May 2012
6 posts
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[IxD Theory] - The role of emotion in design
Post-‐class blog topic: What is the role of emotion in design? Is it ever okay to ignore the emotional layer and focus only on function? If yes, then when?
I believe the role of emotion in design is incredibly important if you’re trying to create the best possible user experience. Human emotion isn’t something that can be turned off. It is constant and it must always be accounted for...
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[IxD Theory] - The next frontier for connectivity
Post-‐class blog topic: What is the next frontier for connectivity? What will make it stick?
I believe getting everything connected online and narrowing the gap between the digital world and the physical world will be the next big frontier. Cars and televisions have already begun to be included, as well as household thermostats with the Nest. It may be a little while further before we see...
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[IxD Theory] - Interaction Design is Democratized
Post-‐class blog topic: Why is interaction design so much more democratized than other design disciplines?
Interaction design stresses the understanding of the context: the systems, people, and places that are relevant to the solution being designed. This is because interaction designers are concerned with the intentions and behaviors surrounding an experience. Interaction designers must take...
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[IxD Theory] - Divergence of Design
Post-‐class blog topic: Do you think design disciplines are converging or diverging? Consider analogous industries, such as medicine, to inform your point of view.
I believe design disciplines are definitely diverging. It seems that we’re coming up with new and increasingly specialized roles for designers every day. Medicine and bioengineering is the second biggest industry in the San...
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[Business of Design] - Final Response: My Ideal...
Already, I have an awesome summer internship lined up at Hot Studio, an experience design company in San Francisco. I’ll be working there amongst their user experience team as an interaction designer. I hope that working at such an established and popular design agency will allow me to explore and use the most innovative tools and approaches to solve problems and create meaningful...
April 2012
5 posts
“They [Fiona Raby and Tony Dunne] see the Interaction Design Department as a...”
– Bill Moggridge speaking about Fiona Raby and Tony Dunne in Chapter 9: Futures and Alternative Nows of his book Designing Interactions
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[Business of Design] - Response 11: Ideal Company...
I’m seeking to work at a company—and perhaps one day create a company—with a profound company culture. I have previously mentioned that my personal values are to create meaningful experiences that engage, empower, connect, and delight people in new and wonderful ways. This fills me with a sense of purpose, or a drive to use all the skills, tools, and resources available to do the...
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[Business of Design] - Response 9: Working at...
Read Greg Smith’s letter of resignation to Goldman Sachs, published in the New York Times, and see him bring to light how drastically Goldman Sachs culture and moral values have changed for the worse over the twelve years since he began working there. The client and their interests are no longer held to the highest level. They have instead become merely “muppets,” being pushed...
March 2012
9 posts
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[IxD Theory] - An Experience with Prototyping
Post-‐class blog topic: Discuss one of the best prototypes you have encountered, either yours or someone else’s. Why was it great? What did you or its designer learn from it? What would the designer have missed if the prototype had never been built?
During my interaction design internship, I had the opportunity to create and test a working prototype of a “new user experience” for...
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[Business of Design] - Response 8: Support the...
I think one important area a designer can contribute to in a company’s financial discussions is being a champion for the triple bottom line. Traditionally, there has always been one “bottom line,” which is about the measurement of corporate profit and loss. However, it has only been recently gaining in acceptance that there are two other bottom lines, which measure responsibility...
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February 2012
18 posts
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[IxD Theory] - Interacting with an iPhone at a...
Pick an interactive product you use regularly and discuss how the interactions would change if you suddenly interacted with it from a very different distance. Besides the actual points of interactivity, how would the product as a whole change as a result of the new interactive distance?
Let’s take today’s smartphone as an example, and more specifically the iPhone since I am most...
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[Business of Design] - Response 5: Keep it Fluid
Blog on why entrepreneurs or startup employees need to “keep it fluid” (as defined in Sull’s article).
In his article titled Disciplined Entrepreneurship, Donald N. Sull suggests an important concept to help entrepreneurs and startups construct and form their ideas, which he calls “keep it fluid.” Through his studies, Sull found that committing to a business model...
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“How do we think about the design of an object under the regime of mass...”
– Barry Katz, CCA Design History
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“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be...”
– William Morris, 1880
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[IxD Theory] - Response 3
Reflect on your own goals as an interaction designer. What is your personal flavor of interaction? What part of interaction design excites you the most?
Boy, these are great questions, and ones I’ve been trying to refine ever since I discovered interaction design as a dedicated profession not too long ago. If I had to state my goals as simply and all encompassing as possible, I would say...
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[IxD Theory] - Response 2
Discuss a product that has changed significantly over the years that you’ve used it. How have the interactions changed? Why have they changed? Is the product better or worse now?
In my last response I began to talk a little bit about Google, and I think it serves as an ideal example to answer these questions.
When I first began using Google, maybe around 2003, I heralded it for its utter...
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Business of Design - Response 2
Blog on cultural or technical trends that are influencing you now. How are they changing your behavior or beliefs?
Social:To begin, it’s difficult to overlook social online networking giants like Facebook and Twitter, but having been somewhat of an early adopter of these, my opinions and behaviors have shifted to one of welcome and delight to one of avoidance and stress. I began with...
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Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator's Dilemma - James... →
“They can do it because Apple hasn’t optimized its organization to maximize profit. Instead, it has made the creation of value for customers its priority. When you do this, the fear of cannibalization or disruption of one’s self just melts away. In fact, when your mission is based around creating customer value, around creating great products, cannibalization and disruption...
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Secrets of greatness: Practice and hard work bring... →
Here’s some good assigned reading for Business of Design class this week. I believe I developed a pretty good working ethic growing up, from school, to sports, to videogames—definitely food for thought after tonight’s Jane McGonigal talk in San Francisco—and spending thousands of hours on given tasks.
January 2012
15 posts
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Business of Design Response 1
Blog on whether you’d prefer to create your own business or innovate within an existing company. Explain which personal traits or preferences make you feel this way.
I believe I am best suited to innovate within an existing company because I excel working in an established context that better allows me to focus on design problems, areas of opportunity, and being closest in touch with the customer...
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Spring 2012 Business of Design Course
After looking through the course syllabus, these are the classes I’m most excited about:
4. THE “WHO,” “WHAT” and “HOW” OF BUSINESS (Business Model) – Feb 8
Lecture: What is a business model and how is it created?
I’m a very strategic person and I’ve always felt I think holistically about things. When it has come to the places I’ve worked in the past, I couldn’t help...
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Design has changed. Designers, not quite. →
Here are a few considerations for designers as they integrate more with business and the way business is done. Embrace non-designers by being more open and accessible.
This is in response to more required reading for my Business of Design class.
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WatchI filmed and edited out class tour of the Heath Ceramics factory in Sausalito, California.
Song Credit: “Attaboy” from the Goat Rodeo Sessions by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile
Man! Everything this guy says just clicks with me. JK: “An Interaction Designer must become an expert in how human beings relate to each other, and to the world, and to the changing nature of technology and business…The understanding of behavior becomes more important when the potential of Interaction Design is realized: when Interaction Designers stop being advocates for simply usable...
