human centered design?
More thoughts arising from our class in the d.school on Transformative Design. I have always liked Don Norman’s ideas and attitude. A couple of weeks ago at Core 77 he questioned the feasibility of human-centered design – [Link] In today’s connected world and global market, he argues, culture matters little to design. Designers should center their [...]
d.school storytelling (continued)
from Nicole Kahn’s (IDEO) talk last week about need finding and ethnography
designing for change?
Our class in Stanford d.school is “Transformative Design” [Link] – design that makes a difference – design that changes things. If we want design to change what people do, we need to understand why people do what they do. While this is a very broad question that has generated many responses in many disciplines, it [...]
creative spaces
I have just received a copy of Make space: How to set the stage for creative collaboration, from Stanford d.school’s Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft – [Link] It is about the wonderful environment of the Peterson Building, home of the d.school, how it came to look the way it does, with its customized fittings, studios, [...]
In theory: the death of literature
An intelligent feature in The Guardian by Andrew Gallix on Tuesday 10 January. The topic – “we’ve heard it all before” – [Link]. “We come too late to say anything which has not been said already,” lamented La Bruyère at the end of the 17th century. The fact that he came too late even to [...]
d.school – transformative design
Our class (with Meghann Dryer (IDEO) and Bernie Roth) starts up again today in Stanford’s design school … Design that makes a difference . A key challenge this time round – just what is it to change?
presence and authenticity – routes to civility
A perceptive item in the Guardian yesterday, from Simon Jenkins: Welcome to the post-digital world, an exhilarating return to civility – via Facebook and Lady Gaga. The point – our contemporary world is a mixed reality – witness the growing importance (again) of “live events”, even as we are more connected digitally: A week in California [...]
ornament – overlooked and revisited
I have just received a copy of Diana Newall and Christina Unwin’s marvelous book The Chronology of Pattern [Link] – just published in the UK by Bloomsbury/A & C Black. We still radically separate ornament from style and meaning, treating it as superfluous and superficial, yet it is the primary experience we have of much [...]
the politics of design – the “T Character” revisited
Topic – how to be interdisciplinary – and more Quick recap. For some time I have been interested in the notion of the “T character” – an attitude or disposition, a skill set, that facilitates the kind of interdisciplinary practice that is the heart of good design, bridging the different expertise and interests in a [...]
disruptive design – Gordon Murray at Revs
Gordon Murray, the extraordinary car designer [Link], visited the Revs Program today. Gordon was chief designer for the Brabham Formula One team from 1969 to ’86, and Technical Officer for the McLaren team from ’87 to 2006. His remarkably innovative designs of supercars included the infamous road-going McLaren F1 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. But [...]
racing experiences (2) – Laguna Seca
A fascinating week for the Revs Program at Laguna Seca Racetrack. Coordinated effort to document the driving experience – historic cars – and the community who cherish automotive heritage. Raising the profile of automotive studies, taking seriously this vital iconic part of the contemporary past. As Mark Gessler – HVA (Historic Vehicle Association) and FIVA [...]
racing experiences (1) – Laguna Seca
Pre-reunion weekend at Laguna Seca Racetrack – racing old cars. We, the Revs Program at Stanford, are exploring how to capture the experience – in every sense. Instrumenting car and driver.
Revs at Monterey Motorsports Reunion
We are gearing up for taking the Revs Program [Link] [Link] along to the week-long run up to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance [Link]. During the pre-Reunion weekend and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, we will have a booth in the paddock area to enable people to learn more about us. Miles Collier will have [...]
Revs at Stanford – launched
The Revs Program at Stanford was launched this week with a conference at Stanford’s Arillaga Center. Over 300 came along to a day of talks and displays celebrating automobility. We were in the company of an extraordinary artifact sitting outside on the patio – a famous 1930s Bentley (chassis B35AE) raced by Yorkshireman Eddie Hall. [...]
Revs – agendas
These whiteboards capture some of the ideas and discussion at the launch of the Stanford Revs Program – [Link] Press and publicity links – New York Times Automotive News KQED – PBS News Stanford Report
Revs at Stanford
We are less than a week away now from the launch of a major new program at Stanford devoted to the history of automobile design, and a whole lot more. I am heading the faculty effort with Cliff Nass and Chris Gerdes. Here is a press report from Andrew Myers in Stanford Engineering. Anyone who [...]
Optimism and transformative design
Transformative Design, my class about design thinking that makes a real difference, run with Meghann (Dryer of IDEO) and Bernie (Roth of Stanford Engineering), opens again soon in the d.school. I got thinking seriously about its themes this weekend at a fund-raising event organized by Castilleja School, where Helen teaches and Molly learns, on the [...]
Bentley B35AE
Fuel cap. Bentley B35AE, built at the Rolls Royce Derby works in 1933. Raced by Eddie Ramsden Hall in the 1930s and then again at LeMans in 1950. Now part of the Collier Collection in Naples, Florida. My lab is working towards the launch of a new initiative at Stanford, the Revs Program, which will [...]
things – beyond objects
Two new books add depth to my long-running ruminations on the character of things. Nonobject, by Branko Lukic and Barry Katz, was published this week by MIT Press [Link] It’s a rather beautiful book about Branko’s design work. Barry (and Bill Moggridge in his foreword) provide fascinating commentary. The nonobject is inbetween, relational, interstitial, combinatory. [...]
dot com material culture
Start-up company Box dot Net – preparing for its move to new offices. I usually prefer the term “design studies” over “material culture studies” – the term typically used in cultural anthropology for a focus upon humanity’s material accoutrement. I don’t think the distinction between material and immaterial or intangible is always that useful (isn’t [...]
Steampunk in Oakland
Jack London Square, Oakland. Waterfront/docklands development. Steam punk bar furniture in The Chop Bar [Link] Last week the BBC reported a new fund raising campaign to rebuild Babbage’s Analytical Engine – his steam powered programmable computer the size of a house – [BBC Link] – Wikipedia on Babbage – [Link] Model of the never-built Analytical [...]
Automotive futures – featured on iTunes
Leading Matters – Download free content from Stanford on iTunes. The iTunes Facebook page is today featuring the event hosted by Stanford’s “Leading Matters” last May when we debated the future (and past) of automobility – see my blog entry here – [Link] Here is what Apple says (on its wall at the moment – [...]