jamin.org

Ben Fry visited our design studio class again, this time to give a presentation instead of critiquing our work.

He talked about the importance of being able to visualize complex data in order to gain a better understanding of what we’re talking about, for instance, when we say the human genome consists of approximately 35,000 genes.

Ben said mapping such complex data can help us bridge the gap between what we understand, and what we think we understand. Another interesting, but obvious, statement was that there is no trend toward less information. So true.

As one of the creators of processing, he claimed that the tools (Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc.) don’t tell us how to deal with this complex information. He it seems he believes the tools are constraints. But it’s hard to imagine people not using tools, and instead coding them themselves.

I asked how much of what he does is simply displaying the information versus making it look cool. While his goal is not about making these that look cool, he said, making something that people want to look at certainly helps in making the information accessible.

Some of the more interesting pieces of work that he showed has were mapping of old Atari and Nintendo game code. This he did for fun.

But he did state the importance of learning about data for real projects through experimentation or play. While possibly not practical or useful, it teaches you something about the data they perhaps will influence the final piece.

Overall, the project he presented were interesting enough for me to again consider whether to take a course with him next semester. It also made my curious again about processing, which I haven’t touched since I downloaded it for my data visualization project.

I didn’t use it. But I’m wondering if, as an experiment, I should.

Although I spent all day working on my data visualization project, I’m still pretty much at square one, if you were to measure my current results by means of a finished project.

I came into the studio late in the day to get some feedback to ensure I didn’t go down the wrong path and tweak all 682 paths that are supposed to represent the number of emails I received during one given week only to find out my vision was flawed. (Yes, I know I said 800 before. I was wrong.)

I got good feedback, which is one of the pluses of graduate school that I didn’t find so much in the working world. There is very little ego here. People ask for criticism and give it freely with the understanding that the goal is a better final result, no matter if it is yours or someone else’s.

If you were to measure my current progress in terms of what I have learned about Illustrator and what I have gained as far as direction, I have been very successful and very productive.

Now I just have to execute. I have 14 paths done, 668 to go, with 13 hours before my target completion time (24 hours before class on Monday to allow for printing).

As usual, I found time to blog. Without further ado, I think some Propellerheads are in order.

Much as I expected, my idea of “data” was completely off the mark. For 80 minutes this morning, Dick Buchanan tortured us with questions and rhetoric trying to extract the four types of data.

No one had a clue.

I’m not sure if Dick enjoyed pulling our teeth, or if he thought we should have figured it out sooner. And I’m not sure if everyone enjoyed the way he did it: putting people on the spot; discarding answers he didn’t want; telling people to speak up; telling people not to comment again (in jest); complementing people for an intriguing idea that had nothing to do with the matter at hand.

I felt dumb, threatened, challenged, appreciated, amused.

It Looks Like a Fish

That’s what I had to say about the wrench.

The Four Types of Data

Eventually, through much coaxing, the four types of data were named. I wrote them down.

I do not know how I will apply this knowledge. But I trust Dick will continue to drag us, kicking and screaming, away from the things we know into the uncharted lands of interaction.

In the interest of preserving this painful and yet amusing ordeal, I will not tell you what the four types are.

So Much Intrigue

One of the many intriguing comments Dick made was that learning stuff progressively decreases your creativity. How do you get beyond what people have told you to learn new things?

We didn’t react when he said that. He told us we should be very upset.

He further said there’s a tendency to interpret something quickly. Association and context fixes some of the meanings, and that’s dangerous. It does not allow for a more open interpretation.

But he did offer hope in that what’s fixed can be unfixed. However, rather than tell us how, he rhetorically asked (or maybe it wasn’t rhetorical) how does one go about becoming open or getting free?

Dick Isn’t for Everyone

I can see how some might not like his methods. He makes you feel uncomfortable and unsure of yourself. But I believe there’s a point, and that he’s actually doing what he does in our best interest. He’s not about bullshit, and I appreciate that. And he’s not afraid to push us, and I respect that.

The first day of class he said we aren’t in competition with each other; we are in competition with him. That’s awesome.

I like Dick.

Have I really already completed two days of grad school? Have I really only completed two days of grad school?

Surely, it’s not Tuesday already. And surely, it’s not only Tuesday?

I am just beginning to understand how this is going to rock my world. My life as I knew it before, my life as it was last week, is gone. What mattered last week matter’s little now.

You may think I’m being melodramatic. I’m not.

Searching for a Clue

In contrast to my previous conversation with JZ when I said I didn’t know what I wanted to do after the program, and I couldn’t yet define interaction design, where JZ seemed a bit perturbed, Dick said “it’s good not to know things.”

I embrace this statement, because there is a lot I don’t know, and also because tonight, as a homework assignment that’s due tomorrow, a homework assignment I have not yet started, we have to find a product and identify three distinctive kinds of data about that product, and write a short paper.

But what is data?

Dick said data is “evidence that interaction has taken place.” However, this does not fit my definition and thus puts me in a strange place.

Further, he said, “Interaction is a relationship (W) between X in a process of Y toward a goal or a purpose of Z.”

W = data
X = things, people, environment (what)
Y = how it takes place (how)
Z = principal, value (why)

Despite having this formula, it’s not clear to me what data is. Data is a relationship? Data is evidence? I only have vague notions about how these are compatible? But I’m confident that before I go to sleep, there will be a paper, which I have produced, that offers my best guess.

It’s likely that my best guess will be blown out of the water tomorrow. I can’t wait.

Mastering Connections

The first thing Dick said was that our masters is a mastery in making connections. This can have many interpretations. I don’t know if it’s what he meant, but in the past two days, mastering connections has meant having a beer with my peers and talking about design, and feeling connected, finally, to an entire group of people who share the same intrigue and passion.

It’s a beautiful thing.