A6KohHoehlMeyerMcCabe

A6KohHoehlMeyerMcCabe

To-Do

please create an answer via the form for this assignment addressing the following issues:

• which was the most interesting idea/concept you learned from the article? what is the relationship of this idea/concept to your own work and own thinking?
• which is the most prominent meta-design environment you can think off? Why?
• analyze one computational environment in detail from a meta-design perspective? (if you can't think of a better one: analyze Microsoft-Word)
• argue in which sense the American constitution may be considered as a success example for meta-design

Most interesting idea/concept

The consumer/designer continuum is one of the more interesting aspects of the paper. This idea also immediate begs the question of what an ideal software environment would look like that would take full advantage of constantly changing user roles and contexts. Currently, most software is based around the idea of having multiple modalities for the various roles in the consumer/designer continuum. Applications often have a viewing mode, an editing mode, an advanced mode, and a customization or personalization mode. Not only must a user learn how to switch modalities but they must also learn how to effectively use each one. Several applications break this model, however, and combine modalities to create an easier migration path. For instance, Word, Excel, Google Docs, and SketchUp all combine the view and edit modes so it takes a user little more than a mouse click to begin editing a document after viewing it. In this way, the migration path from a consumer to an editor is very easy. One could presume that applying a similar idea to Wikipedia would encourage edits and contributions by a wider population. For instance, what if all wiki pages were immediately editable like a Google Doc? If a user did not want to edit, they would not have to, but those that wanted to could simply begin typing without switching modes or learning a specific markup language.

This idea becomes more interesting when applied to design rather than simple contributions. For instance, what if re-designing web pages were as easy as editing an online text document? If users were allowed to simply drag and drop components or change colors and formatting of a webpage to suit their preferences, they could seamlessly become site designers. This is particularly useful for niche populations such as those with physical or cognitive disabilities. If one user spent time making a website more accessible for a particular physical disability, others with the same disability could benefit from those changes. However, this would often largely be at the detriment to those without the disability. This reveals that a possible future direction of meta-design is to not only allow a more iterative approach to creating a single end-result, but to support the creation of several end-results simultaneously that support different user groups. Wikipedia contributions would not only benefit a single article, but several detail views of the same article in several languages. Amazon pages could be reformatted to remove extraneous information that could be confusing to certain cognitive disabilities while remaining the same for all others. In other words, instead of just designing the environment, users can also design how one views the environment.

Most Prominent Example

The environment which we thought of that contains many elements of meta-design is: iGoogle. The purpose of iGoogle is to provide individuals with a customizable system that is dynamic, not only in look and feel but also in content, through integration with Google Themes and Google Gadgets. Google Themes allow and individual to choose from a collection of artist generated themes to integrate into the look and feel of their iGoogle homepage. To my knowledge individuals are not yet provided the option to create their own theme. Google Gadgets are small applications that can serve many purposes: providing dynamic information in real time (stock market watchers, weather forecasts), providing holding places for input and storage(to do and grocery lists), providing fun with access to games, to small tools to help with everyday tasks (dictionary, map finder), etc. Aside from offering hundreds if not thousands of gadgets, Google also provides the opportunity for interested individuals to create their own gadgets. There is a fairly large threshold between the knowledge needed to use and gadget and that needed to build one, but iGoogle seems to provide one intermediary level which walks individuals step-by-step through the process of creating very specific, pre-defined gadgets. That being said the SER model is alive and well in this architecture, where many of the gadgets available on iGoogle's main screen have been developed my individuals and corporations other than Google itself.

iGoogle is a successful example of meta-design in an environment where there is no expectation of what should be done and what can be done. Often times the gadgets and themes of google have nothing to do with the act of searching, but provide users with a customizable area which they can fill with things they want to see and use often.

Detailed Analysis

Google Earth, 3D Warehouse, and Sketchup seem to be good ones to analyze because they contain real socio-geographic information which real end users can play with in the world and beyond that. The effects of meta-Design in Google Earth are so dominant from simple GIS service to urban planning. It could make everyone be a designer with an relatively easy authoring tool. Users freely reign over what they want to create, post, or make a story in it. Users can share their own artifacts with the community, and the artifact can be modified, updated, and spread through communities. Through this Google package (Google earth, 3Dwarehouse, Sketchup), consumers are not merely consumers but creators, and content-creation with collaboration are even possible. This Google package enables people easily participate in social creativity, share information in communities, and make their creation evolve in the system.

American constitution as Meta-Design

The American Constitution is a good example of a successful meta-design. The document was written shortly after this nation was founded, so it served as a foundation to the structure of the United States Government. The Constitution allows room for growth and evolution, as the Founding Fathers expected the young country to expand. Every aspect could not be covered in the initial draft, as problems may arise and cannot be preempted. The members of the U.S. Government, also known as the users, are able to change and improve the Constitution with amendments based on their experience with the rules. If a change is made but the government feels that the change was a mistake, they can undo the modification. This happened with the abolition of liquor. The document is able to evolve to conform to the changing times.