89:10:1

Studies for a Hydrangea I had a knee reconstruction operation...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:00:38 +0000

Studies for a Hydrangea

I had a knee reconstruction operation last week, and although for the first few days I was pretty much a potato, now I can move about a bit more, and sit in one position for more than 3 minutes. So I’m trying to make good on a promise made to a friend for a personal pic, a pencil drawing of a hydrangea, that most glorious of 1970’s flowers.

Winter

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:17:19 +0000

Winter

Photo

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:39:51 +0000

Within 2 minutes I had remembered the zen calm, the meditation,...

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:03:57 +0000

Within 2 minutes I had remembered the zen calm, the meditation, that drawing gives… wish I’d not left it over 20 years…

Lots of talk around sketching interfaces and sketchnotes for...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:15:26 +0100

Lots of talk around sketching interfaces and sketchnotes for talks in the UX community right now, but I really find it helps me focus and it makes the ideas go in my head. So I sketch chapters from my course textbook. I even look up the writers to try and approximate little caricatures (it’s all in the hair).

The Open University, locations of students on my...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:44:00 +0000

The Open University, locations of students on my module.

I’m going to map this against the frequency and number of forum posts as well (as a way of avoiding my set reading & assignments).

It’s going well, cumulative average score across all modules so far is 80%, not a distinction, but it keeps my motivation high. Better grades than my undergrad BA, but I don’t spend every waking hour in the pub/club this time. It’s interesting stuff too; although the course is limited (the OU is withdrawing all Psych. courses and re-structuring, thanks Tories) it’s bloody excellent, interesting stuff.

“Good tests kill flawed theories; we remain alive to...

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:41:00 +0100

“Good tests kill flawed theories; we remain alive to guess again”

So said Karl Popper, as part of his Theory of Falsification

Too often though, ‘testing’ in the form of under-defined and confusing prototypes, or shoutie & pre-determined focus groups, or even ‘lab’ tests with leading questions and alien environments, is touted as ‘good tests’ of a UX design.

But a test can be bad. It can be a badly defined test, a poorly run test, one made by someone with no concept of the innate problems of logicity and psychology. These bad tests are no killer of flawed design, instead are all too often the harbinger.

Photo

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:30:00 +0100

I was at a conference recently in Berlin: Cognitive Cities. The...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:05:00 +0000

I was at a conference recently in Berlin: Cognitive Cities. The bulk of the day was centred around the data generated through ‘use of cities, and the patterns seen and mapped (during or afterwards). Some interesting stuff happening then but one speaker summed it up for me when he said

“we find the patterns we are looking for”

no . shit . sherlock

The story (Taken with Instagram at Conway Hall)

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 19:05:00 +0000

The story (Taken with Instagram at Conway Hall)

Waiting (Taken with Instagram at St. James’s Church)

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:16:12 +0000

Waiting (Taken with Instagram at St. James’s Church)

I’ve just read an article, referred by the lovely...

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:09:00 +0000

I’ve just read an article, referred by the lovely @wickedgeekie. She and I disagree on this but it’s good to debate:

User-led Innovation cannot create breakthroughs

Too right. But don’t tell the marketeers I said that… they’ll think I’m happy with ‘segments’ after all.

Make it user-centred, rather than user-led and then I’ll agree that breakthroughs are possible.

“Researchers say the Sun has been awakening”

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:55:00 +0000

“Researchers say the Sun has been awakening”

car keys | house keys | selection of pens | notebook | passport ...

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:16:00 +0000

todays’ life-pack

Teef (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:45:06 +0000

Teef (Taken with instagram)

Me gustas cuando callas porque estas como ausente, y me oyes...

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:15:21 +0000

Me gustas cuando callas porque estas como ausente,
y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te toca.
Parece que los ojos se te hubieran volado
y parece que un beso te cerrara la boca.

I like you when you are quiet because it is as though you are absent,
and you hear me from far away, and my voice does not touch you.
It looks as though your eyes had flown away
and it looks as if a kiss had sealed your mouth.

Web-friendly archives - Harvard With all the hype around the...

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:09:00 +0000

Web-friendly archives - Harvard

With all the hype around the impressive Google Galleries thing we shouldn’t forget that there are collections and resources around the world that have been digitised to some degree or another - and although they may not keep you on a single path and guide you around the room with annotated think-speak -they do provide pause for thought…

“I’ve been thinking a lot about augmented reality. I’ve...

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:58:00 +0000

“I’ve been thinking a lot about augmented reality. I’ve been thinking about how very soon all the scattered data about us on the web will be consolidated in ways that will shock us. Someone will hold their smartphone up as they walk by my car, my house, or my person, and suddenly get information about my life, my interests, and my family. This is going to make us feel like our privacy has been violated, even though no new data is being shared — rather, the old data that is already out there on Facebook and on the web is going to be consolidated in unexpected ways. We’ll be like Adam and Eve biting the apple, and suddenly realizing that we’re naked.”

Carnegie Mellon’s Jesse Schell

(image courtesy of sadanduseless.com)

Inside a hot air balloon

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:55:35 +0000

Inside a hot air balloon

@Royal Geographical Society In conversation with (interviewed...

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:36:56 +0000

@Royal Geographical Society

In conversation with (interviewed by) Geoff Dyer. He seemed overwhelmed/underprepared. She was awesome.