Chapter 3 : The Dimension of Context
- (Christopher Alexander) the objective of design, not as form alone, but as "the goodness of fit between form and context"
- (Herbert Simon) design as "action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones" systems - set of interacting or interdependent products that make up an integrated whole; set of things are interconnected in such a way that they produce their own patter of behavior over time community - set of interacting or interdependent systems that define the scale of design problems in post-industrial society - cognitive perception and processing of visual stimuli has its origins in the biological world and survival responses - interpretive behaviors are learned Gestalt Theory Principles
- gestalt = "configuration" favors the perception of pattern over individual elements Principle of Proximity - tend to perceive individual elements as a whole or complete form when they share common spacing Principle of Similarity - tend to perceive a whole form or pattern when similar characteristics are shared by individual elements Principle of good continuation - illusion of elements in a continuous whole, despite some interruptions and changes in form Principle of closure - tend to perceive some groupings of elements as simple, closed shapes, even when outlines are broken and independent of other properties - circle drawn with small gaps in the line is still perceived as a circle fixation - the period of time in which the eye is at rest of focused on a single object or element in a visual field
saccade - rapid eye movement between periods of rest; relocates the gaze in a different direction - text accompanies graphics will influence how the audience reads and interprets the image - average time spent by viewers with a single exhibition component was about 3 seconds visceral emotion - "pre-wired" and is not the result of reasoning behavioral emotion - satisfaction or pleasure that comes from the use of something or from doing something well reflective emotion - type of emotion that involves contemplation, memory, and learning |