P3 – Spring 2015 Class Blogs

Interrogate an Interface: Clyp

Jackson — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 02:58:04 +0000

Presentations: Day 3

Jackson — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 15:58:21 +0000

As presentations are beginning to wind down, I get the feeling that there are a huge number of useless or nearly-useless interfaces available online. I suppose everything has its niche, but I honestly cannot imagine using many of these applications. The only one that particularly stood out to me today was thinglink, the video and image annotater. The website was streamlined and attractive and allowed for a pretty unique way to share photos and videos. As someone who is into photography and videography, this appealed to me, however, I think that thinglink could be quite accessible to anyone who was interested in using it.

Of course, the only real issue is popularity. Were I to sign up for the site, I’m not sure with whom I’d share any of my photos or videos. thinglink had this covered, though. With pretty effective integration with other social media, all of my friends could see anything I’d share, which is a big plus in terms of convincing me to sign up.

Fetchnotes

Lauren — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 15:56:47 +0000

The interface I found most interesting from the presentations today was Fetchnotes. I thought it was very practical because there aren’t many great reminder tools out there for people to use. If I need to set a reminder now, I either do it on my phone (which I don’t really like because it layout confuses me and is hard to navigate) or I write it down on a paper that get’s lost among everything else in my disorganized filing system. Fetchnotes lets you set reminders and categorize them so they are much easier to sort through. I actually think I’m going to download this app on my phone.

Exploring Other Tools

mhutzel — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 14:56:08 +0000

To be honest, I don’t think I would use any of the tool presented today. I feel like there are tools that already exist which provide better features and are more prominently used as a result. However, Thematic seemed the most interesting. I could string together images from a trip to make my presentation more gestural and visual than simply uploading an album to Facebook. This tool is similar to Instagram which I use daily. Multiple photos can be uploaded in a sort of timeline fashion which I think could be entertaining although I don’t take professional enough photos to make an impressive project. For my purposes I think I am just going to stick to Instagram because I can upload low-quality photos or even videos and edit them how I please.

“I come from a dancing background, and I know it’s stereotypical, but I would dance because I wasn’t comfortable speaking to people.”

-Carrie Ann Inaba

So Many Options!

agrondine — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 02:31:08 +0000

The tool I was most interested in today was Katharina’s presentation of PearlTree. It seemed like a really cool way to connect with friends and to organize all of your interests easily. I thought it was exciting how you could include photos as well and organize them into your different interests.

Exploring Other Tools- Trello

mhutzel — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 20:46:42 +0000

I found Trello to be the most interesting tool that was presented today. I am the type of person who likes to make lists so this tool would be great for me because it is in a league of its own when it comes to to-do lists.

I could use this tool to visually represent my to-do lists for school projects or even household chores like doing laundry. This tool is appealing to the eye and I would be very satisfied to move a completed task over to a “Completed” list. This would be very motivational to see how much I have finished and what I still have to do.

I especially liked that stickers could be used to make tasks stand out like the clock. Most of my school work is time sensitive so I would use this icon a lot. I could also make each list distinct by using different colors to separate school from work, etc.

Since I have a type-A personality, I can definitely see myself utilizing Trello.

“Its like dance is a metaphor for going beyond where you think you can go.”

-Jennifer Grey

Presentations: Day 2

Jackson — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 17:41:09 +0000

Despite some technical difficulties (and server maintenance), we completed our second round of presentations today. Again, most of the interfaces seemed pretty useless to me (though that’s not to say the interfaces themselves were useless), but one in particular stood out. Trello is an “easy, visual way to organize projects.” It essentially allows a project’s workflow to be managed and delegated to group members very easily. The customizations afforded by the interface are adequate and provide everything that one might need.

What I appreciated most, however, was that Trello was a finished product, a fully-functional tool, if you will. I was a bit frustrated by so many of the other interfaces’ “premium packages.” While I realize a company needs to make money somehow, incessantly advertising the premium package is not going to convince me to buy it, especially if half of the features are locked in the free version. While Trello does have a premium version of their service, it actually seems to enhance the product rather than “unlocking” all the features you should’ve had in the first place.

/end rant

Trello

Lauren — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 13:33:37 +0000

The tool I found most useful today was Trello. I thought it was interesting because it is a new way to organize and categorize information about upcoming events, classes, meetings, etc. I use my notes tool on my computer, a planner, sticky notes, and the notes tool on my phone, so my thoughts tend to get disorganized and I don’t remember where I posted a note when I need to find it. However, using Trello could help me put all my thoughts and memos into one program in a more efficient way.

Exploring Other Tools- Thing Link

mhutzel — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 14:55:07 +0000

I think that the tool Thing Link was very interesting because you can embed videos and links on pictures which makes them interactive. You can be very creative with this tool and take it any direction. I liked the example she provided with Torgerson Bridge and how she link to the VT website and the bridge hours.

I could see myself using this tool to add a little interest to my blog. I could also create an advertising tool for my dance company. I could have picture of a flyer with the 5 H’s and a W and link each part to a specific website. For instance, for “Where” I could link it to the building info about Squires or the stage more specifically. I could also embed the promo videos and music to make it more catchy.

It seems simple enough to navigate which is always a plus!

“Dance is the only art of which we ourselves are the stuff of which it is made.”
―Ted Shawn

Coggle

Lauren — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 13:25:52 +0000

I was not in class this day, but I researched all of the tools that were presented and decided I may like to use the tool Coggle. I thought it was interesting because it was a super easy way to brainstorm. Being a COMM major, we are regularly asked to brainstorm ideas for certain campaigns or various other reasons, but my graphs always end up super messy and illegible. However, using Coggle, I could easily make a web graph without having it look disorganized or chaotic.