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Aesthetics is one of the most subjective words that you would come across when you are in the field of Design. The theory on aesthetics in design has been widely discussed in various circles, from artists to philosophers to other researchers. I firmly believe in minimalism , and the art of saying more with less, and it is evident in my liking of the products from Apple.
Over the years of working in the design industry, I realize that ‘Aesthetics’ is a word I end up using often in my discussions, critique sessions, and meetings. It is important to understand that it is my personal sense of aesthetics that is being said through me. One of the mistakes we designers often make is that we end up expecting the other people’s aesthetics sense to match ours. It would be ideal if it did, but it does not happen that way. what is appealing to one person will in most cases not be the same for the other. What works out is a consensus that allows the aesthetics to be judged objectively. This is harder than it sounds. Often it could lead to endless discussions, ego clashes, internal conflicts etc.
One of the designers I admire is Dieter Rams (the man who defined functional design, and is best known for the design of the Braun products) . His ten point agenda on design basically sums up to form a Design bible of sorts.
In one of his interviews he talks about the issue of aesthetics. Here is the video and should form a basis for a good design discussion!
Source:Gestalten.tv
. . . → Read More: On Design and Aesthetics
In one of my earlier articles, I talked about the need for Co-creating the User Experience, and in the article I mentioned that an essential part of the way to do that is to involved different stakeholders. (Read the article here) . I have been a strong proponent of it, and have realized it’s potential with every project I do.
Recently came across a very interesting presentation Frog Design on the need to involved the clients in the Design process. It is a wonderful presentation, with a great insight onto how to interact with clients, what stage to involve them in , and what we designers should expect from there.
Here is the presentation.
Making Clients Part of the Design Process View more presentations from frog
Came across this really nice video that talks about the value of Design, and what people perceive of Design. While the term Desin Thinking is nebulous, there are a lot of attempts to answer it in the correct words. But the fact is that there is no correct answer to that. Design thinking according to me is a way of life, a thought process that is focused on problem solving, but with a strong focus on the Human and their life world.
Some scholars fear the misuse of the term and feel that when Design thinking takes over, the working takes a back seat. It could be true only in the case that Design thinking is a thing to do. In my opinion its not. You do not put it in as an activity, like I did Design thinking for X number of hours on this particular problem. Its something that you adopt in your working culture. It is something that is there at all times, as an underlying theme towards your problem solving approach.
There have been many who have also spoken and written about the death of Design thinking too. Bruce Nussbaum, one of Design Thinking’s biggest advocates, is moving on to something new. Here, he begins defining “Creative Quotient.” While I do not agree to most of what the post says, and neither to the call for a new framework, I do agree to this point: Design Thinking has given the design profession and society at large all the benefits it has to offer and is beginning to ossify and actually do harm. This above statement aligns itself with the fear that many Design thinking proponents talk about, that is that design thinking is all just thinking and no action.
And then there is . . . → Read More: Design and Thinking
With the launch of Google+ , Google did what’s it best at doing. Creating a buzz and hype around a service. It has since long tried to make its presence felt in the Social space, and earlier disasters have been in the form of Buzz and Wave. While the feedback and the discussions around Google+ have been largely positive, I was surprised to see that the invites were being auctioned on eBay!
Social Media Madness
Do we really need another Social Network?
Has Facebook not screwed up our lives enough?
Now that’s what I call Social Media Madness!
I had earlier written about the use of QR codes to make Print ads more interactive. The possibilities of seamlessly being able to transfer information through the use of this is endless.
Here is a nice example, of how QR codes are helping people in their grocery shopping. Home plus is using these to reduce the stress of the hardworking working class Koreans.
Less stress. More smiles. Simple idea. Well executed.
A nice short and crisp presentation that I came across
4 Things Startups Need to Know About Design and Working with Designers View more presentations from JESS3
Like it!
Recently at the WWDC 2011, amongst other things, Apple introduces iCloud, OS Lion and the new iOS5 that wowed audiences. A week before that, Microsoft releases a video of the Windows 8 Operating system that customizes the operating system depending on the platform they are accessing it. In another phenomenon now, an app is being created for cross platform compatibility on Android, Blackberry and iPhone, to join the billions downloaded already, and Angry birds is taken the world by storm, with its awesome experience that it provides. Somewhere else Twitter is being touted as the most happening social network routing Facebook, with Apple integrating it in the schema of things for the days ahead, and Google is still struggling with its take at Social Network.
Just to go by the set of events in the past few weeks, it is beyond doubt that, we User Experience (UX) professionals are living in exciting (and challenging) times. Exciting because the whole domain of User Experience is growing at an unprecedented rate. Over the years it has gained enough traction, that it is now become the core of discussions and across boardrooms. The stakes have increased and that is precisely why the role has become more challenging over time.
On the other hand the rise of social media technology has had a huge impact on the very functioning of the UX field. I do not think there is any other field that has embraced Social Media to such a large extent. That has opened the gates for a huge opportunity for discussions and collaborations. Sub-consciously we UXers are getting inputs from a gamut of sources, and what we are actually doing is co-creating UX.
Just look at the things around you and you would be surprised by the word experiences and the frequency . . . → Read More: Co-creating the User Experience
Of late one can see the usage of QR codes in advertisements. So much so that it has been catching attention. It’s there on prints, can be found on the web medium and even displayed at notice boards and other common areas in public spaces. In case you are not familiar with it; QR codes stands for Quick Response codes and was meant to be a code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. (Read more about it here on the Wikipedia page)
With the introduction of more phones that are based on the Android and the Symbian 3 platforms, it is but natural to have more applications that will make use of it.With the 3G network slated to come on a larger scale in the market too in the next month (Tata DOCOMO has already started the promotions for it), the number of applications will only increase. If there is anything that is sure, it is that the interactivity level of the users with their devices will increase.
It is this aspect of Interactivity that is the focus of this article. One can imagine and agree people spending more time on their devices (the phones, ipads, tablet pcs etc). With everyone trying to create solutions for different user groups keeping technology in mind, the number of possibilities are vast.
The down side of this would be the vast pool of information that will be available at the disposal to the user. In such a scenario it is very important to get the right piece of information in the shortest time possible. And that is precisely where the QR Codes (and another thing called Data Matrix) come in handy. Just feed in the information that you need to be coded, into many of the freely available, . . . → Read More: Making print ads more interactive
As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I am looking for posts that summarize the discussions and the hot trends and topics at the CHI conference this year.
I came across two posts that summarize what was being discussed at CHI 2011, in Vancouver this year.
One is by my professor at Indiana; Erik Stolterman. CHI 2011, the field, development, grand challenge, and the need for more books
Excerpts from this post: CHI is changing. It is not easy to really understand what the changes are when you are at the conference, but compared with just a few years ago it is easier to see that there is a difference. The conference is broader, more diverse. I had the chance to go to several sessions and it is exciting to see that not only is the diversity growing but I also found the quality in general to be better than usual. One clear change to me is a new interest in theory. I was very pleased to see a design theory session filling two large rooms, and so did the more theoretical design methods session. I hope that this is a sign that the field is getting more eager to find ways to synthesize findings and results from all the studies, experiments, and designs projects.
The second is from a friend at college, Diya.
CHI 2011, the Social Media and musings
Excerpts from her post: Not surprisingly, social media and the underlying theme of interconnectedness formed the crux of CHI this year. Mining social data and trying to get an insight into user behavioral patterns marked the core of several sessions, presenting some very interesting insights on user behavior on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Location Sharing applications and Social Question Answering sites. One of the questions that . . . → Read More: Summary posts from CHI 2011
The premier conference on Human Computer Interaction, Interaction Design, User Experience Design, Usability is here again and this time it is being organized in Vancouver Canada. More on the conference can be read on the conference’s site : http://www.chi2011.org/
I am sure the whole world,just like me is looking forward to the conference. We are all eager to hear what’s the things defining the conferences.
From the #chi2011 tag that I have been following on Twitter, I feel that there is going to be an overdose of touch screen interactions, papers on the portable web an cross platform User Experience Design.
My flat-mate at Indiana, Gopinath who is now a doctoral student at Indiana presented his research on Feminist HCI. I look forward to reading his papers too, apart from the Bardzells and Buxtons.
Too bad that I cannot attend the conference since I am here in India. It’s a dream that one day we have this premier conference in India and I be a part of the team that organizes it here! That would be awesome.
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