Mobiles becoming ‘media channels’ [BBC]
Mobiles are becoming “media channels” as music, games, gambling and adult content clamour to make the industry worth $42.8bn by 2010. Read full story
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
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Tech’s “dearth of innovation” [Business Week]
That’s due to “near-monopolists” in many areas, says futurist Mark Anderson, whose newsletter is read by the likes of Gates and Dell. Mark Anderson just might be one of the most influential technology futurists around. His weekly newsletter, Strategic News…
World’s first ambient experience suite opens [PhysOrg.com]
The Ambient Experience suite uses Philips’ lighting and consumer electronics to create a welcoming and patient-friendly environment for children undergoing medical scans. Featuring a Philips Brilliance CT (computed tomography) scanner in a room with curved walls, it lets young patients…
Ethnography at McDonald’s
Blogger Grant McCracken has posted a nice tale about doing ethnography at McDonald’s to figure out why people order smaller drink sizes in the drive-thru than inside. And in the process, provides a nice concise explanation of a research approach.…
How Philips found new spark [Business Week]
CEO Gerard Kleisterlee tells how an emphasis on smart design pushes innovation, makes happy customers — and boosts the bottom line. Read full interview (via Brian Regienczuk)
When cell phones become oracles [Wired News]
Cell phones know whom you called and which calls you dodged, but they can also record where you went, how much sleep you got and predict what you’re going to do next. At least, these are the capabilities of 100…
Single gadget weaves phone, internet and media services [International Herald Tribune]
France Télécom this month offered up its latest version of convergence by tacking on a few useful services to its Livebox home networking product, a “triple play” service combining Internet, telephone and television service. The most interesting of the new…
Harvard articles on the user-centred approach
Harvard Business School Publishing has some articles available as (paying) downloads describing how experience design and the user-centred approach can lead to innovation. Let the Users Take the Lead – May 15, 2005 Interview with Eric von Hippel, the head…
“thoughtless acts?”: observations on intuitive design
thoughtless acts? is a book by Jane Fulton Suri and IDEO that invites you to notice the subtle and amusing ways that people react to the world around them. These “thoughtless acts” reveal how people how people behave in a…
From “System Design” to “Experience Design” [Philips]
Brian Regienczuk, a senior project manager & consultant at Philips (see previous post) also pointed me to the ambient experience info on Philips Medical. “Imagine if you could break down the barriers that can make a visit to the hospital…
Design’s new school of thought [Business Week]
IDEO’s David Kelley is building a “D-school” that aims to put students in direct contact with the people they’re designing for. An interview on the D-school as a B-school with Bruce Nussbaum. Read full story (via Metacool)
The Financial Times reflecting on foresight
If we believe what we read, not only the South China tiger and the Cross River gorilla but the Japanese and Italians are heading for extinction. Doomsday projections make good headlines – we offer a few here – but the…
The future of shopping [Philips Design]
Brian Regienczuk, a senior project manager & consultant at Philips, commented on some of my previous Philips posts and pointed me to the very informative sites on the “Future of Shopping” (see link below) and “Ambient Intelligence“. The “Future of…
How Skandia generates its future faster [Fast Company]
Five years ago, at Swedish giant financial services giant Skandia, Lief Edvinsson became the world’s first director of intellectual capital. He quickly set out to revolutionise the corporate accounting with a new framework for measuring intangibles: the company’s valuable “soft…
AlwaysOn – the insiders network
The most powerful thought leader and business development conference in Silicon Valley has started and AO readers can watch it live on the web. Go to website
Stanford cranks up curriculum for design [News.com]
David Kelley, founder of industrial-design firm IDEO, is making headway in his dream of transforming design departments from that quirky corner where everyone wears clunky shoes to a central part of the product development team. Read full story Listen to…
Gilder’s dark future [News.com]
Speaking at the AlwaysOn conference at Stanford University, futurist George Gilder predicted a harrowing future for humanity. TV will die, he said, and be replaced by blogs. Read full story Listen to webcast
Human brain’s ‘mastermind’ located [Discovery Channel]
Humans attempt to do many things at the same time, such as driving and chatting on the phone, or working and listening to music, and now research suggests why such multitasking may be possible: the brain appears to have its…
Futuribles
For more than 40 years, Futuribles has been an independent non-profit centre for prospective studies and foresight. Its overall aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the contemporary world. By taking an interdisciplinary approach, Futuribles explores current issues,…
Don’t throw the research out with the focus groups [Customer Experience Crossroads]
It’s become popular to disparage focus groups. What people often hear is that research is bad, or people who rely on it are lacking in leadership ability. Most of the people making these disparaging comments about marketing research are also…