My Podcast Channel on OVI: UX Podcasts

Will Tomorrow’s Designs Need Designers?

Already, the designer’s responsibility has shifted from creating objects and experiences to creating the conditions for innovation - developing human links between bits, atoms, neurons, and genes. “Design thinking” is nice, but it becomes meaningless if and when artificial intelligence starts doing the thinking, and the design, for us. This discussion is about whether the designer’s role in the 21st century is to serve as devil’s advocate, providing a (false) sense of personal safety in times of genetic engineering, personalized machines, and a new singularity.

- Alonzo C., Jump Associates; David M., Frog Design; Hellen W., Businessweek; Johanna B., The Norman Lear Center.

Designing Powerful and Interactive Web Applications
David Malouf & Bill Scott
User Interface Engineering

User Research Strategies: What works what doesn’t
User Research (the up-front understanding of users, their needs, context, feelings and mental models) is the focus of the this BayCHI panel, moderated by Rashmi Sinha. Panelists from five major global companies were invited to talk about how User Research works in their companies. Some of the issues discussed were-
What are some new methodologies and tools for User Research? What types of methods are needed?

• What methods work in what context - e.g., with short product cycles / with remote users / in cross cultural contexts / for mobile products?
• Relationship of User Research with other types of corporate research (e.g., Market Research).
• Where does User Research fit in (organizationally speaking)? Is the research team centralized or are researchers attached to product teams?
• What should be the outcome of User Research (research reports / design deliverable / both)?
• How should User Researchers and Designers work together?
• What (if anything) has changed in the last 10 years? Are we asking the same questions? Are we more

successful? Does business get the importance of User Research?
Speakers: Kaaren Hanson, Director of User Experience, Intuit; Christian Rohrer, Director of User Experience Research, eBay; Klaus Kaasgaard, Director of Design Research, Yahoo!; Sheryl Ehrlich, Senior User Research Manager, Adobe Systems; Maria Stone, Senior Usability Analyst, Google Inc.

Kaaren Hanson’s Slides (86kb)