Developing Usable Experiences

Focusing and the odor

January 27th, 2008 7:33 am —  177 views

cat_supervision1.jpg

My desk, where I spend all this time1, is becoming a bit more cluttered as the semester goes on. One stack for Fundamentals of Human Behavior2 the other for Evaluation of Interactive/Information Systems3. Very interesting classes.

Friday lecture was particularly interesting. The Professor (TP) doing a great job with a casual control over the class. We turned in a printed network diagram showing a birds-eye of the web application we’re4 evaluating. TP spent the first hour of class going from diagram to diagram discussing it’s creators.

We took a break then he lectured briefly. During the lecture part some of the class started smelling something like burnt wire or hot tar. We took another quick break which is when we noticed this smell in the hallway. School administration moved us to another lecture room while the situation was investigated. The new room was fine and we had us a focus group. They told us later by email that OSHA showed up and that the situation was handled with due process.

The Prof picked five of us from the class, yours truly included, to be part of a focus group. We went into the hall while TP explained what he was doing to the class. He was going to lead a focus group to learn how we use the web for cooking and finding recipes. We didn’t know this until we sat at a little table and he explained then started asking questions. We chatted while the rest of the class observed. Afterward there was discussion among TP and the observers categorizing what they could ascertain from the focus group discussion. Good stuff.

Going with a morning post, I’m focusing my mind on what I need to accomplish today. I have a group meeting in the early afternoon to talk about our personas, scenarios, and interviews.

Before then I suspect I’ll dance with my vacuum. Maybe have another cup of coffee. My double life as a student, filling in the weekends.

It’s cool though, I’m forming a theory of Quantum Information Architecture5.

Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine. – Shunryu Suzuki

Image: This is clearly Cat Supervision. A lucky break for me, having such wise counsel around.

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  1. tucked away down here in my basement niche [↩]
  2. Three fresh articles for this week are fanned out, beckoning me. [↩]
  3. This stack is mostly books, a few articles, lecture slides. [↩]
  4. The “we” in this instance refers to my TASK group. [↩]
  5. Yeah, I made it up. I’ll explain later. [↩]

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One Response to “Focusing and the odor”

  1. Laiane on January 30th, 2008 8:52 pm

    Nothing in our household can be done without Cat Supervision. Nothing. Thankfully, I have a plexiglass keyboard cover/thingy, so I can blog and game with Cat Supervision. (www.kittykeyboardkover.com — totally worth the price if you’re graced with an excess of Cat Supervision).

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