about
Feb 27th, 2007 by Mike Bennett
User Designer is a blog broadly covering topics in Human Computer Interaction, Interaction Design and Vision / Cognitive Science. With a specific focus on research, methods, tools and techniques that enable users to take control and shape their own user experiences.
I’m (Mike Bennett) interested in exploring the futuristic implications of an individual-centered adaptable and adaptive world.
In particular I look for examples of malleable objects and spaces. Where everyone is able to pull, twist, and reshape objects to their individual needs and wishes. Ideally without requiring expert knowledge or skills.
Objects can be as simple as bean bags that remember your shape, or kitchen forks whose length and weight distribution can be easily altered by pulling on each end of the fork. Objects can be manifested as thought experiments, physical objects, virtual objects or any mixture of bits and atoms with a dose of digital smarts.
This blog is written for fun and to help clarify my thoughts. Feel free to contact me – I’d love to hear from you if you’ve got suggestions or feedback? Enjoy.
About Mike
User Designer is written by Mike Bennett – who really dislikes writing about himself in the third person. I’m a postdoctoral researcher in HCI / Vision Science in Stanford University, United States.
I recently completed my PhD in University College Dublin, Ireland, and previous to that I spent a few years as a researcher in MIT’s Media Lab Europe where I was a Research Associate focused on haptics, information visualisation and a bunch of other novel interaction concepts, communities and technologies. Over the years various bits and pieces of my (and collaborators) work have gotten international mentions and recognition, e.g. New York Times, Slashdot, Honorary Mention @ Ars Electronica, etc. If you’re interested my resume, papers and research aims are online.
Much of my current research is focused on the intersection of physiologically and psychologically valid computational models of human vision and how people “see” visual designs, user interfaces and information visualizations. Why is one visual design better than another?
