Nokia 7705 twist

Nokia recently unveiled the new Nokia 7705 twist, a device using a form of narrative UI, where personalizable avatars are moving in the third dimension in relation to your communication patterns, and the space communication ambient information such as network/battery/time/location by altering it’s design.

While leading an exploratory translation of Nokia brand promise of delivering ‘very human technology to feel close to who and what matters’, I’ve linked this exploration with one on the consequences of an always-on world, aiming at articulating the need for new metaphors to manifest a communication becoming more organic.
The 7705 is the commercial version of this exploratory design research. It is one direction opening the path to a new business.
This was one of these early projects to articulate both the aggregation of communication channels per avatar (call, sms, email, flick, etc), in one place, the homescreen, and new metaphors to represent communication status.

Why do I blog this? Because as such aggregation expands to more channels rapidly new forms of representation will soon be necessary.
What is it to move to an ‘always on’ world where you are permanently connected to your contacts?

Ensad lab, digital mobile identities

I’m pleased to announce the opening of the ENSAD Lab program ‘Digital mobile identities’. And I’m delighted Etienne Mineur joins me to lead it. If you want to have great fun, join us!

The École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (National Decorative Arts School – ENSAD) has since the 2007-2008 school year engaged in setting up an upper level research cycle for creation and innovation.
It establishes a specific research and reflection unit within ENSAD (the ENSAD Lab) on programmes linked to the domains of creation, both identified and emerging, in relation to the social, economic, technological, political and cultural contexts of the contemporary world.
The research programmes bring together teachers and research students and are by nature open to collaborations and partnerships with other educational and research institutions as well as with professionals and industrialists in France and abroad.
For 2009-2010, 11 programmes are open covering five domains: design, graphic design and typography, interactive installations and real time images, real and virtual spaces and mobilities (see detailed list hereafter).
Research students are either ENSAD graduates, university graduates with five years of studies, or professional designer/creators with the equivalent of five years of experience in the elected domain.

IDN : Identité(s) numérique(s) mobile(s) (DMI : Digital Mobile Identities)
(New programme)
Challenges and opportunities related to the mutation of the digital social network towards mobility.

Content and objectives
Under the influence of converging technological evolutions (migration of the Internet towards mobility and high speed/permanent connections, the traceability of activities, new modalities/new channels of communication, organic flows, social ties, social localisation, social radar, tangible interfaces), digital mobile identity is seeing a profound and rapid mutation.
The tacit or explicit structure, the flows, the emerging patterns and representations that qualify this identity are still to be defined in order to address a more complex social dynamic and new typologies of usage that remain to be codified so as to make this new dynamic rich and desirable.

Research themes
– tacit, declared, aggregated identity(ies): definition and management;
– new modalities of communication (multi-layered, multi-modal, tangible, social circles, amorous strategy, plausible lies, visibility, traceability, social/proximity localisation, before/during/after mobility);
– new representations of information flows: notifications, flows, trace and memory, heritage.

Purpose
A suite of interactive prototypes (forms to be defined, telephone applications, communicating objects, video games, “intelligent” clothing…), publication and colloquium at the ENSAD.

Modalities
– Each research theme will be built and articulated around a ‘UCD’ (User Centred Design) model;
– This process will be built in an iterative fashion, structured around observation, analysis and modelisation, experimentation and prototyping;
– To favour teamwork, particular attention will be given to researching complementarities in the themes studied by the students.
Gateways
In order to reinforce a transversal vision and collaborative work, a link will be made with the other programmes of the school that deal with the challenges in communication and mobility, notably in the form of workshop sessions.
Length
Two years beginning in the 2009 school year.

ENSAD Professors
Remy Bourganel, Etienne Mineur.

Partners considered
Bell Labs, Orange Vallée, Nokia.
Number of student researchers
From 4 to 5.
Candidate profiles sought
Sociologists, interaction designers, and telecom engineers.
Request for further information on the programme content

For more detail
Ensad Lad
info-idn (at) ensad.fr

Cloud computing

Why do I blog this?
The key selling point here being obviously less hassle, I can’t stop thinking how frequently I do experience a weak network, including for VOIP. The seams are to be designed.

Nokia 5800: contacts bar

Nokia recently unveiled the new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, a touch-screen mobile device for music and social media consumption. It is the first device to support Comes With Music. It also includes the Media bar, and the home-screen Contacts Bar widget.

While leading an exploratory translation of Nokia brand promise of delivering ‘very human technology to feel close to who and what matters’, my team and I focused on the impact of an always-on world and the subsequent new metaphors needed to represent a communication flow to become organic.
The homescreen was the place of choice for glanceable communication status with your loved ones.
This was one of these early projects to articulate both the aggregation of communication channels per avatar (call, sms, email, flick, etc), in one place, the homescreen, and new metaphors to represent communication status.

Why do I blog this? Because as such aggregation expands to more channels rapidly new forms of representation will soon be necessary.

Photo © Nokia, 2008.
For more information on the 5800: press release

History of internet/2

I was really sick, enough to decide not to go Geneva last friday to attend the www@20, but Nicolas Nova has posted his best notes from the day:
http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2009/03/14/20-years-of-the-first-paper-about-the-world-wide-web/

History of internet/1

A short animation forwarded by my colleague and friend Manuel Lima on the history of internet:
http://www.lonja.de/motion/mo_history_internet.html

Opening!

As I keep being asked where’s my blog, here is finally my first post on my 36th birthday.
I’ll collect though about design practices as much as observations around me.