Krug Reading

A few items especially stood out to me during this new reading. The first one was in Chapter 1, where Krug talked about being encouraged to frame experiences into language that flows through new media (page 7, that was my interpretation of his quote anyway, so I am going with it). I think this is an excellent point, especially in the social networking world.

Telling a friend about something you did or giving a lecture doesn't often cut it for the general population. These days, to be meaningful information, it has to be shared on the Internet and through other popular forms via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogs, etc. In fact, a lot of people expect certain things to be aired online (look at TED/TEDx talks).

Another section that stood out to me was on learning and test taking when he talked about students wanting bulleted lists and expecting exams based on the simple lists. Why do you think they are favored? I do think students are capable of "examining complex arguments" and applying them to real world scenarios, but that's not what they're given. I suppose it might be a "chicken and egg" scenario, but from personal experience it seems exams are bland (multiple choice) instead of thought provoking (interpretation) from an early age. With the exception of math, most exams I took in grade school and some in college typically involved memorizing material from slides and taking a multiple choice test. If this is what students are taught, how can they be expected to accept anything more?

If students have always been given multiple choice and real world application has not been encouraged, of course they will think items are "too hard." I like to think the usage of textbooks (not novels) furthers this issue. I did notice teachers in undergrad trying to change up material/exams to make the contests more universally applicable and encourage creative thought and problem solving, but I would guess a lof of colleges and grade schools lag behind.

The whole "people model what they see on screens" subject is also interesting to me. I've had an interest in the growing rate of narcissism for a while and the Internet is definitely a catalyst. People can see endless displays of all sorts of behaviors/fashions/etc. everyday - more than could previously be accessed with movies and magazines. Adolescents can go on Instagram, style websites, etc. to see what peers and celebrities look like and are doing. Seeing as part of my senior thesis dealt with advertising and body image, I know (and many do) how detrimental images of skinny, seemingly perfect women can be to impressionable teens/women. That's a whole different topic though, and I've already droned on quite a bit!