This year two bright young high school students I know did something quite unexpected. They graduated. One has spent much of his high school years addressing thorny mental health issues. The other (someone I have a semi-maternal interest in) just doesn’t like school — except for the social aspect — and really couldn’t be bothered … Read more Down with Education; Up with Learning
Information Design and “Serial”
Unless you have put an extraordinary amount of effort into embracing your inner luddite for the last few months–not to mention avoiding most of literate humanity–you’ve at least heard of Serial. Serial is the podcast phenomenon narrated by This American Life‘s Sarah Koenig, which takes listeners on an investigative journey the 1999 murder of 17 … Read more Information Design and “Serial”
Fun with Type (But Keep It Functional)
In August A Book Apart released On Web Typography by Jason Santa Maria. This is an excellent introduction to typography and well-timed, since most of the predictions for hot design trends in 2014 include something about fonts. Forbes: large fonts. The Next Web: Non-boring typography. Moveable Online: More experimental type. Web Marketing Today: custom fonts. But … Read more Fun with Type (But Keep It Functional)
A Cool and Almost-Serious Game
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
A Fitbit For Grandma
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
A Whole New Type of Paper Prototype
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
Designing for Empathy–and Action
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
Google Glass: Unexpectedly Fun
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
Learn About Natural Selection: Play a Game
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
Say What? Respect Your OS
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