I hope this online collection of notes would prove valuable not only to me but to all students and colleagues looking to develop innovating and interesting products. This site focuses on product design, conceptual design, interaction design, interface design, and failure analysis.
Interfaces.com
Empathy is a necessary component of product design. To design and make something that is comfortable to use for someone else, requires the maker of the product to imagine how another human being would feel while using it. This is a hard thing to do. Medical students have to take “bed side manners” classes...
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These are three necessary components of any product design: Knowledge: the background information that forms the foundation of product design Context: the ecosystem in which the product will be used Expectation: the alignment of goals between product creators and the users for which it was designed A failure to fully understand any of the...
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On Valentine’s Day, February 14 2011, New York Times ran an article “Web of Popularity, Achieved by Bullying” by Tara Parker-Pope—recent research shows interesting patterns in bullying and victimhood distribution in the school student body. As I was reading the article, I realized that much of what is being described there had a direct...
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I’ve been noticing a lot of praise and demand for mutlitaskers: “We are looking for a talented individual who is and is also a great multitasker!” or “Women are naturally better at multitasking.” or “Not only is he gifted, but he is able to work on all...
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Sometimes, it’s in the eye of the beholder. Consider the images below: Is this child being physically tortured? The little girl is the photo is about 5 or so. The temperature of the air around her seems to be about the same: 5 F°. The temperature of the water is below freezing. The child...
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In the last few weeks there has been several articles and studies published on the effectiveness of alternative medicines and placebos: “Placebos Help Patients Even Without Faking It, Scientists Say“; “Sugar Pills Help, Even When Patients are Aware of Them“; and “Alternative remedies ‘dangerous’ for kids says report“; “Doctors warn over homeopathic ‘vaccines’“. The...
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There has been a lot of stories lately about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and most have been less than flattering (to say the least). How can an agency that was designed to “serve and protect” the citizens of the United States from harm evoke such wrath from ordinarily shy and non-vocal travelers? This...
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In his book “The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature”, Steven Pinker gave the following defense of language ambiguity: Imagine...
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Today the Interaction Design Foundation, the IDF, has announced its new executive board. The executive board includes Don Norman; Bill Buxton, Principal Researcher at...
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Imagine your were given an assignment to develop a product that could help people eat healthy. How would you go about creating such a...
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An iPotty App for kids learning to use a toilet: And here’s a bit for an older audience: Would it have worked if the...
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The Math Obstacle In the past few years, reports came out showing strong correlation between failing Algebra and graduation rates — if a kid...
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The latest in the professional social media writing is the creation of lists. Sing it with me: 25 Awesome Quotes 11 Secrets & 11...
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Who would have thought that our KFC fried chicken would be an object of desire in Japan? But perhaps all it takes is some...
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Yesterday, Google flipped a switched on its Google Apps policy — starting with December 7th, 2012, Google Apps will no longer be free! The...
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UCLA School of Law and International Criminal Court's Office of the Prosecutor partnered together to create UCLA Law Forum—a place to discuss international law issues. My company, Pipsqueak Productions, designed and developed the site. Please join the debate! UCLALawForum.com.
DRIPS project — stands for Deep Root Irrigation and Precipitation System — is a simple device that collects atmospheric water and delivers it to the roots of plants below the evaporation layer. My sons, Tim and Nick Werby, designed and developed the idea and the site. DRIPSproject.
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