Norma Merick Sklarek, known as “The Rosa Parks of Architecture” was born in Harlem, New York City in 1926. She was the first African American woman to become an architect, and overcame numerous challenges in her career. From her early life, she attended predominantly white schools, where she had demonstrated great strength in math, science,…
The Future of Data
We see that technology has changed relative to past advancements, and as a result we must reflect on our current state of technology in order to determine a sense of a future trajectory. It is easy to assume that our current level of advancement is somehow superior to those prior, but sophistication as a trait…
The “Shock-Factor”
Science Fiction provides viewers with a stylized portal into the future, where we can see what it may look like. These shows are based on the writers’ understandings of today, implying that our current reality informs the trajectory of the future. With that said, many science fiction today include either a deliberate or inherent “shock…
ASL for Siri
Siri is one of my favorite features on the iPhone and one that I use incredibly frequently. The tool is particularly useful to me if I am driving, wherein my vision and kinetic ability are limited. In this situation, my voice is the only safe and available method to interact with my phone. And I’m…
Hedy Lamarr: More Than Meets the Eye
Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, better known as Hedy Lamarr (1924-2000), was an Austrian-American actress, film producer, and inventor. She was not only known as “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World”, but invented frequency hopping spread spectrum technology that is used today in cell phones, Wi-Fi, CMDA, GPS, and Bluetooth, among others (Massie). Although she…
Quick and Dirty
As an Interaction Design student, I’ve learned to appreciate the exhilerating practice of rapid iteration. There is something so fun about producing work as quickly as possible and receiving feedback at rapidfire pace, repeating the process to determine the trajectory of a project. Within my work, I have participated in the process of Information Architecture…
The Legacy of MS Paint
Microsoft Paint is an application that has been a part of Window since 1985, most often associated with its poorly and badly illustrated digital art. For many, including myself, it was the first form of painting or editing images on the computer, and the only tool available at the time. Its simple interface and limited…
Lucy Suchman: More than a Green Button
Lucy Suchman is a professor of anthropology at Lancaster University, who worked as the principal scientist and manager at the Palo Alto Research Center. Her university education was completed at UC Berkeley, receiving her Ph.D in Social/Cultural Anthropology in 1984. Cambridge University Press published her dissertation, Plans and Situated Actions: The Problem of Human-Machine Communication…
Humans are not Nodes and Links
In consideration of early forms of social networking, a common theme that emerges is that of self-regulatory systems. Particularly in the case of WELL, several of the seven design goals established by the team include fostering an environment that is “an open-ended universe”, “self-governing”, and “a self-designing experiment”. By doing so, technology becomes both a…
Oregon Trail: Finally Made It
I recall playing Oregon Trail when I was a child, and I had never made it to the destination. Something always went wrong, and I didn’t have the decision-making skills required to keep my party alive. Playing it today, I’m happy to announce that my party and I have successfully arrived! I think Oregon Trail…
It’s a Metaphor.
When comparing the graphical interfaces of Xerox Star and original Macintosh to that of modern day, it is easy to contrast the aesthetic elements. What was more notable to me was that the basic framework of the Desktop remained more or less a fixed constant, as the aesthetic design and the general computing capabilities evolved…
Patterns in Information Landscapes and AR/VR
The Visible Landscape Workshop demo defines an information landscape as a “space that allows you to peruse information by navigating in and out”. Here, the conventional mental model of reading as linear processing is challenged, creating a dynamic interface of type. Similarly to Christopher Alexander’s patterns, wherein public areas are at the forefront of a…
John Maeda: Intersection of Art and Technology
John Maeda (born 1966), is an executive, designer, and technologist, whose work exemplifies the intersection between business, design, and technology. His education began at MIT, where he studied Computer Science, and later received his Ph.D. in design at Tsukuba University’s Institute of Art and Design (Willis 2010). His artwork ranges from explorations in technology producing…
Demarcation of Work and Life
In Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language, he outlines various concepts in architecture that may be replicated to fit various contexts dependent on the inhabitants needs and behaviors. In more ways than one, these architectural patterns have persisted to the design of software. Rather than inhabiting spaces physically, digital users’ physical actions are responded to with…
Mapping the Futures of Other Worlds
In reading John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, I found that my mind was drawn to imagine the described extrnal PDA’s and internal BrainPal™ interfaces to be similar to our current day iPhones and voice controlled assistants. This may be because I am accustomed to such technology, and this experience bled into my interpretation of the…
Understanding Human-Machine Symbiosis
In a time where technology often seems to be an extension of our bodies, it is of great importance that we as designers understand what happens between the human and the machine, as well as what comes of it. To understand the relationship, or the “in between”, we must first consider the role each character…
Tomoko Miho: ‘Borrowed Scenery’
Tomoko Miho (September 2, 1931-February 10, 2012) was a greatly influential graphic designer, who like many Japanese-Americans of her time, spent her formative years in an internment camp during World War II. Despite the constraints within her life, she is an example of greatness that emerges in spite of difficult, external factors. In her school…
From Revolutionary to Widely Accepted
When watching Douglass Englebart’s demo of a computer and mouse prototype, I found myself having to remind myself of what time in technological history this device was produced due to how similar and yet vastly different it is from what we know today. It is easy to look at its massive size and simple interface…
Design is a Verb, not an End-Product
In consideration of Mid-century pioneers, and the various field of designs on which they have explored and left their impact on, I am reminded of my past summer semester in which I took classes on various subjects. Among these courses included topics such as comic books, soundscapes, and writing; none of which have direct relation…
Looking Back to Look Forward
Henry Dreyfuss’ work is a result of extensive research on the human body, and highlights human-centered design in terms of the physical capabilities of users. If the user is unable to utilize a product, it does not provide users with an adequate starting point for discoverability. In fact, Dreyfuss measures a product’s “success” by its…