Final Post

1. I found that the readings from Norman were the most rewarding. I believe this because I was not aware of this process at all before I read this and I found it interesting. I also found it rewarding because it helped me out on future assignments.

2. I learned how things are analyzed in a more critical way than most people think. I also learned how dynamic of a process design is. It is impressed me how much detail really goes into designing products.

3. I think using a peer review will be very helpful in the future. However, I think learning the "do's and don'ts" of PowerPoint presentations will be the most useful to me. This will help because no matter what field of study I go into I will most likely need to conduct presentations similar to these.

Green

1. The author's main point is that people will conform to what other people are doing around them. It is human nature to give in to peer pressure.

2. I definitely think I'd be more affected my peer pressuring advertisements because I would respect my friend's opinions more than the "green" advertisements. I like to help out the environment when I can but I wouldn't go as far to go against my friend's stand.

3. All plastic water bottles used to be the same, but recently Ice Mountain has reduced the amount of plastic it uses with its bottles so my mom decided to buy those.

4. Ice Mountain water bottles, Smart Cars, Chevy Volt.

Jennifer Steinhauer

1. "Although the company would not disclose its budget for this campaign, it spent 50 percent more than last year.'' This quote says it all. In order to be a successful company, you need to advertise. Without advertising, you will not sell nearly as much product as you would with advertising.


2. I couldn't figure out how to include a picture, but I chose Abercrombie. The picture included two guys with their shirts off with a pair of jeans on. This picture suggests that they are marketing to teenagers and young adults with their suggestive content. They are selling clothing that kids would like to wear.


3. When I am looking to buy sporting clothes, image has a lot to do with what I am going to buy. As far as every day clothes, I don't really care what the brand image is. I like what I like and don't care what other people think. In today's society though, I believe the majority of people believe the clothes define the people. Basically, if you are wearing the "cool" clothes, it's going to automatically make you a cool person.

Cookie Cutter

1. The main point is that too many subdivisions and housing developments are being designed too similarly. This causes bland areas and creates a boring environment.

2. I believe subdivisions are okay for city layouts. However, the new subdivisions that are being developed all look the same and are very boring. Each house is designed to look the same and gives off a bad "vibe." If you have never been to one of these neighborhoods, it is extremely difficult to find the house you are looking for because of how similar they all are.

3. I do live in a subdivision. I live in an older neighborhood that was developed over fifty years ago so all the houses are very different; however, I do agree with what the author is saying about the new developments. 

BMIWD

1. This reading focuses on the needs of the customers. A website should be geared toward the customer, not on the website producers. It also relates to what we talked about in class in regards to simplicity. When a user signs on to your website, they should be able to figure out what the website is all about right away, not search around for five minuted to get a good idea.

2. Simplicity and giving solutions to the problems. Simplicity is all a customer cares about. We don't need a super fancy website in order to buy something; if it has what we want and it is easy to access then we will be happy. It also gives solutions to the many problems; it lists numerous examples of how websites can change the bad areas of design.

3. NO POP UPS, easy to navigate, and easy to read. In other words, simplicity.

Future of Retail

1. I  don't think he states his thesis very well. I would say, "In today's world, stores have become showrooms for the internet retailers to show off their products."

2. This relates to Norman's concepts in regards to how convenient the shopping is. Why would someone want to drive all the way to a store, search for the product in the store, wait in line, buy the product (with sales tax), then drive all the way. People would rather log onto to the computer and take 5 minutes to purchase something rather than taking an hour.

3. I believe his ideas remain extremely relevant. I believe this topic will always be relevant because people want to do things the easiest way possible, it's human nature. Plus with the technology boom as of late it is even more relevant than in 1998.

4. Every year the retail business will turn more towards the internet. As technology gets better and better, so will the ability to shop online. It will become an extremely task and I wouldn't be surprised if numerous businesses go out of business.

Downtown

1. I think Burdick Street was a very nice downtown area. It was a one way street  so there was a lot of room to walk around. There were a variety of businesses including a pizza restaurant, coffee shop, and a running store. The area in general was very welcoming and very safe.

Then we made our way over to South Street and this area was not as appealing. There weren't a lot of shops and when there were some it only included an insurance firm and a liquor store. There weren't a lot of people around so it wasn't very welcoming.

2. South Street should try to add more stores it it's area, on both streets add more stores appealing to younger people, and maybe add a police officer or two.

3. "One reason is messiness." Whyte said this in chapter 6. I think this relates to Kalamazoo because when you go from store to store or area to area, everything seems random. There aren't boundaries which makes it hard to find stores that you may like.