July 2nd, 2009
Hohm is the new Microsoft service which will come as an answer to Google’s PowerMeter and all the other similar services.
Hohm is about ‘Bringing people together to save energy and money’. They are trying to give us a better understanding about our home energy usage and about what we can do to conserve energy and save money.
Besides real time monitoring of the energy consumption through smart meters, Hohm will also provide users with data about their energy consumption even if their utilities are not online yet. In order to obtain this data the user will have to answer a set of basic questions and Hohm will estimate their energy consumption. Through this Microsoft wants to make Hohm available to all users straight away.
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Posted in Software/IT, Sustainability | Leave a Comment »
Posted by: Cristina Luminea
June 23rd, 2009
This past week I attended the first of four thematic workshops as part of the Sharing Experience Europe (SEE) Interreg IVC project. Ireland is one of eleven European partners as well as one of five members of the Policy Recommendation Research Group. After each of the four thematic workshops, a research group partner is responsible for the publication of policy recommendations to be distributed to policy makers and governments. The first will be out in September on “integrating creativity and design into regional innovation policy.”
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Posted by: Justin Knecht
June 2nd, 2009
Countries that wish to increase their competitive advantage have turned to design as a mechanism to add value to the goods and services that their indigenous companies produce. Recognising that those companies that use design are more successful than those that do not, they invest significant time and effort in promoting and supporting companies to overcome the barriers to its effective use. Their goal is to increase the demand for design.
Increasing demand is only one side of the equation however; it is just as important that there should be a broad and deep supply of designers who can provide services to business to help them add value to their products and services. Without them, an economy can be starved of a key input that helps to differentiate the goods and services it produces.
A range of interrelated issues governs the supply of designers who provide services to business. The role of education is critical, as is the aspiration of the individual and ultimately the market for their services. But there are also a number of other more subtle influences such as the role of the industry support bodies, the nature of continuous professional development and the business empathy of designers themselves.
This report examines the strengths and weaknesses of the sector and makes recommendations about how to build on those strengths in order to stimulate one small but important part of the economy that can create added-value to the economy as a whole. Given the similar barriers faced by the sector in Northern Ireland and Ireland, it makes sense to adopt a cooperative approach to optimise the potential of the sector.
Aidan Gough
DIRECTOR, STRATEGY & POLICY
InterTradeIreland
Download study (PDF, 568k)
Posted in Export, Government, Policy, Promotion, Report, Research, Sector | Leave a Comment »
Posted by: Justin Knecht
April 15th, 2009
Paul Hughes of Orientation Lab, an initiative of Lava Design, Netherlands and Reza Abedini will conduct a day long workshop that will focus on how to use design to address issues or audiences that go beyond local and conventional visual frames of reference. The purpose of this workshop is to improve participants’ skills in thinking about design work produced for contemporary diverse communities and organisations. It will be of interest to organisations targeted at diverse audiences, NGOs, heads of communication who commission design, graphic designers, visual arts/design academics.
27th May, NCAD Gallery, Thomas Street, Dublin, 10 – 4pm
The cost of the workshop is €80 including lunch
To book, contact ICAD, elaine@icad.ie
Posted in Culture, Event | 1 Comment »
Posted by: Justin Knecht
April 6th, 2009
Photo from IDEO
Is the way we educate keeping pace with the changing needs of the marketplace? Are we creating graduates with the right skills for the 21st century? There are some good signs in the work we’ve been doing with the industrial design programme and industry here at IT Sligo and in other initiatives around problem-based learning. In a recent article from Metropolis magazine, IDEO summarises ten tips based on their Design for Learning efforts for the 21st century classroom.
I particularly like the call to stop calling creativity, collaboration, communication, empathy, and adaptability ‘soft skills,’ as if they were a bonus as opposed to a necessity. I’ve argued before that creativity can be taught, and certainly when it comes to ideas, the ability to come up with ideas is nothing without the ability to communicate them, or work together to commercialise them.
How do we begin to measure and evaluate process as well as outcome?
Read IDEO’s Ten Tips For Creating a 21st–Century Classroom Experience
Posted in Article, Design thinking, Education, Skills | 2 Comments »
Posted by: Justin Knecht
March 31st, 2009
UX Workshops provides workshops around “User Experience” with highly experienced experts.
May 18: ‘Enterprise Information Architecture’ – Louis Rosenfeld
May 19: ‘Commercial Ethnography’- James Kalbach
May 20: ‘Personas and Mental Models’ – James Kalbach
Early bird pricing is available until April 2, 2009. Space is limited.
For the detailed program of the workshops, please visit www.uxworkshops.com or have a look at http://tinyurl.com/7fhlf5
Location of the workshops:
EMPIRE RIVERSIDE HOTEL
Bernhard-Nocht-Straße 97
D-20359 Hamburg
www.empire-riverside.de
Posted in Event, Experience, Software/IT | Leave a Comment »
Posted by: Justin Knecht
March 30th, 2009
Perhaps the first question should be whether “standard” and “innovation” should even be in the same sentence. However, I feel very strongly that there are certain systematic approaches to managing innovation that might not guarantee you’ll end up with a string of guaranteed innovations, but you’ll stand a much better chance of success if you apply some best practice.
Every day we hear calls to innovate our way out of the current crisis, but there is little practical, step-by-step how-to for organisations to apply. It was with great enthusiasm that I participated within a group to help the NSAI draft a National Workshop Agreement on a Guide to Good Practice in Innovation and Product Development Processes. It’s not a perfect document. How could it be after two day-long meetings? It is a start and highlights the need for a practical approach and more practical tools.
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Posted in Book, Business Issues, Design Management, Policy, Product design, Report, Skills | 1 Comment »
Posted by: Justin Knecht
March 24th, 2009
Here is a good example of a design which looks beyond the simple functions of the product to the emotional perceptions and requirements of the user.
The Playpump is used to pump water in schools in such places as South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia. It is essentially a windmill on its side. Unlike other pumps, the Playpump is designed to be driven by children in play, who use the wheel as a merry-go-round.
Water pumps are placed in areas of high drought and provide drinking and irrigation water. They greatly benefit the surrounding areas and are seen as something to be celebrated. Designing a pump which incorporates the play of children, takes this emotional element into account. Its design combines the function of the pump with the celebration of its installment and use.
Rather then the traditional approach of designing emotion into a product, the Playpump is a manifestation of emotion generated by its presence. It is an interesting perspective to consider when trying to design that ‘must have’ product.
Posted in Creativity, Design thinking, Experience, Product design, Simplicity, Usability, User-Centered Design | 1 Comment »
Posted by: Linzi Ryan
March 19th, 2009
Posted in Creativity, Event | Leave a Comment »
Posted by: Justin Knecht
March 19th, 2009
Yes you can, and this is where you start.
Date: 25 March 2009
Time: 8:30
Location: Crowne Plaza, Northwood, Santry, Dublin 9
The benefit of this half day seminar focuses on how to create an innovative culture within your organization, and on the recently recognized role of standardization in innovation. We are all aware how important innovation is in the current climate – this timely seminar provides an opportunity to adopt a standardized approach to continuous innovation.
Key note speakers explore how standards offer innovators a level playing field, facilitating competition and interoperability between new and existing products, services and processes.
Each participant will receive a FREE copy of the NSAI ‘Guide to Good Practice in Innovation and Products Development Processes’ due to be launched at the seminar.
Want to know more, go to www.nsai.ie to review the full seminar details or you can call Eoin McCabe, telephone +353 (0) 807 3824.
Posted in Event | Leave a Comment »
Posted by: Justin Knecht
