English via your mobile
The BBC reports on Janala, a service that is revolutionising the teaching of English in Bangladesh using simple mobile technology. “Janala – it means Window – is a service run by the BBC World Service Trust and funded by the…
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Experientia
Conversations in a weekend village — Interaction10 impressions
Written by Experientia partner Jan-Christoph Zoels. Interaction10 is over. Four days of presentations, workshops, games, installations stimulated vivid exchanges of ideas and reflections on the changing landscape of interaction design. Hosted in beautiful downtown Savannah by the international Interaction Design…
Scenarios for branchless banking in 2020
The growing use of branchless banking channels over the coming years is inevitable in most countries. But it’s far less certain whether large numbers of the unbanked poor will use these alternative channels for financial services beyond payments, such as…
Americans increasingly elevating experiences over things
Quietly but noticeably over the past year, Americans have rejiggered their lives to elevate experiences over things, reports The New York Times. “Because of the Great Recession, a recent New York Times/CBS News poll has found, nearly half of Americans…
Nicolas Nova: from observing failures to provoking them
The annotated slides from the talk “Design and Designed Failures: From Observing Failurs To Provoking Them†by Nicolas Nova (Lift Lab) at the Interaction10 conference are now available on Slideshare. “Failures are often overlooked in design research. The talk addressed…
The future of reading
Josh Quittner of Fortune Magazine reflects on how tables will change magazines, books and newspapers. “In fact, for the past year I’ve been pushing the theory that the Age of Tablets will give print media one last bite at the…
Dan Ariely: hidden forces that shape our decisions
In an interview on the website of Forbes India, the renowned behavioural economist Dan Ariely talks about some of the hidden forces that shape our decisions. “For years, my colleagues and I have been conducting experiments about human irrationality. When…
Some ditch social networks to reclaim time, privacy
As the social networking train gathers momentum, some riders are getting off. USA Today reports. “Their reasons run the gamut from being besieged by online “friends” who aren’t really friends to lingering concerns over where their messages and photos might…
Reflecting on the Interaction10 conference
Both Jon Kolko (frog design) and Rob Tannen (Bresslergroup) reflect on their experience at the Interaction10 conference that took place last weekend in Savannah, Georgia. Jon’s thoughtful analysis starts with a reflection on why he thinks the profession of Interaction…
Live at Interaction10: day 3
Niklas Wolkert & Brad Nunnally round up their reporting on Johnnyy Holland on the Interaction10 conference in Savannah, Georgia – this time focused on the third and final day. This review covers presentations by Jeffery Blais, Cindy Chastain, Gretchen Andersson,…
New Philips phone for the elderly
Philips reports that its new Lifeline Cordless Phone System has been designed “to enable the frail and elderly to maintain independence, despite their changing physical needs.” “The Philips Lifeline Cordless Phone System is a cordless home phone with a medical…
Designing financial services for the poor
The Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion (IMTFI) at the University of California, Irvine, headed by Bill Maurer, Professor of Anthropology, aims to foster a community of inquiry and practice on new forms of money and financial technology among…
Microsoft Research Social Computing Symposium 2010
For the past four years, Microsoft Research (MSR) has sponsored a symposium on social computing that “brings together academic and industry researchers, developers, writers, and influential commentators in order to open new lines of communication among previously disconnected groups.” The…
Live at Interaction10: day 2
Niklas Wolkert & Brad Nunnally provide their second report on Johnnyy Holland on the Interaction10 conference in Savannah, Georgia – this time focused on the second day. “After a night of some great parties, and even better conversation, the second…
Live at Interaction10: day 1
Niklas Wolkert & Brad Nunnally report on Johnnyy Holland on the first day of the Interaction10 conference in Savannah, Georgia. “If one thing had to describe the overall theme of the first day it would be the importance of providing…
5 ways techno-gadgetry is bringing out the worst in humanity
Scott Hill of Alternet looks at how technology facilitates “the human sentient understanding of how to take cruel advantage of human weakness”. “Indeed, humans are exceptional when it comes to using technology to prey upon weaknesses, in themselves, their cultures…
Digital Nation, in-depth documentary, online in full
In Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier, FRONTLINE presents an in-depth exploration of what it means to be human in a 21st-century digital world. Continuing a line of investigation she began with the 2008 FRONTLINE report Growing Up Online,…
The Internet of things: Networked objects and smart devices
Constantine Valhouli, principal of the Massachusetts based Hammersmith Group, which consults to developers on the marketing and branding of luxury properties, and to city leaders on reviving historical downtowns, just published an overview of the potential for connected devices entitled…
Europeans’ Privacy will be big challenge in next decade, says EU Commissioner
On the 4th annual Data Protection day (28th January 2010) the European Commission announced the intention to reform the 1995 European Union (EU) Data Protection Directive 95 “Our privacy faces new challenges: behavioural advertising can use your internet history to…
Stowe Boyd: outdated UX metaphors are holding us back
Stowe Boyd arguest that the metaphors of computing user experience are holding us back from new ways of structuring our interaction through computers. “the thing that is blocking us from moving forward, to a better user experience centered on social…