Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Category Audience
Disney offers teen-tracker mobile [BBC]
Improve usability for older users
Lifestyle design: a new profession
UK government web sites fail accessibility tests [BBC]
The multitasking generation [Time Magazine]
The shape of robots to come [The New York Times]
Europe losing education race, study shows
Europe is falling behind Asia in terms of education and skills, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and released today by the Lisbon Council. It blames France and Germany which are criticised for…
You can’t understand the future without demographics
Futurist Andrew Zolli, founder of Z + Partners, reflects in a Fast Company feature on the future demographics of society. The composition of a society–whether its citizens are old or young, prosperous or declining, rural or urban–shapes every aspect of…
Half of American children obese by 2010, 38% of European ones [AP]
Associated Press reports that according to a study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, rates of childhood obesity are expected to skyrocket in the coming years, with half of the children in North and South America obese by…
Computer technology opens a world of work to disabled people [The New York Times]
[New flexible work] arrangements are bringing jobs to thousands of people with disabilities, including those with spinal cord injuries and vision loss. Fast computers and broadband connections have become so inexpensive and reliable that location is now not an issue…
In California, new kind of commune for elderly [The New York Times]
They are unlikely revolutionaries. Bearing walkers and canes, a veritable Merck Manual of ailments among them, the 12 old friends — average age 80 — looked as though they should have been sitting down to a game of Scrabble, not…
Gain, the relaunched AIGA journal of business and design
AIGA, the professional association for design, has just relaunched its Gain journal, dedicated to stimulating thinking at the intersection of design and business. The launch issue contains a huge amount of material (no less than 30 articles) organised in such…
Sir Ken Robinson on creativity and education [Business Week]
Education guru Sir Ken Robinson talks about the importance of nurturing innovative solutions in the classroom — indeed, in every aspect of modern life. Sir Ken Robinson, now a senior advisor to the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles,…
Open Health, a UK Design Council report on creating new healthcare systems
The UK Design Council published its first RED report: ‘Open Health’, following up on the paper “Health: Co-creating Services” (which was discussed here). Chronic disease and conditions related to an unhealthy lifestyle have reached epidemic proportions and are rising still.…
Innovative technologies for disabled children
When six-year-old Tilly Griffiths from Staffordshire wanted to join her elder sister’s ballet class, her parents turned for help to a little known charity that designs and manufactures one-off pieces of equipment for disabled people. Based in an old chapel…
Phone firms targeting of under-fives is ‘as bad as marketing junk food’ say MPs [The Independent]
Senior [UK] MPs are calling for an urgent government inquiry into the “targeting” of children with cartoon mobile phone merchandise, including Winnie the Pooh, dangly soft toys and Scooby-Doo mobile phone covers. They warn that a huge selection of mobile…
Mattel workshop on play experiences for the next generation
Looking to generate new ideas about the future of play, Mattel invited the Interaction Design Institute to present concepts during its company-wide Play Experiences for the Next Generation workshop. Children discover the world through play. Playing shapes human mental and…
Visa’s virtual Olympic challenge [Business Week]
The credit-card giant scored a hit with its online “advergame.” And it’s not alone, as companies try to think of new ways to snag eyeballs There’s a new competition at the Winter Olympics this year — and it involves virtual,…
Toy makers are betting on toddler tech [Market Watch]
From industry giants Mattel and Hasbro to smaller players LeapFrog and VTech, toy manufacturers are lowering the age ranges for their high-tech and educational offerings at this year’s Toy Fair, betting that “toddler tech” will help reverse several years of…