1. Why did I choose the blog format over the production of a web page?
The purpose of the web-based portfolio was to provide a consideration for the course readings that were assigned throughout the course. These readings were focused on design and the elements of design from a number of different levels including political, team, organizational, psychological and physical (Vicente, 2004, p.53), visceral, behavioural and reflective (Norman, 2004, p. 63). The advantages of using a blog included the fact that the blog is already created, minimizing the amount of time spent on creating the elements of the presentation thus it provided the opportunity to write. The writing was the primary focus of the blog. The use of a blog appealed to me both at a reflective level and at behavioural level. If I was to create a web page it would have involved creating a navigational system and header elements that would have required an unnecessary amount of time. The ease of the production of a blog along with the desire to explore the blogging platform were the primary reasons for it's use.
2. What are the design elements that have been included in the blog? Navigation, presentation of information.
The website blogger is easy to use and it requires minimal time to create. It provides quick and easy place on the web to publish your thoughts. There is the opportunity for adding a selected element when choosing a variety of backgrounds, the way in which comments are handled, the archiving capabilities and the addition of a variety of gadgets to help personalize the page. This however does not make the design a entirely personal one as Norman (2004) states, "Things do not become personal because we have selected some alternatives from catalog of choices." (p.220). I chose the meadow theme as it represented for me the concept that growth in knowledge comes from the exploration of ideas. The exploration is the soil under the grass and the grass represents the growth of ideas. There is a line from a song titled Cassidy by the Grateful Dead that I am fond of which states, "Grow your scorched ground green." The idea of grass leading to a new future, and the past being that of a scorched piece of land is imagery that I have always enjoyed.
I have included a navigational piece at the top of the blog to help in organizing the blog. The mission statement and this design rational appear at the top of the blog making them easily accessible. The heading I have used are what I thought to be descriptive of the content that is contained in the subsequent pages. The other navigational elements are those provided by blogger including the archiving feature, the search engine and the personal information. These to me are easily used and visible as elements on the right hand side of the blog.
Finally the information within the blog was presented in a fashion that was easy to read with references. I really enjoyed this opportunity to blog as I had not done so in the past. I enjoyed it so much that I used it as a platform for a major project in another class that I had taken this semester. I plan to use this more often in the future and I hope to encourage others, colleagues and students alike to explore it. It reaches down to that fundamental idea of writing to learn.
References
Norman, D. (2004). Emotional Design: Why we Love(or Hate) Everyday Things. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Vicente, Kim J. (2004). The Human Factor: Revolutionizing the Way We Live with Technology. Toronto: Vintage Canada
