User Designer

Look at Smash Magazine’s recent article on Modern Approaches To Data Visualization for a quick overview of key information visualizations.

Admire the 500+ visualizations at visualcomplexity.

Create your own online visualizations at Many Eyes.

Today I’m adding a new category called Creativity Knowledge to the User Designer blog. Creativity Knowledge will feature short posts highlighting specific examples of Human Computer Interaction and Interaction Design research. Posts in Creativity Knowledge will help flesh out (often very) distantly related research around enabling anyone to take control and shape their own user experiences.

Why am I adding Creativity Knowledge? Around 10+ years ago when I was getting into HCI and Interaction Design I remember finding lots of academic papers that dryly outlined exciting-vibrate-in-your-chair ideas and design concepts. Many of the prototyped ideas had conceptual and research histories dating back decades. Some of those ideas made it into products, such as the iPhone, others have been forgotten, gotten lost among a sea of publications and projects, or were before their time.

Not being aware of what’s out there is depriving yourself of a powerful source of inspiration, because you don’t know how different ideas could weave together. Maybe some of the research will inspire you to create or enhance a product, or spin out a startup?

Best of all it can be lots of fun seeing what others have invented!