Definitions

Lisa and I felt it was important to define key terms that became the platform of our project. We first looked up definitions of Poetry, Technology, Fashion, Culture and Sub-Culture to help us better understand what it was that we were trying to accomplish.

Poetry:

• A commonplace expression or quality that resembles a poem in some respect as in form or sound.
  
• Poetry is an imaginative awareness of an experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response.
  
• Poetry subconsciously draws off users past experiences.

Our Interpretation:

• An imaginative awareness of an experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language; subconsciously drawing off of users past experiences.
  

Technology:

• The innovation change or modification of the natural environment to satisfy perceived human needs and wants.

• Digital technology has progressed since the 90’s incorporating style and convenience, along with added function, to appeal to the user lifestyle. Fashion is at the forefront of individual expression. People express their personal styles through the clothes and accessories they wear. Technology is starting to replicate this concept.

Fashion:

• A set of behaviors temporarily adopted by people because they are perceived to be socially appropriate for the time and situation.
• Fashion is the prevailing style or custom as in dress or behavior.
  
• Fashion is old ideas in new ways. For example Converse shoes are becoming trendy once again, as they were in the 70’s.

Culture:

• Totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns arts, beliefs institutions and all other products of human work and thought.
  

Sub-Culture:

• A group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations.
• By defining Subculture, we can get an understanding of our target audience, and what makes them unique to an overall culture.
  

Flow: The word Flow was another topic of class discussion that we felt was important to define to understand the user experience, and an actual object. We defined flow as:

• Balanced spontaneous system.
  
• Sequence of operations without disruption.
  
• Based on the book Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow is an automatic effortless state of consciousness. It is achieved more often when people are doing what they love.
• Not because of money, fame, or praise. When someone is experiencing flow they tend to lose self consciousness, time and fear of failure. Often the more arduous the task the longer it takes to get flow, and often any physical and/or mental distraction can end it; recovery can take hours or more.

We then took those definitions then tried to find similar terms and ways that they were connected to each other.

While analyzing our core terms we encountered other notable terms that we felt were necessary to explore and define to guide us throughout this project.

Wearables, linked to fashion, can be described as a small device worn on the body, carried habitually without interfering with the user. Incorporating a wearable with the latest technology is the main focus of our project.

Necessities are important to all cultures and subcultures. Where antelopes develop faster legs from evolving and adapting to their environments to run from predators, we, humans, developed cars in order to adapt and enhance our lives. We defined Necessity as being essential, indispensable, and peoples’ perceived needs and wants.

“There needs to be a rebirth of curiosity,” this quote highlights the fact that as we get older our curiosity diminishes. Curiosity sparks excitement and evokes thought and questioning tied to learning and discovery. Discovery is an exciting experience, thus curiosity can enhance life. Curiosity arouses and provokes desires or thoughts during exploration, which essentially motivates a person.

This leads to Creativity, another important term we came across. The basis of creativity is inspiration and motivation. We defined creativity as the ability to process, which everyone can do; everyone can create experiences, which makes life fulfilling. Creativity is connected to poetry, fashion, technology, flow, and experiences. Understanding these terms directed us to the question, which I briefly touched upon in the previous paragraph; when shared experiences are disconnected, how are they affected? Answering this question is something to keep in mind during our research phase.

Accessory: An optional part that may be fitted to something to perform an additional function or enhance performance

Inspire:

• New experiences.
• To fill with enlivening or exalting emotion.
• To stimulate energies and emotions from experiences.
• Inspiration comes from old experiences. Inspiration is an abstract personal experience. Inspiration effects motivation, self worth, and mood. Focus, trust, letting go, and listening are all characteristics of inspiration.
• Focus involves detaching oneself from normal ways of thinking.
• Trust involves the attitude of being ready to stop think in a purely rational way, letting whatever ideas come to mind.
• Letting go involves the action of trust vs. the attitude, and the reflection upon it.
• Listening involves actually listening and putting into use the ideas that come forth through the process of letting go.

Lastly, we explored the meaning of Experience. All of the previously mentioned definitions are connected to an experience. Poetry reflects on past experiences, Technology is something the user experiences everyday, Fashion can enhance an experience, Subcultures are based off of shared experiences, and Flow defines a user experience.

• The apprehension of an object, thought, or emotion through the senses or mind.
  
• Active participation in events or activities, leading to the accumulation of knowledge or skill.
  
• The totality of such events in the past of an individual or group.
  
• Our Interpretation: The active participation in events, activities, thoughts, objects, or emotions, through the senses or mind leading to the accumulation of knowledge or skill, based on an individual or groups totality of past events.

By researching literal and alternate definitions of Poetry, Technology, Fashion, Subculture, Flow, and Experience my partner and I were able to create our own interpretations of their meanings to direct our focus to the user experience. This inspired us to focus on the user’s relationship with a significant other, and how they share experiences, and how they stay connected when separated.