Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Richard Fisher reflects in the New Scientist on how mobile applications are changing the way we live. “While gaming still accounts for the lion’s share of app activity, it is beyond doubt that apps, and the new wave of phones…
Jonathan Gosier, a software developer, writer and social entrepreneur in Kampala, Uganda, shares his ideas on what augmented reality could mean for Africa. “Already people are recording audio, video, and blogging to keep donors abreast of their work in the…
Don Hammonds of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on the use of market research and ethnographic observations by car manufacturers: “The tool that most people associate with automotive market research is the focus group but another tool has become more popular…
The User Experience Design blog reports that Jonathan Hassell of BBC online shared a presentation on the challenges and methodologies of the company’s Usability & Accessibility team. The short presentation describes the challenges, such as a wide range of platforms…
Juliette LaMontagne argues on the Design Observer that mobile devices aren’t distractions in schools; they’re machines for learning. “When it comes to technology integration, you need to meet students (and teachers) where they are. When you begin with a tool…
CGAP has published a brief entitled “Poor People Using Mobile Financial Services: Observations on Customer Usage and Impact from M-PESA”. “Despite growing agreement on the potential of technology to expand access to finance, or branchless banking, there is surprisingly little…
Paula Fortner, iHealthBeat senior staff writer, reports on how innovative mobile technologies are helping to fundamentally transform health care in many developing countries. “Last month, the Rockefeller Foundation announced a $100 million initiative to strengthen health systems in Africa…
Millions of Africans are using mobile phones to pay bills, move cash and buy basic everyday items. So why, asks the BBC, has a form of banking that has proved a dead duck in the West been such a hit…
Michael Trucano explains on the World Bank’s EduTech blog why the World Bank will be kicking off a study next month looking at “The Use of Mobile Phones in Education in Developing Countries“. “This study is intended to help to…
The new BBC Digital Revolution blog explores the way the web is changing our lives. Some recent posts: Tim Berners-Lee on the web and the developing world It’s the connection, the sharing, the two-way communication that seem to fuel Sir…
Cambridge Design Partnership and Instrata, a Cambridge-based user experience specialist, recently teamed up to approach mobile communications innovation from the experience of the consumer. More in particular, the team developed some ideas into new device and service concepts focussing on…
The Wall Street Journal has published an excellent manifesto by John Freeman, the acting editor of Granta magazine, on the need for slow communication. “We will die, that much is certain; and everyone we have ever loved and cared about…
Participle, the UK social design consultancy, is doing on-the-ground testing of a new model for universal youth services. According to Sarah Schulman, it’s “less of a service, and more of a wholesale approach for community & youth development,” which they…
The UK service design consultancy live|work is working with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) to design better community security services for humanitarian and development organisations. A news article on their site provides more background on this pioneering…
Richard MacManus reports on ReadWriteWeb that Tim O’Reilly and John Battelle released a white paper entitled Web Squared: Web 2.0 Five Years On, which focuses on the intersection of social web technologies with the emerging Internet of Things (real world…
Christian Crumlish, curator of the Yahoo! Design Pattern Library and author of The Power of Many, describes the patterns that are relevant when adding a social dimension to an existing experience. “Designing and building a successful social website or application…
Gunnar Camner and Emil Sjöblom recently spent three months in Tanzania for their master’s thesis in Media Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, to investigate mobile banking services from a user perspective. In which contexts…
Johnathan Bonnell and Jason Theodor explain in a two part series on Experience Matters how technology is increasingly closing the gap between manufacturers and consumers. “The chasm between consumer feedback and product offerings has virtually been erased, and this convergence…
The Myth of Digital Democracy by Matthew Hindman Princeton University Press, 2008 Paperback, 198 pages Abstract: Is the Internet democratizing American politics? Do political Web sites and blogs mobilize inactive citizens and make the public sphere more inclusive? The Myth…
Joe Lamantia, an Amsterdam based experience architect, discussed the role of emotion in game design. In his article, Lamantia draws heavily on the work by Nicole Lazzaro, a leading games researcher and design consultant. “Emotion is one of the most…