Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
I very much enjoyed the reflection of Lee Bryant (Headshift), following the launch of the UK Government’s Big Society initiative. In it, he argues that in the past, UK politics [and not just UK, I’d say] were dominated by two…
Ever keen to expand the boundaries of their practices, design professionals have been moving in the direction of public policy for some years, writes Lucy Kimbell (blog). But what designers, or multi-disciplinary teams using “design†approaches, can also bring to…
Ludinno, a hands-on user-driven innovation-project, has provided new concepts, ideas and knowledge for businesses, and a platform for a Nordic research cooperation in the field of merging design and user-driven innovation (UDI) processes. In the project students supported by academics…
The Swedish International Development Corporation Agency (SIDA) has published a report by Johan Hellström (blog) that gives an overview of the current state of mobile phone use and services in East Africa. The report outlines major trends and main obstacles…
Alice Rawsthorn, design critic of The New York Times, reports on Loops, an experimental project created by Participle, the British social design group, that aims to help young people to become more confident, ambitious and resourceful. “[Hilary] Cottam [, co-founder…
I finally had a chance to listen to the two excellent keynotes of Design Everything, the futures conference that took place last month in Manchester, UK. Keynote: Ben Cerveny Ben Cerveny‘s keynote explored how, as newly-emerging urban-scale technology infrastructures are…
BeAware, an EU-supported research project, has created a solution to motivate and empower citizens to become active energy consumers, by offering them the opportunity to raise awareness of their own power consumption in real time. Energy Life includes a mobile…
Is there an alternative to the seemingly inevitable cuts to public services? Hilary Cottam of Participle poses the question. “The scale of the challenge to our public services is clear. The mainstream debate is all about cuts – how fast…
Tinker London (the team promoting the use of Arduino in design) started a collaboration with EDF R&D on Homesense, an open user-centered research project investigating the use of smart and networked technologies in the home. Homesense will bring the open…
Flanders InShape, the Flemish/Belgian competence centre for product development and industrial design, is supporting a new research project on the development of a requirements programme for future prison design in Belgium. On 25 March Flanders InShape organised the “Towards a…
The bilingual (Fr/En) research journal CADI of the highly respected design school L’École de design Nantes/Atlantique in the French city of Nantes is a worthwhile treat, as each issue contains four in-depth interviews with professional authorities who worked with their…
According to the Repubblica newspaper, the head of the Catholic Church has been arguing today for the centrality of the person on the web. We agree, but are surprised that this man who is in charge of an institution with…
Stepan Doubrava and Jakub Franc of ExperienceU (Czech Republic), argues on the Global User Research blog for the proper use of user-centred design principles in eGovernment projects. “eGovernment, or the transfer of government activities to the Internet […] brings with…
Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund and development partners, SRV and VVO today announce a 60m investment for a low carbon housing and commercial building complex in Helsinki. Work on the development will begin immediately, with completion scheduled for the end…
Successful Service Design: Turning Innovation Into Practice is a website created by the UK’s Cabinet Office that provides a robust guide to service design. The site, that also contains an extensive library, offers “a stage by stage approach for teams…
Too many of us are too busy to be healthy–not because we lack awareness. It’s finding the time to do it that’s the problem. In an age of 24/7 connectivity, time feels more pressed than ever. Yet, it may be…
If the 20th century was the era of the global institution–the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the multinational corporation—then the 21st century will be the era of the participatory system, argues Participle‘s Hillary Cottam in the Winter 2010 (Vol.XXXI.…
The Italian city of Torino just launched “The Colors of Torino“, helping tourists through Microsoft’s Color Tags at monuments and tourist attractions. If you want to know more about a certain attraction (currently only 10 key destinations are tagged), you…
The Guardian, one of the leading UK newspapers, has publish an eight-page supplement on service design (pdf) – subtitled “Design innovation in the public and private sector – in association with the Service Design Network (that Experientia is a member…
A new report published jointly today by the British, Danish and Dutch governments challenges the way European institutions make decisions and argues that smart EU regulation must mean that businesses and citizens are put at the heart of all European…