What I Read this Week (WIRTW): Cyberpunk + Data Science Bias

* A E S T H E T I C * V I B E S *

I am a 90s kid, and as such, I grew up during a period of time when the internet was still full of potential. I’m amazed to see the rise of 90s fashion, music and other artistic aesthetics making a comeback (and I can’t help but feel a little proud to have seen it the first time around).

The blend of pastels, clash of graphics and sythpop fuels my recent musical interests and is slowly making its way into the color palettes for my current web projects and digital art.

I was reminded of one of my favorite lesson plans from my Popular Genres course while catching up on my reading this week. In that course, I created a unit- discussion around the types of “punk” to emerge from the 70s and the different philosophical and socio-cultural outlooks held by each wave. My learners then explored these concepts through fun follow-up activities such as making their own online quizzes, social media profiles for historical figures, or even created interactive Twine stories to capture the spirit of their favorite genre of punk. In addition, they also spent time envisioning what the next wave of punk would look like. I really enjoyed the unit and my learners expressed interest in understanding the impact that punk made on their own popular culture conception.

Here is what I read this week:

Fiction and Graphic Novels:

• Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

• Ghost in the Shell by Mamoru Oshii

• Snowpiercer: The Escape and Snowpiercer: The Explorers by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette (translated)

Design Thinking and Data Science:

• Don’t Make Me Think (Revisited) by Steve Krug

• Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez

What I Read this Week (WIRTW): Around the Web + Self Care

After the rush of diving back into my tomes, it has been rewarding to check out a few quick reads. Even though online web articles sometimes get a bit of a bad wrap, I found that short articles became a great way to kick off discussions both inside and outside of the classroom.

Here are a few articles to get you going this week:
Manipulation and Dark Design Patterns:

• How Your Apps are Designed to Manipulate You

• https://www.darkpatterns.org/ is a great website which highlights some of the patterns negatively affecting user experiences across the web. I also recommend the book White Hat UX as another resource for combating some bad patterns.

• Stop calling these Dark Design Patterns or Dark UX — these are simply a**hole designs

The Power of a General Skill Set:

• Defining Design Generalists

Content Strategy and Composition:

• Content First Approach in Design: Collaborating with Content Strategists and UX Writers
  

If you are in need of some positive vibes:

• You’re Good Enough: How to be Okay with Being You

• Laziness Does Not Exist: But Unseen Barriers Do
  

What I Read this Week (WIRTW): Playful UX Design + Dystopian Fiction

Seems like this is a mandatory dystopian uniform

It is HOT here. Really hot. The 70% and above humidity does not help, and I have found myself seeking shelter in the cool breeze of my AC from the hours of 10am to 4pm.

Not only have I had the chance to catch up on my reading, I am also working my way through several classic videogames.

I love stories (some say that my degree is in storytelling) and the levels of interaction that video games and the software that power them provide to players has always fascinated me.





To this end, the books I read this week that blend game design, UX and learning experiences in creative ways. Enjoy!

UX and Game Interaction Design:

• Playful Design: Creating Game Experiences in Everyday Interfaces by John Ferrara

Dystopian Fiction (my favorite):

• Kindred by Octavia Butler

• On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee

Video game theory:

• The Medium of the Video Game by Mark J. P. Wolf

What I Read this Week (WIRTW): Content Strategy Tips and Tricks + Instructional Design

One of the best parts about the summer, has been the opportunity to FINALLY work my way through the backlog of books and articles I have saved. The books below are just a few that you may find helpful, that I finished reading this week!

What I read this week: 

• Content Strategy for the Web - Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach 2012

• The Content Strategy Toolkit - Megan Casey 2015

• Leaving ADDIE for SAM: An Agile Model for Developing the Best Learning Experiences  - Michael Allen 2012

• The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age -Cammy Bean 2014

I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the lessons I have learned from Leaving ADDIE for SAM while updating my portfolio and thinking about my own personal design goals for the next year. First, it is a great book for ideas on how to get started on re-working your own course design methods to incorporate more AGILE, iterative design models. For my own course (which blended design thinking , 3d printing and the composition process), I found that modifying my 1 month units into 2-week sprints offered my students more time for constructive feedback sessions (both giving and receiving).

I will say that if you are creating experiences that aren’t quite as digital-focused, it may be a bit overwhelming, but that is the beauty of these models and frameworks. Do not feel as though you have to adhere to each phase, or that the framework will work for your needs in that moment.