extension tutorial

http://www.borngeek.com/firefox/toolbar-tutorial/

XUL tutorial:
http://www.xulplanet.com/tutorials/xultu/

Technique Research

Fortunately I found this Firefox Extension Tutorial (http://businesslogs.com/technology/firefox_extension_tutorial.php), which saved me a lot of time from going through some step-by-step tutorials on how to build a firefox extension.

This good tutorial is an overview of the development of a firefox extension. There is a good explaination of what firefox extension is and what technique it includes in the article, "Firefox extensions are simply extra XUL(XML User Interface Language), CSS, and Javascript files that sit on top of the default interface and replace or extend its functionality."

XML, CSS and Javascript are used just like in web design, which I am very familiar with. Firefox made the entire program as extensible as possible, which made extend its function a lot easier. And Mozilla is so committed to web standards that they actually built the entire user interface of their web browser in XUL ("XML User Interface Language") and then styled these XUL widgets using CSS, which made modify its UI as simple as web design. Also, the best thing is Firefox and a lot of its extensions are open source, which made building an extension not neccessary from scratch.

So I think building a firefox extension is not very hard. In the next couple of weeks I'm going to make my extension happen!

Market Research

After talking with Amit, we agreed on the first two things in priority need to be done soon.
1. to find out if this kind of firefox plug-in already exists.
2. to get a general idea of how difficult to actually build this.

Today, i did market research about firefox plug-ins(they call them extensions), the result is there is no such a plug-in the same as i want to build.

Surprisingly I found some helpful extensions for my project which will save a lot of my time I think, as well as some interesting ones.

Helpful for my projects:
Aardvark- https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/4111/
Print It! - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/282/
Print Context Menu - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2594/

Interesting ones:
Internote - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2011/
Nuke Anything Enhanced - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/951/

Also found some helpful firefox extension tutorials, really good to get started quickly:
http://roachfiend.com/archives/2004/12/08/how-to-create-firefox-extensions/
http://businesslogs.com/technology/firefox_extension_tutorial.php
http://www.rietta.com/firefox/Tutorial/overview.html

Tomorrow I'll go through these tutorials real quickly, to get a general idea of how to build a firefox extenstion and how hard it is!

Research

Last time the class suggested talk with more people to go deeper into the issue of paper waste. Also I've been trying to measure how big the problem is and how much the effectiveness is if implement the method.

I talked with a friend working at NYU's ITS multimedia center at west 4th street, it's one of the biggest computer lab in NYU. There are printing service as well. My friend told me averagely everyday total amount of paper usage is 10000, and approximately there are 1000 sheets of paper go into the trash bin because of mistaken printing, wrong format, short-time use, etc. He mentioned a story that once an administrator of the lab threw away about 1000 sheets of new paper because those paper got stuck in the printer for a few times. Also another friend who has experience working at computer lab said there were waste of paper in her lab too.

To find out people's attitude towards this problem and their reaction to my plug-in idea, first I talked with some people from ITP and somewhere else, they showed interests and supports in this. In order to get more analytical feedback I made a simple paper survey to find out what is people's habit of print out web pages, their attitude to the issue of waste of paper and the plug-in solution.

The survey has 6 questions:
1. How do you usually print out web pages or emails?
[ ]Use print function in browser
[ ]Any alternative?

2. How often do you encounter the problem that the web page you want to print have so much unwanted information?
[ ] Sometimes [ ] Usually [ ] Almost always

3. Do you feel more or less this problem induces (multiple choices)
[ ]waste of paper
[ ]waste of ink
[ ]waste of time
[ ]annoyance for reading

4. If there is a function in browser with which you can select a portion of web page and right click to print it out, are you willing to use it?
[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Maybe
If maybe, can you say a little bit of your concern?

5. Do you feel this function will help save paper, ink and your time, as well as benefit your reading?
[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Kind of
If kind of, what’s the shortage do you think?

6. Will you recommend others to use this function?
[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Maybe

I got 9 feedback so far, which are all support of the plug-in.

Final Project Proposal

I've been always very interested in the issue of pollution, environment, waste, etc. This semester I am taking two classes related to this topic, Design Expo about health and wellness, Sustainability Practice about environment, energy, pollution, sustainability. I got a lot of awareness in my head. So I am very happy to develop something really help solve some of these problems.

I had an experience earlier this semester, when I had 18 web pages needed to print out, but finally I got 54 sheets of paper, which is a huge waste of paper I think(200% waste!!!), because on the paper there are a lot of information including texts, images, videos, menus, bars and flashes which I don't want and need. I can do nothing but throw them away. It's OK to drop them in the recycling bin, but still a big waste before its full life cycle.

So I got an idea for the project in Design for Constraints class. It's a firefox plug-in, with which people can select a portion of web page and right click to print it out. In this way, people can easily just print the information only they want, thus save paper, ink and time, as well as benefit the reading.

I've shared this idea with some friends. All of them kind of like it and express the willing to use it.

Class #4

Note:



this class is not touching sth new, but it's very important. (i think the most important about this class is a doing strategy, could be applied to anything, design a product, make an art piece, learn some skills, prepare a presentation, etc.)



OODA

O - Observe

O - Orient

D - Decide

A - Act







Reference:

OODA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_Loop

John Boyd: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_%28military_strategist%29

Usability Analysis

1. Task: Find contact Lynda in cell phone contacts book

2. Buttons: (▼), (2ABC), (3DEF), (4GHI), (5JKL), (6MNO), (7PQRS), (8TUV), (9WXYZ), (0)

3. Notation: ↓ -press ↑ -release * -repeat task s -seconds to complete

CASE #1 - Motorola RAZR V3

[(5JKL)↓↑ *3]3s [(▼)↓↑ *12]8s = 15 operations over 11 seconds

CASE #2 - Nokia N80

[(5JKL)↓↑ *3]3s [(9WXYZ)↓↑ *3]3s [(6MNO)↓↑ *2]1s = 8 operations over 7 seconds

4. Analysis:

In case #1, people use name initial to find the the first contact with the same name initial as the one looking for, and then press down key to find the right one. The number and time of operations depends on the length of contacts list. If a contact is at the end of a long sub-list, it will take many repetitive press operation and consequently long time. And it's very annoying that one have to go through many unwanted contacts to find the wanted one.

In Case #2, people filter the contacts by spelling out the name, which is a very natural and direct way. Also, numbers and time of operations are independent with the length of contacts list.

5. Suggested Improvement

With the above comparison, the way of Case #2 is superior. Further, the longer the contacts list is, the more obvious that Case #2 outperforms Case #1. But still there is improvement space.

In Case #2, say one wants to find the contac "Lynda", he will press "2JKL" button 3 times to get letter "L", and "9WXYZ" button 3 times to get letter "Y", and "6MNO" 2 times to get letter "n", and so on. The numbers of operations can be reduced a lot by bringing in auto-match feature. For example, if on my cell phone, I only need to press "2JKL" button once and "9WXYZ" once and will get "Lynda" and "Kydi", which are two possible matches of these two buttons.

prototype

Today i finished my prototype for time telling device for the blind, it was going pretty well.



I chosed paper to do this prototype rather than card board is that I found card board is too thick for this small device that will fit in people's palm, but paper also have problem, it's a little soft and unstable, so I tried to use some hard paper.

Another a little problem is the distance between hour panel and minute panel is too close, this causes not easy to touch the sectors so as to tell the time. So at last I add a little piece of foam between two panels, this keeps apart two panels from a small distance. I think in the real project model, its material will be plastic, and this problem will be solved.

Time-telling Device for the Blind

The biggest contraint for designing a time-telling device for the blind is that it can't tell time visually like normal clock or watch we use everyday. Meanwhile, there should be some other constraints or restriction should be noticed, such as easy to carry, easy to use, obvious to tell difference, etc.

The first idea i thought about is a voice device. Sound is very easy to think about when designing some device for the blind. It could be a digital clock or watch without screen. Many digital watch or clock has the speaking feature. When pushing a button on it, it speaks the current time. However, such kind of voice device is not appropriate to use in a meeting environment or a noisy public space.

My second idea is to use sense of touching.

This device is made of two panels, bigger one is Minute, smaller one is Hour (like on normal clock, longer hand is Minute, shorter hand is Hour), a case and a cover. Each panel has 12 sectors, each sector meaning 1 hour or 5 minutes.

This device is about a palm big, so it's very easy to hold and carry. When holding it in palm, people can easily use fingers to feel how many sectors outside case, thus tell the time.

There is also a half-round cover for protection. People should open the cover to tell time.

#1 meeting

This is the first class i had this semester. As expected, there were many people in the room, good sign, i made a good choice and got a good luck!

Design for constraints, well, i've been feeling a lot of constraints, everyday, most of time.
One big constraint for me is computer. I have to face it and stare at it for hours and days. I feel really tired of this, I feel this is really an unhealthy way of life(but what can I do?). Hope i could get rid of this big constraint and make a good design! That's what this class all about. Another big constraint for me is language. No better solutions but listen it, say it.

OK, no much time to waste this semester! Assignment this week:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2a) Design a prototype of a clock that can be used by people with sever visual impairments. Next week your device will be tested by all other students while blindfolded. At least half of the class should be able to tell the time in order for your assignment to pass the usability test. It is not necessary for the clock to be operational and tell the actual time.

(2b) Describe in your journal (and illustrate if needed) at least one other prototype idea that is of equal quality to the one you've decided to persue. In a short paragraph, explain the factors that lead to your choice of one over the others.

Recommended books/articles:
(1) Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas (Paperback) by James L. Adams.
(2) The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheers