This blog post is reflection writing based on the incorporation of Javascript and design decisions made as well as the reflection writing on the reading by Birhane at al on Deloconising Computational Sciences:
Development process: Incorporating JavaScript and changes made:
Yoh! JavaScript my love (xD). You were fun but stressful.
Real chat though, the incorporation of JavaScript to my ONLY HTML written website was a rollercoaster journey. From having to grasp the semantics of the language to thinking
about where and how to incorporate it into my website was quite stressful. More than anything, it was trying to understand what parts of the website to embed the J.S code to.
Having been provided with an open ended assignment brief and told to stretch the embedding of the J.S within our website, this presented a lot of frustration especially when
it came to being very particular with how it would influence my interaction design and overall user experience when users traverse my site.
The following are some of the changes that I implemented on my site using JavaScript:
The biggest part: Navigation and directory structure= In here, Hanli taught us how to incorporate a dynamic navigation directory using J.S that would make it easier to update
the navigation menu on each page. As probably expected, this affected my initial directory structure because it messed up my file path and resulted in "nightmare" of a "CORS Origin"
error and the "famous web dev issue", "The 404-Error code". This meant that i has to re-organize my entire file structure and put each section of my content on my website on a folder
and obviously resort to using live server from using and running my HTML code on debug only. Getting this to work required an in-depth understanding of WHY it is not working when
it was supposed to. For example, using a script type "module" and running that from your html doc directly from your machine to the web browser (so your C drive where my website repository was saved)
presented a CORS error, which upon my research is actually a very valid error to experience. Also, the reasoning and restriction behind it makes so much sense from a security measure standpoint.
Again , getting the "failed to load resource , 404 -error code" also required one to understand why they are getting that error and how strongly it had to do with how their file paths were messed.
I also had a mouse-hover event where for all clickable items on my site, I converted the hyperlink text to upper case , specifically with my navigation. From an interaction design and user experience standpoint,
this addition seemed to potentially useful when it game to making the user understand that the uppercase conversion, apart from the "blue" hyperlinks ,meant that they could click on the text. Also, this was also
another aspect of J.S incorporating that was particularly frustrating in that , it was difficult trying to figure out if an addition of a feature using JS code would be useful or effective especially where the
overall interaction design and user experience is concerned.
I also added a , i call it a "welcome text" thingy were first time users are prompted my J.S code to input their nicknames onto the input field to welcome them properly , before they traverse my website.
In my head, as far as interaction design x user experience is concerned, it made sense to make users feel welcomed before going through my stuff. It's a very small interactive addition that some users
could potentially appreciate from user experience standpoint. Although, it is also debatable whether it is useful or necessary to add at all. To each their own.
I also added a wavy, floating text to section of my site that had a lot of my thoughts and insights. From a user interaction stabndpoint, the addition seems pretty useless , however, from a user experience standpoint,
it seemed really cool and eye-catching or pleasing to the eye. It prepared used for what's about to come or rather what they are about to read(especially my political and current affairs section of my content) and the
encapsulation of it overall. The delivery of it in a wavy-like shape and position evoked some form of impression on the users and for users who do pay attention to the small , "aesthetic" details of sites they engage with,
it was pretty useful and contributed to their overall user experience.
How does that help you streamline your interaction design?
Overall, the above mentioned changes really helped streamline my interaction design process it made me think a lot about the effectiveness and usefulness of my existing HTML , my J.S. code as well as the about to come CSS stuff.
A question I kept asking myself was whether an addition was or would be useful from a user perspective and whether it would contribute to any of their overall user experience. This is the same thought that will also help guide
my CSS incorporation in my site because at the end of the day, I'd rather have a useful and well-thought out interactive designed site that looks reasonably good as opposed to a very pretty looking site but have a strong disconnect
of thoughtfulness invested to interactive design and user experience decisions.
Digital Colonialities reading reflection: Decolonising technology
Subject matter:
This reading is focused on the journey towards decolonising existing colonial and british Imperialist ideas within
the computational fields of data and cognotive sciences. It argues one the main important apsects with which we can fully appraoch this decolonisation process is through ;
1. Realising that the present day system has inherited and continues to enact hostile and conservative and oppressive behaviors synonymous with the idea
of upholding colonial structures of dehumanising principles of peple,of color especially women.
2. Rejecting the idea that centering each individual person is an "effective" approach towards a system-level problem. Instead, the reading emphasizes the need to tackle existing systemic obstascles.
Furthormore, the reading argues that the longer we ignore these two above mentoned aspects, the structure of the systems within the computational fields will continue to
perpetuate its toxic structure and harm more Black Women and othe minorized racial groups.
It further brings into focus the dehumanising treatment that is performed towards the daily experiences and perspectives of
both cis-gender and binary or non-binary men and women as well as queer and trans people of color.
It scrutinizs the ways in which the system, built within upholding colonial and binary standards degrades the existence of the "other"
as Stuart Hall would say, because they do not conform to or fit the archetype that upholds the sense of "normality" that aligns with their structure.
I particulalry agree with the reading when it mentions the point of how one of the key ways with which we can make an impactful change ,
is through "Dismantling the structural inequalities and through eroding systemic power asymmetries"(Birhane & Guest, 2020).
This is particularly true when considering the way in which the very same power asymmetries have been deeply embedded within the way the structure, mechanism and systems have been
operating to dehumanize and marginalize people of color.
The reading highlights the need to challenge and dismantle these power asymmetries, which have been perpetuated through the colonization of computational sciences.
This requires a critical examination of how these systems have been designed and perpetuated, and a commitment to centering the voices and experiences of marginalized communities,
particularly Black women and other minoritized racial groups. Moreover, the reading emphasizes the importance of moving beyond individual-level solutions and instead tackling the
systemic obstacles that perpetuate these inequalities. This requires a structural transformation of the computational fields, one that prioritizes decolonization, inclusivity, and equity.
The authors' emphasis on dismantling structural inequalities and eroding systemic power asymmetries resonates deeply, as it is only through this process that we can begin to build a more just and equitable computational landscape.
This requires ongoing effort and commitment, but the potential impact is profound.Furthermore, the reading highlights the need to challenge the dominant narratives and epistemologies that have been perpetuated through colonialism
and imperialism. This requires a willingness to listen to and center the voices of marginalized communities, and to prioritize their perspectives and experiences in the development of computational systems.
By doing so, we can begin to build a more inclusive and equitable computational landscape, one that prioritizes the needs and experiences of all individuals, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.
This is a critical step towards creating a more just and equitable society, and one that is long overdue.
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