TOOBA

AboutTOOBA

Let's be honest, The Theory of Observable & Operational Behavior in Affordances stands for important concepts and science, but can sound like word salad.

But I chose this name for 2 reasons—let's explore:

1. T.O.O.B.A: The Theory of Observable & Operational Behavior in Affordances. This journal is meant to detail my more academic thought in AI and UX. From that, in practicing Experience Design in the most effective way possible, we must focus on designing for understanding people, fulfilling needs, and earning trust—and sometimes this does not immediately yield a product.
   But the most successful, trustworthy, and truly beneficial systems often emerge this way. We must move beyond designing pervasively for reflexive behavior and habitual reactivity; and, instead cultivate proactive adoption, trustworthy engagement, and meaningful Human-Product relationships. In this spirit, we must focus on
   
   3 things:
   
   1.) Observation: Research being core to our design decisions. It's that simple. Without it, we risk building systems based on assumption or vanity rather than truth. If we expect to bring external partners, internal teams, or even passionate users along for the journey, we must root our vision in observation, not ego.
   
   2.) Operation and Motivation: When we seek and act on insight in understanding people and what motivated them in their whole lives, we will be able to better design products that actually solve problems. Products that they will actually operate or use; and, that best fit into their stories.
   
   3.) Meaning: People when understood and aligned with the values of an organization are more likely to develop trust with products that they find beneficial and useful. This is the beginning of establishing a relationship of trust with our users and customers—the beginning of our products having meaning.
   
   
2. TOOBA is more than a fun domain I own. I explained the acronymn in the previous point, but the name means something significant to me. In Islam, "Ṭūbā (طُوبَى) is a tree in Paradise as wide as a hundred years’ journey. The garments of the people of Paradise come from its outer coverings." The word is derived from the Arabic root ṭ-y-b (ط-ي-ب), meaning glad tidings and bliss.
   In successful Product Design, to as much of a worldly-degree as possible, our most successful products, services, and systems will be good for our customers.
   Will our products ever provide bliss—probably not. Succesful, trustworthy products will be those that understand them, fulfill their needs, and earn their lasting trust by designing for motivation, operation, and benefit.
   Additionally, clothes can sometimes be an introductory level of pretentiousness. As someone who grew up disadvantaged, often times kids in the community housing we lived in dreamed of wearing designer clothes as an escape from their current situation. This journal also focuses on applied creativity and Artifical Intelligence. While it is completely healthy for art to be an escape, LLMs are extremely useful and have tenfold proven that. The future of Artificial Intelligence has an even further capacity to be beneficial especially when designed, developed, and applied in a Human-Centered way.
   But not if we use it as a cover up.
   To hide from ugly truths like bias and bad actors and to be hidden from what makes us human.
   Not if we use it as a replacement of our own creativity or intelligence—that can be dangerous.
   This technology can do incredible, redefining things for applied creativity and applied intelligence. While I wrote this content, I use LLMs for word choice, options for rewriting text, even coding the shell of this website that I then completed myself—as a true creative partner. There are many em-dashes (—) in my writing—I have the keyboard shortcut memorized—but that is truly because it is my favorite punctuation mark and, in my experience, of many designers. I have a strong feeling or opinion many LLMs use em-dashes so much in writing because they were trained on design documentation. But it is critical that we make this technology safe, responsible, and beneficial through Human-Centered Design. Blissful or enjoyable, preformative or productive, AI has a HUGE potential for good if we mold it into that as designers. Technology is tools built with our understanding. Design is applied creativity to solving problems discovered through our understanding. (Successful) Product Design is molding technology in a strategically, creatively, and intuitively designed way to make a measurable impact. And simply using AI, not to optimize or build on our skillset, but to replace the ingenuity of humanity is a disservice.