Crafted from an old collection of cut out ‘heads’ both famous and non-famous then given a bit of a paper bending treatment.

(View/download full size on Flickr)

Initially the main driving forces were that the Sense Loft just gets a little ‘hot and clammy’ during the summer months, I felt the need for a little recharging, and that I wanted to spend a couple of months concentrating efforts (with Andrew Travers) on the newly launched London IA Podcast and spend some time on a series of investigative walkshops (instructions, photos) with Andrew Travers, Ben Bashford, Claire Rowland, Nic Price and Dan Lockton.

However, this “summer break” has become a tad more enforced by the fact that I’ve broken my ankle. So those stairs at Sense Loft are centainly out of the question for a while, any walkshops will certainly only be on paper, but podcasting will continue – and go from strength-to-strength (we are about to record London IA Podcast 2). And my recharging will go ahead.

In the meantime, I’m hoping to hop along to Interesting and mix up some odd music stuff with Jason Mesut and Ed Chocolate and plan for a busy September running a EuroIA Predux, attending the Do Lectures, running a workshop at EuroIA and welcoming back London IA on 28 September (pencil in the date at this point) with Jonty Sharples and Ben Bashford. There may also be a special one off London IA event earlier in the month if I can secure a certain person’s time.

There you go. Enjoy the summer.

//@solle
//London

Think about all *the internets* you frequent on a regular basis on desktops, laptops, smart phones, mobile phones, tablets, games consoles, TVs, projected on the wall. All the contexts you are used to. Then take away all these contexts and think of all those websites and web services again. Think of them with no *limited* context, no limits. Think of them anywhere, everywhere, everything. No obvious seams, beginningend.

What would you do if the work you usually did was only a minuscule part of the potential of your skills?

Are you thinking beyond your understanding of what actually constitutes interaction design/user experience/information architecture work? Are you creating constraints where none should exist?

For a minute, just think what would you do if there was no more website work? No more mobile applications to design. Have you started thinking about the interconnected city and services around you, your interface with the city, town around you? The one you work in, the one you live in, the ones you pass through. Do you care? Or is it someone else’s problem? Who is this someone else? Some of us need to be that someone else.

The ‘internet’ as we understand it is just … a small island in an ocean. And the tip of the rock on that island … A vastness beyond present human comprehension. There are ideas and notions attempting to gain comprehension – every grain of sand with its own IP address? – but really smart people have only tasked themselves with indicating to others that we really have no idea except that things will just get exponentially weird and every part of your life is going to be strange. I think Moore’s Law may just become a lot less of a law.

So interaction designer/user experience designer/information architect…

We all need to think more in terms of networks and less in terms of DESKtops, LAPtops, MOBILEphones, SMARTphones. Limited differentiation is dead, we need to start thinking in terms of input and output, the city as interface and network in front of you, as part of you, operating alongside you. A balanced approach is vital though to ensure “the interface doesn’t become our experience of the city, but helps to enhance it”

What are you doing about it two dimensional interaction designer, information architect? Are you sitting forward, alert listening or are you slumped in your seat, eyes glazed over “someone else’s problem”? You might just be the person that is needed. This might just be your calling. Take an interest, this affects us all.

We are limiting ourselves by only thinking in current terms. The way we approach things/problems now will be ineffective for future problems. In fact there is no way we can comprehend the scope of future design problems, begin to comprehend solution paths from our current approach to problem solving. We shouldn’t necessarily try believing that we have to know now how to solve them. We just have to be prepared that it is all going to get very different and not a little bit weird.

Expect nothing. Be prepared for anything and everything.

In the next post we will begin discussing some specifics.

Please do consider joining us on one of our #walkshops around London. Keep an eye on #londonia and @london_ia

Thank you to @agpublic @byekick @bashford @clurr @nicprice and of course @pixeldiva

//@solle
//London

Martin Belam & Claire Rowland at The Sense Loft

Martin will be presenting a version of his “Come as you are” talk that he successfully presented at the Polish IA Summit. If you would like to check out the presentation in advance it is available here. In person in the intimacy of Sense Loft Martin will no doubt greatly entertain us with his story of becoming a successful and renowned information architect.

Claire will be joined by Chris Browne to present a version of their Design beyond the Glowing Rectangle talk (also recently presented at the Polish IA Summit). They will discuss how the digital world is breaking out of ‘glowing rectangles’ to imbue everyday objects and environments with connectivity and the ability to process data. This heralds a whole new level of complexity in user experience research and design. Moving beyond the screen means not just usability, but interusability: creating intuitable and meaningful interactions with multiple devices that span many interconnecting services.

In this presentation, they will introduce a view of the core user experience design and research challenges with which creators of ‘internet of things’/’smart object’ systems and services face, and will propose approaches by which some of these challenges may be tackled.

(You can preview the presentation here.)

With our favourite sponsors: Zebra People

And of course our wonderful hosts Sense Worldwide and The Sense Network

TICKETS (details of availability)

Michael Blastland

How do you design for doubt? When we think of data, we think of hard facts. But what if they’re soft? Michael will suggest that they are usually a lot softer than we think, but that it’s easy to be misled – and to create graphical designs that mislead. He will talk about the data in data presentation and invite the design world to change the way people see uncertainty.

Chris Heathcote – Urbicomp and the new new media

Ubiquitous computing and physical computing mean that every action in the real world is potentially an interaction design problem. Chris will explore the new media we have to play with and show some examples of how urban computing is changing the way we live.

All ticket details here / Poster on Flickr

Round up of main points

1. Signing up to multiple networks and attending multiple events – does this make you a participant of the UX community? Being present is not enough
2. Not necessarily starting from the beginning but starting from anywhere, anytime, anyhow
3. Importance of never stop trying to do something different and to expand interest base. Never settle for the status quo. Do the unexpected (or at least find out if it is unexpected).
4. Functionality doesn’t make a network.
5. Would ‘community principles’ help in the way agile principles have helped software development?
6. There is no need to actively try to create a network for your community. Your community will invariably exist utilising functions and tools already in use.
7. Community members are invariably more active in the areas they use day to day – Twitter, Facebook. Don’t force them to use more functionality.
8. People really want to do things in the physical world – using the digital to get to the physical (meet people, attend things).
9. The real community is everywhere, not stuck on a single server.
10. Any attempt, in any form, to control a community is deemed to fail.
11. Communities don’t necessarily med a home. They just need people. People will self organise using the most accessible tools available.
12. A crowd will congregate when there’s something to discuss.
13. Membership is loose and doesn’t require any control. Community is based on activity.
14. Do away with messaging service built on messaging service built on messaging service.
15. Our communities and networks should become part of and integrate into the cities we live in.
16. Doing stuff will build a community.
17. Within London there is a progressive and non-centralised community of mentoring going on. They happily complement existing more formal programmes like those offered by organisations like IAI).
18. Sold out events. Don’t complain, do. Get out there and start organising your own stuff. The UX community needs variety.
19. Don’t be scared to take events out into the city.
20. The peer-to-peer UX job network. Get out there, get networked, do some decent work – get involved. When this is strong in your town, you know the community is doing ok.
21. Fewer rules. No barriers to entry, no hierarchy, no committee, no permissions
22. Activities, groups, meet ups can all co-exist quite happily and don’t necessarily have to co-operate or synchronise.

All the blog posts by myself and Martin

UX Communities: Starting from the beginning #1
UX Communities: Starting from the beginning #2
UX Communities: Starting from the beginning #3
UX Communities: Starting from the beginning #4
UX Communities: Starting from the beginning #5
UX Communities: Starting from the beginning #6
UX Communities: Starting from the beginning #7

Take away

Can we build a set of agreed guidelines for those looking to establish, build, expand a UX design-related community in their home town?

Ramble on UX job networks

There are many recruitment companies providing services to the burgeoning UX community both for permanent and contract opportunities. However, many of the more established people in the UX community prefer to steer clear of recruiters (some are as less impressed with them as they are with estate agents) even though a few of them provide a decent service and are trustworthy and honourable. Many prefer the “peer-to-peer” UX job network. Here there are no rules of engagement or membership hoops to jump through. There is just getting out there, getting networked, being liked and doing some decent work. From that point people will offer you work directly and word will filter through that you are trustworthy and can actually do what you say you can do. The satisfaction of gaining work (and also passing on work to others) by word of mouth with no motive of financial gain is extremely rewarding. There really is no bullshit. Far fewer “email me your CV in Word 97″ requests and far more concentration on actually providing UX services that produce results. Caution should be observed whenever discussing job or contract disgruntlement as word travels quickly across such a well connected community. This isn’t always a bad thing as bad employers/contracts should be outed but involvement in criticism can become complicated.

When this word-of-mouth-UX-job-network is strong in your town, you know your UX community is doing ok.

These job networks also highlight that even when membership numbers burgeon in your UX Community (London IA is fast approaching 1,600 signed up members on the Ning-hosted pages), there is the sense that the community is physically smaller than you think (especially when you keep bumping into the same people even in a metropolis the size of London). The laws of community state a strong active centre with many smaller groups of less active and interchangeable people orbiting. The people in the centre you keep seeing are the ones that keep things going. Without them your UX community would be far less active (and strong). But the orbiters keep the breadth of interest and tend to draw new people in regularly.

No rules

Ultimately, I think your UX community should have no rules, no guiding principles, no committee, no permissions, no hierarchy, no best UX community. No one has the right to say they are in charge – if they were elected then maybe the election was a waste of precious energy better spent doing. A community should have no walls or barriers to entry. A community is ultimately just a group of groups and activities.

There is just doing. Like sticking posts in the ground and congregating around them. Activities, groups and meet ups should spring up and state their claim whenever and wherever they want. They can all co-exist quite happily and don’t necessarily have to co-operate or synchronise. Overlapping is fine. There is a huge audience and many different interests. The more touchpoints the better. The UX community doesn’t need organising or a committee to decide what is best for it.

So my advice to you – just start doing.

Andrew Travers: Wireframing the city

Andrew will be reporting back from Berlin’s Cognitive Cities, a conference exploring the future of cities and an ideas exchange between designers, architects, planners, geeks and activists – the people who use our cities and are shaping their experience.

He’ll be reflecting on the conference’s themes and talking about how ideas manifest themselves in the public space; how the design of cities might inform our work; and the contribution we as designers and information architects might be able to make in the future.

@byekick | byekick.com

Leisa Reichelt: Strategic User Experience

Familiar with the expression ‘lipstick on a pig?’

There’s only so much IA or interaction design can rescue – the foundations of good user experience are found in the value proposition, the business model, the definition of a target audience – things that may seem beyond the reach and responsibility of a humble UXer.

Leisa will share a framework for strategic user experience that will show how we can help facilitate good user experience from its birthplace in business strategy right through to the way we design an interface.

@leisa | disambiguity.com

You can view or download all three of the posters on Flickr:

Main poster
Andrew poster
Leisa poster

View who’s coming

Any comments towards @london_ia

News of the week for the London UX community is that the UKUPA are reacting positively to some of the recent negativity regarding how they go about things by hosting an event with workshops from (among others) Jason Mesut and Leisa Reichelt to crowdsource its future and kickstart more of an inclusive direction for its members. All credit to them (though I imagine whatever comes out of the workshops will still have to wind its way through many committee meetings before seeing the light of day).

Within London (and the wider UK – Brighton, Edinburgh, Bristol) there is a progressive and non-centralised community of mentoring going on. It goes on under most people’s radar. It runs as direct action, a product of many, many people in the UX community getting to know each other better (particularly in person) and having the confidence to just contact each other directly and arrange types and levels of mentoring that is mutually beneficial. It seems to be working out quite well and I’m not sure that it requires much nurturing or further organisation.

However, the IA Institute program has worked well over the years and many have gained benefit from it (myself included) and so the thinking is there may still be a role for some form of nurturing model like the previously motioned Work With idea which has never really taken off (though I’m sure has influenced some of the direct action mentioned above). Stepping up to the plate to pick up the Work With mantle is Ian Fenn. He is planning to see if a bit of nurturing and centralisation can help. Whether it will or not will have to be seen. There are always untapped areas of the community – new people joining who often struggle to find our about things who may well benefit from some hand holding to find a mentor and get more out of the London UX community scene. All of us in the know take so much for granted so I give Ian my full support to make something more of Work With.

Both Martin and I have written previously about London IA events getting sold out quickly. You can’t argue with success but it can be very frustrating for people who fail to secure a ticket and call for us to get a bigger venue to accommodate all this frustration. However, the reality is there really isn’t enough of a demand on a regular basis to fill a much bigger venue. The waiting lists aren’t that huge. When we have expanded before (say at The Team) there really wasn’t a high enough turn out to warrant it. That’s why we remain at The Sense Loft. You could spend a lifetime searching for a venue and host as perfect as The Sense Loft and The Sense Network (if anyone knows of one feel free to let me know).

The best advice (the only advice) in a community is “don’t complain, do”. Get out there (just like we have and Lee McIvor with Lightning UX and Boon Chew taking up the UXCampLondon baton to name only a couple) and start organising stuff. The audience has grown and the interest is there. The UX community needs variety and we can give it to them.

Related to this is something I’ve bandied about for a while in relation to the paucity of suitable venues and locations for meet ups (and for a bit of variety), the idea of taking some London IA events out into the streets and outside locations of London (obviously seasonally). Not 100% sure how they would work but maybe this summer we’ll try something. If Adam Greenfield can come and run a walkshop around London then I’m sure London IA can also organise something relevant for information architects and interaction designers around the infrastructure of the city we all know so well (back to Greenfield’s Beyond the “smart city” again). One step up from summer picnics and a chance to take our learning and understanding environments beyond staring at someone running through slides in Keynote in a darkened room.

Any comments towards @solle

We know they rarely work but we hope with good planning we can pull something worthwhile off. Panels are packed with good intentions but often appear as if no thought or planning has gone into them, the panelists have not spoken before (coordinated on the subject matter at the very least) and the moderator (if there is one) is either inappropriate, dull or inexperienced (often all three). A moderator doesn’t necessarily have to be overly experienced in what is being discussed or overly knowledgable, just interested, clued up, positive and inquisitive. And the panel has to be prepared to push on a subject. Not just run through some latest work, share anecdotes and all congratulate each other on a job well done. It must demand more, take risks, be prepared to fail at least trying to challenge the status quo.

What follows are a series of ideas that are by no means limited to myself or anything the panel may choose to discuss. Any opinion is mine.

Within our discussions regarding user experience, information architecture, interaction design communities and their activities I am hoping we can push on what can acceptably be called a community and what is required for one to exist – and for individuals to foster them. There will no doubt be plenty of discussion about how one can begin say a book club meet up in your local town, but I also want to push back on some accepted requirements and question “When is a community a network and when is a network a community?” I am also hoping to touch on, as I see it, some of the potential opportunities for these communities within our towns and cities (inspired by Adam Greenfield’s recent essay Beyond the “smart city”). These are growing and present fantastic challenges.

So what is the future of our UX Communities and networks? There are so many, in countless different forms, many using similar functionality and tools. I’m increasingly realising that functionality does not equal a network. There is no need to actively try to create a “network” for your community. Your community will invariably exist utilising functions and tools already in use. London IA is a burgeoning UX community but I believe its future exists beyond online functionality like Ning. At present, the community’s members (it must be noted membership is very loose – which is exactly as it should be) are far more active across other network, communication, discussion and sharing tools and in fact in the physical world. Many key members of the London IA community don’t even visit the Ning domain – they recognise that the “real” community is everywhere, not stuck on a single server. Again, a single functionality does not equal a network. Ning is cumbersome and unrepresentative of what the network actually is – at present anyone can see it is represented by a few active people hacking Ning’s crap network tools to foster a couple of discussions. Beyond that it lists events. Lanyrd does that 100x better. There is a sense that any attempt, in any form, to control a community is deemed to fail. I don’t think communities or networks need a home they just need people and the one thing about groups of people is they find themselves eventually and don’t necessarily need a wall to lean against. A crowd will congregate when there is something to discuss. And they will use the lowest common denominator to do it.

No network, no login, no walled garden, no centre, no administrators, no monitors, no membership, no logo, no badge. Come and go as you please. Cluster around a name, an idea, a tag to communicate an event, a discussion, a conversation, a meet up, a share. Do away with messaging service built on messaging service, built on messaging service. The role and behaviour on the web and in the physical world: that is your network and where we congregate that is the community. Membership is loose and doesn’t require any control. The tag is your guide.

Back to Adam Greenfield’s Beyond the “smart city”…

How we congregate. We as a network of UX designers and information architects sew ourselves into the network of our cities and become involved in physical events, locations, places and connections of people living, working, learning and socialising together. No longer must we always sit in conference halls and only stare at slidedecks and projections and talk about websites. We need to talk about taking our skills out into a physical world that needs our skills, interests and dynamic. We live in these cities, our networks and communities exist in these cities. We have a responsibility to make them better by integrating our skills, practices and knowledge into them. Our networks should become part of a working group that undertakes the task of producing technical standards for networked cities:

“Just as the novice programmer is invited to learn from, understand, and improve upon — to “hack” — open-source software, the city itself should invite its users to demystify and reengineer the places in which they live and the processes which generate meaning, at the most intimate and immediate level.” Adam Greenfield Beyond the “smart city”

Anyway that’s a start.

UPDATE: Martin’s folow up “UX Communities: Starting from the beginning”: A debate – part two

Any comments towards @solle