Blogs

  • Letter from Aarhus

    Deborah Tatar Posted: Fri, October 11, 2013 - 12:02:29

    I am spending my sabbatical at Aarhus in Denmark. Aarhus is quite a hub for design research activity. DIS 2010 was held here; the Media Architecture Biennale was here in…

  • Deconstructing UX design

    Monica Granfield Posted: Wed, October 09, 2013 - 12:39:16

    In engineering there is reverse engineering, the process by which you take something apart to see how it was built. This is a great way to learn how something is…

  • Designing discomfort

    Steve Benford Posted: Mon, October 07, 2013 - 10:22:03

    Why is the Imperial War Museum North like Oblivion, the world’s first vertical drop rollercoaster? Sounds like the beginning of bad joke doesn’t it? But actually they do have something…

  • Artifact invention and research

    Jonathan Grudin Posted: Mon, September 30, 2013 - 11:33:38

    I asked several talented inventors whether there is more to research than invention. It was not a new question for them, but not an easy one either. “Get back to…

  • Learning from ePatient (scholar)s

    Richard Anderson Posted: Mon, September 23, 2013 - 10:30:36

    Increasingly, patients are making invaluable contributions to the redesign of our broken healthcare system and the patient experience. Designers working in healthcare should be aware of and leverage these contributions.…

  • Can we afford no affordances in our user interfaces?

    Monica Granfield Posted: Mon, September 16, 2013 - 4:40:22

    Lately, flat design has been a topic of conversation in the design community. It seems there are two main camps: those who love it and those who don’t. Flat design…

  • Patina of things

    Tek-Jin Nam Posted: Thu, August 29, 2013 - 11:18:03

    I tend to use things for a long time. It feels as if my belongings take on aspects of myself. So it is difficult for me to throw my possessions…

  • The past, present, and future of women in STEM

    Ashley Karr Posted: Mon, August 26, 2013 - 4:02:21

    Take away: An impactful way to make lasting, positive change for women in STEM is to constantly adjust in small, simple everyday ways. In other words, change starts at home.…

  • Canyonlands

    Jonathan Grudin Posted: Fri, August 23, 2013 - 11:37:08

    The Colorado Plateau. 130,000 square miles (337,000 square kilometers) of high desert and scattered forests in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Home to 10 National Parks, including the Grand…

  • Interacting under canvas

    Steve Benford Posted: Mon, August 19, 2013 - 12:46:45

    I’m just back from a short camping trip and reflecting on how exciting it is to live under canvas. There is a visceral thrill to being in a tent as…