Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Today I read Groundswell: winning a world transformed by social technologies (alternate site – amazon page) by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff (analysts at Forrester). [I was sent a review copy].   It is a book aimed senior managers in charge…
Last year, The Economist published an article about ethnographic user research at Swisscom. One of the findings it highlighted was that immigrant workers are the most advanced users of communications technology: “It is migrants, rather than geeks, who have emerged…
Here is my selection on emerging markets related papers presented at CHI 2008. (Papers are linked to their pdf downloads, if available) Re-placing faith: reconsidering the secular-religious use divide in the United States and Kenya [abstract] Authors: Susan P. Wyche…
Here is my selection on mobile banking related papers presented at CHI 2008. (Papers are linked to their pdf downloads, if available.) From meiwaku to tokushita!: lessons for digital money design from Japan [abstract] Authors: Scott Mainwaring (Intel Research), Wendy…
Here is my selection on product design related papers presented at CHI 2008. (Papers are linked to their pdf downloads, if available.) Case study: using online communities to drive commercial product development [abstract] Authors: Sheena Lewis (IBM) Abstract: This paper…
Here is my selection on papers related to social applications presented at CHI 2008. (Papers are linked to their pdf downloads, if available.) Ambient social tv: drawing people into a shared experience [abstract] Authors: Gunnar Harboe, Crysta J. Metcalf, Frank…
Here is my selection on papers on more strategic issues presented at CHI 2008. (Papers are linked to their pdf downloads, if available.) Empathy and experience in HCI [abstract] Authors: Peter Wright (Sheffield Hallam University) and John McCarthy (University College…
The April issue of the International Journal of Design has recently been published. It is the fourth issue of this peer-reviewed journal issued by the Taiwan-based Chinese Institute of Design (read more here). Three-in-One user study for focused collaboration by…
Business Week reports on how online aps such as Sports Tracker and Nokia Beta Lab, allow the Finnish handset giant to gather customers’ ideas from around the world, and virtually for free. “Sports Tracker is an example of how Nokia…
Microsoft UK is developing a “senior PC”, which will have a simple interface and be aimed at older users, writes Jane Wakefield on BBC News. The machine will come software that allows users to manage prescriptions as well as simplified…
Nokia press release (dated 29 April 2008): Nokia’s advanced design team today shared “Homegrown”, a long term research project looking at how Nokia can help people make more sustainable choices. The team is exploring specific environmental and social issues including…
The (UK) Times reports on the successful networking site for tweens. The features of Club Penguin, one of the most successful virtual worlds aimed specifically at children, may defy logic – and gravity – but they represent the new frontier…
A group of researchers from the University of Southern California and University of California at Berkeley presented their first findings from one of the largest ethnographic studies on kids in digital environments. Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media: An Ethnographic…
Earlier this week, Linden Lab, creator of the well-known virtual world Second Life, announced a new CEO: Mark Kingdon, currently CEO of digital marketing firm Organic. He will be taking over in mid-May. Technology Review assistant editor Erica Naone spoke…
Rick Poynor, a writer and critic based in London specializing in visual culture, wrote a provocative essay (published in I.D. Magazine), tackling contemporary indulgence with design thinking and innovation: Design is now so important, it seems, that designers can no…
Design Flanders and Flanders In Shape organise a one-day conference and intensive training on user-centred design in the Flemish Parliament in Brussels on 22 May. Experientia’s Jan-Christoph Zoels and Mark Vanderbeeken (the author of this blog) are in charge of…
The German government just announced a high level initiative for universal and transgenerational design to archive world leadership in the production of innovative products for the elderly including innovation strategies, product and service development, design school projects, and a universal…
IBM press release: At the 10th anniversary commemoration of IBM’s India Research Lab, the company this week unveiled a new initiative to bring even more features and functions to mobile devices as they continue to rival the PC as the…