Keynote at CHI by Nokia Research’s Chipchase examined cultural dimension of interaction design

ACM reports that “a top researcher for Nokia Design [addressed] the need for effective cross-culture design research when developing informed and inspired designs for future mobile technologies. Jan Chipchase, who studies how people around the world behave, communicate, and interact with each other, [was] an invited speaker at ACM’s Computer-Human Interaction 2009 (CHI 2009) conference on April 6, at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center.

Chipchase notes that understanding both the similarities and differences between cultures often helps shape future ideas for mobile device development. “That is why my research focus is on detecting early signals of new trends within a culture and combining that knowledge with the understanding of where technology is heading,” he explains. Chipchase splits his time between running user studies and developing new applications, services and products that people are likely to be using 3 to 15 years from now.

CHI 2009 Design Chair Robert Fabricant noted that Chipchase was invited to address the cultural dimensions of interaction design because understanding the individual cultural impact of global technologies is essential for successful devices. “He has deep knowledge and experience observing world cultures and synthesizing his observations into key concepts a designer can apply when developing future technologies,” said Fabricant, who is Executive Creativity Director at frog design, inc.

The annual conference on Computer-Human Interaction is the premier worldwide forum for exchanging information on all aspects of how people interact with computers. CHI 2009 runs from April 4-9, at the Hynes Convention Center. It offers two days of pre-conference workshops and four days of dynamic sessions that explore the future of computer-human interaction with researchers, practitioners, educators and students.

On his own blog, Chipchase lists some of the materials he presented at CHI during his talk “Designing for the Global Impact of Mobile Devices”:

• setting up temporary design studios in shanty towns paper (10MB) – slides (6MB) – video by Younghee Jung
• research into illiteracy essay – slides (6MB) – video
• mobile phone street hacks
• related material