A1: Annotated Bibliography
Assignment 1- Annotated Bibliography
Name: Jack Fahey s3382553
I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services
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Annotated Bibliography
Selected text 1 – The Design of Every Day things (pages 81-87) (word count 535)
Norman, D 1998, The design of everyday things, Basic Book, New York pp 81-87
Chapter 4 in Norman’s (1998) book, The Design of Everyday Things, outlines the concept he identifies as “constraints” and explains their importance to designers specifically when they are producing content/objects for consumption. The chapter postures that an objects constraints (things that limit the function of an object) can aid the user in determining the correct use and/or function of said object. Norman (1998) goes further into detail by also positing several different types of constraints that an object may have, listing four categories in total (physical, semantic, cultural and logical). The chapter also goes into detail explaining a study involving adults assembling a Lego motorcycle without instructions/guides and provides photographs detailing the task.
The article provides utility by very simplistically explaining the subject matter; the impact that constraints can impart onto objects, from a designer perspective. The results of the Lego motorcycle test is somewhat limited in application and scope (doesn’t outline method or sample, which severely limits any study’s capacity to be extrapolated), however the test isn’t intended to be used as evidence of a widespread phenomenon, but to merely simplistically illustrate to the reader the general aspects of the topic. In this sense, it is functionally useful content for the chapter to contain. The four different categories of constraints that Norman (1998) specifies (physical, semantic, cultural and logical) perfectly illustrate the different reasoning that an average adult would use in order to complete the task outlined at the beginning of the chapter. One issue with the chapter that could possibly limit the usefulness was the way Norman (1998) seems to completely ignore any potential for accidental completion of a task/use of an object. While he does go into very precise detail outlining his various hypotheses of affordances and constraints throughout his entire book, and obviously within this chapter, he will often neglect to acknowledge that perhaps the reason an object like this was built without instructions could be related to someone accidentally doing something correctly. That is to say, there is perhaps too heavy a focus on deliberate actions throughout The Design of Everyday Things, though it may be impossible to deliberately design an object to be “fortuitous” so to speak, which could be the reason that this topic is not covered. One last factor that may limit utility to readers is how much the industry of design has grown and developed since the publication of the book. Decades of shifts and changes in the marketplace may render some of the more contemporary arguments in the book either irrelevant or at the very least muted in effectiveness.
This entire book, and by extension this specific chapter, has been used all over the world by prospective designers in many different specialty disciplines and became a #1 best seller. It has, therefor, clearly proven its utility and importance to the design industry. It is perhaps even more important to the designers of today than it was in 1988 due to the fact that there is an ever expanding number of technological advancements/inventions in the software development market, and these applications are often picked up by consumers or completely forgotten based solely on their ease of use and intuitive design features.
Selected text 2 – New Media: A Critical Introduction (pages 163-169) (word count 449)
Lister, M et al 2009, New Media: A Critical Introduction. Routledge, New York. pp 163-169
Section 3 of New Media: A Critical Introduction explores both the history and the modern applications of the widespread adoption of the internet, specifically in relation to marketing strategy. It outlines both the importance and effect of the dot com crash in early 2000 and the role that the internet has played within an economic context over the following decade. The chapter suggests that modern marketing strategy isn’t only concerned with “exposure” for the brand, but also aimed at promoting “engagement”. Because strategies with high engagement can command higher fees, Lister et al (2009) postulate that smaller audiences with high engagement can earn just as much revenue as mass audiences.
The chapter provides a good base for understanding in the introduction, before honing the argument down to a more specific and modern topic. It goes into great detail laying down its most important points and defining terms so that the reader can easily digest the information regardless of their experience or prior knowledge in this particular field. On possible drawback is that this publication is now 11 years old. Technology based strategies and information can grow at such a rapid, exponential rate that perhaps the arguments put forward in this article may have already been improved upon or rebutted in further works. Compounding this, its usefulness is somewhat limited towards any social media based marketing strategies considering the relative boom that social media has made in the time since publication. Some of the most popular social media applications of today (Instagram and Snapchat for example) weren’t even launched at the time of publication of this book. This would obviously limit its relevance and utility to anyone specifically researching that particular field of online advertising.
The chapter definitely provides a lot of utility, specifically in relation to anyone researching the early stages of the internet and the first evolution of online marketing. The chapter discusses the dot com boom and crash, the first forays into online marketing and the history of the topic at length, and this is the kind of data and analysis that ages particularly well. So, despite the fact that it was published over a decade ago, in regards to this field of research it is still very relevant. While the chapter doesn’t provide much in-depth, “fine-grain” analysis (and doesn’t aim to) it is still successful at asking questions that push the audience towards further works and it provides evidence from a variety of established, well regarded sources. So while it might not be the most useful piece of writing for experts, it does provide significant utility to people who are just beginning their research into online marketing and how it has changed since its early stages.
Selected text 3- Video: The Reflexive Medium (pages 1-6) (word count 395)
Spielmann, Y., 2007. Video: The Reflexive Medium. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp. 1-6)
This chapter on the Audiovisual Medium explores how the form of video has changed the medium since its inception, and to a lesser extent provides a background of how the audiovisual medium as a whole has developed since videotaping began in the 60s. There is one main assertion made throughout the chapter; that the central factor separating video from film reliant predecessors is that it does not produce any physical images, even though it does produce pictorial quality. Throughout the whole chapter the writer relies heavily on theoretical frameworks to support their arguments, rather than empirical evidence.
A very in depth, philosophical framework is built throughout the first chapter of this book which goes into great detail to explain the nuanced difference between digital and film based video capture and reproduction. The arguments are supported with technical and theoretical based evidence. The first major drawback to the article that may hinder utility is the incredibly specific and technical jargon used throughout the piece. There is a lot of industry and technologically specialised language that is used without defining any terms for the reader. For an audience that is well versed in the subject matter, this would not be an issue. However, anyone new to the topic or attempting to start learning more with this book may not draw an enormous amount of use out of the chapter, or the book, because of the specificity of the lexicon. Secondly, the article doesn’t attempt to back up any of its assertions or arguments with any empirical and/or statistical evidence or attempt to reference previous works in the same field. It relies solely on the theoretical arguments put forward by the author and nothing else. While this can still be a useful text, it does limit the utility that it can provide to academic works, considering the claims it makes cannot be tested and/or proven outside of being internally consistent.
Understanding the nuanced ways video has reshaped the audiovisual medium is important to people in a variety of disciplines, especially those wishing to become video content creators, film makers, producers etc. The article would be a useful text for anyone exploring the filmic qualities of technical advancements in video production as well as anyone that is seeking a further philosophical understanding of how image capture on film differs from its virtual replacement in modern video.
Total Word Count : 1470