Every now and then, you realize it is time to do a little spring cleaning, even when it isn’t spring. For the seventh time in over eight years of publishing, the face of BlogSchmog has changed.
Designing What’s Next
A central theme of disconnection between theory and practice was meant as a call to HCI theorists to improve both the communication and the pragmatics of technique. That disconnection applies in the other direction, too, in how we perceive and intervene in the evolution of the World Wide Web. Perhaps we need a little more theory in our practice of predicting the future.
Questioning what you think you know
Last Friday, Eugene Spafford became the first of four speakers in a new Distinguished Colloquia series offered by the School of Informatics. Spaffords talk, “The Value in Questioning What You Think You Know,” was a reflective look at current hardware and software practices, many of which are based on the computing landscape in the 1950s.
Doctor Who turns 44
Although David Tennant doesn’t have to put up with the signature low-quality props and sets shot on video—the quality of the special effects is in line with industry standards, taking away some of the schtick—the original concept has stood the test of time: actors come and go, but the Doctor is eternal.
American personas
A few weeks ago, Putting People First profiled a project by Claritas to create personas for Americana. Demographic data was compiled to come up with a few dozen different kinds of Americans and situate them in the geography of the nation. These personas might be used as a great initial step in a design inquiry.
Designs for Disaster Relief
The CHI 2008 Student Design Competition is, broadly described, about designing for the homeless. A Wired News feature today focused on the need for short-term housing following disasters that create large populations of suddenly homeless—such as the 800,000 people displaced by Hurrica Hurricane Katrina two years ago, or the 130,000 residents similarly affected by an earthquake in Indonesia last year.
Hands-Free Your Mind
A few months ago, an item floated down the news stream about Japanese researchers creating an iPod control for one’s teeth. Since then, news other non-traditional inputs have followed. Gesture-based interfaces leverage intuitive actions already in use by a person to manipulate tools of interest, and designers will be well advised to explore the user reactions to such devices.