Yes, this blogpost is longer than normal but I wanted to create one holistic view. If you are not a big reader just scan the nice bits or go to the end

The Lift

The past week I was in Geneva, the city where HTTP/HTML or in other words the internet was invented. I visited Lift 08, a three day event to explore the social impact of new technologies. Together with Martin Kuipers I just let everything around me flood into my brain.

Lift 07 was a special event for us. Although I was not there, Martin’s enthusiasm triggered a whole process towards Lable. The ideas he brought back gave us the tools to finally knit together some thoughts of the past years. I had to go and see this Lift where foresighters came together.

Lift 08

This year was a 3 day event with 700 visitors from all over the world. The first day was full of community driven workshops at Geneva University with a Venture Night at the end. The second two days where full with talks on different subjects. Both days had also nice closures in the form of a cheese fondue and a nice party in the center of town.

There were many interesting people and I felt great having met some. Although looking around the conference room I felt many were addicted to being connected.

I chose to only open a dummy book and set myself in information absorb mode and tried to see a larger pattern. With everything around me you could smell the future, you just needed to look below the surface.

Online Environments

A big topic which was present in almost all talks where the online environments that are part of the latest technological hype. What are the implications of these environments and how could you make them succeed? How you could use them to teach people, and how to use them to change them?

We got for example an insight into the South Korean world of Cyworld. On how Koreans organized themselves online and how they depend on their mobile phone. Attention was the main currency and self branding the key. How almost-sync was the latest development towards real time intimacy. How Twitter was the western equivalent. South Korea is just miles ahead of these social communities. 98% of the 20s are on CyWorld.

The most interesting talk on this subject was by Pierre Belanger, owner of SkyRock. Although SkyRock is just another social network he described a future of social messengers. Where the social network became the new digital id of the future. He described a netamorphosis towards a net not centered around bandwidth but around code. A net that is not centered around one site but a multiform platform that could run on phones, instant messengers etc. E-mail is dead.

I immediately connected it to some other movements of people talking about Jabber as the next http. And he basically described the new backbone of the internet as a Social Operating System. Everything will center on chat. Two-way instead of one-way communication.

Connecting tech with people

There were also great talks about open social by Kevin Marks of Google and Grid Computing by François Grey of CERN. They both have methods of connecting the people and computers with information.

Open social is the glue for anything social centering around people/friends, activities and events and seems to also be the glue for the next generation of people.

The grid computing talk had some great insights on how to use people and their computers for science. How normal people became an important part by letting them be involved. This by being transparant and fun. A whole @home platform was born out of it that has much bigger cimputing power than any supercomputer in the world.

In everything you could feel online environments are on the verge of change. The current form is just a carriage without horses and we still need to evolve to the definite form.

Mobile phones

Most people in developing countries don’t have computers but they do have mobile phones. They share them, they connect with them. In China for example there are 4 people born per second, but 20 new subscribers of mobile providers per second.

The mobile is the most important connected device and it was interesting how Younghee Jung went out to those countries to let the people design the best mobile phone for themselves. It was very interesting to see the specific specific solutions for problems they live with. Like multi-simcard support, multiple address books, heart shaped phones, ultimate everything phone etc.

We also heard some insights on the future of the phone. How it would evolve to a simpler gateway to the world and that the phone contained the answer to future payment. How the iphone revolutionizes and by someone of Nokia how the iPhone is not the ultimate answer.

User Experience & Stories

A lot of talk was also about what story the technology is telling and the user relates towards it. The perception of a user completely relies on the story as they create context.

The most interesting was by Rafi Haladjian, one of the inventors of the wifi Rabbit Nabaztag. He told about setting up a platform called Violet built with ambient technology. A plarform with which you are informed non intrusively.

Why the rabbit:

If you can connect a rabbit you can connect anything.

He showed some great stuff like a future product of RFID stamps that a rabbit(or some other object) can sniff and after the object will react with something relevant. He saw only 2 or 3 objects connected to the rest of the world and saw a future we will connect the rest of the stuff in our homes.

It was also nice to have visited the discussion on the failures of ubiquitous computing the previous day. It seems that we are on the verge of creating smart houses, we only should make them start out dumb and grow their smartness for a more satisfying experience. It is all about making a growing emotional connection by growing an evolving story.

New ways of working

The Zentrale Intelligenze Agentur was a wow presentation for me and Martin. They described the way of working we as Lable were philosophizing about for the last year. I really feel that we are on the beginning of a new hierarchy less way of working. That people begin to see that hierarchy kills passion and creative/innovation efficiency. And now we were confirmed it is a global feeling.

Games are fun.

The game track was really fun. You should just see the entertaining Paul Barnett video if you have the time. He describes we shouldn’t build games anymore Vegas style by reproducing successes bigger, better, faster & stronger. Online games are just beginning and we don’t know yet what the rules are for them. We learn along the way and creating experience on how to set out a great story.

There was also a lot of talk about casual and more accessible games. People want more and more micro-sized content for quick experiences. How Facebook is also a game as it has a repeat until reward structure. Games should be a balance of Mechanics (rules of play), Dynamics (human interaction with rules) en Aesthetics (feel, design, emotion). Those last three just connected too good with our Lable vision of creating balance between Technology (structure), Human and Feeling. Those should be the main design rules of the future!

New view on location

Paul Dourish had some nice insights from aboriginals. How they looked very different to locations, territory, objects. Everything was defined by stories and their influence zones. This kind of thinking could make us very differently to navigation and location based information. He wanted to propose a new vocabulary for this tech: Nomad, pilgrimage, home, colony, asylum, diaspora, migrator etc.

Clash of Nature and Technology

Kevin Warwick, the human cyborg, was a show stealer. He described how he connected a ultra sound sensor to his arm neural system and how he gained a 6th sense of distance. That a human could just learn a sensor so fast. He also connected his neural system to his wive to create the first two brains in one neural system. How they shared the sense of moving hands. His brain was even connected to the internet to control a simple robotic arm thousands of miles away… Cyborgs are getting real… And it sounded like a real enhancement that did not sound scary anymore… But what about the spam you will get

We heard from Mieke Gerritzen how we should accept tech and how we should make it a part of nature. How everything is set to intertwine. How manipulating nature will become the next nature. I did not entirely agree because I think there is still lots to learn from current nature before we declare a next one. We should accept the golden ratio as the main ratio for growth and design.

Sustainability

We can’t continue to consume the way we are. A whole separate track was focused on the environment with key speaker Nobel Prize winner Andy Reisinger. The most head shifting tech featured was a space based solar array with power beaming to the earth as a way to solve future power problems. Also features were technologies to convert people to more sustainable ways of working by peer pressured social networks.

Foresight

We ended with some views on how to see the road ahead but where also warned to look at a higher level to see what other roads will cross this road. William Cockayne and Scott Smith took us on a ride on what a foresighter, like the main audience of Lift, should do to make good foresights.

A foresighter:

• Should be aware
• Scan Collect and Organize Patterns and deep currents and roles
  • Get out on the street
• Have a view but not ideologize
• Stay Grounded
  • Leave behind artefacts

These talks made me aware I am such foresighter. Not focusing on the now but the future by talking around and collecting information and feelings.

The Future

Scott left us with a quote of William Gibson:

The future has already arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.

I think Lift changed that and created a place of were foresights are made visible. Foresights of a future where humans will live in balance with technology and feelings. A future where they would connect with each other and everything around them to create a more sustainable and efficient balance. We just need to digest everything around us to see how it should be done.

I recognized many pieces of my past journey and was confirmed I am on the right road. It is just about meeting the right people and making it possible.

Yes, it is all just about people.

Visit Lift site for more information. All talks can be viewed on tsr site.

Photo by mrtnk who was sitting besides me while taking photo. It shows the shoes of Lift organizer Laurent Haug opening Lift 08.

This week I was a member of a jury of an international contest named Frisian Design about innovation and sustainability. It was a contest organized by the Cartesius Institute and had entries from Portugal, Latvia, UK, Australia, Turkey, Italy, the Netherlands etc.

The quality of the entries struck me. I saw a complete sustainable Island for in the Frisian lakes. A durable World Sustainability Expo that travels the Frisian cities. A project for igniting new young entrepreneurs as firestarters. A project about recycling furniture and other stuff in a design and social way. The magical nano bubbles that would enrich Ameland. The sustainable Escher House etc.

Sustain

Two years ago I would have thought sustainability is all about the environment but these days I know it is more about a kind of mindset and most about people. It is about connecting, about keeping it to proportions. Ones waste is one others gold. The network is the main principle today in sustainability. To create something sustainable you need 3 things: People, Planet and Profit all 3 balanced in proportions. And the best project is combining all 3 of them.

And the winner is

We almost all immediately loved Cocoon Village by Margarida de Barros from Loughborough University Portugal. She created a project that aimed to get back to basics with a low tech approach with the cosy cocoons. With cocoons that would travel through the frisian land with a mobile unit built from recycled sea containers that would contain all the facilities. It travels to new areas where an underground system and sustainable tech would take care of water and energy.

I loved the idea of getting back to basics and travel through the Frisian country and setting up a mini community. This back to basics approach is a big contrast to the tourism focussed on the masses. It is getting back to realistic scales. And the cocoons are also a nice visual contrast to the vast and rough Frisian Country.

This project reminds the people they are humble small beings in a vast landscape. It would create awareness of what makes Fryslân great and that is why I think she is the deserved winner! I hope I can take a sleep in a cocoon in the near future.

Photos are from jury dossier, sorry for the bad quality…

Lately I’m involved in many projects in which I touch many sides of society around me. By talking with many people I am learning about the common problems but also difference in thinking and kind of people that are working in that branch. It is nice to seek for connections and while talking it is easy to come up with all kind of products to make life easier.

Some areas I talked to are elderly healthcare, disaster management (army/firefighters), maritime sector (visiting boats), education (many types outside and inside the institution I work part time for), Traffic safety, charity, historic institutions, shopkeepers, durability/environment, business people, mortage brokers etc etc.
By talking you begin to see a bigger picture of society and how things work. It is all about people and knowing each other, about trust but also about fear for the unknown. About getting things done while not costing too much money and time.

Durable connections

It is also inspiring to meet people that can get anything done just by finding the right connections. One his waste could be the others cost/life saver. So many durable connections are available but so little people see them because they don’t look outside their own box… They tend to talk to the same kind of people around them. People that are doing the same kind of stuff and form the same mindset.

It is so easy to talk to people if you are interested in what they are doing. People light up when you just want to think with them. It is all about communication and making connections. And with those connections you can make your surroundings better. I am beginning to see the bigger picture but it is still blurry in some aspects.

Hope to be back soon with some deeper insights.

I often present on various subjects but often the subjects contain abstract concepts that you can’t convey with a simple photo. I hate bullet points because they don’t visualize the subject and make the story more abstract. So through my different presentations I developed a style of graphics that could be build with the basic drawing tools in Keynote. (Most are also present in powerpoint)

The Ingredients

I mainly use gradients with the same color but different hues. As shapes I mainly use circles, rectangles, arrows and stars. I finish it with some shadow and glows.
With these tools you can convey numerous kinds of abstract concepts. The power is to use people as the center of the visualization and to keep it simple.

The Slides

These are from a presentation of the new strategic values of the educational institution I part time work for. I hope they can be an inspiration for abstractions you need to visualize.

Results in summer 2007

Knowledge + Practice = Competence

Competence based: Assessment & Portfolio

7 subgroups work on plan

Practice based

Use of new media

Related:

• Top down vs Bottom up – Slides from another presentations build on same concept.

The oldest form of creating an experience is storytelling. Stories can be small or create whole worlds. They work directly on the consciousness. They transcend you to an experience that is more than just words.

I always tend to lose myself in a good movie or story. In my mind I become the protagonist/main character and live the whole experience in my mind. Sometimes it is so strong that I think I am in the story afterwards. For example you think you have superhuman powers or can time travel in this normal world. This is very strange if you’ve just watched/read/played some absurd story. I can easily become addicted to a good story and have to watch it untill the end. Stories can really trigger my emotions. They are very powerful.

Below are some basic ingredients of what I think makes up a great story in whatever medium. (Web, print, brand, movie, book, music, building etc)

Real characters

Many stories are told with stereotypes. Stereotypes are types of people that are created by the collective consciousness. They are predictable and very superficial. For a longer story to succeed you have to create real characters. Characters that have flaws like any of us and have unique quirks that define him or her. A hero can’t always succeed and bad guys must have a deeper motivation. The world is not black and white. Every character should be understandable why (s)he thinks what (s)he thinks and does what (s)he does. You have to be able to identify yourself in the characters.

Mystery

Mystery is a very powerful tool for a storyteller because it triggers the imagination of the experiencer. The imagination always makes it more compelling for the experiencer than any preconceived idea could do. You have to leave some gaps with some small clues for him/her to fill in.

A mystery can keep you addicted because you want to know what lies there in the dark. What is it?!? Who has done it?!? It is about building on a question and leaking the answer in small dosages. About building an almost drug like story addicition. And every mystery solved has to create a bigger mystery.

It is a matter of trust between storyteller and experiencer. There is not much that can beat ones imagination because it is always one step ahead of you.

Rhythm

Like music you have to follow a certain rhythm in your story. You have to carefully build layers along the way and let the experiencer lose him/herself in the rhythm. Like in music there are some timings in which the experiencer expects a certain reveal or change. Know what the rhythm of your medium is and play with it. Compare storytelling to a good classical or trance piece of music.

Questions

A good story triggers more questions than answers. It creates new insights in yourself or the world. With each story you gain something and with something gained you get more questions.

Anticipation

To create followers for your story you have to create an anticipation of what is to come. Something you build upon while telling the story. Anticipation is again something that triggers the imagination of the experiencer. (S)He anticipates what is to come by using his/her own past real life or story experiences. There is a danger of ending in a boring road and the real tricky part is fulfilling the anticipation of all your experiencers. To find a route that is more compelling than what was anticipated creates a very good wow moment for the audience.

Surprise

In longer stories you have to change your basic story elements once in a while to shed new lights on your characters and world. Once in a while you have to shake up the experience. Kick the experiencer to the ground and set him/her back to a fresh start of anticipation. To turn a part or everything upside down. To create a storm with big consequences. The unexpected. You can’t tell stories from the same perspective forever.

Depth

With your story you create a whole world. This world has its own rules that differ from the real world to make your story more compelling. Hint to those differences by subtle details that are not told but are present. It can be something in the background that can be discovered by the fine experiencers. If seen it creates the illusion in the imagination that this world exists. It enriches the experience and makes it worthwhile to experience it a second time. Those very small details can tell very long stories in a matter of seconds. All with the power of imagination.

Contrast

The mind needs contrasts. You have to balance the ugly with the beautiful, the fast with the slow. Contrast makes the original richer and more valuable. You only know what something is when you know the opposite. Contrasts are the basis of a good story. A contrast tells the story.

Climax

A good story ends in a climax. Where everything unravels, where questions are answered, some mysteries are solved and where everything is reset. The climax pays off some of the anticipation of the experiencer. It makes him satisfied or just longing for more. The climax could become a crescendo overdrive of what was building before, a shock of something unexpected that was behind the story or a anticlimax where suddenly nothing matters anymore. A good story is like sex, foreplay, building anticipation and fun, and then the orgasmic end or sometimes just nothing.

The End

Well stories are all about imagination. It plays around with your preconceived ideas, your concept of the world, your awareness. Stories enrich and deepen you. Good stories ascend you spiritually. Stories are omnipresent everywhere. Without stories our world is only a collection of atoms and molecules that react with each other.

Pictures are taken from one of my favorite series Battlestar Galactica.

Related:

• Stories as the vehicle of getting the experience
• The WOW Factor

Yesterday I was with some friends listening to some of the great music one of them made recently. But suddenly he opened a song that was ‘great’, I and the other friend looked at each other but didn’t hear the greatness. But I understood why he liked it and how it influenced his music.

But now I am thinking how everyone goes through a different path of evolving taste for stuff. Everybody has his/her own choices and preferences.

One’s personal quest

Somehow when you are little you feel attracted to some kind of vibe. You search for those vibes and try to find what triggers you and what does not. Those vibes are mostly found in the more obscure areas of your preferences which enlighten you personally. Finding those inspirational vibes can set loose a wow moment.

Selfdefinition

The quest always begins raw. You see/hear/taste/smell/read only the superficial stuff at first. But on your quest you slowly discover details. Details that enrichen your experience and learn you more about what you like and at the same moment who you are. Somehow the things what you like defines you in this society. You have to be original and yourself.

People who have taste to look at the details of their experience somehow look down to the people that only look at the superficial stuff. They have had that. But enjoyment can be found in both. Some stuff is made for attracting the masses and some for those detail sensitive fans. The trick is to entertain both. But then you have to feel the Zeitgeist and the next taste/design movement to create the next hit. There is an overall taste evolution in this society.

Quests combine people

Personal taste combines people. When your interests match you will bond. You see subcultures form around personal preferences around art, music etc. Somehow there seems to be likeminded people who like the same stuff. But still everyone is on it’s own personal quests to deepen his/her taste.

Quests set people apart: Open up

But some people have defined who they are and that is all there is. They close their mind for the other taste paths and enjoy their time with their subculture. They dislike the other groups out of definition. It is a shame. Because you could miss a part of yourself in this exploration of life. Try to find contrasts in taste! Explore yourself!

Maybe I should listen better for the greatness my friend heard.

Photo by Nicolás Hip

Related

• Evolution of design movements
• The WOW Factor

Above are some small ideas I penned down in one of my sketch books. Maybe you can make them useful in some of your future interface designs. They are all about including extra information in common interface elements.

1. Range slider with distribution curve

Price ranges or other type of ranges like for example the diameter of a screen, processor speed, analogue zoom range etc are perfect examples of information that is to be manipulated by range sliders. You select the range of the attribute you are searching in the product and the search application returns the results.

But what if you select a range that is very rare and combined with other search parameters return no results. The inclusion of the distribution curve tells the user which ranges are most common and are more likely to return results.

2. Distance selection with travel time

If you want to search for a new home or for example a restaurant in your vicinity most often you can select a range in distance to narrow down the search.

Why not include some small icons that show the travel time by some icons which represent the means of transportation and a time icon that shows the travel time? Green is minutes and red is the hours spend.

3. Scroll bar showing sections

Scrolling is a handy method of navigating through pages but it is for example not easy to go to the comments right away in a blog site. Most often a separate link is included.

Why not show the different sections of the page besides the scroll bar? When you hover over the colors you see what they represent and if you click on for example the purple bar you will go directly to the comments section. This can also be handy in large articles like wikipedia pages.

4. Loading bar with subprogress

Sometimes you have a separate loading bar to show the progress of a subprocess. Why not add some colors above the load bar to visualize the subprocesses. You can also mouseover them like on the scrollbar to see what they are.

Ideas inspired by my regular dose of infosthetics. I highly recommend this blog to any kind of designer.

Related:

• Leadership 2.0
• Work 2.0 – The empty cubicle
• Big changes ahead for us

With some fresh insights I wanted to write an evolved sequel to my popular Designing in pictures post. What are the factors in building a good designed product? You have to look at different perspectives to create something holistic that works.

1. Emotion

This perspective adds character and identity to a product. Something that sets it apart by giving it attributes like warmth/coolness/color/seriousness/playfullness etc.

2. Social

Is the product friendly in use? Is the message easy to read? This is the factor of usability and interaction.

3. Structure

Is the product built on solid foundations. Is the structure sound? Can the product easily be reused/extended/adapted to other uses. This can be seen as the technologically part of the product/process.

4. Community

Is the product/message targeted well to the interests of a certain target group/community. Has it potential to build a self sustaining community around it? This is the domain of marketing.

5. Purpose

The above four perspectives need to fall together in a holistic whole for the original intention of the product to work. This factor gives the product it’s x-factor or explains it’s lack thereof. One of the above factors can sabotage this factor.

6. Process

All of the above has to be built by a group of people over time. The design depends on the limitations or errors in the process of designing the product. A large factor in the success of the design of the product is how the whole process is planned and managed and who works on it.

7. Evolution

A product has to evolve. You have to add recent techniques to stay into the market and use the best methods. Otherwise the design will be overshadowed by a newer design. It has to evolve to be relevant.

8. Communication & Networking

The purpose and design of the product is most of the time dependent on a client or a group of influential people. They are the people that made the project possible so you have to juggle with their wishes. So you have to keep them in the loop in the whole process. This factor can be kept in control if you manage to be in the right network of influential people.

Quality

The quality of the design depends on these factors. Failure in one of the above can sink the project.

The idea: this could work…

The idea is the starting point. We had phones but could only be reached at a certain location. (office or home) What if we could reach people everywhere? Science Fiction began to fantasize about the idea. (The communicator in Star Trek)

Invention: It works!

Well the mobile phone was invented. People could be reached anywhere. But these early phones were only for the elite few and clunky.

Evolution: Making it usable

The first mobile phones were not something you could bring in your pocket. They were big and clunky and only used by a few. But the technology was there and in production. It became cheaper and cheaper to produce and technology made it more and more accesible.

Convergence: Adding features and uses

When the mobile phone became portable, affordable and usable people began to buy it. Everbody wanted a phone. But the tech companies needed reasons so people would buy new versions. People wanted to do more on their phone. It had to become whole portable office tools or entertainment centers. People wanted camera’s, internet browsers, word processors, games, music players into one device.

The phone remained a phone but had some extra clunky software so it could perform these extra tasks. But it was better to have a separate device for it. The phone could do the extra stuff but it was almost unusable. Even calling itself could be more difficult then on the simple phones. Only the technophiles would buy the high end versions that could do anything.

Holistify: Melting it together

But the first step towards perfection of the mobile device seems near. Apple has announced a device that combines a phone with an iPod music player, a camera and full internet browsing options. They tried to create a holistic whole by making an adaptive interface and smooth transitions between functions. They made the experience smooth. Well the first version will not be perfect but it is the next step in the evolution of mobile devices. One that will open our minds towards new uses.

Already this device is considered holy in the mainstream press before it is released. The promise of holistic design is the key these days.

Design Evolution

The whole described process could be adapted to any designed object. Think of houses, cars, chairs, paper, trains, glass, food, music etc.

Related:

• Seeking beauty
• Designing in pictures
• Evolution of design movements

Renewal is necessary. To invent new things, to see new perspectives you have to renew. You have to dare to drop the old systems and experiment to get something better. Otherwise we would still be monkeys. (Insert monkey sound here)

Renewal has some phases in which it takes place:

1. Exploration – Some small experiments to see which direction to go to to make things better. (This is the function of Art and the creatives)
2. Definition of vision – Setting a goal or vision for the new path. This defines the renewal proces to give it a certain scope. (This is for the structural/system thinkers)
3. Experimentation – You begin with what you know and try to change things. Rethinking the whole system at once does not work. You can’t build a whole holistic system from scratch. Experiment with replacing some of the parts or begin small and simple. (for the creatives again, outside the box thinkers)
4. Definition of rules – By slowly adapting what you know to the new situation you learn what works and what does not. Rules begin to form. (Structuralists)
5. The next step – Hopefully you created a better system by now. But all things are never perfect. Begin again at step 1.

Our whole society keeps on renewing. Most people are not good at it. Most combine the existing ideas when they build/set up something new. There are a few people who can imagine new ideas, who dare to look beyond what already exists. Those are the people that are the most interesting.

Related: Design Movements

The End

Well at the moment this post comes online I will be in the middle of my graduation project presentation which marks the end as student of Communication & Multimedia Design (CMD). It was a journey that searched for the essentials behind media, design and information. It began as a search for ultimate serious games and ended in a vision. This weblog was part of the log of the journey. My vision can be read between the lines of the posts and I will begin to work on a clearer presentable version.

A new beginning

My student life is over. Now begins a new time with my company and my new part time job as ‘intercommunity manager’ at the study Communication & Multimedia Design. I will be setting up new structures to make learning easier. CMD is an andragogy based study: so it is not based on teachers that decide what you learn. No, you yourself have to decide what you want to learn by doing projects and you are guided by consultants and coaches. The learning is based on communities with shared interests and sharing information and ideas. It is about structures where the ideas are bundled and events can be organized where people can share and inspire. I will manage the information, visions and inspiration flow.

In the rest of the time I will be searching for structures to built my vision that comes out of the posts you have read here. The weblog will evolve with this new learning process of finding practical systems to built on this vision.

Update: sorry, this post was private and I didn’t notice it because I was logged in… It is online now with a slight delay…