Contextual Studies – Signing up to TED

In the past, I’ve casually watched some TED Talks over at YouTube. But for the current Contextual Studies module, having a TED account should make research far less frustrating, and perhaps, even fun!

Home page of TED

I’m going to personalise my account and let the site know what interests me, to garner a tailored feed of information. This is an advantage over my YouTube account, which is cluttered with other interests.

Thinking about the module – though I’m unsure of the topic I’ll choose just yet – I decided to punch ‘communication’ into the search box as communication is very important to me. I am genuinely invested in keeping in contact with others – especially through writing letters. I’m wary of miscommunication, whether the communication be in person, by written letter, over the phone, and so on, despite the expectation and inevitability of misunderstandings.

This search results stood out to me

This search results stuck me of interest because I often worry about my ‘tone of voice’ over text and e-mail particularly – and both of these forms of communication are needed to keep up both personal and professional contacts.

Details about the speaker in the above video

The site’s videos each have detailed written information on the talk’s topic and the speaker. Many videos on the site have an audio transcription, and that makes quoting the speakers much faster and easier.

Of course my fellow peers are encouraged to use this website as a resource, but I would also encourage anyone who is interested in broadening their knowledge in their fields of interest. There’ll even be something for you!

Margaret Gould Stewart – Designing for Scale

As an introductory to a new module (Contextual Studies) I watched Margaret Gould Stewart’s TED Talk concerning Designing for Scale, How giant websites design for you (and a billions others, too). I’ve noted some of the key information presented.

Concerning the difficulties of designing for scale, Stewart stated:

“It’s hard in part because it requires a combination of two things: audacity and humility. Audacity to believe that the thing that you’re making is something that the whole world needs, and humility to understand that as a designer, it’s not about you or your portfolio; it’s about the people you’re designing for, and how your work just might helming them live better lives.”

The big take away from this TED Talk, for me, was to take in mind technological limitations of users. When designing a website that is intended for use for people across the globe, such as Facebook, it has to look good on the oldest possible desktop computer monitor or most basic of smart phones. All elements have to look good and perform well – from the icons to the chosen typeface.

This statement that concerns the user stuck out:

“Designing for low-end cell phones is not glamorous design work, but if you want to design for the whole world, you have to design for where people are, and not where you are.” 

Prioritising the user is the right mentality.

I can’t ignore that Stewart, being an employee of Facebook, isn’t going to deliver a talk that is not biased towards the company’s work mentality and ethics. Bias is something to keep in mind when watching, listening to, or reading any media, when it comes to citing such media later on!

I look forward to sharing research and relevant findings on my blog, once I have gotten an idea of what topic I should pursue.