archive.Joe Lamantia.com

Two quick updates on things happening other places.

First, the latest installment of Everyware: Designing the Ubiquitous Experience (my column for UXmatters) was published back in March. It explores the world of Vernor Vinge’s story Synthetic Serendipity from the experience design perspective. Vinge is justly reknowned as an SF author, but what makes Synthetic Serendipity worth reading closely is the dense collection of ideas it shares: augmented reality, wearable computing systems, a network-based co-creation economy open to all participation by people of all ages, the games vs. reality inversion, generational differences in adaptation to technological change, etc.

Mostly, I like Synthetic Serendipity as an entry point into the ubiquitous computing space because it presents a picture of the future from the viewpoint of an ordinary kid, who has ordinary concerns; go to school, play video games, stay out of trouble with friends.

In the companion piece in draft now, I look much further ahead, exploring scenarios that consider what happens when the boundaries separating humans from the environment blur and dissolve, and humanity itself becomes an object of design.

Second, and related, Jeff Parks just posted the podcast of a group discussion on ubiquitous computing that he organized at the IA Summit in Memphis. You’ll hear me along with Jeff, Steve Baty, Will Evans, Matthew Milan, John Tirmandi, Joe Sokohl, Todd Zaki Warfel as we share examples, ideas, and questions about the intersection of user experience and ubiquitous computing. Thanks to Jeff for making this happen – it was a fun session, and I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording it.

I’ve posted my slides and materials from the Beyond Findability workshop Andrew Hinton, Livia Labate, Matthew Milan and I put on at the IA Summit in Memphis recently.

This set of materials addresses some of the most important questions for practitioners considering a framework-based approach to design: why framewarks matter for user experience and interaction design, what frameworks are useful for, and how you can work with them effectively.

Why *do* frameworks matter? As I’m arguing, look around and you’ll see profound shifts changing the structural makeup of the digital environment, the contexts and boundaries of the experiences, and the role of professional designers.

For designers, very complicated and interesting problems are on the way: think of Mike Kuniavsky’s work defining some of the fundamental concepts behind the ‘smart things‘ that will inhabit this new design environment, such as information shadows and service avatars. It’s plain that this world will require new tools, and I believe frameworks are part of that toolkit. (See my column Everyware: Design for the Ubiquitous Experience for ongoing perspective.)

And check out the slides for the rest of the workshop

Nothing better than blues, barbecue, and Building Blocks!