Communication through visualization is an interest of mine, so I was very intrigues by the concept of the game, Metrico, by Digital Dreams (for PS Vita, not my preferred platform. A puzzle game, players have to navigate a world of infographic-inspired shapes, which change in response to their movements. Each level is a different approach … Read more A Cool and Almost-Serious Game
Like many in the Sandwich Generation, lately I’ve been spending an unfortunate amount of time thinking about the hazards of growing old–especially when you are poor–today. When you go to the hospital you get great care (expensive, I’m sure), but your out-of-hospital care is crappy. After a couple of weeks out of the hospital, back … Read more A Fitbit For Grandma
Paper prototypes can seem passe with all the cool tools that allow users to react to initial concepts. But At TecEd in Ann Arbor they took it to a whole new level. Creating an entire operating room in a small conference room in their office, they were able to get feedback on a new design. … Read more A Whole New Type of Paper Prototype
Recently I’ve been working with clients that want to encourage some kind of political or social action from their users. Nonprofit organizations, in particular, often want to encourage some type of action from users: write you congressman, sign a petition, donate to end poverty. I’ve been a little horrified at the poor approach many of … Read more Designing for Empathy–and Action
I got a chance to play with Google Glass recently. I was not one of the many people instantly attracted to it when I first heard about it, so I was amazed to discover that I really liked it! The display is not distracting (or not as distracting as I feared) and it is … Read more Google Glass: Unexpectedly Fun
Are you one of those strange people who like to eat moths? (As a vegetarian, I’ll pass.) Perhaps not a typical dish on your celebratory table, but birds like them. And if you are trying to teach kids the concept of natural selection, they can be a good way to do so. Digital Glass, an … Read more Learn About Natural Selection: Play a Game
The most engaging human-computer interaction in the movie Her is the embodied, almost immersive gameplay, punctuated by the hilarious interactions with the foul-mouthed cartoon kid with the giant head. But the most pervasive input type by far in the movie is conversational; almost the entire movie is a conversation between the main character (the amazing … Read more Say What? Respect Your OS
I recently worked with a team to develop a site to promote a vacation rental property. The client has a lovely second home in the Orlando area that he makes available for rent. While he has a relationship with a local property management company, he wants to promote and rent the home himself. The client … Read more UX Doesn’t End With the Final Click
When’s the last time you ventured out without your phone? (I mean, on purpose. I occasionally get down the block without mine, and worry that this will be the one time I really, really need to make a call.) If you are like most other Americans, the answer is “not often.” According to Pew Internet … Read more Do You Sleep with Your Phone?
Colbert isn’t the first to talk about MOOCs, but he is one of the funniest. He also makes some good points. While public universities do have a higher mission than just/solely making money, and therefore have some incentive to provide a tiny taste of their education online, free is rarely a sustainable business model. … Read more We’re All Learners, We’re All Teachers