Rutgers University Living in Information and App Analysis
Rutgers University Living in Information and App Analysis
- Install the app, look through the assigned app and try using it yourself. Be sure to take notes of anything that seems remarkable.
- Think about the question Arango asks in chapter 2 – “Where are you and what can you do there?” (p. 23) With respect to the app you’ve been working with, how did the designers of the app suggest the answers to that question for their users? Are there features (things the app can do) that you didn’t pick up on immediately? What about the app helped you (or hindered you) to identify the possible actions you can do?
- Choose one feature of the app that you found particularly interesting with regards to this question of how the app users assess the possibilities of the information environment they find themselves in. Document the feature using screen shots (if you’re unsure about how to do this, see: https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2475902,00.asp (Links to an external site.)).
- Using the concepts from chapters 2-5 of Living in Information (i.e., semantic environment, vocabulary choices, layout of the screen, use of icons, etc.) write a short essay that answers the following points:
- Briefly describe the app you were assigned and the feature you’ve chosen to focus on for this assignment. Use the screenshots you’ve created to illustrate the feature.
- Discuss at least two specific ways in which the apps’ designers are either successful or unsuccessful in their choices for presenting this feature to the users of the app. In short, how do the designers’ choices help to answer the question, “Where are you and what can you do there?”
- In Arango’s definition, the “… success of the design depends on whether or not it supports the goals its users have for the sort of place it creates.” How well have the designers succeeded at this task and specifically, how did they create that success?
your written answer should be in the range of approximately 700-800 words. It’s also required that you’ve documented the feature using at least two screenshots. It’s likely that you may need more screenshots to successfully describe the feature you’re writing about.
