walking?

The simple answer, would be, “sure, let me just get out my phone and punch in my address”.  With GPS on nearly every phone these days, it takes the strain off of us, and puts it on the phone or device.  This ability has pretty much changed the way in which we expect to get around.  It has changed our habits and our expectations on how we navigate our world.  In some instances, our mobile devices have completely taken on the role of our brains spatial cognition for us.

Is it possible for wayfinding systems in the physical space (directional signs, parking deck indicators, etc.) to borrow concepts or technology from our smart phones and grant us this same level of awareness?  In addition to pointing the way to the green level parking deck, can wayfinding systems adapt to give us clues or tell us all together where we are, where we’ve been (in case we need to go back) and where we should go?  Can these signs work on an individual basis so that the experience is unique to individuals rather than a generic sign with an arrow letting us know that the elevator is to the left?

Really, perhaps the more important question is, does it matter?  I would think that yes, it does matter.  The way we navigate is much more spontaneous than most current wayfinding systems allow.  For example, once half way to our destination (we’ll stick with the hospital illustration), suppose we forgot a gift for the person that we were going to visit, and had to turn back.  Short of backtracking and remembering the route we took through the maze of elevators, corridors and parking decks, can wayfinding systems in the physical space adapt to our movements and give us that overall awareness of our location, in much the same way our phones do when we take a turn.  Can physical world wayfinding systems reroute us to the gift shop or provide us with short cuts so that we add waypoints (like the cafeteria – in the case that we were hungry and wanted a sandwich before we met our recovering friend).

What would these systems look like, and how would they react and change depending on our individual situations?  Suppose while we were visiting our friend, it started to rain outside, so the original route that we took to get to the hospital room that required us to walk outside was no longer the best route back to our car?  Could a physical world system provide us a better (perhaps dryer) route back to our car without us having to dart through the rain?

The way that we interact with our location isn’t static and I don’t think that wayfinding systems should be static either, especially since for all intents and purposes, we carry around computers in our pockets with GPS functions that can help us determine where we are in our space and what that means to us.  Not only do we know where North, South, East and West are, we know which direction to take, what stair case or elevator to step into, even in an unfamiliar location depending on our changing needs.

As a result of hand held devices and digital user interfaces, users needs, habits, and existing knowledge of wayfinding has changed. How can digital wayfinding strategies be applied in real world wayfinding systems to provide complex information and cognitive value to enhance navigation?

Effective navigational systems should not only provide route knowledge but also provide users special cognition. How then can wayfinding systems in the physical environment adapt design and navigational strategies from their digital wayfinding and navigational systems to provide users not only route knowledge, but special cognition as well?

Digital navigation strategies provide users with a higher level of cognitive orientation and special sense. Physical, real world navigational systems should seek to not only direct users to their desired location, but also provide them logical orientation and special knowledge, or where they are in their environment.

Existing wayfinding systems serve to direct users to a general or specific location, however individuals may successfully reach the appropriate destination and still be, effectively, lost. This is primarily evident when users require route reversal. In other words, you may be able to find a room in a large building, but not be able to find your way back to your parked car. Wayfinding systems allow for users to arrive at a location, but after arriving they can still be completely lost in their space. The ability to successfully provide navigation not only accommodates for route knowledge (how to get from point A to point B) but also allows users special sense, mitigating disorientation.

Digital navigation and environmental wayfinding systems both furnish users with directional listings, however the digital interface also provides environmental understanding of the surrounding space through visual cues, landmarks, traffic patterns, time constructs, and ordinal orientation, to name a few.

Effective wayfinding in a given space not only relies on directional listings and signage, but also on the physical characteristics of the environment, or how well the environment has been constructed. Since it is not always possible to change the existing landscape of the physical environment, can the principals of digital navigation be applied to physical navigational systems to alleviate poorly planned physical environments as well?

Wayfinding systems in the physical world can adapt design and navigational strategies from digital systems to enable special cognition, minimizing disorientation as a result of confusing environmental schemes, thereby increasing the users ability to perform a wayfinding task.

Wayfinding system kiosks and signage will be the primary media involved. However kiosks and signage will also incorporate and utilize digital devices to provide additional spatial cognition and rout knowledge. Additionally, survey views, vistas or “take away” maps will also be incorporated with the wayfinding systems, available for users who are not able to utilize digital devices on the go.

The first thesis that I looked at was written by Jay Bopp (who incidentally has an awesome name).  Jay graduated (presumably) or wrote his thesis for his MFA in graphic design in May of 2012.  I gravitated to this thesis because of the title alone: Empathy Within Orthodoxy: Fostering a Culture of Innovation in Faith-Based Organizations Through Design Thinking.

I’m recalling Marty McFly from Back to the Future when I read this, and think to myself… Whoa… that’s heavy, doc.

I have designed various things for faith based organizations before, and I know how difficult it is do pull this off.  One of the first things I designed out of undergrad was a website for a church, and looking back I think it was a miserable failure.  So naturally, I was drawn to this thesis topic.

The first thing that struck me while reading his thesis was that it started off with a story (literally, a story that he had made up) about urban warfare training for soldiers.  It was written like a novel, and immediately grabbed my attention.  For starters, it was completely not what I was expecting to hear, and reading further, it was very captivating.  I thought that it was an excellent lead in for a thesis.  It took the reader off guard, and snatched their attention right off the bat.  Starting off a thesis this way was not something I had considered before.  But I like this style of writing, and find that it’s easier to do and more fun to tie in these types of illustrations in to make a point, than to posit about various points that you are trying to make from your initial thesis topic.

Another thesis that grabbed my attention was Natural user interfaces in the information age by James E. Pierce.  This thesis persuaded me to select it because it deals (in part) with aspects of my own thesis (the user interface portion).  James Pierce wrote this thesis for his MFA in graphic design in 2011.

Interesting to me in this thesis topic is how James writes about a topic that we are all familiar with (the user interface) and specifically how technological advances are adopted by the masses through solid user interfaces.  What strikes me about this concept is that it is one that (on the outside) appears to be fairly obvious, something that we (as designers and artists) can almost all agree on.  So how then do you unpack and fully explain or argue a point to an audience that already presumes you are correct, or at the very least, on the right path?  Does it matter?  Does it make the thesis topic any less interesting or important?  Will the audience be more critical of something that they already feel they have a solid grasp or understanding or acknowledgement of?  Does the writer need to make some fantastical claim in order for his or her writing to be accepted, or do they just need to state obvious facts to further solidify a concept that is already widely held?

In his thesis, James writes about the natural user interface, or the concept that in order for an interface to maximize its effectiveness, it needs to be nearly invisible to the user, in order to allow for the user to interact with the computer (or device) in ways that are more natural to that individual.  In other-words, not letting the interface get in the way of the human-computer interaction.

I have to admit that I did not read the entirety of the 60 page thesis, I have saved it because I feel that this will be an vital part of how my thesis is constructed, as I will be dealing with how users needs, habits and assumptions have changed in way finding systems as a result of user interfaces (how has having a map with you at all times (smart phones) impacted physical world wayfinding systems and users spacial cognition).