The IDSA national conference is just a few weeks away (Sept 23 - 26, Miami, Florida). Here are some of the topics of interest in the areas of interface design, design research, and inclusive design:
Interface Design
- Ergonomics for Interaction Designers
Rob Tannen, IDSA, director of user research & interface design, Bresslergroup - Let’s Get Physical
Gretchen Anderson, director of user interface design, LUNAR
Design Research
- Improv Infusion: "Yes, and" for Better Design/Design Research
Steve Portigal, founder, Portigal Consulting - People Can Tell you What They Want and We Can Prove It
Marty Gage, IDSA, design research practice, lextant; Mark Palmer, director, human factors and design research design integration, Motorola - Research 2.0
Jason Hill, designer and researcher, Art Center College of Design - Designing Design Research
Katherine Bennett, IDSA, associate professor, graduate and undergraduate industrial design, humanities and design science, Art Center College of Design - Using Information Graphics to Convey Research Results: The Case of EES|Harmonic Focus
Steve Eichmann, IDSA, industrial design director, Ethicon Endo-Surgery (EES), a Johnson & Johnson company; Stuart Morgan, IDSA, industrial design director, worldwide research and development, Ethicon Endo-Surgery; and Stephen Wilcox, FIDSA, principal and founder, Design Science Philadelphia - Transparent User-Centered Design on a Dime
Andy Hamilton, IDSA, industrial designer; Elizabeth Mauer, senior human factors specialist; and Corinna Proctor, manager and senior specialist, HumanCentric - Talking the Talk: Design Research for the Young Professional
Lindsay Armstrong, IDSA, information designer and researcher, Design Science
Inclusive Design
- Trans-Generational Design: Design for Every Age
David Kratzer, adjunct associate professor of architecture, Philadelphia University/founding principal, BAU Architecture; Wendy Krupnick, program director, Philadelphia University; Michael J. Leonard, IDSA, industrial designer, design educator and owner, Mike Leonard, Designer - New Adventures in Inclusive Design
Erika Foureaux, founder and director, Noisinho da Silva, and Steve Wilcox, FIDSA, principal, Design Science - People with Disabilities Designing for the Mainstream User: Empathic Design Research
Joyce Thomas, IDSA, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Demographics are shifting. People are living longer and over a typical lifespan they develop a range of physical disabilities which are no longer perceived as a barrier to having a good quality of life. User expectation of products is growing, suggesting a balanced approach to functionality is more important than ever. Products need to satisfy needs beyond the functional. Rather than designing for the users, we need to be designing intimately with them to ensure that more intuitive design outcomes are generated. Empathic design research is a methodology that relies on the end user being an active partner in the designing process, a co-creator of knowledge. Using this research approach in a design course at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, students with significant physical (visible) disabilities and industrial design students worked together designing everyday products. This empathic approach highlights research strategies that can support more effective design outcomes. The research project and design course seek to explore learning and teaching methods to enable a person with severe physical disabilities to actively participate in the design process.
