Category Archives: Technology

I was at a gallery opening a few months ago, serving wine at the bar. The gallery was a non-profit and so there was a requested donation for the alcohol. One of the guests became very angry about this and responded aggressively. The gallery director came up and placed her hand on his shoulder to [...]

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At Kicker Studio, we’re interested in the idea of physical interface. We’re interested in discovering how we can take technology off the screen and make it become an additive that can be embedded into any product to make it stronger, smarter, and more powerful. Technology needs to respond in ways we understand. Technology needs to [...]

Filed in Gestural Interfaces, Inspiration, Interaction Design, Product Design 2.0, Technology, Theory | Comments (0)

What does it mean to “make tech speak human”? With the emergence of new technologies like touch and gesture, technology needs to learn how humans use those methods to communicate with our world. Let’s look at gesture, for example. When we talk we use our hands to emphasize and illustrate what we are trying to [...]

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Kicker Studio marked our 3rd Anniversary on August 8, 2011. To celebrate, we hosted the Second Annual Device Design Day at the San Francisco Art Institute, Jody’s alma matter. It was a great success thanks to inspiring speakers and involved attendees. Couldn’t make it? Don’t worry, we’ve posted videos of the talks for you to [...]

Filed in Device Design Day, Events, Industrial Design, Inspiration, Interaction Design, Product Design 2.0, Products We Like, Speaking Summaries, Technology, Visual Design | Comments (0)

How can haptics (vibrotactile feedback) improve the experience of touchscreen products?

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I’ve always been really bothered by the term ‘form and function’. It somehow implies that form is outside of function. As if they are two completely separate things. In fact, I think form and function have a relationship that is a lot more blurred. That in fact, form is part of function.

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Many of the projects we do at Kicker involve new technologies, so I thought I’d put some thoughts down about how to do that and how to think about those kinds of projects.

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A talk by Mike Kuniavsky at Kicker Studio’s 2010 Device Design Day.

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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.”

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In 1994, telecommunications giant AT&T ran a series of television ads in the US created by N W Ayer and directed by David Fincher (!) with the tagline “You Will.” While designers fetishize the Apple 1984 ad, I think we should also remember this series as a lost set of classics.

Filed in Inspiration, Interaction Design, Technology, Touchscreens | Comments (0)