Chopsticker

December 19, 2007

Heading to Interaction 08

Just registered for Interaction 08, the first conference organized by the Interaction Design Association (IxDA). Very excited about this, and not just for the opportunity to visit Savannah, Georgia in February! IxDA is growing into a terrific organization and has attracted most of the world’s top talent in interaction design; for instance, keynotes include Alan Cooper, Bill Buxton, Sigi Moeslinger, and Malcolm McCullough. The conference will also be a fabulous opportunity to put faces to familiar names from the IxDA discussion list.

Check out the conference, but FYI it’s likely to sell out by mid-January.

Heading to Interaction 08? Drop me a comment and hope to see you there!

December 14, 2007

The cordless extension cord: Proof that impossible ideas don’t stay impossible forever

Talk about innovation! For years, I’ve joked that the product I most desire is a cordless extension cord (followed closely by the microwave freezer).

Looks like the idea isn’t so ridiculous after all.

The other day, I read with interest a story about WildCharge, a very cool product that charges devices such as phones and MP3 players when you place them on its conducting pad. This led to a story I’d missed back in June about some MIT researchers who’ve been able to wirelessly power a lightbulb.

Fantastic!

Reminds me of the importance of encouraging ridiculous or even impossible ideas when attempting to innovate a product or service. If you start from somewhere safe, you’ll end up somewhere boring. Start from somewhere crazy and you might end up with a terrific idea that’s practical to pull off.

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December 14, 2007

Roger Martin in Waterloo on December 20 to discuss “Design Thinking”

The Waterloo User Experience (UX) Group is hosting Roger Martin at our monthly get-together. This is a terrific opportunity to spend time with Roger, as he’s quite in demand as a speaker on the topics of design and business.

It’s a free event. Head over to the UX Group’s blog for details on the time and location.

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October 23, 2007

Amazon’s recommendation engine needs a semantic tune-up

A few minutes ago, an email from Amazon landed in my Inbox. It suggests that, since I’ve purchased books about interaction design by Alan Cooper, I might also like this upcoming release titled Bravery Awards for Aerial Combat. Check it out:

Um, okay, design can be pretty hard sometimes, but not sure it warrants an award for bravery. It’s downright silly that Amazon would blast this recommendation out to customers who’ve bought books by the other Alan Cooper. For their sake, I hope nobody blogs about it… oops.

Where are you, oh promised land of milk and honey known as the semantic web?

September 17, 2007

Website now live for Waterloo UX group

And our first event for the season is in three days, on Thursday September 20. Visit the UX Group’s website to learn more about our planned events (spoiler: Roger Martin in December!) and about our affiliations with IxDA and Communitech.

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