I'm an academic working in Design Research in Brisbane, Australia. I investigate how people use products and systems and tools in their lives.
(via mikespinelli)
“We’re at an odd inflection – old people think screens are TVs, young people think all screens can be touched.”
“we’re not the only ones who are a bit uncomfortable with the term “design thinking.” What about doing? What is design without making? As we increase our appreciation for design as a way of understanding problems let’s not forget that design is always obliged to act”
“There’s no trick to it, it’s just a simple trick!”
Mendeley, a Web service that lets users organize and share research papers, recently announced that it has surpassed 100,000 users, and that its database now includes some 8 million works. The announcement has generated a lot of hype for the fledgling company.
Seen at The Chronicle of Higher Education (Subscription may be required for some content)
Oooh, this looks awesome.
“Designers thus define actors with specific tastes, competencies, motives, aspirations, political prejudices, and the rest, and they assume that morality, technology, science, and economy will evolve in particular ways. A large part of the work of innovators is that of “inscribing” this vision of (or prediction about) the world in the technical content of the new object.”
Madeleine Akrich, “The de-scription of technical objects” (Chapter 7 of Bijker & Law, 1992, Shaping Technology / Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change)
This is my absolute favourite quote about what designers do.
(via mikespinelli)
If I was in the market for a two-tonne street-rod, I’d be right into a stripped and slammed ‘69(-ish) Mercury Cougar.
James Morrison and Emma Pask, live at Taronga Zoo in early 2009, rocking hard with a bit of Nat King Cole.
Things to note:
(via AgentK77)
“If I had a nephew getting his Ps I would suggest a two-speed slushbox, too. He’ll still crash, but he’ll crash slower, and learn the value of momentum.”
Dr Ben makes funny and true.
I have two nephews just on/getting a license. One already has a sluggish auto car ready and waiting, the other may be getting my now-surplus-to-requirements sluggish auto car. This is a good way to make sure one continues to have nephews, and not bits of nephew and car wreckage scattered along the side of the road.
(via elderdave)
You know it.
“If all you do is SEO, you need to expand. Hire a visual designer and some kickass coders and become a real web agency. Start making sites good from the get-go instead of cleaning up other people’s messes. Besides, if all you do is SEO, your days are numbered. Social media is rapidly becoming much more important than Google.”
Derek Powazek slams SEO. You should read this. (via chrbutler)
Friends, this is important.
Until recently, in our war against the robots, the robots have had the upper hand.
Now, the tide is turning as we once again play to our strengths.
There are those among us who would not use such radical strategy; those who believe that we can never win against the robots — that the best we can do is play their game.
I was trundling through my dashboard this morning and I found I was “liking” every second one of Mike Spinelli’s posts on Save the Enzos. Which is somewhat ridiculous.
So, instead, I suggest that you all follow Mr Spinelli’s excellent blog.