Concept Brief Writing & Additional Research
Since my presentation last Tuesday, I've been focus on improving my concept brief and refine my argument so that it is focused and articulate. Based on how I was responding to questions raised during my feedback, it became apparent to me that the statements I was making were still too broad or provided the wrong intention. In order to revise my concept brief, I tried to answer the questions laid out in the Concept Brief .pdf located on the thesis site in 1-2 sentences each. This is my first attempt at answering them, and once I had this down I moved on to brainstorming in Sharpie on a roll of trace, and then I'll re-visit this exercise again:
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What is the premise or known circumstances you are addressing?
“Web 2.0" designs value the information content of the web over the individuals producing it. They encourage the production and aggregation of dehumanized metadata.Therefore, our assumptions and expectations about online interaction are based on a machine-centric view of technology whose cognitive effects we are only beginning to understand. -
What core question(s) you are trying to answer?
How can we be made aware of how we take technology for granted?How can we shape technology to fit our needs, rather than the way technology currently shapes us? -
What is your argument/for or against something? What are you arguing for with the making of your thesis project?
Cognition has not been a priority for designers of technology; even though our target audience is human we are creating technologies that cater more to machines. -
What is your thesis- or how and why do you think this project will provide an answer to your particular question?What: My thesis is a collection of critical design pieces that playfully undermine our logical expectations of website interactions.How: By subverting contemporary methodologies of web development, users will be made aware of their assumptions of online technology and its cognitive effects.
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Why and to whom does your thesis matter?
Web designers: by questioning the machine-centric priorities of existing development paradigms, while offering models of interaction based on humor and irrationality.Web consumers: reveals how we take technology for granted by subverting our expectations of online interaction. Encourages the user to question their dependency and assumptions about technology. -
What are your criteria for success?
Presenting a curated collection of critical design pieces that encourage discourse about the design and priorities of online technologies.Providing thoroughly commented open-source software modules for each piece for peers to modify and implement. -
Provide a list of ways that your thesis will be used and make an impact.
The functional implementations of each piece will encourage discourse about the validity and priorities of contemporary web design methodologies.Open-source software modules of each piece will encourage experimentation and inspire fellow designers to rethink their focus on information over the individual. -
Provide a domain map of the fields you are studying
Media Theory, Cognition, Web Design, Internet Art, Critical Design -
What are the mediums you are working in and why is this the design and technology approach the best way forward?
Working in purely online mediums because my interest is in promoting the awareness of our assumptions about technology and reforming the priorities of designers of such technologies. -
What is the previous work or model(s) you are building on and advancing?
Advancing the work of critical designers and Internet artists who produce work by subverting or manipulating aspects of online technology. Examples include:-
Steve Lambert's Add-Art plugin for Firefox
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Michael Mandiberg's Oil Standard plugin for Firefox
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Hoss Gilford's It's a Clock application for the iPhone
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Aram Bartholl's “Are you human?” art installation and business cards
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Matt Sly & Jay Patrikios' FutureMe.org:e-mail your future self online service
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I know these answers are still dense and abstract, but I'm working on refining them so I can clearly articulate my positions. Part of that process has been doing some additional research into media theory focused on the Internet. I've started reading 2 books: The Future of the Internet (and How to Stop It) by Jonathan Zittrain and You Are Not A Gadget by Jaron Lanier. The latter I've already found useful, as it is Lanier's manifesto against Web 2.0 designs. His focus is much more socialist and economical than mine, but I believe I will be able to draw upon his rhetoric for my own purposes.