Thanks to an invite from Joe Welinske, I ran the Making More Senses of UX workshop at ConveyUX in Seattle last Saturday (24th Jan).
It was fun and I think the participants got new ideas and ways of thinking about their senses and future technology. Thanks to everyone who came and experienced it.
It was fun and I think the participants got new ideas and ways of thinking about their senses and future technology. Thanks to everyone who came and experienced it.
I changed the workshop for a couple of reasons. One was I knew that a sensory subsitution exercise I often use could not work in the space available. The other was listening to conference speakers, like Eric Reiss and Dan Saffer, on creativity and usability.
The first meant I had a gap in the workshop content. The second that I had some inspiration to design something new which would help people think of future UX in terms of multimodal design.
Between the 9 hour flight to Seattle and jetlag, I had time to create the new section but it needed (as noted by Dan Saffer) quite a lot of procrastination to get the right moment to really understand what to say.
What I created was a model for thinking about usability in terms of senses and emotions.
I've been trying to integrate a number of pieces of research, design work and books into a coherent form for a while.
I've used Nir Eyal's Hooked model of behaviuoral design for a while as a very useful framework. The ideas of sensory design are, in many ways, parallel to behavioural design but with slightly different moments when meaning is made and slightly different vocabulary.
The first meant I had a gap in the workshop content. The second that I had some inspiration to design something new which would help people think of future UX in terms of multimodal design.
Between the 9 hour flight to Seattle and jetlag, I had time to create the new section but it needed (as noted by Dan Saffer) quite a lot of procrastination to get the right moment to really understand what to say.
What I created was a model for thinking about usability in terms of senses and emotions.
I've been trying to integrate a number of pieces of research, design work and books into a coherent form for a while.
I've used Nir Eyal's Hooked model of behaviuoral design for a while as a very useful framework. The ideas of sensory design are, in many ways, parallel to behavioural design but with slightly different moments when meaning is made and slightly different vocabulary.
I drew many, many diagrams trying to integrate ideas but needed a form that could be shown in a workshop.
I talk a lot about memory being held both in our minds and our physical movement. So, creating a large diagram seemed a good option. I found 12 foot of paper for $9 at a local Office Depot.
I talk a lot about memory being held both in our minds and our physical movement. So, creating a large diagram seemed a good option. I found 12 foot of paper for $9 at a local Office Depot.
The model is new.
It brings together behavioural ideas about getting attention, sensory ideas about desire for experience balanced by perceptual filters and emotional ideas about arousal and pleasure.
I used it in the workshop just to open up those moments (whether micro or macro interaction) in design that are not simply about screens but about the totality of sensory experience.
It brings together behavioural ideas about getting attention, sensory ideas about desire for experience balanced by perceptual filters and emotional ideas about arousal and pleasure.
I used it in the workshop just to open up those moments (whether micro or macro interaction) in design that are not simply about screens but about the totality of sensory experience.
It's a first draft model in the slides you can read above and I'll build on it as I do more workshops this year in London and Lisbon.
If you would like to know more, email me or come along to one of the workshops. I run them in some cities, for UX, technology and academic conferences and for both companies and government organisations.
If you would like to know more, email me or come along to one of the workshops. I run them in some cities, for UX, technology and academic conferences and for both companies and government organisations.