Tim Brown TED Talk July 2009

This was one of the first videos I watched after discovering the wonderful resource of the fantastic "TED Talks". A comment on the video by a Robert Chesley caught my eye, as he sought to sum up the core message of Brown's talk. I'd try to paraphrase, but it sounds so right as it is:

"It's about looking past the small "new and improved" versions of design and exploring possibilities. It's not enough to strive for new and improved. That's the old school approach. What we have needed and are now beginning to move toward is the integration of ideas based on human centered actual needs. The context of the use needs to be central to the design itself, not the other way around. This approach means you have to get away from the CAD station and actually talk to customers and watch them. Above all listen to what they are saying relative to the context that they alone can bring to the table. From this position you will gain insight into the real problems they face. Once you truly understand the problem you can begin the process of integrating related problems of other customers. This is where real design innovation begins. This is the start of the process for developing dynamic disruptive changes in the market."

I think that this is the elusive goal every designer, regardless of what you're designing: to try to genuinely understand the problem you're designing to solve. One of my favorite quotes is from Zelda Harrison. She gets at the crux of the issues: "Never ask a designer to design a bridge. Ask a designer to design a way to cross the water".

Video of Jesse Schell: "Designing Outside the Box" DICE 2010

Last night I watched this 28 minute video of Carnegie Mellon University Professor Jesse Schell talking about "going beyond Facebook" and the emerging game development trends. I thought I'd share some of the key points that I took away from watching it - though it might make more sense to watch it first!

Some of the key takeaway points:

1) The unexpected force by which Facebook et al. stormed the world. The list of games (ClubPenguin, Wii, WiiFit, Guitar Hero) that were these huge hits that traditionally seem completely impossible. And I still don't see the appeal of Farmville. Apparently I'm too traditional.

2) That these phenomenon are all breaking through into reality. The blending of virtual and reality are on the path to blurring together almost indistinguishably. Interesting psychological reasoning that because we're cut off from nature and "we live in a bubble of fake bullshit" we're seeking out the "real" relative to our experiences. Maybe it's just because we've finally realize how artificial so many of our interactions have become.

3) Technology is going to continue to diverge in some respects, rather than unify into the happy box. Loved the idea of the iPhone as the Swiss Army knife.

4) Games are creeping into daily life more and more. I can totally see this, and I liked the examples he pointed out. These things have turned accepted and traditionally established processes and behaviors into something more.

• Fantasy Football - Even your grandmother does it.
• Geocashing - Because taking a walk is better when there is treasure at the end of it!
• Fox & The Simpsons - Watching TV has become a game.
• DARPA's red weather balloons - We'll do the work for them!
• Weight Watchers - Points are like a game.
• Ford Hybrid Car - Grow the plant leaves, save on gas. This has changed the way people drive!

5) Imagine if skilled game designers were involved in the development of these emerging "games". It would really change things up. I think that the marketing department in the way of hiring designers for a while, because marketers seem to always think they know what is best. Strength of game designers is that interaction-design emphasis.

6) We're heading towards a future where creepy sensors are always recording everything. Schell suggested that this potentially could be a huge behavior changer. A little big-brother-ish, but I think I like it in theory.

7) Disposable technology. I think we're already a good ways there. Think about how quickly we go through things. Schell makes an interesting point - the technology in a Furbie is greater than the technology it took to put a man on the moon, though that is true for almost any electronic these days.

8) Huge danger for games to turn into serious commercialized schmuck. Penny-Arcade made a comment or two about this trend in the game "Alan Wake". I haven't played it, but it is reported to have some serious crazy ass product placement in the game, perhaps the most blatant yet. Anyways, I thought of that when he was talking about the REM cycle device for some reason.

Wii Games - E3 2011 - Guitar Hero 5

The Information Rambler

What do you do with information? How do you process it? What do you do with the overwhelming amount of it that bombards you almost every moment of every day.

Those are pretty serious questions. The implications of how a person, group, organization, society, nation answers that can have echoing answers with lasting repercussions.

Information can change national policy, the color you choose for your house window frames, or even what wine you chose to have for dinner.

I'm entering my second year of a master's program in "Information Management" at the University of Washington in the beautiful . The meaning of that in itself is a challenge to unravel, and yet a fascinating journey.

I'd like to document a few pieces of this experience, and put into words some of the thoughts I've been having about information. Might as well put it out into the teeming mass that is the interwebs.