Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Mike Kuniavsky has posted a pre-print draft of the first chapter of his new book Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design (see also this earlier post). The final book, he says, will be different and this is no substitute for it, but it’s a…
In his bimonthly column in the ACM CHI magazine, Interactions, Donald Norman argues that most gestures are neither natural nor easy to learn or remember. “Gestures lack critical clues deemed essential for successful human-computer interaction. Because gestures are ephemeral, they do not leave behind any…
The latest Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project report is out: “The Impact of the Internet on Institutions in the Future” surveys 895 tech experts on the way that technology will change institutions (government, business, nonprofits, schools) in the next ten years. Technology…
The Winter 2009 issue of MIT’s Innovations Journal is focused on “Mobilizing Markets.” All contents are available online. Prerequisite to Prosperity Why Africa’s Future Depends on Better Governance by Mohamed (Mo) Ibrahim Harnessing the Mobile Revolution by Thomas Kalil Phone vs. Laptop: Which Is a…
“Mobile-based livelihood services in Africa: pilots and early deployments” is a new paper by Jonathan Donner, a researcher in the Technology for Emerging Markets Group at Microsoft Research India, The paper describes a collection of initiatives delivering support via mobile phones to small enterprises, small…
To launch Twist, a new men’s fragrance in its global Axe brand, Unilever turned to a preapproved crowd of eager young amateurs for help. Venessa Wong reports in Business Week. “In July 2008, Unilever executives convened 16 regular young men and women from around the…
The title might be a bit cryptic for some readers, but Jan Chipchase is a well-known user researcher/anthropologist at Nokia. He spent a decade exploring the intersection of technology, people and culture for Nokia, and specializes in turning insights into opportunities. CGAP is an independent…
Consumers are willing to sacrifice performance for perceived social status from green products, says the study Going Green to Be Seen: Status, Reputation, and Conspicuous Conservation, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “Shoppers choose hybrid cars, “green” washing-up liquid and energy-saving devices…
How cities became our greatest design challenge yet. Justin McGuirk, the editor of icon, the UK’s leading architecture & design magazine, argues in The Guardian that, amid unprecedented levels of urbanisation, designers must be trusted to fashion cities that not only accommodate but also provide…
Peter Morville and Jeffery Callender recently released their brand new book “Search Patterns: Design for Discovery“. It’s an excellent, must-read book for the user experience community. Brad Nunnally, user experience designer at Perficient, had the honor to chat with Peter about what drove him to…
Petz Scholtus reports in TreeHugger on presentations by Alastair Fuad-Luke, Gui Bonsiepe and Alfred Astort during the recent 1st International Congress of Design and Innovation of Catalonia (CIDIC) at the ESDi School of Design in Spain. “Designers should get away from ego-design and concentrate on…
A new study by the Associated Press has come to the conclusion that consumers are “tired, even annoyed, by the current experience of advertising,†and that, as a result, they don’t trust very much of it. But at the same time, AP found, consumers do…
This project of the Nordic Innovation Center aimed to draw attention to user driven innovation in the health care sector, and to develop and test methods for user driven innovation in the context of health care. “The report consists of an overview of innovation theory,…
Our personal details are used everywhere. And it’s more easy to share, mine and exploit them than ever before. This new report by the UK think tank Demos is an up-close and personal investigation into how people feel about the use of their personal information.…
The World Bank in partnership with mobile handset maker Nokia is set to fund the establishment of mobile applications laboratories in Africa in a move to boost innovation in the field. “The mobile laboratories will help assist mobile applications entrepreneurs to start and scale their…
The concept of “privacy†is incredibly different depending on which side of the Atlantic you live, says Eric Reiss. And in an increasingly globalized world, it’s becoming more and more important to acknowledge these divergent points of view. “Americans tend to be less concerned than…
Qualitative, and especially observational or ethnographic, research enables us to delve much more deeply into the relationship between our firm and its product/service and the customer, argues Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, in the Harvard Business…
Africa Calling: Can Mobile Phones Make a Miracle? is the title of a long article by Jenny C. Aker (Assistant Professor, The Fletcher School) and Isaac M. Mbiti (Assistant Professor, SMU), published in the March/April 2010 edition of the Boston Review. Given how many Africans…
At Lift France 09, Mike Kuniavsky spoke about Changing Things: Fab Labs, towards decentralized design and production of material products (link to 25 min. video). Kuniavsky’s new book on ubiquitous computing user experience design is now finished and will be shipping in August. Based on…
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 taking on complex problems related…
Are some behaviours more contagious than others? This is the question that Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler address in their book, Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. From a Science + Religion Today article: “In the book,…
David Sherwin argues in his blog that there are a few eerie similarities between the plotting of mystery novels and how designers should document design research findings. “So how is the design research process anything like the plotting of a mystery novel? Let’s talk about…
Jeff Howard alerts us in his “Design for Service” blog to the publication “Can You Design a Service?” by the Danish agency 1508. “Six brief case studies showcase service design’s range while examples for Aarhus citizen services and a kindergarten in Cophenhagen provide a closer…
In his blog, Dan Lockton, a Ph.D. researcher at Brunel University (UK), describes eleven behavioural change patterns “drawn from games or modelled on more playful forms of influencing behaviour.” “My main interest here is to extract the design techniques as very simple design patterns or…
Designers can play a pivotal role, writes Mark Baskinger, associate professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, in empowering elders towards sustained autonomous living through improving the communicative properties of everyday products. “Products fail us every day. For some reason, though, we…
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 that the very technology allowing…
Now, more than ever, it’s important to determine when it’s feasible to save money and the environment by conducting more user research remotely. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of remote research. Jim Ross reports in UX matters. “Although lack of time and money…
Although design and design thinking are having a positive impact on management practice and education, Youngjin Yoo, an associate professor at Temple University , doesn’t think that the current wave of design thinking will address the fundamental crisis that contemporary management is facing in this…
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. No 4) edition of the…
Charles Arthur investigates in The Observer [Sunday edition of The Guardian] how the ways in which we watch sport, read magazines and do business with each other could change for ever. “Augmented reality – AR, as it has quickly become known – has only recently…
Microsoft’s Channel 9 conducted a half hour video interview with Bill Buxton, Principal Researcher for Microsoft Research and Albert Shum, Director of Mobile Experience Design for Windows Phone 7 Series on creating compelling user experiences, how developers and designers can work together in harmony and…
Happiness itself is a commons to which everyone should have equal access. Jay Walljasper, co-editor of OnTheCommons.org, reflects on this statement by Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogotà, Colombia, in Shareables. A worthwile read whenever you need some arguments against those opposing pedestrianising city centres…
From the Nordic Innovation website: User driven innovation is emerging as one of the successful ways of creating breakthrough innovations for companies and organisations. In this project called “Create concept innovation with users“, a Nordic and Baltic consortium lead by FORA has been able to…
Brands are starting to catch on to lifelogging – a technique that uses a tiny digital camera to capture every moment of a consumer’s day and take insight gathering to a higher level. Lifelogging involves consumers wearing a small digital camera around their neck. This…
When rational appeals fall short, environmentalists enlist social and economic incentives–and even neuroscience–to get the public in on national efforts to combat climate change. Scientific American reports. Energy efficiency seems to make rational economic sense—the less energy used, the more money saved. Yet, in the…
Situated Technologies Pamphlet 6: MicroPublicPlaces Spring 2010 Marc Böhlen and Hans Frei “In response to two strong global vectors: the rise of pervasive information technologies and the privatization of the public sphere, Marc Böhlen and Hans Frei propose hybrid architectural programs called Micro Public Places…
Sir George Cox was the closing speaker at The Big Rethink, a ‘Redesigning Business Summit’ organised by The Economist, in association with the Design Council, that aims to develop some fresh ideas on how design thinking can be used to seize business opportunities in our…
Merging complex systems science and ecology, resilience scientists have broken new ground on understanding—and preserving—natural ecosystems. Now, as more and more people move into urban hubs, they are bringing this novel science to the city. “Resilience theory, first introduced by Canadian ecologist C.S. “Buzz†Holling…
In relentless pursuit of ‘connecting,’ we miss out on each other The Seattle Times argues that while communication and gaming gadgets have convenienced and connected us in ways never before possible, they may also be profoundly hurting our ability to be social, empathic and involved…