A3- Analyzing Activities in Organizing Systems

Assignment 3   Analyzing Activities in Organizing Systems

Assigned on January 30, Due on February 4

In this assignment you’ll again analyze the case studies you’ve read this semester, but this time you’ll be analyzing them using the “Life Cycle Activities” framework of TDO chapter 4 you read for the 1/30 course meeting.

The answers in the “Design Questions” framework that organize the case study – What, Why, How, When, etc. – do not exactly line up with the Selection, Organizing, Interaction Design, and Maintenance activities (the four most important ones), but they often explicitly provide information about these activities that define the organizing system lifecycle. Sometimes the information about the activities is less explicit and only implied in the case study, but as you read more case studies and start thinking about your own you will get better at identifying them.

Your assignment:

 Choose any TWO case studies (except for the kitchen, which is used to explain this assignment).  For each, identify the Selection, Organizing, Interaction Design, and Maintenance activities and any domain-specific terms for that activity if there are any.   Briefly discuss the most important decisions or challenges that must be dealt with to carry them out (should be a few sentences; these answers for the kitchen are more detailed than yours need to be but I want to make sure you get the idea. ). Your answers would look like this if you analyzed the kitchen case study (but you can’t because it is used here).

Selection

The domain of a kitchen, its purpose of facilitating cooking in a social and efficient manner, largely determines the selection of its resources. When purchasing cooking equipment which is stored in the kitchen, quality and function are the most important features to emphasize, as well as size. Selection of resources is also dependent on the number of users, which generally equates to the household size — a single-family household probably contains one set of cookware but an industrial or commune-style kitchen would need to accommodate for large quantities of people.

Organizing

Organizing a kitchen gives its user control over their workflow while cooking, which is a task that is inherently time-dependent. A user’s ability to utilize the organization is largely dependent on the physical properties of the kitchen, including the size/visibility of the drawers/pantry; glass cabinets allow you to see all your dishes, but wooden cabinets may be sturdier. Resource categories in a kitchen’s organization include grocery items, which are either kept in a cooling device (fridge, freezer) or out in fresh air, cooking tools such as pots, pans, plates and utensils, and other items which are generally prioritized based on frequency of use.

Interaction Design

The properties of kitchen tools enable their use in cooking. Pots and pans are heat-resistant, allowing for their organization in areas that may be exposed to heat, such as in the oven or near the stove. Interaction design is also dependent on whether someone already has the interaction in mind, or if they first search through their resources — generally if you are in need of a utensil, you know which you want and you don’t need to spend much time searching through your cutlery to decide. A refrigerator may however need to be designed with a searching interaction in mind, to optimize the time spent standing in front of the fridge while deciding what to eat.

Maintenance

Maintaining a kitchen is a continual process. Everyday cleaning is necessary to maintain a sanitary environment, and design should keep in mind the user’s ability to clean the space. Design choices that can help maintaining cleanliness include clearly labelled storage and wide open counter space, while user traits like personal cleanliness determine whether regular upkeep is enough, or if deep-cleans are intermittently required. Additionally, constant stocking of the fridge is a task that can be optimized by utilizing a fridge-stocking design that clearly displays missing groceries and keeps fresh food in rotation