The New Idiom | The Student Newsletter of the IIT Institute of Design

Editor’s Note

Everyone, even my mom, has some type of social networking profile. (She's on MySpace if you're wondering).  Basically everyone under 70 takes pictures. We live in a society that, according to Michael Beirut, makes things with "words and pictures". 

While this is really nothing new, what is new is that the masses have joined the professionally trained designers and journalists in authoring content for others to see. Now everyone makes things with words and/or pictures, and they're getting better.

Maybe a time will come when merely participating in society will demand as much media fluency as fluency in your native tongue. Designers have operated in this world forever.  Careers are made and broken based on the extent to which a designer can clearly and compellingly deliver a message. 

The designer/researcher's job is to discover intricacies, convey why they matter and communicate what to do about them with speed and aplomb.  As a rapidly increasing number of messages (emails, articles, blogs, advertisements, presentations, etc...) infiltrates daily life, more clarity and sophistication are required to float above the noise. 

This is no secret in the design community.  There is a growing number of consultancies now employing trained filmmakers to create narratives to transfer research gathered in the field.  Film is a medium that enjoys a large body of  experienced viewers (we have grown up with major motion pictures).  Consultancies such as BMW DesignWorks USA and Gravity Tank are breaking ground by using complex techniques to craft extremely rich messages, and then showing them to time-starved decision makers within organizations. 

Is this the obvious next step?  Will the creation of visual narratives become the gold standard for presentation 3.0?  Are there important nuances lost in these crafted and compressed messages?

One of your editors,
Jordan

Read more >>  Options >> 

Editor's Note

Everyone, even my mom, has some type of social networking profile. (She's on MySpace if you're wondering).  Basically everyone under 70 takes pictures. We live in a society that, according to Michael Beirut, makes things with "words and pictures". 

While this is really nothing new, what is new is that the masses have joined the professionally trained designers and journalists in authoring content for others to see. Now everyone makes things with words and/or pictures, and they're getting better.

Maybe a time will come when merely participating in society will demand as much media fluency as fluency in your native tongue. Designers have operated in this world forever.  Careers are made and broken based on the extent to which a designer can clearly and compellingly deliver a message. 

The designer/researcher's job is to discover intricacies, convey why they matter and communicate what to do about them with speed and aplomb.  As a rapidly increasing number of messages (emails, articles, blogs, advertisements, presentations, etc...) infiltrates daily life, more clarity and sophistication are required to float above the noise. 

This is no secret in the design community.  There is a growing number of consultancies now employing trained filmmakers to create narratives to transfer research gathered in the field.  Film is a medium that enjoys a large body of  experienced viewers (we have grown up with major motion pictures).  Consultancies such as BMW DesignWorks USA and Gravity Tank are breaking ground by using complex techniques to craft extremely rich messages, and then showing them to time-starved decision makers within organizations. 

Is this the obvious next step?  Will the creation of visual narratives become the gold standard for presentation 3.0?  Are there important nuances lost in these crafted and compressed messages?

One of your editors,
Jordan

Read more >>  Options >> 

Lou Rosenfeld: New Approach to an old industry

In all your rethinking during your time at ID, have you ever stopped to consider the book as a candidate for redesign? Can you think of the last innovation that hit the hardback since the paperback? Lou Rosenfeld, founder of Rosenfeld Media, is doing just that: innovating on the book.

Lou visited ID last week and started his Thursday afternoon lecturette with a few questions: What do you like in a book? What makes a book easier to use? Where do you read? How much time do you spend reading at once? What should a well-designed book consist of? The questions led to a discussion that sounded out important book characteristics. Besides being well written, they also need to be written with specific usage in mind: Reference? Light reading? Commuter friendly? Designing the book for all purposes and all readers is a challenge.

What do we look for in a book? Content, to be sure, but also, a sturdy way-finding system and varying levels of depth are important. As a user experience (UX) designer—a term generally reserved for interactive web designers—Lou is trying to find a new and effective interface for his books. For example, the first book to be published by Rosenfeld Media will include not only the standard table of contents and index, but also imports a common internet feature, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, that he hopes will launch the reader into the content of the book.

Lou is also developing a web tool called the UX Zeitgeist mashup. “Zeitgeist refers to the ethos of a select group of people, that express a particular…world view” (Wikipedia). In other words, Rosenfeld’s mashup embodies the group thought of UX designers, as generated through web feeds and book recommendations from invited UX professionals. The books most important to the UX field will soon bubble up.

The UX Zeitgeist already features a top ten UX book list. What’s at the top of the chart? Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (9th Edition), by Joseph Williams. To see the other books on the chart, visit the site: http://rosenfeldmedia.com/zeitgeist. It might recommend your next good read. 

Besides best books over all, there are two other lists on the zeitgeist. One features dark horse books, books that deserve more attention, and the other, desert island UX books. What’s the at the top of the desert island list?: Don’t Make Me Think, by Steve Krug. As for me, I don’t know if you could stop me from thinking if I were on a desert island.

Lou Rosenfeld: New Approach to an old industry

In all your rethinking during your time at ID, have you ever stopped to consider the book as a candidate for redesign? Can you think of the last innovation that hit the hardback since the paperback? Lou Rosenfeld, founder of Rosenfeld Media, is doing just that: innovating on the book.

Lou visited ID last week and started his Thursday afternoon lecturette with a few questions: What do you like in a book? What makes a book easier to use? Where do you read? How much time do you spend reading at once? What should a well-designed book consist of? The questions led to a discussion that sounded out important book characteristics. Besides being well written, they also need to be written with specific usage in mind: Reference? Light reading? Commuter friendly? Designing the book for all purposes and all readers is a challenge.

What do we look for in a book? Content, to be sure, but also, a sturdy way-finding system and varying levels of depth are important. As a user experience (UX) designer—a term generally reserved for interactive web designers—Lou is trying to find a new and effective interface for his books. For example, the first book to be published by Rosenfeld Media will include not only the standard table of contents and index, but also imports a common internet feature, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, that he hopes will launch the reader into the content of the book.

Lou is also developing a web tool called the UX Zeitgeist mashup. “Zeitgeist refers to the ethos of a select group of people, that express a particular…world view” (Wikipedia). In other words, Rosenfeld’s mashup embodies the group thought of UX designers, as generated through web feeds and book recommendations from invited UX professionals. The books most important to the UX field will soon bubble up.

The UX Zeitgeist already features a top ten UX book list. What’s at the top of the chart? Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (9th Edition), by Joseph Williams. To see the other books on the chart, visit the site: http://rosenfeldmedia.com/zeitgeist. It might recommend your next good read. 

Besides best books over all, there are two other lists on the zeitgeist. One features dark horse books, books that deserve more attention, and the other, desert island UX books. What’s the at the top of the desert island list?: Don’t Make Me Think, by Steve Krug. As for me, I don’t know if you could stop me from thinking if I were on a desert island.

2007 Design Research Conference

As you all (hopefully) know, the ID Design Research Conference wrapped up this past weekend.  If you haven't yet, be sure to thank Caroline Little, Ido Mor and the other volunteers for doing an outstanding job with the conference. A number of blogs have commented on the conference, and be sure to check out the article that ID's own Beth Santos, Jordan Fischer, and Alex Cheek wrote for Core77.  The change of venue this year to the MCA brought a heightened degree of professionalism and a welcome change in organizational structure to an already well-known event. In past years, guests had to decide among coinciding presentations about which speaker to listen to.  The ample lobby space of the MCA encouraged people to hold more conversations in between presentations, making it easier this year to get a pulse on the audience buzz generated from presenters.  One thing that was missed from prior conferences was the lunchtime table top discussions where guests had the opportunity to interact with presenters over lunch. Hopefully that will be brought back next year. 

Thirteen men and women from a variety of backgrounds displayed their research and presented problems ranging from improving water sanitation in South Africa, accommodating patient and caregiver roles in the health care system, to fostering word of mouth advertising for household products.  They are all intriguing problems, but not really too unusual for designers to tackle (at least as students here at ID).  Especially insightful were the new research methods showcased for tackling these complex problems. The diversity of the presenters made evident the ability of design research to solve any problem.

2007 Design Research Conference

As you all (hopefully) know, the ID Design Research Conference wrapped up this past weekend.  If you haven't yet, be sure to thank Caroline Little, Ido Mor and the other volunteers for doing an outstanding job with the conference. A number of blogs have commented on the conference, and be sure to check out the article that ID's own Beth Santos, Jordan Fischer, and Alex Cheek wrote for Core77.  The change of venue this year to the MCA brought a heightened degree of professionalism and a welcome change in organizational structure to an already well-known event. In past years, guests had to decide among coinciding presentations about which speaker to listen to.  The ample lobby space of the MCA encouraged people to hold more conversations in between presentations, making it easier this year to get a pulse on the audience buzz generated from presenters.  One thing that was missed from prior conferences was the lunchtime table top discussions where guests had the opportunity to interact with presenters over lunch. Hopefully that will be brought back next year. 

Thirteen men and women from a variety of backgrounds displayed their research and presented problems ranging from improving water sanitation in South Africa, accommodating patient and caregiver roles in the health care system, to fostering word of mouth advertising for household products.  They are all intriguing problems, but not really too unusual for designers to tackle (at least as students here at ID).  Especially insightful were the new research methods showcased for tackling these complex problems. The diversity of the presenters made evident the ability of design research to solve any problem.

Biomimicry Workshop

In lieu of lunchtime table top discussions, three hands-on lunchtime workshops were offered. Capacity was limited to 15 people (5 students) per session. Those lucky enough to sign up for one had a chance to participate and rub elbows with Frog Design, the Biomimicry Guild, and Mayo Clinic. Eric Niu talks about the Biomimicry workshop that he attended.

Tim McGee of the Biomimicry Guild suggests that you "quiet your cleverness." While I would have preferred a deeper discussion about fewer case studies, he presented excellent examples of the "conscious emulation of life's genius" taking place in the world today. We then broke into groups to imagine how we could emulate biology to meet today's challenges using life's principles: optimize rather than maximize, leverage interdependence, create benignly, attune locally, integrate cycles, and above all be resilient. You can (and should) look for more information at biomimicry.net.

Biomimicry Workshop

In lieu of lunchtime table top discussions, three hands-on lunchtime workshops were offered. Capacity was limited to 15 people (5 students) per session. Those lucky enough to sign up for one had a chance to participate and rub elbows with Frog Design, the Biomimicry Guild, and Mayo Clinic. Eric Niu talks about the Biomimicry workshop that he attended.

Tim McGee of the Biomimicry Guild suggests that you "quiet your cleverness." While I would have preferred a deeper discussion about fewer case studies, he presented excellent examples of the "conscious emulation of life's genius" taking place in the world today. We then broke into groups to imagine how we could emulate biology to meet today's challenges using life's principles: optimize rather than maximize, leverage interdependence, create benignly, attune locally, integrate cycles, and above all be resilient. You can (and should) look for more information at biomimicry.net.

Stuart Karten: Mode Mapping

Stuart Karten’s talk about mode mapping presented a practical approach to understanding user experiences.  Modes are akin to the user’s various motivations and states of mind during a task. Karten followed users to see how people spent their time during these tasks, which usually involved a day’s worth of shadowing. Afterwards, he plotted the various modes they went through the day and categorized the activities into groups. In conducting research for a dog food client, the dog owner that he observed during feeding time engaged in preparation, feeding, and cleanup modes. That was complemented by the dog’s modes of waiting and eating. (Hey, it’s called user-centered design. Pups are users, too.) In addition to the insights gained, mode mapping is also a useful tool to show clients. As Karten said, clients like to see a process, and mode mapping provides that in order to achieve a level of buy-in from them.

Stuart Karten: Mode Mapping

Stuart Karten’s talk about mode mapping presented a practical approach to understanding user experiences.  Modes are akin to the user's various motivations and states of mind during a task. Karten followed users to see how people spent their time during their tasks, which usually involved shadowing them for a day. Afterwards, he plotted the various modes they went through throughout the day and categorized the activities into groups. For example, in conducting research for a dog food client, the dog owner that he observed during feeding time engaged in preparation, feeding, and cleanup modes. That was complemented by the dog's modes of waiting and eating. (Hey, it's called user-centered design. Pups are users, too.) In addition to the insights gained, mode mapping is also a useful tool to show clients. As Karten said, clients like to see a process, and mode mapping achieves a level of buy-in from them.