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(2008-Present)
Background: The genesis of this site is two-fold. Part of the inspiration came roughly out of the experience of my Take One A Day photography project I did in 2007. Taking photos at such an accelerated pace not only got me more comfortable taking photos but it also forced me to always be hyper-aware of my surroundings.
When the project ended and I was thinking about what I wanted to do this year. I thought it would be interesting to apply that same attention to detail to the design that we encounter on a day-to-day basis.
The second is an interest in tracking and discussing design and innovation, mostly as it relates to the field of interaction design. I hope to supplement that with a regular stream of photos/screenshots, etc. of Òdesign in the wildÓ, so to speak - interactions we have every day, both good and bad - and what we might hope to learn from them.
My personal interests lie firmly in mobile, social, locative technologies, gadgets and gaming so IÕm sure those will also color the overall flavor of the site as I try and address the things that I find interesting in those spaces. That being said, IÕve learned that the structure and direction of sites of this genre has to remain flexible and fluid so I hope that the content will be interesting enough to entice readers who are willing to follow along. |
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[ launch ]
[ case study ] |
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(2003-2007)
. Sold to Google in May 2005
. Selected as one of TIME Magazine's 50 Coolest Websites (08/06)
. Presented at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference in San Diego (02/04)
Problem: Social networks were exploding but none of them were intended to be used when people were being social.
Solution: We had always been fascinated by the idea of people as "dots on a map" and what you could provide for these people, in real time, if they were willing to opt-in with their locations. For our master's thesis at NYU, we built dodgeball.com as the first social networking service built to serve our users' needs when they were out actually being social - we saw it as technology facilitating serendipity. We didn't want to re-create a social network infrastructure from scratch but since all of the existing ones were very guarded about their data, we set out to build a simple SNS with deliberately lightweight profiles (no "favorite" movies/books/etc...) in an effort to reserve the web interaction for basic profile administration and friend management. Soon after we launched in April of 2004, the application and the space it occupied was given a name - MoSoSo (Mobile Social Software). |
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[ launch ] |
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(2001-2006, sniffle)
. After 5 years of writing, the creators and contributors went our separate ways to work on new projects and in the spring of 2006 monoki.com officially turned out the lights. (03/06)
Problem: Our group of friends spent a lot of time talking about pop culture and felt we should explore the "new" blog medium (remember, this was 2001) as a public forum in which to do so.
Solution: Together with a few friends, I created a site called monoki to provide a venue for us, as well as a larger public audience, to contribute editorial material and show their work. Over the years it also became a great sandbox for me to keep designing and evolving a product over time purely for fun. |
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[ final presentation ] |
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(2003 - graduate research)
. Awarded Best Product Design at Microsoft Design Research Expo in Redmond, Washington (08/03)
Problem: To take advantage of digital music in order to: enhance users' experience within a public space, facilitate the discovery of new music and empower the user to obtain that music. All this would be accomplished within the current legal parameters governing the digital music industry.
Solution: Over the course of four months, our team worked through the many facets of creating a custom piece of hardware and software. What we ended up with was a networked jukebox for public spaces (think: bars) where the content of the jukebox would be submitted by the regulars at the bar and would evolve with their tastes over time. Also, using simple business cards and card readers, we allowed users in the bar to "bookmark" songs as they listened to them and then later easily retrieve and purchase them from the website. We tested the product on a crowd of 2,000+ people and received a very positive reception. |
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(2003 - graduate research)
Problem: In an environment with many people constatnly coming and going (in our case, our school), it's nearly impossibleto know who is around at any given time. We wanted to explore what interesting effects would surface if you could.
Solution: Scout was meant to serve as a low impact presence detection system for our graduate program's floor. Using a card reader at the floor's entrance, students would swipe their NYU IDs and the system would register that they were on the floor and reflect that presence on a website that appeared on an adjacent kiosk and was also available via the internet.
Students could check the website remotely to see who was on the floor as well as query the students that were present based on skills, interests, etc... The real challenge proved to be getting the students to change their established behavior and swipe in (and out) as they came and went. In an effort to add an incentive to do so, we allowed students to leave anonymous messages for each other and the only way to see what messages were left for you was to swipe your ID card. |
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[ interaction diagram ] |
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(2002 - graduate research)
Problem: Vending machines in public spaces serve purely utilitarian purposes. Can technology be subtly used to create a more memorable retail experience when buying something from a vending machine?
Solution: I took a vintage lollipop machine and gutted it while maintaining the outward appearance - replacing its analog switches with digital switches connected to a microprocessor, speakers and a subwoofer.
Users put a quarter in the machine and pulled a knob corresponding to the column of lollipops they were interested in buying. The lollipop fell into the bin and triggered one of ten audio tracks (guitar, bass, drums, etc.) The next user who bought a lollipop from a different column triggered a different track that mixed with the first. The idea was that over time, customers that didn't know each other would create a musical composition without having to change any of their buying behavior and hopefully the transactional experience was rendered more compelling. |
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| Prior to going to ITP, working on dodgeball and working at Google, I had worked as an Interaction Designer, Information Architect and in an even earlier life, as a Developer. |
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Verizon Wireless (2002) |
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Problem: Verizon Wireless was looking to redesign their user interface for their next-generation of mobile devices by better incorporating newer technologies such as SMS, email, audio + video.
Solution:
After designing a few different possible user interfaces, we went through a series usability testing and worked closely with the client to ultimately arrive at what came to be (and still is in 2007) Verizon's primary mobile interface.
:: phase one task flows |
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HBO - Band of Brothers (2001) [ launch ] |
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Problem: The HBO series Band of Brothers challenged us to create something that went beyond the traditional television show companion sites. The short-term goal was to make this a more comprehensive and interactive site and the long-term goal was for it to live on as virtual museum.
Solution:
I architected the site in three phases: one that would launch before the show, another while the show was airing, and a third that would continue after the show had run its course. The third was the most interesting, since it would be an interactive living memorial where veterans or their family members are encouraged to submit stories and pictures relating to World War II. These stories will then be curated and mapped to various online exhibits that we created.
Because this was primarily a Flash site, I had to work with a complex backend in order to have the various submissions, exhibits, and flash-based timeline seamlessly relate to one another. I had to architect a navigation that worked well in flash and that was usable to people varying in age from younger users to WWII veterans. The navigation was very simple and the taxonomy was clear.
:: phase one schematics - Webisodes
:: phase two schematics - The Show
:: phase three schematics - The Living Memorial |
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ISH (2001) [ launch ] (the portal has since been replaced with their cable offerings) |
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Problem: We were tasked with building a broadband consumer portal for a German company that provides high-speed internet access, cable television, and telephony. The portal included an email client and a proprietary instant messaging client.
Solution:
This was my first major project at Gotham Broadband acting as Senior Interaction Designer. I created an architecture that was flexible enough to accommodate over 25 different content providers categorized into 6 major interest "channels." Building a portal in a foreign language proved to be quite a challenge as it added an extra step to every portion of the process. I also architected community-based applications (email, IM) in order to facilitate communication among the company's customers.
:: sitemap
:: page-level architecture (Sports section) schematics
:: Instant Messenger feature list and schematics |
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Usability test recommendations for JPMorgan (2000) |
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Problem: Architect a navigation system that could go five levels deep, while always showing the top level category and the two most recent choices all within a limited pixel space.
Solution: We came up with two navigations that would satisfy the constraints - one horizontal and one vertical. We prototyped the two versions - a 'rolling' one (horiz.) and a collapsing one (vert.) - in order to test which one was more usable. An iterative architecture and development phase allowed us to test it several times and improve it after each test. The following document is a result of one of those tests.
:: recommendation document |
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Online rebranding of ZDF (2001) |
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Problem: To redesign and re-architect the existing ZDF site in order to match their new on air identity. We had to integrate this newly-designed branded interface with their existing back end systems.
Solution: First, I analyzed how a similar content-based news site, ABCNews, handled their navigation, labeling and general site structure and presented that in a document. After identifying their existing and target audiences, I created three user profiles that we would follow throughout our production cycle. Based on those findings, I came up with a list of recommended features and functionality that fit into their three major content categories - news, sports and entertainment as well as the services they provided for their users. Finally, we presented them with a navigation map that illustrates the various ways users would be able to access information on their site.
:: audit of ABC sites (News and Sports)
:: user profiles
:: recommended features
:: navigation map
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Concept pitch to CBS and WebTV (2001) |
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Problem: CBS and WebTV were looking for an iTV interface that would complement their weekly broadcasts of football games. Their target customers fell into one of three groups - the home team fan, the casual sports fan, and the football fanatic. The interface would need to have some added value for each of them. The challenge was to provide this information during the broadcast and not overpower what CBS was already providing.
Solution: We came up with CBS Footbal Scout, an iTV application that users could choose to opt in to and receive features such as: a personalized sports ticker, team specific information, and access to team and player statistics. This was all done in an interface that was easy to navigate with a simple remote control.
:: schematics (for television interaction) |
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"The Perfect Crime" iTV Demo for American Film Institute (2000) |
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Problem: AFI and Intel hold a yearly workshop pairing media companies with consultancies to come up with demos showcasing the functionality of an iTV-enhanced product. We were paired with Wegelius TV in Denmark and their show "The Perfect Crime" - a highly-stylized, Mission Impossible-type game show, where contests are tasked with solving both physical and mental puzzles. The goal was to build something that would enable viewers to feel more involved with the show and its contestants.
Solution: We created a concept that the user was hacking into the system and "piggy-backing" onto one of the contestants. The interface overlayed the screen in a style that complemented the show's high tech vibe. Users could play along with the show, betting on the outcome of the various tasks the contestants undertook. At the end of the show, the user's score would be shown in context of all the others who played, thereby creating a community and closeness between viewers as well as between viewers and contestants.
:: overview
:: interaction timeline
:: schematics (for television interaction) |
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Corporate intranet for KPMG (2000) |
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Problem: KPMG needed a browser-based intranet solution that would integrate with their existing back end, provide them with a group work environment (with file managing and group notices, etc.), as well as incorporate email and instant messaging.
Solution: We created a console like feel that would provide the user with all the information they needed about their projects, contacts, company information, etc. but in order to make it something people would want to use and not just have to use, we decided to also provide added features such as news and weather customization as well as a company and project-based message board where users could post interesting links as well as project-related links.
:: schematics |
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Wireless internet tablet for 3COM (2000) |
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Problem: To create a broadband, wireless, web tablet for the home that would leverage 3COMs brand as well as the prior success of the Palm devices. This device was to be built from the ground up in conjunction with IDEO, who was building the physical interface to house our user interface.
Solution: Working with IDEO allowed us to truly attempt to match form and function. We got to take the different models IDEO had created into households and watch how people would use them. These schematics reflect what we had hoped for the interface of the product. The resulting product would allow a household to be more organized, more connected and more creative. Unfortunately, this concept never made it into development.
:: product definition diagram
:: concept map
:: functionality map
:: schematics |
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