feedback on feedback

as promised, I would respond to the mid-term survey. Since Prof Ben is responsible, and responded to the feedback about it, the larger meta-thingy for the whole course, I wouldn't be dealing with that. Rather, I'll just respond to the feedback about me lah, since that is the only thing he didn't publish.

The feedback were randomised in order. What I've done is to group that into themes to respond to them together. I did not leave out any comments (I think.)

Presentation workshop

1. I really will remember him for his presentations talk. It changed the way I always looked at presentations and I will try to be a good presenter. :)


2. awesome presentation on presentation. (Your ppt skills are awesome)


3. Conducted a very gd class on Myths on presentation.


4. Very good tutor. His workshops were all easy to understand and grasp. The workshop about presentation was truly great indeed, I have learnt many things from taht workshop. His comments on students' posts, blogs as well as project ideas were all nice as well. Great tutor in conclusion.


5. He's a big, friendly guy. He speaks a lot of sense and has much to learn from. He is very willing to argue and discuss and change his viewpoint against solid arguments. His presentation on presentations was enlightening (MESA has probably been drilled in me now. Every time I think of a presentation, I think of this and it all becomes clear why it was what it was, and how it could be improved). I certainly see a teacher in him. All the best!


6. Great lesson on presentation and simplicity


7. really interesting tutor, he often spurs discussion and is a rather fun person... he gives rather interesting and constructive comments as well... his lessons are well planed and interesting~


8. AWESOME SLIDES LA. And greater presenter for the Presentation workshop too!

Wow. I'm taken aback. Thank you very much for your encouragement and affirmation. To be frank, from the time I ended the workshop, till about the time I saw the feedback, I thought that the workshop was a failure.

Why do I think so?

First, other than a a few, there is generally very little response on the blog posts about what was shared in the workshop. Next, there was a lack of response during and right after the workshop. So I thought, damn, I must have shared something so "duh" that no one is talking about it.

That was why i was taken aback by the comments, in a good way. Thank you very much!

General Teaching

1. Knowledgeable and contribute good ideas. Objective.


2. - very helpful and friendly - but i haven't really had a good chat with him yet


3. Pleasant, enthusiastic and fun! Good presentation!


4. Out-going tutor with a lot of experience


5. It is great that he is keen to share his expertise in photoshop.


6. Gave me some very good advise and some constructive feedback. Good teaching!


7. can see the halo of wisdom glowing around him.


8. Has a lot to share, dedicated and does more than what is required of him such as organizing extra sessions.


9. I feel that Yanjie is very helpful and approachable. While I find that his lessons are clear, it might be good if he could also provide a review of what he teaches during the workshop. This is as the presentation slides used, while great for teaching during lessons, are very lacking in detail and do not make a good reference.
   

Thanks for the feedback. Again, I didn't think what I shared was useful, nor did I think that I was outgoing. I hardly mingled around!

Specifically, I would like to address to 2 of the comments
comment 9) I have to agree with that, because the slides weren't meant to be a reference in the first place. The slides were meant to be a guide, not a document. It is a crutch, not to replace your leg for walking.

Frankly, I used to scream murder when lecturers don't upload their slides. That all changed when I took a introductory module. What the lecturers do is to upload a one page document with key words. That's all. Before we could scream murder, they said it in the first lecture "It's to sharpen your note taking skills".

Now it's no joke not to have notes in a arts lecture. There is so much content, so much jargon, so many authors with years and page number for citation purposes. Wah lao, want me to type until I die ah?

But after my 2nd lecture, I found enlightenment when it comes to notes and understood where the lecturers were coming from. I found myself listening more, understanding more, synthesising more, and writing less. My notes became shorter, but I find that most of the words are my own, not the lecturer's. I find myself being able to explain the concepts better.

So try it. You'll find that you're find zen in note taking. :)

As for providing a review, I thought about it while preparing for the workshop. In the end, I decided that it's pointless.

Why is that so? At the end of the day, for the photoshop workshop, the web has much better resources in the form of a video. As for the presentation workshop, I find that as long as the MESA is gotten across, that's all that matter - what's before that was just to set the stage for MESA to come.

comment 7) Serious boh? Macham Beyoncé's song sia. :P

Debates

1. A very interesting addition to the teaching staff, providing view points from an arts student. Makes for very good debates!


2. (from previous comment)"…He is very willing to argue and discuss and change his viewpoint against solid arguments…."


3. (from previous comment)"...His comments on students' posts, blogs as well as project ideas were all nice as well. Great tutor in conclusion."


4. Good tutor. But have very strong views and like to debate too much.

So should I debate I don't debate? :P

In response to comment 4, you have to understand why I debate. I don't debate to defend pride or ego. I don't debate to save face. I debate to distill the best arguments. That was how many of what I thought to be strong arguments got overturned - through the distillation process of debate. That is the understanding I have with people I argue with - we argue to strengthen our arguments, or throw it out if it didn't stand the test of debates. We argue to change our point of view. It only becomes more stubborn because it stood the tests of many arguments. So unless an equally strong argument, or stronger argument, is thrown against it, it wouldn't move for a very good reason. But it doesn't mean it wouldn't move. :)

Some other comments that I cannot group

• Good designer and good teacher material. Would be good if he can publish more design insights and resources. Hope that he can share some viewpoints from the viewpoint of the education system. Might help some people to think of ideas or projects to help improve education.

Thanks for the kind words.
a) Publish design insights: got what! Hardly anyone read this after I wrote it leh.
b) Education
I'm not comfortable with writing about education, cause my perspective is very limited to my experience. So unless you understand the context I'm coming from, it's best that we don't argue about education.

Besides, I doubt that any improvement to education is scalable. So I think it is quite pointless to debate on it at a system-wide level. :P


• I may be biased, but I chat more with Yanjie than with all the other tutors combined. I just don't see him much on campus. I think Yanjie is a good teacher. He cares for his students - even if that means 40 of us, who aren't exactly high school kids - and he cares about what we learn. One day, there will be a batch of NUS students who will take up Geography and think back to their high school teacher, and thank him for making a difference in their lives. (Or whatever subject la - you know what I'm saying no?)

I get what you're saying, and very much appreciative of your words. Frankly, I don't care what my kids do, as long as they do what they love. It doesn't matter if it is Geography - I would have failed if my kids do Geography just because of what I did, but not because of what they love. And quite frankly, I don't believe I have that kind of effect. :P


• Shld be quite fun.

Sounds quite wrong? :P

Again, I'm really appreciative of the kind words and comments. I myself am the one who have to be thankful to have the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people.

All the best for your final projects!

quick note

I'm currently very much zoned-out, as I have slept at a rate of 2-3 hours per day for the past week as I was rushing the programme booklet for my hall production Thus I may not make sense, but this is the only time I can blog for this week.

1) Consultation: I had the good fortune to kay-poh a few groups' consultation with Prof Ben. Note that I didn't cherry-pick sessions to kaypoh base on personal preference or if I know the group or not. Neither does kaypohing your session means that I like your group or that your group's project has huge problems that require additional tutor to comment.

It's just that it fits into my schedule lah. And I'm a kaypoh.

2) UI - a persistent issue I have from the groups i have met so far is UI. I will write a blog that details it further, but just a quick point - if you don't know what is the purpose of that page, how do you expect the users to know then? And when the purpose of the page is unclear, how do you add elements to interact and get things done at all?

And be more forgiving with yourself with regards to UI design. It takes time to know it better. :)

2) Mid-term Feedback: I had a quick glance over it and is taken aback, in a good way. Thank you very much for your feedback. As Prof Ben have addressed most of the comments, other than the one about the tutors, I'll respond to the comments specific to me in another blog post.

because common sense is not common

In some of our discussions/debates/arguments/bitching sessions about education, Prof Ben/overlord/slave-driver supremo/Dr. Obvious would ask this question "how do we teach common sense?"

My reply will always be "Whose common sense?"

I'm sure most of you would have heard him say something like this to death - Common sense is not common. That is why it needs to be taught.

Truthfully, that quote came from the field of anthropology. It is rather, a way of saying that different cultures have different psyche and mindsets. What is common sense to them is not common sense to us or other cultures. Chewy's talk has shown: What's common sense to the Indian family featured is not common sense to us. What's common sense to me about the origin of the burning smell in the air these days is not common sense to other people (it's not from Indonesia by the way).

That is why my reply to him is always as such - whose common sense? After all, when faced with criticisms about his theory of relativity not makeing sense to common sense, Einstein would respond by saying if we all lived in space and travelled at the speed of light for the first 10 years of our lives, the theory of relativity will make perfect sense, and what we understand to be common sense now will be senseless.

Thus, the question should not be "how do we teach common sense", but rather, "how do we teach what is common sense to me/us?" And given that it is not as common as what we think, should we drop the term "common" then?

I'm not suggesting that there are no set of "sense" (which usually consist of norms, practices, values and mindsets) that is common in a given society. But this is where we have to make the distinction: is it common sense only to me, or to the society as well?

If it is not as common, why do we still attach "common" to "sense" then? Is it because it legitimise our "sense" over others to over-ride theirs? If our "sense" should reign over others', why can't we do it base on its own merit, and need to claim its apparent common-ness to convince others?

That is why I cringe sometimes, when people say "it's common sense what!". I think "it is better sense what!" would be better.

PS: I'm rambling. Don't take it too seriously, but my rough point is there lah. It's partly about UI design too!

if the director thinked like a designer.....

(PS: Have finished up the ipad and designer post. This post kinda links on from that post)

same song, 2 different movies.

This song, "O Re Piya" was first used in the Hindi movie, "Aaja Nachle". It is later used by the late Yasmin Ahmad for a scene in her movie, "Talentime".

The same song is used in two different movies. Though the song is very much heartachingly beautiful, both films used it very differently to develop the story.

If you are to think like a designer, which way would you use it?

(A) As in Aaja Nachle

(b) As in Talentime (6:25 onwards)

(The last few seconds of the song extends to this clip)

ipads, decorators and designers.

DISCLAIMER: What I'm sharing is purely base on my own personal experience and my personal opinion about what design is all about, and how I work when it comes to designing. I have no formal training in design or art for that matter, nor have I done any design for money before. Thus, do not take my word as the gospel, but rather with a pinch of salt (unless you've reached your daily salt intake)

(DISCLAIMER: When I was in a very playful mode when I was updating this post, so don't take my sarcasm and bitchiness seriously. I'm just playing playful hor!)

judge a designer not by what (s)he put in,

but what (s)he took out.

That was where I left this blog post on 19 Feb 2010. Cedric left a very nice quote in the comments that goes along this line as well.

I didn't finish this post the last time, simply because I was (a) damn busy and (b) have yet to crystallise my thoughts then. It is not that I'm any less busy now, but I think it turns out to be a damn good thing to not finish this post until today.

Why's that so?

Interestingly, the useless tutor has been approached by a few groups and/or individuals this week. It's interesting not because they are approaching a useless tutor, but rather they have the same concern - how to communicate to a designer?

At first, I thought, wah designers so mystical meh? Macham designers need spirit mediums / tang kee / dong co / nat kadaw (as you can see, I do Southeast Asian studies...;P) to communicate to like that.

After a few meetings, I being to realise the pattern - the issue is not that people don't know "how" to communicate to designers. Rather, the problem is that people don't know "what" design is all about.

What design is all about......really

My friend once said "Designers only make things look nice". He claimed that for most product designs, the engineers work on their own, and the designers just make the product looks nice. I retorted to him, "No wonder there are so many sucky products out there that doesn't make sense".

Truth to be told, that's what people think design is all about - make things look nice. They couldn't be more wrong. Frankly, if you're looking for someone to make things look nice, look for a decorator, not a designer.

Designing is all about communicating. We don't communicate through words - we communicate through, well, design. We don't communicate to your conscious or your thought - we communicate to your sub-conscious and your emotions, your feelings - things that you can't really describe but feel it (it is also coined as "affect", but I don't want to use that term as it can be quite a cheem concept).

So how do we do it? We makes things clearer, we makes things simpler. We remove the complexities, increase emphasis for what is important, and reduce emphasis, or even take out what's not, such that the message is brought across clearly. We choose the right image, the right colours to bring across the message.

Of course the users wouldn't go "ahh! This thing is bigger, so it must be important!", or "Ahh! The colour scheme is green, so this company is about growth!". It is something they feel, they know, but not consciously. Sometimes, they can't describe the feeling, but they know the feeling. This is how we communicate the message.

When I talked to the groups and/or individuals, this thing keep coming up: the design doesn't feel right, how do we tell the designers what we want? I would usually asked back this question "Do you know what you want to say with your page?" This is when then they are lost for words, and I'll proceed to slap them across their faces, splashed ice water, place my arms on my hips and screeched "WhhHHHHAAAaaat?? If you have heard high pitch screeching noises in COM1, I may have been responsible for it.

But seriously, if you don't know what you want, how do you expect the designers to know how to design something that you'll want??" So yes, it's your FAULT. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!

Ok but before you go suicidal over guilt, here's something to make you feel better: You're not alone.

If I have learnt anything the hard way, here's the most important lesson I've learnt from the hard way school: Most clients don't freaking know what the hell they want. That is why I actually spent most of my time at the start talking to clients, trying to tease out and make them really sure about what they want to communicate.

The myth of giving creative control

I know it is tempting to tell the designer "I want a page that does this. Go design.". After all, creative people are stereotyped to want to have creative control right? I'm not saying that you shouldn't give creative control, or that it is anything wrong with being nice. Rather, such orders are anything but "nice", and is as good as not giving any control.

Let me explain.

I once had such a boss in NS. Everytime he asked me to help design something, I would ask him "what kind of feel do you want? What kind of impression do you want to communicate? " He would always tell me "Aiyah you decide lah. You're the designer". In the end, every design I submit, he'll go "but it doesn't feel right leh". I would have to revise it like 4-5 times until he's satisfied.

So once, he gave me an assignment. I asked the same question, and he gave the same reply. Somehow, I was pissed and I told him "Sir, you have to tell me what you want now. If not, I have to waste time editing over and over again like before, which frustrates you and I. I would rather you be upfront with what you want to say, so that I can get it communicated from the start, and so that you don't have to think of nice things to say when it doesn't do what you want. You being nice now is not helping me, but hell for me."

He was a little shock when I said that, but that was the assignment with the least amount of editing done, with the least amount of frustration for both of us.

I know it is paradoxical: how is taking control giving creative control? If I were to use an analogy, what that person did is like asking me to destroy an object, without telling me what the object is or where it is, and is giving me "creative control" by asking me to decide. How is this control, when I have to take a stab at everything until I hit the object you want me to destroy?

By telling us what you want to communicate, you're telling us where the object is and what it is. That way, I can spend more time thinking how to destroy it as creatively as possible, rather than stabbing around in the dark.

Now this is what creative control is about - you don't decide how I do it, but you have to let me know where is it, so that I can spend more time and energy on thinking rather than searching.

So all in all, how to communicate to a designer?

Frankly, I think a good designer should be one who does this with you, but if your designer doesn't, here are a few things you should consider when you want to communicate with a designer.

1) Be clear about what you want to communicate

"Something nice" is not being clear. "Fresh design" or "damn pro design" is not clear either. Tell the designer how you want the users to feel specifically.

Bad Example: Feel good.

Good Example: Feel that the company is about stability, that the company is trustworthy, that the company is nurturing.

If you're not sure how to describe it, show the designer designs that communicates what you want. Remember: it is all about what you want to communicate.

2) Designers are not the fruit juice Auntie

This is the most common kind of client I've gotten:

All too often, clients want to cover all grounds - they want everything. As I've mentioned earlier, design is about communication. You have to choose what is most important to be communicated to the users. We are not the fruit juice Auntie, whom you can order half apple half orange hor. If you want the best of both worlds, all I can say is you'll have none. Sorry we don't create miracles to overcome this issue hor.

I'm not saying that a design cannot be fun yet professional, or professional but yet fun, or something along that line. But you have to know : one has to be more important than the other. One is the main dish, the other is the garnish. If you want both main dish in one dish, you get a mash.

Visualise this: Mickey mouse in tux. That's mostly fun, but a touch of professional feel, right? Now visualise Steve Jobs wearing mickey mouse ears. That's professional with a touch of fun, right?

Now visualise a monster that's half mickey mouse and half Steve Jobs. You get my drift about having neither here nor there.

Do note that not every contrasting things work when placed in a garnish-main dish context. So do listen to the designer when he tells you that decorating your ben and jerry's ice cream with pieces of tomato doesn't make your ice cream more appetising.

Bad example: refer to comic above

Good example: I want the customers to know immediately that our company is about games, specifically arcade games. I want them to feel a sense of fun, retro feeling from arcade games.......

3) Come up with a list of what's most important to the least important

Let's say you want a webpage - decide what is most important on that page to the least and discuss that with the designer. Ideally, a designer should discuss this with you from the start, but if he /she doesn't, you could always initiate it.

Bad Example: Everything is just as important

Good Example: The focus should be on the company contact information.

Good example 2: The focus should be on booking flights, less so on the history of the company.

Now I know it is tempting to say "everything is just as important". But like I said in the previous point, you either have more emphasis on A or more emphasis on B. Equal emphasis = no emphasis on either = mess = lack of clarity. You cannot have the best of both worlds. Emphasis works on contrast and difference. That's how the brain works.

That is why designers are piss when the clients indiscriminately asked for the logo to be bigger. It is not because they have to edit it, it is because the client wants emphasis on everything which leads to mess and lack of clarity.

So no aesthetics meh?

I'm not saying that designers don't consider aesthetics. Rather, they consider aesthetics WITH clarity and communication. Aesthetics are used to amplify the message they want to communicate, not overwhelm it.

That's what separate a designer from a decorator.

So what has this got to do with iPad?

Here's the question for you then: why did the designers of iPad not have so many things that could be added in? What's the focus and what are they trying to communicate then?