Hometime

Mapping Concepts

“As indicated earlier, we defined concept as a perceived regularity (or pattern) in events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by label. It is coming to be generally recognized now that the meaningful learning processes described above are the same processes used by scientists and mathematicians, or experts in any discipline, to construct new knowledge. In fact, Novak has argued that new knowledge creation is nothing more than a relatively high level of meaningful learning accomplished by individuals who have a well organized knowledge structure in the particular area of knowledge, and also a strong emotional commitment to persist in finding new meanings (Novak, 1977, 1993, 1998). Epistemology is that branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of knowledge and new knowledge creation. There is an important relationship between the psychology of learning, as we understand it today, and the growing consensus among philosophers and epistemologists that new knowledge creation is a constructive process involving both our knowledge and our emotions or the drive to create new meanings and new ways to represent these meanings” - Source

Concept maps are a fascinating alternative to mind-maps. I live in mind-maps, but am branching out into concept maps. What is interesting to me is that whilst mind-maps quite often become idiosyncratic to their creator, and are more an aid in personal thinking that in conveying data, concept maps play a surprisingly effective role in conveying information in educational settings. They have their theoretical roots in the work of Joseph D. Novak working at Cornell University in the 70’s. The paper sited above is a very interesting discussion on the research and theory behind concept maps, and how to effectively create them.

Here’s an example of one I just created. Seasoned concept-mappers may notice problems with my form here, but it’s a start. You read the map from top to bottom. A boxed item is a “concept”, and a boxed item with one or more named arrows is a “proposition”:

Towards a total eclipse of the desktop

The new version of Outlook Web Access is a freak of nature. It’s so good it’s astounding. ASTOUNDING. The skill required to pull this feat off using blunt tools like the HTML DOM, AJAX and JScript is awe inspiring:

This will (I predict) be redone in Silverlight 1.1 when it’s released…and from there some interesting thoughts arise:

1. This could eclipse the native Office experience.  It easily could.
2. And if so, this would beg the question: why doesn’t the entire Office suite get redone in Silverlight?

I think it’s inevitable that a rich Office experience is delivered in Silverlight…one day. But seeing Outlook Web Access, and the obvious development path they’ll take towards Silverlight, this could accelerate pace towards that day when we’re really using Office in a browser (and actually liking it).

This radical departure from a client install might also offer Microsoft the perfect excuse for why, when rewriting Office from the ground up, it’s feature set is cut-back. People would wear that because it’s a “new” product…not an “downgrade” wearing “upgrade” clothes. Who knows, we might even get some collaboration tools in there that aren’t embarrassingly hacked on afterthoughts atop that smoldering pile of old code.

Spreading Marmite

The eagle eyed Doug Wright spotted the shipment of Marmite sitting on my desk this week. Being a culinary connoisseur of eclectic range, this delicacy of far away lands peaked his interest. As scarce and valuable as Marmite is around these parts I was more than happy to share the love, knowing full well Doug’s capacity to apprehend and appreciate the subtleties of fine food!

After acquiring the historical context of this spread of the gods, we set forth on a tasting test at the Quest cafeteria. To fully experience the breadth of this not-so-subtle, yet nuanced, flavor it was essential to cover three staples: Marmite on toast, the Marmite and cheese sandwhich, and finally the taste of my first day of school, the Marmite and chip sandwhich.

This demanding American palette agrees…we Kiwi’s know what’s good.

Now, when are they going to start stocking Vogels over here?

 

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Word just in from Dave5 - Marmite’s arch enemy “Vegemite” has been banned from the US.  So no problem bringing in the real McCoy.  See here.

Play

Without play imagination dies.

Challenges to imagination are the keys to creativity. The skill of retrieving imagination resides in the mastery of play. The ecology of play is the ecology of the possible. Possibility incubates creativity.

A quote by Alex Manu (Ontario College of Art and Design) referenced by Bill Buxton in “Sketching the User Experience” - pp 263

Distributed Creativity (Ecosystem)

It takes almost as much creativity to understand a good idea, as to have it in the first place.

- Alan Kay

This is not only true for the designer or engineer, but for the management team and business unit that surround them. It calls for a distribution of creativity. A creative ecosystem.

Powers of 10 - Eames and Spore

Here is the Simpson’s spoof of the classic “Powers of 10″ short film by illustrious designers Charles and Ray Eames.

Trippy stuff….and IMO a healthy mental stretch. Cognitive yoga. The film, which was noted as culturally significant by the Library of Congress, is detailed on Wikipedia here.

It was this film that inspired Will Wright to design his equally mind expanding game Spore. Listen here for a discussion between Brian Eno and Will Wright. A delightfully meandering chat about how they use generative systems in their creative works. which finally gets around to discussing Spore.

But back to Charles and Ray Eames. This film is not what they are most famous for. Perhaps their most significant contribution (or at least their most famous) is the Eames Lounge Chair. It shows up everywhere, for instance if you look at the set of Fraser, that “sophisticated New Yorker” has one.

Directors will use furniture like this to make a particular statement about the characters or the setting. Another common one is the Aeron showing up in sci-fi films or “hip/creative” places.

This is piece of design history I’m sorely tempted to buy - I’ve been thinking about it for years :).

Low-grade Amount of Annoyance

Nice snippet on Agile process that Doug Wright picked up at his Rails conference last week:

“Every team should have a very low-grade amount of annoyance that you have not quite enough process. This means you have just enough process.”

Doug just alerted me to the source…he was paraphrasing Stuart Halloway of Relevance, a great Rails developer who was previously a big figure in the Java developer world.

Reality Bats Last

Design Communicator - Brief Definition

 

 

A design communicator (DC) works with an interaction designer (ID) as a full-time thought partner to interview users, develop personas, generate scenarios and requirements, and create design solutions. They also facilitate collaboration with engineers, product marketing, and other related disciplines.

While the interaction designer leads the creation of design solutions, the design communicator leads the evolution of those solutions by synthesizing information, evaluating prototypes with target users, and, finally, documenting the design for efficient and precise implementation.

In addition to facilitating quality work, the design communicator makes the work go faster, helping the individual designer iterate ideas rapidly, and helping broader teams collaborate efficiently.