Literature Review
The problems inherent in writing a literature review are many. As with
any dissertation, the author will firstly have come up with a proposition,
and then by means of a review, hope to prove the proposition worthy. In
some respects, this is a backward way of going about the issue. What
would happen if after a complete literature review, the dissertation
author found that his or her original idea was worthless? Surely a review
of what research has gone before should be the starting point?
As with any debate, there will be an antagonist and a protagonist but in a
literature review, the author is also called to be ‘Devil’s Advocate’. Here
also lies a problem, because having had the original idea, the author is
going to be automatically biasing toward one side.
For students at university there appears little way around this problem.
By the constraints of schedule and time, they will have written a project
proposal, a project plan and then next fit in a literature review that will
promote their original concept and then by the help of some artefact,
hope to prove their case.
This in mind, it is hoped that within the time constraint, it will be able to
produce an two artefacts ( Email client and website) covering both sides
of the arguments, and then survey to see which side is more correct, I.E,
let others play devil’s advocate.
The review will discuss evidence concerning two separate areas of
design practice and how these can be put together to further website
design. Although design issues in general will be discussed, attention
will later be made as to how these relate to website design particularly
aimed at senior citizens and specifically, producing an Email interface
suitable for this age group.
The design issues discussed will be:
 The use of the ‘Golden Rectangle’ as a template for ‘good’ design.
 The specific needs of Senior Citizens when using computers.
 How these can be put into practice to produce a very simple, easy
to use Email client for this age group.
The Golden Rectangle
Around 300BC, Euclid of Alexandria, a venerated mathematician
considered an equation in his book ‘The Elements’ that he described as
‘extreme and mean rectangle’.
His definition is:
A straight line is said to have been cut in extreme and mean rectangle
when, as the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the greater to
the lesser.
In numerical rather than algebraic terms this is:
1:(one-to-phi); that is, 1:1.618.
This equation became known as the ‘golden ratio, and later the ‘golden
rectangle’ and is also used in defining the properties of the ‘golden
triangle’. The equation is also sometimes referred to as ‘divine section,
golden cut and mean of Phidias (or simply PHI).
Whatever name is used the equation remains the same as above.
Amazing also is the fact that when Leonardo Fibonacci (born around
1175 AD some 1500 years or so after Euclid) considered the sequence
later named after him, it was clear that the sequence, each term in the
sequence being the sum of the proceeding two (1:1:2:3:5:8:13 etc),
closely followed the rules of the golden rectangle and that this became
even more precise the higher into the sequence one considered.
For the purposes of this review it will be referred to as the golden
rectangle.
This golden rectangle has many applications from the natural, such as
the arrangement of leaves and sunflower seeds to the arrangement of
aluminium alloy crystals to man-made items such as architecture,
paintings and even predictive models concerning stock markets.
One could assume that since this equation is ‘inbuilt’ into the above
mentioned, as well as other later mentioned areas of life, then it should
be proved as what we would call ‘good design’ or ‘best practice’ or ‘most
aesthetic’.
It could be argued that if one believes in god, or even if one believes in
natural selection, then the prevalence of this equation throughout nature
proves its aesthetic quality. But this is not actually the case. There are
arguments both for and against this golden rectangle being considered
an ‘acme’ design template.
http://plus.maths.org/issue22/features/golden/feat.pdf
In his paper 1997−2004, Millennium Mathematics Project, University of Cambridge. Mario
Livio discusses how the artist Salvador Dali used the dimensions of the
golden rectangle particularly when painting his ‘Last Supper’.
There is no doubting that many and even most would consider this piece
of art the work of a master, but Livio also points out that there are many
‘great’ pieces of art that depart from using such mathematics in their
composition and so it is purely the preference of the artist and neither
method has more merit aesthetically.
Further backing up the proposal that the golden rectangle method of
design is of no greater value is the opinion off
H.R. Schiffman and D.J. Bobko that when experimenting on personal
preferences to which rectangle size was more pleasing to the eye, there
was no clear winner, especially not one that conformed to golden
rectangle proportions.
The Golden Ratio: A Contrary Viewpoint
Clement Falbo
The College Mathematics Journal
Vol. 36, No. 2 (Mar., 2005), pp. 123-134
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30044835
Fablo also takes the view that much literature concerning the golden
rectangle is misleading at best and downright untrue at worst.
After firstly explaining how the Fibonacci sequence is emphatically linked
to the proportions of the golden rectangle he then goes on to say:
‘However, we should not expect the complexities of natural
systems to yield to the easy-to-compute Fibonacci sequence, and
there seems to be no unbiased evidence favouring the Fibonacci
sequence over all other possible sequences. If one expends great
effort in looking only for this special sequence, then it may be
perceived, whether or not it is there’.
There is a case however, that perhaps Fablo is here arguing against
himself.
‘If one expends great effort in looking only for this special sequence,
then it may be perceived, whether or not it is there’.
Could this conclusion actually be adding fuel to the protagonists of the
idea that appreciation of the golden triangle proportions is inherently a
human condition? If we will eventually see this proportion whether it is
there or not, then surely we ‘want’ to see it.
If this is the case, why then do humans seem to still prefer the
proportions of the golden rectangle? Where do the proportions exist in
everyday life whether designed by mathematical calculation or by ‘eye’?
The answer is in fact, everywhere. One only has to look around ones
home to see that these proportions are very often used.
The dimensions of most televisions, kettles, cupboards and so on and so
forth, units in a kitchen all follow loosely, the golden rectangle
proportions. It as if the human eye is tailored to appreciate this.
The mere fact that some of the designs we see are not actually
mathematically designed to be so, and are done so by ‘eye’ goes some
way to proving that that the golden rectangle design is what most
humans find aesthetic. It is an in-built view.
This idea is confirmed by
The Golden Section
Emma C. Ackermann
The American Mathematical Monthly
Vol. 2, No. 9/10 (Sep. - Oct., 1895), pp. 260-264
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2969272
Emma C. Ackermann in comparison to H.R. Schiffman and D.J. Bobko.
She is of the opinion that many examples of the golden rectangle are to
be found in nature and that where there is no equal division (symmetry)
in art or manufacture, ‘the artist or workman unconsciously employs the
proportions of the golden section’. The important point is that humans
unconsciously employ the proportions.
She also goes on to mention other everyday items that appear to closely
follow the proportions of the golden rectangle such as tables, chairs,
doors and others.
Even in the very latest design, golden rectangle can be seen to be
loosely followed. For example take the following three images that have
had a golden rectangle overlaid on them:
The above designs are amongst the most successful in their particular
fields and whether by design choice or by accident, it is clear to see that
the screens especially fit the dimensions of the golden rectangle.
The images are especially relevant when discussing the third part of the
review and how an Email client could be built using the golden rectangle
proportions that is viewable on not just computer screens but a variety of
other technologies.