Prior to establishing Spy I had worked for New
Jersey Senator Bill Bradley on his 1984 re-election campaign before
studying Law at the London School of Economics. I began working in
electronic publishing in the US when I got a summer job working on
a small newsletter in Georgetown, Washington DC. I had gone there to
intern on Capitol Hill.
Current activities
Collaborating with my colleagues in AIGA Experience Design and UXnet on models for sharing knowledge in design. We may develop the calendar element using the EVNT platform.
Working with the Central Saint Martins Innovation Centre in London on a research project around intelligent buildings and offices. The project has been approved for the DtI Technology Programme funding round. Partners include Arup, BT, Imperial College and UCL.
Updating the Design Council ‘About Design’ interaction design section (see below), in consultation with a number of colleagues.
My current major research project is the Internet Development Map, which aims to visually demonstrate the way in which new technologies are shaped by broader social factors – which in turn shape society – taking the example of the development of the Internet up to the present.
Recent activities
Design Council ‘About Design’
2003–2007
Through the About Design project the Design Council is “seeking to deliver a world leading knowledge resource on the effective use of design”. I researched and wrote the interaction design section , which includes elements on why it matters to business and public services; examples; facts and quotes; challenges; current trends; a glossary and FAQ; top tips; a reading list; sources for further information; and annual events.
Research interests
Interaction design
How can we promote a
richer and more subtle understanding of interaction design,
and have it taken seriously
by design commentators as well as by those who commission
design (and other stakeholders such as government).
Informing design practice
How can we help
designers to be more worldly, informed, and critical (as opposed
to cynical)? How
can we connect them to people working in related areas of
activity, eg: statisticians, material scientists, software engineers,
social scientists, policy makers.
The network meets the real world
How can
we develop and popularise an understanding of
the network
as an enhancement of the real world? Among other things
this requires promoting ideas around user-centred design and
context
of use, as well as ambition and the need for investment.
Innovation and the commercial and social
induction of technologies
How can we facilitate the development
of new ideas that
represent a fundamentally new way of meeting a human
need or desire?
What forces determine, inhibit and shape the development
of these
ideas (including commercial forces)? How is appropriate
design facilitated, avoiding over-simplification and
considering user adaptation?
Past activities
The networked home
Client project (2002)For this research research project for a client of Seymour Powell Foresight I focused on the future of the networked kitchen. I assessed five experimental projects or products, and critiquing them from social, design, infrastructural and technical persepctives. Overview of findings [Word 78 KB].
Published in Gain, volume 1, issue 1 (2000)
The Experience Design Family Tree came out of the DIS2000 panel I co-programmed with Margaret McCormack The Family Tree was based on the panel and focused on the companies with which the panelists had been involved. Research was conducted by McCormack any myself. The artifact was designed by Jack Lenk and James Wynn at Dynamic Diagrams in London. In 2001 I researched and wrote about the collapse of the sector for an article in issue 2 of Gain.
Published with WorldLink magazine (January 1997)
With Lance Knobel at World Link I co-conceived, researched and developed the Network Society Map. It aimed to show how well prepared 49 of the largest and most dynamic economies are to compete in the network society. The economies surveyed were those in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 1996. The Map was presented at the World Economic Forum’s 1997 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
