Steampunk Gadgets

This is interesting - some intriguing gadget design fusing "intersection of technology and romance where the future meets the past: Victorian era inventions clash with often dark alternate realities." This might feature well in the Critical Design aspect of the unit 'Research * Development'. These designs are obviously unnecessary, but they force us to confront our notions of what technology should look like.

http://oddee.com/item_96830.aspx

Technology... with personality?

Anna's Transformation project on the acceptance of technology and the phenomenon of Robots has caused me to blog this article. It is written from the point of view of interaction/experience design and gives a few good examples (looking at visual anthropomorphism for example) as well as insights into how to convey emotion. Turns out Experience Designers Shedroff and Noessel back up my point about R2D2, even though a practical non-anthropomorphic robot, appeals to the human emotion through his sound.

http://johnnyholland.org/2009/12/09/does-technology-need-personality/

Digital Magazine Experiments pt 2

This project by one of the MA DDM students, Anna, is really shaping up to be interesting - and looking at the recent developments could be a more than pertinent investigation. As Paul pointed out, the fact that Apple is intending to release a handheld tablet device could breathe new life into the e-reader and digital reading experience...

A more traditional (!) attempt by Wired Magazine, recreating page-turns and adding interactivity

http://www.wired.co.uk/promotions/sampler200907.aspx

Sports Illustrated designed to be viewed and interacted with on a handheld tablet device... the real estate of the screen is really being used in a clever way, and appropriately to the functionality of Digital Media. The interaction design is reflecting the essence of magazine reading - e.g. browsing, focusing - and not just copying the physical act of page turning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntyXvLnxyXk

Hopefully, Anna will find out more in her research about our relationship with and experience of magazines....

Digital Magazine Experiments

I came across a blog post yesterday, reporting on an experimental online magazine. This lead me on a quick stab journey, also inspired by Anna's interest in the experience of reading magazines and how this could change, be supported or enhanced through digital media.
A Portuguese success story: could i be the future of newspapers?
http://www.editorsweblog.org/analysis/2009/11/a_portuguese_success_story_could_i_be_th.php

Time offering 'customized' experimental magazine
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.70cafb3720e94be3c92af2caf941a9aa.b31&show_article=1

fusion is an experimental magazine that is developed at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Department Media Design. The issues have individual subjects – ranging from identity to typography – and are finalized on an irregular schedule. 
http://www.experimental-fusion.de/

Using Ethnography for User Experience Research

Here is an article making the link more directly between Ethnography and User Experience Research, as a step before Usability Testing. This relates to recent discussion in the Research Methods unit which dealt with Ethnography (Michele-Anne's session) and then linked to User Experience Research.

http://www.cxpartners.co.uk/thoughts/using_ethnography_to_improve_user_experience.htm

Digital Media Tools - web 2.0

Still trying to synchronise all the web 2.0 service I use (blog, twitter, wiki, social bookmarking) into a coherent platform for digital communication - and working out which service is the best for which task, and which is just a lot of redundant nonsense.
We now have the MA DDM course wiki, which is shaping up great. Uptake of the educational twitter service edmodo has been reluctant, so I'm thinking of scrapping it or integrating it somehow into the wiki, to spare people having numerous logins. Currently looking at widgets to enable a real-time elements and easy sharing of links on the wiki space.

Wiki - Digimites

I have also started off the creation of a wiki for the MA Design for Digital Media. As this is a collaborative tool, I am hoping the students will get involved in the design of the interface as well as the structure and content. It is a great way to get involved with shaping an interface, without any knowledge of webdesign required.
It is a shared space for course information, work files, discussions etc and can encompass current students, alumni and future students, who will be able to familiarise themselves with some of the terms and units before even arriving in Portsmouth.

MA Design for Digital Media - facelift!

Since taking on a greater responsibility in teaching on the MA Design for Digital Media, I have been pondering the use of Web 2.0 to integrate course information, discussion and facilitate exchange - at the same time as encouraging the students to get in involved in these digital networks. Only by taking part will you be able to critically analyse, and in turn adapt, create and innovate technology.
Starting with this blog, and looking at the use of a Wiki - see how it goes... http://digimites.wikispaces.com/
They all need designing and customizing and funking up!!