March 2011

Use Gestalt Laws to improve your UX

"An overall good user experience is an essential aspect for creating a successful website. The term user experience seems to be a popular trend recently, but how can we describe user experience and how can we make sure to offer enough of it on our websites? To keep it simple, user experience describes how users perceive a website, what kind of emotions they have when visiting a website, and whether or not they are motivated enough to return. This subjective experience is in a large part based on the visual appearance of a website." (Sabina Idler ~ DesignModo)

Posted by PJB on March 31, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Imagine Design Create

Interview with Hugh Dubberly "Design practice does not learn. As a profession, we don't even know how to learn. We're stuck. Trapped in the past. Unable to move forward. Unclear on what forward might mean. Lacking mechanisms to build and share knowledge. Lacking even a model of design knowledge. In fact, the problem is so structurally embedded, so pervasive, so deep, that we don't see it." (Dubberly Design Office)

Posted by PJB on March 30, 2011 | Classification: Design research - Information design | Permalink

Mobile Design and Development: Practical Concepts and Techniques for Creating Mobile Sites and Web Apps

Free for anyone to read - "In the book I share my advice and experience working with publishing content to mobile devices from the past decade and discuss what I think will be important in the next decade of mobile and the web. Even though mobile is one of the fastest growing industries on the planet with things changing every day, I spent a considerable amount of thought and time to try to fill the book with timeless advice that isn't specific to a particular platform or en vogue device." (Brian Fling)

Posted by PJB on March 29, 2011 | Classification: Mobile design | Permalink

Designing For The Future Web

"In this article, we'll look at what the future Web might look like and how we can adapt our current skills to this new environment, as well as how to create fluid websites that are built around a consistent core and that adapt to the limitations and features of the device on which they are viewed. We'll also look at how our conceptual approach to designing websites should evolve: designing from the simplest design upwards, and not from the richest website down." (James Gardner ~ Smashing Magazine)

Posted by PJB on March 29, 2011 | Classification: Information design - Mobile design | Permalink

Six controversial topics in usability

"Every field has its set of hot-button issues and usability is no exception. Here are six topics that tend to generate some passionate discussions." (Jeff Sauro ~ Measuring Usability)

Posted by PJB on March 29, 2011 | Classification: Usability | Permalink

The Importance of Strategic Micro Copy: An iTunes Case Study

"Poorly devised, unhelpful content is wasteful. It potentially wastes the time of users and can also have financial implications for the company responsible for it, in this case Apple. Because they were not more thoughtful about their micro copy, they’ve had to correspond with me multiple times, costing them and me money and time. They've also left me feeling frustrated and, if at all possible, I will probably look to spend my money elsewhere. Lucky for them, they are one of the only providers of digital MP3 and video content online in my region of the world. Unless you're Apple, can you afford to alienate customers because of careless copy?" (Amy Thibodeau ~ Contentini)

Posted by PJB on March 28, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - Writing | Permalink

Optimizing a Screen for Mobile Use

"A single mobile screen with almost no features still required 10 design changes to meet usability guidelines for mobile websites." (Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted by PJB on March 28, 2011 | Classification: Mobile design - Usability | Permalink

A Richer Canvas

"Grid system design should begin with a constraint. Something that is knowable and unchangeable. This constraint is used to build the modules of your grid. In book design, that constraint is defined by the page through subdivision. Book designers take the page, divide it up into a modular grid of spaces. These spaces (called modules) are then combined to create rows and columns. These are then filled with content (images and text). The text feels like it belongs because the columns are related to the physical object: the page. (...) Embrace the fluidity of the web. Design layouts and systems that can cope to whatever environment they may find themselves in. But the only way we can do any of this is to shed ways of thinking that have been shackles around our necks. They're holding us back. Start designing from the content out, rather than the canvas in." (Mark Boulton)

Posted by PJB on March 24, 2011 | Classification: Visual design | Permalink

Anatomy of a Design Decision

"The best designs come from not one, but hundreds of well-made decisions. The worst designs arise out of hundreds of poorly-made decisions. All that stands between you and a great design is the quality of your decisions. Where do they come from? For the last five years, we've been studying how designers make their decisions. When do they use outside information, such as research about their users? When do they go with their gut instinct? When do the designers look to past decisions and the lessons they’ve learned? What we found will surprise you. In this presentation, Jared will take you on an entertaining deep dive into the gut instinct of the best designers (without looking at all the gooey parts). You’ll learn five styles of decision making, from Self Design to Experience-focused Design, and which style produces quality results. Prepare to learn how to be a better designer, as Jared shares the secrets of the best and worst." (Jared Spool ~ UIE)

Posted by PJB on March 24, 2011 | Classification: Design research - UCD | Permalink

Context Menu Design

"A context menu is a menu that contains commands specific to the object that the cursor is currently pointing at – the 'target object'." (Hagan Rivers ~ two rivers consulting)

Posted by PJB on March 23, 2011 | Classification: HCI - Information architecture - Navigation | Permalink

Motion and The Clay of Interaction Design

"I am in constant pursuit of the 'clay' of interaction design. Even if that clay is intangible, if we are to consider ourselves a true design discipline there must be something that we are manipulating. Once we understand what it is that we are manipulating we will be better able to communicate to all our stakeholders the intentions of what it is the interaction designer designs. One possible property of said “clay” may be motion or movement.For almost all interactions we place our body in motion. Even speaking requires muscles to move in order to work. There has been a ton of work done on motion as an aesthetic quality towards an audience, even if that audience is just perceived. What I’m interested in is motion as an aesthetic regardless of perceived or real audience. The question I ask is if certain movements just feel better than others at an aesthetic level and further that perception is manipulated by other interacting factors." (David Malouf ~ Johnny Holland Magazine)

Posted by PJB on March 23, 2011 | Classification: Interaction design | Permalink

Considerations for Mobile Design (Parts 1-3)

"The three parts of the series were split into the following segments: Part 1: Speed (The introduction to the series identified constraints in mobile design imposed by bandwidth, download and upload speeds.); Part 2: Dimensions (This section attempts to establish common limitations across groups of devices based on resolution and physical size. In addition, solutions for serving specific styles to groups of devices are offered, and analyzed.); Part 3: Behavior (Perhaps the least complete of the sections, this article attempts to show how users behave differently on handheld devices compared to desktops. At the same time, this area probably interests me most, but I believe much more testing will need to be done in regard to how gesture-based interfaces can be used in an acceptable way before the ideas explored here become more relevant.)" (David Leggett)

Posted by PJB on March 23, 2011 | Classification: Mobile design - Technology | Permalink

Design Thinking Won't Save You

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me break this to you gently. Design Thinking, the topic we're here to analyze and discuss and get to grips with so you can go back to Mars and instantly transform your businesses, is not the answer." (Helen Walters)

Posted by PJB on March 22, 2011 | Classification: Design research - UCD | Permalink

Design Principles for Visual Communication

"Visual communication via diagrams, sketches, charts, photographs, video, and animation is fundamental to the process of exploring concepts and disseminating information. The most-effective visualizations capitalize on the human facility for processing visual information, thereby improving comprehension, memory, and inference. Such visualizations help analysts quickly find patterns lurking within large data sets and help audiences quickly understand complex ideas." (Maneesh Agrawala, Wilmot Li, and Floraine Berthouzoz ~ CACM)

Posted by PJB on March 21, 2011 | Classification: InfoViz - Visual design | Permalink

Ten European content strategists to watch

"The task of identifying 10 European individuals that make a difference when it comes to content strategy has not been easy. The emerging field is dominated by US-based consultants and at least in Europe, many don't use the term to describe what they do." (J.Boye)

Posted by PJB on March 21, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy | Permalink

Ten Ways Mobile Sites Are Different From Desktop Web Sites

"Many believe the basic principles and guidelines that are applicable in the design of Web sites should still apply when designing for mobile platforms. After all, Web design has evolved from basic, text-based HTML pages into today's Web standards. So, we might expect that mobile sites that follow the same guidelines could easily reach the same level of success with users that desktop Web sites have achieved." (Shanshan Ma ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on March 21, 2011 | Classification: Mobile design | Permalink

UX Analytics, Part I: A Call to Action

"As UX researchers, our goal is to identify customer pain points and obstacles in a given workflow or process, then tell a compelling story about their risks and provide general recommendations for alleviating those risks. But after eight years in UX research - even having mastered the arts of compelling storytelling and building stakeholder empathy - I still never quite saw the results I'd hoped for. Worse, my work required me to move quickly onto the next project, never to hear again about the outcomes of projects past." (Kristi Olson ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on March 21, 2011 | Classification: Design research | Permalink

Assume an Amorphous User

"Physicists often have to construct clean, clear-cut models to describe messy realities. They do this by cleaning up their concepts about reality, assuming things like frictionless surfaces, lossless mirrors, and yes, spherical objects. UX designers often do the same thing, assuming a spherical user (...) who knows what he wants to do and takes the logical path in achieving his goals. Our scenarios describe happy paths that lead to success for this user." (Mike Hughes ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on March 21, 2011 | Classification: UCD - User experience | Permalink

Why UX Professionals Should Care About Service Design

"I'm very excited to be kicking off my new UXmatters column, Service Design: Orchestrating Experiences in Context, with this discussion of the value of service design to UX professionals. In my column, I'll explore the concepts of service design and how to leverage its practices to optimize the user experiences our companies and clients look to us to create." (Laura Keller ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on March 21, 2011 | Classification: Service design - User experience | Permalink

UX Zeitgeist

"Use UX Zeitgeist as your library of UX books and articles. Add items, keep up with what others have added, learn which are rated best, and create and share your own public reading lists." (Rosenfeld Media)

Posted by PJB on March 21, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Introducing Content Talks

"When Dan Benjamin asked if I'd be interested in doing a podcast for 5by5, I said Absolutely not! I hate talking about content strategy!" OK, no, that's not what I said. I accepted on the spot and immediately put together a long, exciting list of smart, interesting people I hoped to interview in the months to come." (Kristina Halvorson ~ Brain Traffic)

Posted by PJB on March 18, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - Podcasts | Permalink

Why Curation Is Just as Important as Creation

"The personal web publishing boom has led to an information explosion. It's a data free-for-all, and it's just beginning. Andrew Blau is a researcher and the co-president of Global Business Network in San Fransisco. Blau has foretold the changes in media distribution and content creation. Now he's watching this new, historic emergence of first-person publishing." (Steve Rosenbaum ~ Mashable)

Posted by PJB on March 18, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - Writing | Permalink

Seven myths about paper prototyping

"Paper prototyping is probably the best tool we have to design great user experiences. It allows you to involve users early in the design process, shows you how people will use your system before you've written any code, and supports iterative design. So why are some design teams still resistant to using it? Here are 7 objections I've heard to paper prototyping and why each one is mistaken." (David Travis ~ userfocus)

Posted by PJB on March 17, 2011 | Classification: Prototyping | Permalink

Infographics For Web Designers: Information You Ought To Know

"Infographic is a great way to turn the most boring data into the most comforting graphic, which is much easier for reader to digest. As web designers have to deal with pixels and code almost everyday, it would be overwhelming to look at more data and references which are filled with hypnotic words and numbers." (Alvaris Falcon ~ Hongkiat)

Posted by PJB on March 17, 2011 | Classification: Information graphics | Permalink

The Materials of Digital Products

"A perfect example is developing for the mobile platform. A native iOS app will allow for much greater refinement in performance, motion and visual treatment, but there will likely be greater build costs compared to an HTML5 mobile app. Conversely, HTML5 will allow much greater flexibility in deployment and distribution. Both technologies have their place in mobile, we just need to know when plastic is more appropriate than stainless steel." (P.J. Onori ~ Adaptive Path)

Posted by PJB on March 17, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Eric Reiss: CS Forum podcast episode 2

"(...) Eric Reiss talks to Destry about content strategy, information architecture, and why it's time to stop marking our territory." (Destry Wion ~ CS Forum 2011)

Posted by PJB on March 17, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy | Permalink

More, better, faster: UX design for startups

"Startups don't have capital to burn or luxurious schedules for big-design-up-front. But unless your idea is by-and-for-engineers, design isn't something you want to skip on your way to market. For a startup, design may mean the difference between simply shipping, and taking the market by storm. But with tight budgets, and aggressive timelines, how to include design and get the best value for the investment?" (Stefan Klocek ~ Cooper Journal)

Posted by PJB on March 16, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

DIY usability testing: Steve Krug explains it all for you

"Many discussions about user interfaces see the same type of arguments. Developers like complicated things, with many things on the screen. Designers like pleasant esthetic experience. This problem can be addressed with usability testing. Many sites have usability problems, including Steve Krug's own site. Steve hasn't fixed the problem, because it's cheaper to send an email in support of a struggling user than to fix the actual problem. You don’t have the resources. Easy to find, but hard to fix. Steve makes the argument you should do the usability testing yourself. Most sites aren't tested, because it costs money, time, and it's hard to find professionals to do it. So Steve will show how to do it yourself." (Michiel Berger - SXSW NL Report)

Posted by PJB on March 16, 2011 | Classification: Events - Usability | Permalink

Why User Experience Cannot Be Designed

"A lot of designers seem to be talking about user experience these days. We're supposed to delight our users, even provide them with magic, so that they love our websites, apps and start-ups. User experience is a very blurry concept. Consequently, many people use the term incorrectly. Furthermore, many designers seem to have a firm (and often unrealistic) belief in how they can craft the user experience of their product. However, UX depends not only on how something is designed, but also other aspects. In this article, I will try to clarify why UX cannot be designed." (Helge Fredheim ~ Smashing Magazine)

Posted by PJB on March 15, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Emergent Semantics

"(...) a set of principles and techniques analyzing the evolution of decentralized semantic structures in large scale distributed information systems. Emergent semantics approaches model the semantics of a distributed system as an ensemble of relationships between syntactic structures. They consider both the representation of semantics and the discovery of the proper interpretation of symbols as the result of a self-organizing process performed by distributed agents exchanging symbols and having utilities dependent on the proper interpretation of the symbols. This is a complex systems perspective on the problem of dealing with semantics." (Philippe Cudre-Mauroux ~ SOKS 2010)

Posted by PJB on March 15, 2011 | Classification: Metadata - SemWeb | Permalink

Innovation in Customer Experience

"The experience delivered by a product or service can be a source of competitive advantage and business value through innovation. Experience designers – using the empathy they generate with customers during primary research, and the understanding of the customers’ broad context of use they gain – are well-placed to be the source of such innovation." (Steve Baty ~ Meld Studios) courtesy of jameskalbach

Posted by PJB on March 15, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

Can Hated Design Elements Be Made to Work?

"Once users reject a design technique due to repeated bad experiences it's almost impossible to use it for good because people will avoid it every time." (Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted by PJB on March 14, 2011 | Classification: Usability | Permalink

Andreas Resmini on Pervasive IA

"(...) it's not just the Web anymore. There's bigger game out there for us to design, and I'm going to make a point that attendees walk out of the workshop with three basic fundamental take-aways: they understand why we talk of pervasive information architectures, they know what pervasive information architectures are, and they have the tools to hack them." (IA Summit 2011)

Posted by PJB on March 13, 2011 | Classification: Information architecture - Interviews | Permalink

The European content strategy industry is on the rise

"From the accomplishments of the past two years and the unrelenting momentum of content strategy discourse, it’s safe to say local communities will grow and international events will continue. We'll probably even learn of one or two more books in the works by the end of 2011. These events will increasingly draw content-minded people of varying kind, who will, in turn, roll ideas back into the businesses they represent. Opportunities will start opening up for CS consultants and agencies alike. Even positions inside larger companies will form as a more cost-effective way to retain and grow internal content strategy processes." (Destry Wion ~ CS Forum 2011)

Posted by PJB on March 11, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - Events | Permalink

Where Innovation Belongs in User-Centered Design

"While user-centered designers haven't always been the greatest advocates for innovation there is incredible potential for UX professionals to become the champions of innovation and the leaders of holistic design. User experience practitioners are in a unique position to reach out to users and across silos in pursuit of a beautiful user experience. Furthermore, while innovation can come from anywhere only user experience practitioners are equipped to evaluate whether a user population is willing to adopt an innovative idea. Innovation is inherently risky, and usability can mediate that risk through testing. Perhaps greater consideration needs to be given to how innovative ideas are evaluated in order to avoid focusing on the first use, but there is a place for User Experience in an world where innovation is king." (Jake Truemper ~ Johnny Holland Magazine)

Posted by PJB on March 11, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

UX is 90% Desirability

"We are part of creating an experience. We are manufacturing something that wasn't there before. Sure usability is important. Yes, it needs to be designed well. Of course, it should function without a glitch. But, are those really what sell the experience? There's something more intangible that drives people to products: The desire to use it." (Francisco Inchauste ~ FINCH)

Posted by PJB on March 11, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

FYI: TMI: Toward a holistic social theory of information overload

"Research into information overload has been extensive and cross–disciplinary, producing a multitude of suggested causes and posed solutions. I argue that many of the conclusions arrived at by existing research, while laudable in their inventiveness and/or practicality, miss the mark by viewing information overload as a problem that can be understood (or even solved) by purely rational means. Such a perspective lacks a critical understanding in human information usage: much in the same way that economic models dependent on rationality for their explanations or projections fail (often spectacularly, as recent history attests), models that rely too heavily upon the same rational behavior, and not heavily enough upon the interplay of actual social dynamics — power, reputation, norms, and others — in their attempts to explain, project, or address information overload prove bankrupt as well. Furthermore, even research that displays greater awareness of the social context in which overload exists often reveals a similar rationality in its conceptualization. That is, often the same 'social' approaches that offer potential advantages (in mitigating information overload) over their 'non–social' counterparts paradoxically raise new problems, requiring a reappraisal of overload that takes social issues into account holistically." (Anthony Lincoln ~ First Monday Volume 16, Number 3)

Posted by PJB on March 09, 2011 | Classification: Design research - Information design | Permalink

My So Called Service Design Life

"There is a fierce debate about the relationship between service design (SD) and interaction design (IxD) here in the United States, particularly among interaction designers. The discussion often devolves into hostile crossfire between two camps: one that believes that the service design is a type of interaction design, and another that believes that the two disciplines are separate and distinct. When a teenager is a smart, compelling, interesting, independent, charismatic, hardworking, analytical, talented, humorous, knock-kneed being, a parent would rightly feel a great sense of pride. Interaction designers — and those whose careers, and sources of income are indebted to that practice — have very good reasons to hold strongly to the idea that service design is indeed a chip off the old block." (Renna Al Yassini ~ Cooper Journal)

Posted by PJB on March 09, 2011 | Classification: Interaction design - Service design | Permalink

App Madness & The Open Web

"Web content is publishing: we've been saying it for awhile now, and it's starting to sink in. And if everyone is a publisher, then we—content strategists and other people who specialize in content work—should be able to advise our clients on their publishing plans, or at least those that cross into the online world. We’ve done so before, in the long push to demonstrate that the web isn’t the same as print, and that dumping print content into a web page serves neither user nor publisher. But in the last two years, the online publishing landscape has undergone a major change, both in perception and reality." (Clinton Forry ~ Confab 2011 blog)

Posted by PJB on March 09, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy - Mobile design | Permalink

A Checklist for Content Work

"There's really only one central principle of good content: it should be appropriate for your business, for your users, and for its context. Appropriate in its method of delivery, in its style and structure, and above all in its substance. As Erin Kissane explains, content strategy is the practice of determining what each of those things means for your project - and how to get there from where you are now." (A List Apart)

Posted by PJB on March 08, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy | Permalink

Content Centred Design: A methodology (Part 2)

"I recognize that all web projects are unique is some way and any approach has to be tailored, so in this post I'm going to provide a fairly high level methodology, a methodology however that gives users and content the same emphasis. It has now become the norm that the needs and wants of users are considered at every stage of a project. I want content to have the same recognition." (Patrick Walsh ~ manIA)

Posted by PJB on March 08, 2011 | Classification: Content strategy | Permalink

Lean UX: Getting Out Of The Deliverables Business

"Lean UX is an evolution, not a revolution. UX designers need to evolve and stay relevant as the practice evolves. Lean UX gets designers out of the deliverables business and back into the experience design business. This is where we excel and do our best work. Let’s become experts at delivering great results through these experiences and forgo the hefty spec documents. It won’t be an easy road. Culture and tradition will push back, yet the ultimate return on this investment will be more rewarding work and more successful businesses." (Jeff Gothelf ~ Smashing Magazine)

Posted by PJB on March 07, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

UX Trends

"Over the past few years, the term user experience has become better known in business, so selling user experience is no longer as hard as it used to be. It's becoming easier to tell the UX story, because through success stories like Apple, businesses are beginning to see the value of great design. However, there is still a gap between knowing how to make UX operational and how to source and invest in the right skill sets to make great design happen." (Daniel Szuc ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on March 07, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

The Dangers of Design by User

"As we've mentioned in the past, improperly conducted user research can be a liability that could lead you down the wrong path. These kinds of mistakes are extremely costly and easily avoidable. The trick is to know where the pitfalls lie and ensure that you navigate them properly. This month, we'll talk about ways to be a critical consumer of user research." (Demetrius Madrigal and Bryan McClain ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on March 07, 2011 | Classification: UCD | Permalink

Research Methods for Understanding Consumer Decisions in a Social World

"Ultimately, the goal is to understand the entirety of the consumer experience, so we can make the most informed decisions about online strategy, content, and positioning. In this column, I'll first summarize the findings from Edelman's article, then discuss how we can apply traditional user research methodology to supporting changes in marketing strategies." (Michael Hawley ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on March 07, 2011 | Classification: Design research - User experience | Permalink

Approaches to User Research When Designing for Children

"Children's exposure to computing devices depends on a great variety of factors—including cultural traditions, economic power, and family values. But there is no doubt that, in general, children's access to technological devices and interactive products has increased dramatically in recent years. We are now seeing even higher adoption of technology among children—thanks to the unpredictably intuitive interaction of youngsters with touchscreen technologies and mobile devices that they can carry everywhere and use at any time." (Catalina Naranjo-Bock ~ UXmatters)

Posted by PJB on March 07, 2011 | Classification: Design research - User experience | Permalink

Tough Sell: Selling User Experience

"(...) this kind of a journey is a stretch for some UX professionals. It really does not suit all of us. In fact, you might be turned off by this kind of task, and that's OK. For those of you who try it, it can be rewarding and a great career expander. You will have added a new skill to your repertoire, and you will likely have professional connections with new parts of your business that you never knew existed." (Misha W. Vaughan ~ Journal of Usability Studies, Volume 6 Issue 2)

Posted by PJB on March 06, 2011 | Classification: User experience | Permalink

On the scalability of design thinking and transdisciplinary design education

"Interview with Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO, at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2011. Topics include design thinking and India, design,innovation and entrepreneurship driving India's inclusive growth, transdisciplinary design education and design thinking and designers." (aabhira aditya)

Posted by PJB on March 03, 2011 | Classification: Design research - Interviews - UCD | Permalink

Open vs. Closed Prototypes

"An open prototype is one that involves the user in a direct way. It is typically something you could hand over to a user. (...) A closed prototype is an experience that users watch, but won't interact with directly. The lack of direct user interaction can make it harder to learn from a closed prototype." (Tom Maiorana ~ d.news)

Posted by PJB on March 01, 2011 | Classification: Interaction design - Prototyping | Permalink

Interaction Eleven: Bruce Sterling Closing Keynote

"Bruce Sterling, author, journalist, editor, and critic, was born in 1954. Best known for his ten science fiction novels, he also writes short stories, book reviews, design criticism, opinion columns, and introductions for books ranging from Ernst Juenger to Jules Verne." (IxDA - videos)

Posted by PJB on March 01, 2011 | Classification: Events - Interaction design | Permalink

Interaction Eleven: Bill Verplank Opening Keynote

"Bill Verplank is a human-factors engineer with a long career in design, research and education. As a fresh ME PhD from MIT he worked eight years at Xerox on the testing and refinement of what we now call the 'desktop metaphor': bit-map graphics, keyboard and mouse, direct manipulation. For six years, he worked with Bill Moggridge at IDTwo and IDEO doing 'interaction design' - bringing the insights from computers to the industrial design of medical instruments, GPS navigation, mobile phones, and new input devices (keyboards, track-balls, mice). From IDEO, he moved to Interval Research for 8 years of innovating design methods (observation, body-storming, scenarios, metaphors) and researching active force-feedback ('haptics'). (...) He is known for sketching as he talks." (IxDA - videos)

Posted by PJB on March 01, 2011 | Classification: Events - Interaction design | Permalink