Jumping for Serious Play

Laura Haertling
  • Laura Haertling
  • Comment (0)

This year’s Art Center Design Conference was about Serious Play.

As guest program director Chee Pearlman explained, “the tradition of play has evolved through the playful experiment of Charles and Ray Eames, who professed, ‘toys are not as innocent as they look, they are often the precursor to serious ideas.’’

As we all brace for the blow of another Monday, this mind-expanding conference reminded us that the best ideas and solutions often come from a relaxed, playful state of mind.

During the breaks, Serious Play gave its participants an opportunity to play with the pros. Here are photos of our own Maria Giudice and Henrik Olsen going at it!


Can’t we just all get along? Human-Centered Design meets Agile Development

Maria Giudice
  • Maria Giudice
  • Comments (5)

I recently returned from Chicago, where I was speaking at the Design Research Conference. The student-run conference, sponsored by the IIT Institute of Design, focused on emerging themes, methods and issues in human-centered design research, and addressed a wide spectrum of design disciplines.

My presentation looked at the differences between Waterfall and Agile Development. I prefer human-centered design, but I wanted to round out my experiences and assumptions about these two different approaches. So I interviewed several industry colleagues — user experience designers, visual designers, project managers, engineers, and clients — who had strong opinions on this touchy subject.

The presentation I gave defines the different methods of each approach, describes when each method works better, and proposes some hybrid models that can bridge the gap between these two ways of working.

I welcome your feedback on this sometimes controversial topic.


Giving BART a personality as unique as its riders

Eric Grant
  • Eric Grant
  • Comment (0)

Here at Hot, we’re passionate about creating things people love to use. So when BART - the Bay Area Rapid Transit District - approached Hot Studio to redesign their website, we were both excited and eager to take on this challenge. Bart.gov has always been recognized as a leader in public transportation sites, but it faced increasing competition from sites like google.com/transit, and lacked the kind of character that was needed for an iconic transportation system.

We were presented with the following goals:

  • increase the utility of the site without creating information overload;
  • develop an interface that is elegant and easy to use;
  • strengthen the perception that BART is a dependable, safe and easy way to travel around the area.

Hot spent a considerable amount of time researching the site’s users and their needs. We specifically looked at how commuters, leisure travelers, airport travelers and tourists accessed information on the site. By using our user-centered and collaborative approach, we were able to dissect the needs of the users to create a compelling experience.

Less is more

Often it’s what you leave out that makes the difference between something that’s usable and something that isn’t. By stripping away unnecessary information, we were able to prominently display things people needed the most, and add value to areas of the site which were lacking. This is clearly evident in the redesigned trip planner results pages where we used color differentiators, white space and a more intuitive linear presentation of the train schedules. And we helped create stickiness and increase loyalty on the station pages by making them highly interactive and fun to use.

Putting a face to public transportation

Most public transportation sites lack personality and the character of the communities they serve. We wanted to change this trend and give BART a look as unique as the 375,000 people who ride it each day. We created a prominent space on the home page to highlight BART’s riders and the new “My Bay” theme. In addition, we softened the overall look and feel of the site by using warmer, more organic colors and eliminating any hard edges.

The result of our collaborative effort with BART is an easy to use and highly informational tool - with a personality. Features on bart.gov include:

  • a prominent and intuitive trip planner and interactive system map;
  • clean, clear and interactive trip planner results;
  • real-time arrival and service advisory information;
  • interactive station pages with area attractions and a Flickr feed from local users;
  • a unique and progressive look and feel with clean and modern infographics.

“Response to the new site has been overwhelming positive,” said Tim Moore, manager of bart.gov. “With high gas prices, traffic jams and environmental concerns, our ridership is up 15,000 a day. The new site has made a strong first impression on a lot of new customers. It’s helping us to convert by redefining people’s perceptions about BART.”

Be sure to plan your next Bay Area trip on bart.gov.


Bill Verplank at BayCHI, metaphors, and wine

Josh Damon Williams
  • Josh Damon Williams
  • Comment (1)

Sketching seems to in the zeitgeist. There are a bunch of books out on the topic (Dan Roam’s “Back of the Napkin”, and Bill Buxton’s “Sketching User Experiences“), more books on the way (like Rosenfeld Media’s book by Kevin “OK/Cancel” Cheng, “See What I Mean: Using Comics to Communicate Ideas”), and plenty of talks and presentations all about sketching. I had a previous career in the animation industry, so I’m thrilled to see that some of that experience is turning out to be relevant to the design work I do today, particularly around storyboarding.

A couple weeks ago, I caught Bill Verplank’s talk titled “Sketching Metaphors” at BayCHI.

Verplank gave us his background. He joined Xerox in 1978 and was on the  team that built the Alto and the Star. He explained how meatspace offices and real desktops were adopted as design metaphors, that were then used to develop principles which were applied to the GUIs of those then-cutting-edge computational devices the team was building. (A quick look outside your browser chrome confirms that their “desktop” metaphor had long legs.)

At the time they were developing the Alto, however, Verplank said not everyone on the team was in love with the desktop metaphor. Some felt it was wrong to give computer GUIs the afforances of meatspace, because it suggested an inaccurate model for what the computer is actually doing, and could possibly limit the technology’s potential to supporting only those tasks that fit neatly into that metaphor.

Using an IDEO project he worked on in the ’90s as a case study, Verplank demonstrated how fruitful the right metaphor can be in design concepting and ideation. After trying out a couple faulty metaphors (one wasn’t flexible enough, another was too obscure), the team settled on the cow as the right metaphor for the project. Like food passes through a cow’s multi-chambered stomach, the end users experienced a multi-phase workflow. Some of what the client ingested (data, or “grass”) was converted into profitable output (actionable findings, the “milk and cream”).

My sketch, based on Bill Verplanks, of a Cow

But that didn’t mean the final design should look like a cow. Verplank talked about how it is important to recognize the limits of a metaphor. Sometimes they can carry straight through, from concepting to design. But sometimes it’s just as important to abandon it. (The final design of the “cow” project worked more like a folded map. Users could unfold sections for inspection, and then refold them.)

The talk got me thinking. I’ve been doing a lot of work recently around social media experiences. Perhaps it’s something to do with my growing up in Healdsburg, but one metaphor for social media I’ve been toying with is the production, distribution, and consumption of wine.

As with the production of media, there’s a wide scale of winemaker operations — from the big, faceless juggernauts to the mid-sized, family-owned estates, down to the inspired hobbyist making cabernet in the chicken coop. The quality of product ranges by maker and bottle (or sometimes by box). Consumers gather at wine bars, where they socialize as they taste and talk about different vintages. Or, if they want, people can take a bottle home and drink alone. Exploring the metaphor further might lead to some interesting design ideas for a media experience. For example, wines are regularly rated and reviewed, and wineries often produce detailed talk-sheets to guide people through a tasting experience. Perhaps some facet of these advice strategies could help media consumers find and digest media that suits their tastes, situation, or mood.


As with the cow example, there’s a limit to how far the wine metaphor can or should go. Wine production is lengthy, involving growth, harvest, and blending. It is perhaps antithetical to the rush with which most digital media finds its way online. I asked a co-worked if she could come up with any sort of parallel to wine’s aging process. “Waiting for media to load,” she suggested. But with a difference of seconds compared to years, it’s clear the wine metaphor is probably not the best metaphor for social media.

Just considering it as a metaphor, though, did provoke some new thinking and gave me a different perspective I can use (or not) to inform future design work. Sometimes a cow is just a cow, but it’s worth spending a few cycles to consider how a cow might also be a business operations unit.


Bondage & Domination, Updater style

Josh Damon Williams
  • Josh Damon Williams
  • Comment (1)

Updater Bondage and Domination

Adobe and Microsofts Updaters are like cops who pull you over when you weren’t even speeding. And before you can ask the cops what you did wrong, they yank you from the car, spread your feet apart and lock your arms behind your back with handcuffs that dig into your wrists. Ouch! To rub salt on the wound, they then force you quit your browser — losing all your open tabs — and they also make you quit most of the apps you have open with no explanation.

At this point, all you can do is succumb, wait for the Updater Cops to have their way with you. No, you don’t understand what they’re doing. No, they won’t let you know how long this is going to take. You have no idea what will happen when they’re done. You hope you get lucky and they end up letting you continue on your way. But you also know there’s a chance that things could go bad, and you’ll end up requiring professional services to negotiate for your freedom.

Worst part is, you get the sense the Updaters like it this way. Sure, they could be curteous and informative, asking questions and explaning what they’re doing, but they never do. It’s about control, you think to yourself. They have it, and they like it. Bondage and Domination, Updater Style.


UX by day, DJ by night: Josh Williams is spinning ROFLThing tomorrow night

Holly Hagen
  • Holly Hagen
  • Comment (0)

If you’re free tomorrow and looking for something fun and different… Join some of the Hotties at Mighty for ROFLThing SF. ROFLThing is about internets, memes, and teh funny. There are a couple hours of presentations, followed by a couple hours of open bar (during which Hottie Josh will be djing).

More details:

5:30 PM – Introductions, then Andy Baio of Waxy.org on “Star Wars Kid and the Cult of Unwilling Celebrity”

6:10 PM – Ben Huh (CEO, I Can Has Cheezburger), on “Microhumor and The State of the LOL”

6:50 – Sean O’Steen (Founder, Twitter Fail Whale Fan Club) on “Love and the Cetacean Nation”

7:30 – Fred Turner (Stanford University) on “Buckminister Fuller and the Technocratic Counterculture”

8:00 - 10:00 – ROFLDrinks Open Bar! (DJing provided by Josh Williams

Hope to see you guys there!


Help nominate AFH to win the Amex Members Project

  • Renee Anderson
  • Comment (0)

From our friends Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr from Architecture for Humanity:

Please help by nominating the project and tell all your friends and family to do the same. I know the nomination process can be a bit confusing, so please follow these simple directions:
1) Click on this link to go to our project

2) Click the Nominate this Project button on the center of the page

3) Follow the directions to either log in as an American Express card member, or sign up as a guest member

4) You will be directed back to the project, at which point you should be able to click the Nominate this Project button again

5) Click on the discuss button and tell the jury about how the collaboration between AFH and Lulan will help create huge change.

And that’s it!

Let’s use the power of the Architecture for Humanity network by forwarding this information to as many people as you can - the more people that nominate the project, the better chance we have to allow us to partner on this incredible project. We are only 2000 nominations short!

Cheers
Cameron Sinclair
Eternal Optimist, Architecture for Humanity

About The Project
Lulan Artisans is a locally driven social venture that creates an alliance between textile designers and gifted artisans to produce hand-woven fabrics through-out South Asia. By providing economic opportunity and stability this project helps preserve the art of hand-weaving in Asia while creating environmentally sustainable fabrics. Collections include fabric-by-the-yard, as well as home and fashion accessories are already marketed through select retailers and outlets.

Now Lulan Artisans is ready to expand, hire thousands of weavers and build innovative off-the-grid weaving centers whose profits will support these artisans but also provide health care and schooling for their children.

Architecture for Humanity and its’ designers will provide innovative off-the-grid weaving centers that respects tradition but represents a new way forward. Each building will not only be an anchor for these artisans but will signal change has arrived. Building designs will shared openly with anyone wanting to replicate them through a Creative Commons licensing mechanism on the Open Architecture Network. This way innovation is shared and more communities can benefit.

On a local level Lulan Artisans currently supports over 650 weavers, spinners, dyers and finishers using a holistic approach to produce fabrics that are better for the environment. These centers are in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Our goal is to produce additional weaving centers to increase the number of artisans to over 6,000, thus increasing our production and expanding our reach to many more weaving families and communities.

American Express is currently offering $2.5 million dollars in funding to support exciting and innovative ideas that make a difference in the world. They will be selecting 5 ‘Members Projects’ for funding.

In many parts of South Asia young women are left with little option in gaining employment. Unfortunately thousands, some are as young as 12, are being trafficked and lost into the prostitution every year. Last month I was in Bangkok with Eve Blossom of Lulan Artisans to find a way to help scale her successful model of local empowerment through social enterprise. By expanding her fair-trade weaving cooperatives throughout South East Asia collectively we can affect the lives of thousands of families.

Architecture for Humanity is partnering with Lulan Artisans, for a Members Project entitled;

End Human Trafficking through Sustainable Livelihoods.


Back to work after a long weekend (at WordCamp & An Event Apart)

Holly Hagen
  • Holly Hagen
  • Comments (2)

I just got back to the office after a nice, long weekend at conferences. I’m a little bummed I didn’t get to travel outside SF for any of this excitement, but that’s what I get for living and working in such a great city.

So first was WordCamp SF… it is always one of my favorite events of the year! Now in it’s 3rd year (proud to say I was one of the handful of people at the first WordCamp in ‘06), WordCamp SF was definitely prepared for all the new faces by holding it at the new UCSF campus in Mission Bay. The event was separated into 2 tracks, one for normal users and the other for developers. And since I’m a little of both, I separated my time between the 2 halls. It did get a little difficult to choose at times… like was I really suppose to go to a session about secure coding when Ben and his LOLcats were talking upstairs? Sorry Mark. Anyway, I saw that was taping everything so hopefully that is out soon so I can catch up.

WordCamp: Matt makes opening announcements Credit: Heather Rasley
Matt making morning announcements.
Photo Credit: Heather_R

Some WordCamp highlights:

Also… big props to my girl, Marianne for putting together the WordPress Charity Scavenger Hunt. I wasn’t able to make it, but it sounded like everyone had a great time raising some money for our friends at 826 Valencia!

Now moving on to An Event Apart SF… I went to AEA this year with fellow Hottie, Jisun. We really enjoyed both days. There was a stress on visual design and process with great presentations from Jeffry Zeldman, Jason Santa Maria, Jeremy Keith and Jeff Veen.

AEA: Jeffery Zeldman Phot Credit: kurafire
AEA - Jeffery Zeldman.
Photo Credit: kurafire

Some AEA highlights:

  • The playlist - pretty slick idea to put this up, everyone was talking about it
  • Jeremy Keith’s & Mager’s liveblog of the entire conference
  • Derek Featherstone!!! Hands down my favorite presentation of the conference (maybe ever). Everyone NEEDS to know that accessibility is definitely part of the user experience.

Overall, it was a great weekend! So many new friends and good times. Time to start rolling on all those good ideas this inspired me to do… can’t wait for next year.

Thanks again to Heather_R and kurafire for the photos, silly me forgot my camera to both events. I would easily forget my head if it wasn’t attached to my body =)


Help us get our panels in SXSW!

Katrina Alcorn
  • Katrina Alcorn
  • Comment (0)

Folks at Hot have proposed panels on four topics for the next South by Southwest Interactive Festival (March 2009, Austin, TX). Now we need your help getting our panels in the program. The conference is asking people to vote on the panels they like the best. We need votes. If you like our ideas, here’s what you can do:

1. Go to panelpicker.sxsw.com and sign up for an account. (It’s fast.)
2. Once you’re in the system, do a search for “hot studio” and 4 sessions should come up.
3. Vote for us!
4. Tell you friends to do the same.

The titles of the proposed sessions are:
“When Worlds Collide: Human Centered Design Meets Agile Development”
“Collaborating for Change: Innovate Like You Give a Damn”
“Business 101 for Designers, Developers and Geeks”
“Inspiring Logic and Creativity in Multi-Disciplinary Web Design Teams”

You can read a short description of each on the panel picker.

We hope you’ll be at the festival but if not, you can still vote. (I know, it’s a little weird to vote if you’re not going, but if you *really* like us…)

Vote early, vote often! Thanks for your help.


WordCamp SF 2008 registration now open

Holly Hagen
  • Holly Hagen
  • Comment (0)

WordCamp SF 2008Registration for WordCamp SF 2008, an all-day conference for all lovers of WordPress (users & developers), is now open. WordCamp takes place on August 16th at the Mission Bay Confernce Center.

I’ve gone the last 2 years and it always surprises me who I meet – WP users and geeks are the best! Plus it’s a wicked good time. Oh and the best part is that Matt and the guys at Automattic like to treat us to a BBQ lunch. So sign up today!