Interaction design research activities produce an enormous quantity of raw data, which must be systematically and rigorously analyzed in order to extract meaning and insight. Unfortunately, these methods of analysis are poorly documented and rarely taught, and because of the pragmatic time constraints associated with shipping products, there is often no time dedicated in a project to a practice of formal synthesis. As a result, raw design research data is inappropriately positioned as insight, and the value of research activities is marginalized – in fact, stakeholders may lose faith in the entire research practice, as they don’t see direct return on the investment of research activities.
Interaction design synthesis methods can be taught, and when selectively applied, visual, diagrammatic synthesis techniques can be completed relatively quickly. This talk will introduce various methods of Synthesis as ways to translate research into meaningful insights. Attendees will learn about how to manage the complexity of gathered data, and will learn how to elicit hidden meaning in gathered data.

Jon Kolko is a Senior Design Analyst at frog design in Austin, Texas. His professional work deals with the manipulation of complicated business and technological constraints in order to best solve the problems of Fortune 500 clients. The work spans the boundaries of Information Architecture, Interaction Design, and Usability Engineering; the common underlying theme of these problems and projects is the creation of a solution that is useful, usable, and desirable. Kolko is the author of the text Thoughts on Interaction Design; he is also the 2008-2011 Editor-in-Chief of Interactions Magazine, published by the ACM.

Vizmatic developed most of the software for an interactive work of art located in the Palette Dining Studio at the MGM Grand Detroit Casino. It interacts with people waiting in line (up to 30 people). Using two stereoscopic cameras and computer vision algorithms for tracking people, it displayed a 3D scene containing for each person one avatar having the same position.

Vizmatic a développé la plupart du logiciel pour une oeuvre d’art interactive installée dans le Palette Dining Studio au MGM Grand Detroit Casino. Celle-ci interagit avec des gens qui sont en file d’attente (jusqu’à 30 personnes). Grâce à deux caméras stéréoscopiques et des algorithmes de vision artificielle pour suivre les gens, on affichait sur l’écran une scène 3D contenant pour chaque personne un avatar ayant la même position.

christeso.com/index.php/portfolio/snow-a-reactive-environment-installation/

Noteboek (English title: Notebook) consists of 4 short experimental films where I try to confuse the reality.
In these films, illusions and expectations are challenged.

Noteboek is a short film and part of my graduation project.

If you want to see more work please visit:
evelienlohbeck.com

Music: The White Stripes-Seven Nation Army.

Las Vegas casinos increasingly pay attention to their customers - their likes, dislikes, moods and patterns - in order to create an engaging experience. As Natasha Schull explains, the stated goal of these new designs is "customer extinction" - the moment at which the customer is out of money. This talk, essential viewing for anyone in the design or user experience fields, underlines the neutral nature of customer experience methods: like any tool, they can be used for good or ill.

See also: The flip side of customer experience (Good Experience column) -
goodexperience.com/2008/05/the-flip-side-of-cust.php