January 7, 2007
As Part 2 in this series indicated, my interest in ubiquitous computing started with the sort of issues raised by Lucy Suchman’s initial research on artificial intelligence applications, specifically expert systems. I’ve been waiting to read Lucy’s second edition of Plans and Situated Actions, titled Human-Machine Reconfigurations before finishing this series of entries. It is an interesting read, and I think several themes introduced by Suchman’s most recent work nicely highlight the contributions in Adam Greenfield’s Everyware.
Everyware offers a number of interesting and provocative insights into the phenomena of ubiquitous computing. The most sensible, and provocative, insight offered by Greenfield relates to whether the design of ubiquitous computing needs to aim for seamless interaction with people using connected devices, or whether a rigorous focus is needed on how to make seamful interaction the guiding design practice. Read the rest of this entry »
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Experience Design, Ubiquitous Computing, User Experience | Tagged: Artificial Intelligence, Everyware, machine learning, Ubiquitous Computing | 
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Posted by Larry Irons
January 3, 2007
Part 1 promised that Part 2 would discuss Greenfield’s Everyware. However, before we get to that discussion, a few considerations on Moreville’s Ambient Findability are needed. The discussion of Moreville’s book will make clear the contributions offered in Everyware.
Greenfield and Moreville express skepticism about the ability of artificial intelligence to solve basic problems related to ambient findability and Everyware, what Greenfield terms ambient informatics. As more and more ordinary devices are available for people to engage as they go about routine activities, the sheer challenge of finding the right device among those available to support an activity promises to develop into a significant hurdle. Both authors recognize the challenge. Yet, Greenfield and Moreville both fail to discuss straightforwardly the challenges faced by attempts to manage relationships between connected devices. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Ubiquitous Computing, User Experience, Web 2.0 | Tagged: Artificial Intelligence, Everyware, Findability, Ubiquitous Computing | Permalink
Posted by Larry Irons
December 17, 2006
I read Adam Greenfield’s Everyware in August of this year, but haven’t written anything about it yet. I like the book, a lot. It led me to think again about a number of issues that I kind of put to the side over the last two decades as I’ve made a living as a knowledge worker, i.e. methods analyst, technical writer, multimedia developer, Professor of Communication, web designer, human capital manager, e-Learning researcher, learning architect, customer experience designer. However, Adam’s book made an impression on me initially, more because of things that I experienced in the late 1980s and early 1990s than for its relevance today, though it is extremely relevant to today’s challenges in relating human experience to the ubiquitous nature of computing technology. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Ubiquitous Computing, User Experience, Web 2.0 | Tagged: Artificial Intelligence, Everyware, Findability | Permalink
Posted by Larry Irons
September 29, 2006
Yanko Design just showcased an intriguing design for a futuristic ring that exchanges information.
This product is designed to exchange basic information with new people in the first meeting by shaking hands….When people first meet and shake hands, the rings on the fingers get close enough to operate. The rings exchange their users information and stores them while they are shaking hands. So, the more people they meet, the more information they have. When the users browse through the people they meet, the card displays their basic information that was stored in the ring. The power source is provided from human temperature, so it doesn’t need any plug.
Treat yourself and go on over to look at the full-size images in Hideaki Matsui’s design.
It is worth the trip!
Leave a Comment » | Cool Entries, Experience Design | Tagged: tangible computing, Ubiquitous Computing, Web 2.0 | Permalink
Posted by Larry Irons
July 9, 2006
Rachel Jones, founder of the UK user-centered design company Instrata reports in Usability News on research her company recently finished asking what mobile phone users in the United Kingdom and Europe over the age of 30 want in a product. She makes the following observations about the customer segments for mobile phones above the age of 30:
Some are technically advanced, using a range of other gadgets but with purpose and quality as their motivation. They primarily want to use their mobile for calls and texts, e.g. businesspeople communicating on the move – and would choose a simpler model over others, but only if it has the right look. They won’t use a mobile camera unless the photo quality is equivalent to their digital cameras, and so convergence will only be of interest if quality is undiminished.
Others may be uncomfortable with technology, but don’t want to advertise the fact. They often give up on mobiles, which come to live at the back of the desk drawer or in the bottom of the handbag.
Many potential customers just wish for a phone that is user friendly, and rate this as much more important than any other factor. Many in all groups have had free upgrades to phones that no longer suit their needs, and which have then caused unanticipated frustrations.
As Jones correctly notes, many customers want increasingly sophisticated functions in their mobile phones. Yet, as she adds, ” When phones are created for the older market they do not have the styling or personalisation that these consumers want, or if they do, the marketing concentrates on what they feel are the more patronising aspects of improved usability instead of innovation.” In other words, customers over 30 want mobile phones with simple features that provide a pleasant look and feel.
Jones research raised my interest because it provides insight into a basic change occurring in the mobile phone market. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Larry Irons
June 9, 2006
I started reading The Persona Lifecycle by John Pruitt and Tamara Adlin over the past week, all 700 plus pages. The book provides a detailed overview of how to use personas, though mostly focused on interactive applications such as web design and software. I cannot review the whole book here, largely because of its length, but also because it does not seem like a book the authors designed for people to read through. It is more like a nicely woven set of concepts, practical insights, and toolkits around the topic of personas. In addition, it provides five original contributions, as individual chapters, by well-known authorities in user centered design. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Brands, Customer Experience, Experience Design, User Experience | Tagged: Customer Segmentation, Experience Design, Persona | Permalink
Posted by Larry Irons
January 4, 2006
Interfaces are not what they used to be. The computer-human interface is both more and less than it was a few years ago. Interfaces are not only, or even primarily, a screen anymore. Yet, screens remain important to most design efforts, even though interfaces are increasingly part of the environment itself. As John Thackara and Malcolm McCullough both recently pointed out, entire cities are developing into user interfaces as ubiquitous computing environments expand.
Peter Morville has outlined one approach to the challenges posed by ubiquitous computing for people who need to go places or find things. He calls it “ambient findability”: “…a fast emerging world where we can find anyone or anything from anywhere at anytime” (p. 6). Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Experience Design, Social Networks, User Experience, v-Tags, Web 2.0 | Tagged: Experience Design, Findability, visual tags | Permalink
Posted by Larry Irons
January 3, 2006
“The best companies find ways to tune in to customers’ voices every day,” The Three “Ds” of Customer Experience…
Focusing on how to engage customers in dialogue, how to converse with customers is among the greatest challenges, and opportunities, facing companies today. Conversing with customers requires a focus on their experience with existing products and services as well as the design of new ones. It means developing business processes to deliver products and services that are not self-oriented, but customer-oriented; not inside-out, but outside-in.
Customer Experience Management (CEM) is a term used by many people to describe the methods for developing customer-orientation instead of self-orientation in business processes. CEM is one of those terms offering something to lots of different people. As a result, it is sometimes confused with the very services it claims to offer management advice on applying. A recent series of posts on LivePath provide an interesting discussion on what makes CEM different from CRM, User Experience Design, and Experiential Marketing. If you employ these buzz words in describing the services your company offers, I strongly encourage a close reading of these posts by Leigh Duncan. Although I might quibble with some of the distinctions made within each functional area of CEM that Leigh outlines, the overall strategy for making sense of what CEM offers is sound.
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Leave a Comment » | Customer Communities, Customer Experience, Experience Design, Innovation | Tagged: CEM, CRM, Customer Experience Management, user experience | Permalink
Posted by Larry Irons
November 14, 2005
Thanks to Putting People First, I found Aria magazine today. Aria is a magazine dedicated to Emotional Geography. The inspiration for the magazine comes from Professor Giuliana Bruno of Harvard, who wrote Atlas of Emotion. Mark Vanderbeeken at Putting People First wonders if Aria magazine is a brand strategy for Nokia, since Nokia is the only advertiser in the magazine. The magazine draws inspiration and trend examples from the qualitative research consultancy Future Concept Lab. Whether Nokia is involved is unknown. However, the approach of an Emotional Geography could prove useful in the branding efforts of companies like Nokia. Giuliana Bruno’s work provides a point of view that asserts the close connection between communication technology and tactile experience, especially the notion of “staying in touch.”
Cinema has laid the foundation upon which the current communication technologies have developed and strengthened: the possibility of reaching places and people without really moving. The term “con-tact” stands for the need of human beings to stay in touch, and it does, indeed, emphasize “tact”‹that tactility favored by the desire for closeness. The new terminology of communication indicates better than anything else how something which at first appears to be aseptic and abstract is, now more than ever, tactile… At first, there is always a moment in which you fear that the medium itself can get the “upper-hand” and overwhelm the human spirit. But it is not so. Time has shown, again and again, that desire does not die. Once you master the medium, that you tangibly do is continue to look for other ways to keep contacts.
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Posted by Larry Irons
November 9, 2005
How many times have you stuck your hand under the faucet to see whether the water is hot yet? Or, cold enough to drink…
Experience design aims to please the senses in a manner that enhances function. Hansa provides an example of the art and craft in practice, mixing the pleasing sense of color with the soothing sound of water, while providing cues about its temperature.
“Remove the top of a spigot, create a small-scale canyon, add backlighting and you’ve got ambient water fittings. That’s what Germany’s Hansa is doing with Hansacanyon, by adding LEDs that change color as a function of water temperature so you can see when it’s hot or cold.” Thanks to: MoCo Loco
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Posted by Larry Irons
Skilful Minds 