In this talk, Kate Rutter gives you a taste-test of methods and activities that leverage the power of pen and paper as open, participatory tools in the research analysis process [...]

Pixar cofounder Ed Catmull exemplifies the greatest form of leadership: empowering others to achieve the extraordinary. People tend to think of creativity as a mysterious solo act, and they typically reduce products to a single idea: This is a movie about toys, or dinosaurs, or love, they’ll say. However, in filmmaking and many other kinds of complex product development, creativity involves a large number of people from different disciplines working effectively together to solve a great many problems. Ed Catmul is an unpretentious man. He doesn’t like to talk about how he performs his job as president of Pixar and (since a 2006 merger) Disney Animation Studios. But the article and accompanying podcast shed light on his exceptional leadership qualities [...]

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counter-intuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we’re not as rational as we think when we make decisions [...]

Would anybody care to share a quote (shall I call it “citation?) for referencing the interaction design process for a paper I’m writing? # reading “IDEO Method Cards”, different techniques for inspiring design, gaining insights into user’s goals, and generating alternatives … # [Technology] Nokia’s Point # [Graphic Design, Digital Art, Architecture, Data Visualization] Data [...]

Monthly groceries at Metro: frozen bagles, panninis, and laffa! Thank you, Lord! # [China] Chinese president meets Brazilian leader in London: Chinese President Hu Jintao met his Brazilian.. http://tinyurl.com/cd6jd2 # [Interaction Design] Music That Makes You Dumb: Virgil Griffith, a CalTech graduate student,.. http://tinyurl.com/cgbw7j # [Technology] Report: Google in Talks to Buy Twitter?: Google is [...]

Autodesk leading technologists talk to Directions Magazine about how government agencies can better utilize geospatial information. Geoff Zeiss, director of technology, David Kingsbury, Sr. Industry Manager for State and Local Government, and Pete Southwood, Geospatial Technical Evangelist conduct a round table discussion of Autodesk’s Feature Data Object, or FDO, an open source solution that is embedded in many of the company’s industry solutions [...]

Autodesk Technical Evangelist Pete Southwood, Senior Industry Manager for Utilities and Telecommunications Alan Saunders, and Utilities Industry Marketing Manager Doug Laslo discuss the market drivers affecting the utility industry over the next few years, industry pain points, and how Autodesk solutions address these issues. Listen to the podcast, from Autodesk Geospatial Resource Center…

Jason Fried is the co-founder and President of 37signals, a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based tools possible with the least number of features necessary. Jason believes there’s real value and beauty in the basics. Elegance, respect for people’s desire to simply get stuff done, and honest ease of use are the hallmarks of 37signals products…

Based on theories of meaningful learning and education, Co-Founder and Associate Director at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), Alberto Canas presents a software tool that allows users to collaborate in the construction of shared knowledge models based on concept maps, which are used worldwide by users of all disciplines and ages, from elementary school students to NASA scientists…

Chris Cheung, Product Manager for Industrial Design at Autodesk, shares a sneak peek at some of the star attractions for industrial designers at AU this year, and gives a quick overview of the Industrial Design track…