Design 21: Social Design Network

Diseño web orientado a niños Yusef Hassan Montero

Resumen: Los niños tienen habilidades, preferencias y necesidades diferentes al 'usuario medio', por lo que el diseño de sitios web destinados a este tipo de audiencia requiere de la adopción y adaptación metodológica necesaria para asegurar su usabilidad. Categoría: Diseño Centrado en el Usuario

La proliferación de sitios web, o secciones específicas dentro de éstos, orientados a una audiencia infantil, así como el aumento de usuarios menores en sitios web generalistas – portales, directorios... – requiere en su desarrollo de la adopción y adaptación metodológica imprescindible para poder satisfacer las necesidades de accesibilidad y usabilidad de este grupo de usuarios.

Conocer a la audiencia, y diseñar en base a este conocimiento, así como evaluar el diseño a través de sus usuarios, son principios fundamentales de Diseño Centrado en el Usuario que no pueden ser ignorados si pretendemos la aceptación del producto por el usuario final (Hassan, Martín Fernández, Iazza; 2004). Así mismo sería necesario adoptar una filosofía de Diseño Inclusivo, ya que las características propias de este tipo de audiencia, como veremos a continuación, distan mucho de las del 'usuario medio'.

¿Para quién diseñamos? Los niños tienen habilidades, preferencias y necesidades diferentes al 'usuario medio', que además van cambiando conforme crecen. A este hecho hay que sumarle que en esta etapa de la vida, las dif...

Janine James of the New York design studio the Moderns tells a story about how a building flood in 2008 destroyed her studio and everything in it. Every piece of paper, keyboard and prototype was drenched in an unending waterfall stemming from burst piping.

Instead of being a setback the event provided James an opportunity for metamorphosis. She rebuilt her studio into a space for collaboration. She gave staff Fridays off. “Fridays are inspirational days,” she explained to the Compostmodern 2011 audience. On Fridays James brings a movement coach to teach her and her staff the Laban Technique - a way and language for interpreting, describing, visualizing and notating all ways of human movement. Her intention? To live an inspired life.

UN-CONFERENCE

I think the Compostmodern organizers may have been struck by a similar quest. The second day of the 2011 design conference about sustainable design choices became an un-conference. It was the first time in seven years that this event became a space for collaboration.

Participants proposed topics about which they are passionate. People formed groups to discuss the topics at scheduled times. The goal was to engage in open discussions and build projects that help realize social change. And to get inspired.

Facilitator, Joe Khirallah, used Open Space technology to invite people to announce their topics. “It usually takes a while for people to formulate their ideas but immediately, after the invitation there was a whole line ...

When I went to Compostmodern in 2006 – an interdisciplinary design conference dedicated to transforming products, industries and lives through sustainable design choices – Kalle Lasn creator of Adbusters magazine bought me a free steak dinner. I was a student completing my final year at Emily Carr Institute for Art and Design and even though I was a vegetarian, I was hungry for wisdom so I took him up on the invitation. Hats off to freeganism and generous keynote speakers.

At this year’s Compostmodern conference I had two passes: the one I bought in advance and a free blogging pass I was offered just before the event. I decided to up-cycle and give my pass to a Google employee who needed a ticket. Google has given me a lot of free tools (and a free lunch at the Google cafeteria my first day in SF) so I thought I would return the favour.

This small gesture set the stage for a common theme running through many of the presentations that day; designers are doing a lot of work these days to ensure there is social equity and plenty of freebies for all.

Day one of the conference was laid out at a snappy pace with three to four speakers per hour moderated by the effervescent Alissa Walker. She introduced the first speaker Yves Béhar of fuseproject as “design’s reigning sex symbol.”

Béhar may have a great head of hair but what’s underneath his flamboyant mop is helping change people’s lives for the better. He designed frames for the "See Better to Learn Better...

I am leaving rainy Vancouver for sunny San Francisco to immerse myself in a heap of creative thinkers at Compostmodern 2011 - a conference about design and sustainability.

Other than the bonus weather I am excited to attend because, in my work life, I am typically the only communication designer in boardrooms and teleconference calls stacked with sustainability planners, climate change program managers and environmental coordinators. This weekend I can schmooze with a crew that will probably relate more to the ‘postmodern’ aspect of the conference than the ‘compost’.

Don’t get me wrong, most designers get waste-reduction but what I hope to explore at this event is more than the well-worn language around material use. I believe we creative professionals are recomposing the discussion of managing intensities of waste; into the realm of critiquing and creating better systems of practice.

My travel partner Lisa Hemingway, creative consultant, and principal of Backyard Creative plans to go with an open mind and without preconceived goals, “I want to be really present,” she says to me, “to really hear what is going on.”

The second day’s un-conference is a set up for this kind of learning and sharing. The un-conference is a half-day session emphasizing dialogue and open discussion where attendees will be able to propose topics about which they are passionate and curious. It’s also a chance to met with leaders in the field, push boundaries and have some fun. ...

I'm no scientist. So when hundreds of the smartest left-brained minds in the world tell me it's time to cool off, I take their word for it.

I am sufficiently humbled by their warming predictions that, in response, I ride a bike, buy apples in the fall - strawberries in the summer and wear a sweater instead of cranking the thermostat. And I wonder who wouldn't?

A while ago I sat down at an Open Space at a climate forum. The idea was to talk about communicating climate change. Since my partners and I were English speakers and the rest of the people were Swedish we cozied up to the visiting Australian delegate and his super friendly, warm interpreter.

As we chatted I realize that the interpreter was one of the most eloquent people I had ever met. He spoke plummy English as well as French and Swedish rapidly and confidently.

When we started to discuss the somewhat complex science related to climate change. This man perked up and said, "I'm terribly sorry, but it's simply not true – it's bad science." Then launched into a scientific smörsgåsbord of his own reasoning for the rapid increase in temperature.

I scanned my brain for the clever comebacks outlined in Coby Beck's article How to talk to a Climate Change Skeptic posted on Gristmill. But, faced with this congenial, smooth talker and the polite situation I felt at a loss.

I wish I had one of Nathan Martell's vases in the shape of a climate graph. Martell took a graph outlining the rise in global air temper...

How to convey the essence of sustainability in a few sketched lines? Samuel Mann studies the schematics of the notion of sustainability itself rather than the underlying science by compiling a “zillion diagrams”. Including this poster about poverty linkages from Density Design.

See the complete list at: Computing for Sustainability.

computingforsustainability.wordpress.com

Dear Design21 members!

I created a logo for the "Crafting Excellence" competition. If you like it, I would be grateful if you gave me your votes. Either for this one or that - or both!

Thanks and all the best,

Marco

Thank you to those of you who participated in the Design21 poster competition for Mother Language Day by submitting the words, Languages Matter in the languages you know.

There were many posts, including translations in Mohawk, Dholuo, Russian, Yorubaa, Swedish, Icelandic, Hebrew, Japanese, Cantonese, Arabic, Braille, American Sign Language and Esperanto.

Great news. The poster was voted on along with 1133 others from 85 different countries on this site - and we were nominated as a finalist.

I am captivated by many of the entries and feel honoured that our group effort was part of the exhibition. We also want to thank UNESCO and Design21 for the fun opportunity.

The youth-focused Kanvas game allows site visitors to co-create artworks which reinforce the Smoking Not Our Future message. Images and words can be collaged within the online platform to devise original designs.

"The idea was to let a discerning youth audience design their own creative message and give them the freedom to tell it how they see it. I believe that youth appreciate being allowed honesty and ownership of voice instead of traditional advertising message," says Steve Le Marquand, creative director of New Zealand interactive agency, Resn, which developed the popular game.

Resn have also created the Kiss Off game: because kissing is nice but not with a smoker! And Butthead Bash in which you can team up with local celebs to battle it out with, Barry, the evil tobacco industry executive.

Great to see a government agency supporting social and viral media strategies alongside interactivity and co-creation to ensure relevance with their youthful audience.

(Artworks submitted by Julie Voss on the Kanvas site)

Are you a 2010 graduate designer? Plan-B Studio founder Steve Price has a challenge for you! Since the beginning of 2010 Steve has been undertaking a rather intriguing challenge, Project 10; 10 projects in 10 months working with 10 NFP/NGO organisations or projects. Rather than sending out press releases to promote the endeavor, he has been using the London Newspaper Club to create a limited-edition mail-out to 100 industry leaders and press contacts. The content is contributed to by writers, designers, artists, illustrators and other generous people, who team up and work collaboratively on the content itself.

For the June issue, Steve’s picking ten graduate designers for a carefully created issue that celebrates the best of the design industries newbies. To get yourself and your work in to the paper you must source, organise and interview your design industry hero/heroine for the paper SPECIFICALLY about the notion of collaboration in today’s industry. Contact Steve with your plan/idea, and then you'll be asked to supply up to 500 words for the interview, images to support the interview and/or examples of your own work.

Deadline is Tuesday 8th June 2010. For more information contact: project10@plan-bstudio.com