Challis Hodge’s UXblog

Loop Number 5 is Now Online
In this issue, Loop turns its attention to the design of curricula. Four diverse institutions�Art Center College of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, The University of Ume� (Sweden) and The University of Baltimore�report on the development of graduate programs in interaction and experience design. In other contributions, Marc Rettig provides a detailed look at a seven-week course in interface design; Ron Saito describes the theoretical underpinnings of a series of courses in animation and interaction design; and Steven Heller considers the historical contributions of Ladislav Sutnar to current practices in information and web-based design.

Prodding at the Limits of User-Centred Design
Are companies hiding behind usability, user research and user-centered design to avoid risk while simultaneously stifling innovation and creativity?

Online Sales Up!
Online sales in 2001 generated profits for more than half of all U.S. retailers selling online based on a Shop.org annual study conducted by The Boston Consulting Group with market-sizing data supplied by Forrester Research. Multi-channel retailers among the most profitable. Strong revenue growth expected in 2002, with consumer spending online growing 41 percent to $72.1 billion.

Fear of Design
Christina Wodtke writes in Boxes and Arrows, “Not so long ago, on my personal site I posted a little entry on design. And a comment was made: �IA is not design.� This sentence has sat vibrating in my head for months. It speaks of bravado in the face of fear. But why should Information Architects fear design? Information Architecture is design.” She goes on to say, “Usability is criticism.� and “User research informs design.”

I would actually argue that usability engineering and user research have evolved in advance of IA. They have run a course from niche profession, to mainstream, to niche again. During the course of this evolution their skills have largely been absorbed and integrated into the typical design process. I’m definitely on the hook for an essay on the subject. Stay tuned!

Start Now: Develop with Users
Lack of time, resources and knowledge are often cited as reasons for not involving users in site design and development. But hour for hour, dollar for dollar, research and testing with users are the single best tools for creating successful interactive services. This article, and the accompanying resources, provide you with a starting point for including your users in all phases of site development, including strategy and design. The time to design with users is now.

SCIFI.COM to Host Chat on the Singularity
Ray Kurzweil and Vernor Vinge will discuss The Singularity — their idea that superhuman machine intelligence will soon exceed human intelligence — in an online chat room conducted by Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine on SCIFI.COM . The chat will take place on June 11 at 9 p.m. EST at.

What’s a Nice Archaeologist Like You Doing in a Place Like This?
In this brief essay Alexandra Mack of InContext explains the role of archaeologist/anthropologist in a design firm. The article does a great job of describing the importance of observation and immersion in order to gain understanding of tacit knowledge. One important point that I would add is that the researcher must account for all of the biases brought to the situation, including his/her own.

Put That Poker Face On
Computers that can interpret a user’s emotional state through his or her facial reactions are under development. NCR and the University of California’s Integrated Media Systems Center are designing a better class of ATMs that map emotions: A camera focuses on users’ features, and then software creates a map of facial expressions and compares them to a database of emotions to find a match. The ATM can then tailor the user experience based on these results, eliminating promos in response to customer irritation or enlarging font size for better legibility, for example.