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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>= Redesign Exercises =<br />
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Five exercises for applying the Calm Technology framework to an existing object. Each one takes a device that already exists rather than a hypothetical, because the constraints of a real product are what make the exercise useful. Work on paper first. Photograph or sketch the current state before changing anything.<br />
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== Exercise 1: Move a signal into the periphery ==<br />
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'''Category:''' CT1 Attention, CT2 Periphery<br />
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Choose a device that currently reports its status through a screen notification. Write down what the notification actually tells the user, in one sentence. Then redesign the same signal so it arrives through a channel that does not require the user to stop what they are doing and read.<br />
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A kettle whistle is the reference case. It carries one piece of information, it arrives at the moment that information becomes actionable, and the user does not need to look at it or interpret it. It is loud, and that is correct, because the event it reports requires immediate response.<br />
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'''Deliverable:''' A description of the new channel, the moment the signal fires, and what the user does in response. If the answer to "what does the user do in response" is nothing, the signal should be removed rather than moved.<br />
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== Exercise 2: Return a control to the hands ==<br />
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'''Category:''' CT1 Attention<br />
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Find a function that has been moved to a touchscreen. Redesign it as a physical control that can be operated without looking.<br />
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Touchscreen controls require the user to locate a target visually, which engages the prefrontal cortex and pulls attention away from the primary task. Physical controls with distinct shape, position, and travel can be operated through subcortical automaticity once learned. The test is whether a user can operate the control with their eyes closed after a week of use.<br />
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'''Deliverable:''' Sketch the control. Specify its shape, its position relative to the hand at rest, how far it travels, and how the user knows it has actuated without looking.<br />
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== Exercise 3: Sound inventory ==<br />
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'''Category:''' CT5 Sound<br />
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List every sound the device makes. For each one, record three things: what event triggers it, what it tells the user, and what the user is expected to do. Measure each sound at the user's typical distance from the device and record the figure in dBA along with the meter and distance used.<br />
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Delete any sound where the second and third columns are empty. Sounds that confirm an action the user has just performed by hand are usually in this category, because the hand has already confirmed it.<br />
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'''Deliverable:''' The completed table, the sounds removed, and the justification for each sound retained.<br />
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== Exercise 4: Light inventory ==<br />
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'''Category:''' CT4 Light<br />
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Photograph the device in a fully dark room. Count every light source and record its color, whether it blinks, and what state it indicates. Then redesign the light scheme so that the number of lights matches the number of states the user needs to distinguish.<br />
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Indicator lights accumulate over a product's development because each subsystem adds its own. A user in a bedroom at night receives all of them at once with no way to rank them.<br />
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'''Deliverable:''' The dark-room photograph, the state count before and after, and the behavior of any remaining light when the device is idle.<br />
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== Exercise 5: First failure ==<br />
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'''Category:''' CT3 Durability, CT6 Materials<br />
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Identify the component most likely to fail first. Common candidates are the battery, the hinge, the port, and the seal. Then determine whether a user can replace it, what tools are required, and whether the replacement part is sold.<br />
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Redesign the enclosure so that component can be reached. Record what the redesign costs in thickness, weight, or assembly steps, since a durability change that costs nothing usually means something was missed.<br />
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'''Deliverable:''' Exploded sketch showing the access path, the tool required, and the number of steps between the closed product and the replaced part.<br />
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= See also =<br />
[[The Design of Everyday Things]], [[Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects]], [[Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man]]</div>Caseorganic