Monthly Archives: September 2010

Our first video from the 2010 Device Design Day, featuring Kim Goodwin and Michael Voege. Interaction designers and industrial designers are kindred spirits in many ways, yet we tend to lean on somewhat different skills, biases, and design approaches. Many teams struggle with these differences, and the results of that struggle are visible in the [...]

Filed in Device Design Day, Industrial Design, Interaction Design, Process | Comments (0)

I was on a panel at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 2010 meeting entitled Blasphemy or Pragmatics? When NOT to Follow User-Centered Design Techniques. I took the position that UCD is one of five approaches that designers can use to design products. Here are my slides.

Filed in Speaking Summaries, Theory | Comments (3)

I’ve started a list of essays and articles that I feel are important touchstones and reference points for interaction designers. These are not books (my Top Ten Essential Interaction Design Books), book chapters, or presentations (list to come), and I’ve certainly left out some classic (and not-yet-classic) articles. The list, as the best lists often are, is idiosyncratic. But please offer your own suggestions for additions in the comments.

Filed in Interaction Design, Links We Like | Comments (26)

The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves by W. Brian Arthur is an attempt to put a framework around all types of technology, from “computer algorithms and beer brewing, power stations and pencils, handheld devices and DNA sequencing techniques.” Arthur wants a unifying theory (an -ology) of technology: what they are, how they evolve, and how innovation really happens. This is important because, as he rightly notes, “technology creates our world. It creates our wealth, our economy, our very way of being.” “The story of this century,” Arthur writes, “will be about the clash between what technology offers and what we feel comfortable with.”

Filed in Book Reviews, Technology | Comments (0)

We’re looking to add a project manager to our staff. We need someone who is organized, has experience with budgeting and scheduling, can manage multiple clients, vendors, and projects (and us), has a cool head and a sense of humor.

Filed in Jobs | Comments (0)

Phone Numbers are Dead, They Just Don't Know It Yet http://is.gd/eK3zM # Possible new iPods coming this week. Check out rumored new Nano http://is.gd/eLIf1 # Robots in Trafalgar Square http://is.gd/eMiFo # Fart-operated Arduino-driven TV remote http://bit.ly/9vyq3x. Enabling creative innovation and 11-year-old humor all at once. (via @tigoe) #

Filed in Kicker | Comments (0)

For the past two months, we’ve been racing forward on our tea project with a concept we dubbed The Hourglass. But no longer.

Filed in Concept Projects, Industrial Design, Projects in Process, Prototypes | Comments (1)