Assignment #2 5 Examples of Good Design

1) Samsung Galaxy S3

Minimalist Design:

The S3 was designed simplistically with very few buttons. Samsung went ahead and gave their long line of phones a tangible central home button and removed 2 of the touch sensitive buttons. The buttons they did leave were the back, setting, volume, and power buttons. This allows for a sleek, novel design that is also easy to look at.

Conceptual Model:
Smart phones are common these days and the s3 follows closely the design of the iPhone. Users will have no trouble picking up this device and learning the ins and outs of the operating system.

 Mapping:
The mapping of the keys to the functions they perform is pretty standard fare for smart phones. The big button at the bottom can turn the phone on or return to the home screen while there are side buttons for easy access to volume. The only gripe I have is the power button which is on the side and might cause the user to have an awkward holding position.

Feedback:
The feedback is what distinguishes this phone from its competition. When texting or pressing buttons, a tiny vibration surges through the phone as to let the user know that they have clicked a button. This is highly valuable feedback for touch screens as the user does not know if they are actually hitting a button otherwise.

2) Smoothie King Blender Bottle

All-In-One Design:
The Smoothie King Blender Bottle combines a cup and a blender in one so that the user can save time. This design was created in order to eliminate the blender stage of making a powder drink. This allows the user to blend their shakes on the go.

Conceptual Model:
The design is fairly intuitive. There are a wide array of similar mixers on the market, so the customer base should not have a problem adapting. The design is simply a metal ball in a cup, and when it is shaken, it mixes the drink.

Mapping:
The user just has to shake the cup with the contents and mixer ball to mix the drink.There is not much technical mapping, just the physical action of shaking.

Feedback:
The Feedback is the sound of the metal ball mixing the drink. It is a good indicator on whether the drink is mixed or not. Also, the bottle is clear which also gives a good hint as to if the drink is done.

3) Snark Clip-on Chromatic Guitar Tuner

 Portable:
 The Snark Clip-On Chromatic guitar tuner sports a dynamic design that is highly portable. There are some designs of tuners that resemble a glasses case. This smartly designed tuner can easily fit in a guitar bag even when it is attached to a guitar.

Conceptual Model:
The customer base should have a good idea on how to work this tuner. It has a clip that looks like it is to be attached to a guitar and one button that turns it on. Even without advanced advanced knowledge of the tuner, its automatically set on the tuning function. 

Mapping:
 The Snark Tuner has a few buttons on it. One on the front for power and two on the back for volume and function choosing. There is also a metronome on this tuner and it can tune into a wide array of tunings.

Feedback:
There is good visual feedback when tuning a guitar. The tuner senses vibrations when it is attached to the guitar and gives instantaneous feedback on how the guitar needs to be tuned. There is no audio feedback except for the metronome function.

4) Pen Drive

 Small:
The generic pen drive is so small that it can be attached to a key chain. It also has a ton of memory by today's standards and can handle plenty of school of office work.

Conceptual Model:
There really is not much else to do besides plug it into a computer and wait for the drivers to automatically install. Its pretty hard for the normal person to visualize how it works conceptually.

Mapping:
There is only a sliding part of the USB which ejects the stick to plug into a computer. There are no physical buttons mapped on the stick, so I suppose the functions are mapped on the desktop or laptop when the drivers are installed.

Feedback:
The only feedback that the user gets is a sound from the computer when the USB stick gets plugged in. When they unplug it, they also receive audio feedback.


5) Apple Monitor

Automatic Turn-On/Off:
This monitor stands out for me because it has no buttons. When the desktop is powered on, the monitor automatically powers on. This is great for people like me who use desktops a lot and have to worry about powering on the monitor every time. This also means it saves power for when I forget to turn the power off.

Conceptual Model:
The user does not need to know anything about the monitor except how to plug it in. Once plugged in, the monitor will turn on and off automatically.

Mapping:
There are no buttons on the monitor to map but the monitor is mapping to the power when it turns on and that's about it.

Feedback:There is amazing feedback when the monitor is turns on since it obviously lights up. This queues the user into knowing that the monitor is on.