POST DIGITAL

H3: Using Experience Design To Change Our World

Water.
Its refreshing and yet precious.
In 2009, I stood on the border of Israel and Syria and realized that it could end a war and create peace. Today it is what is desperately needed in California to save our fragile source of fresh produce in the Unites States.

So often we take for granted or forget how much water we use and how important it is to our holistic well being. So that led me to an important question. What if we could track our water consumption linking it our health and happiness?  Could that make us more aware of our consumption patterns and get us to become more conscious of how fragile our supply is? 

In a recent interview with Anouk Pappers from Cool Brands I was asked how I have used my craft in Experience Design to make the world a better place. 

Using Interface, Industrial and Graphic Design I have developed an experience meant to make people aware of their personal water consumption patterns.The H3 Experience has just gone from paper to prototype : https://www.behance.net/gallery/12893513/H3-Mobile-Platform-Water-Bottle-System 

This Mobile application is connected to the Internet of Things (#IoT) through a connected water bottle and now in progress an apple watch application which uses your physical activity as an indicator or when you need to rehydrate.

Related:

• Cool Brands / Cool People: http://www.coolbrandspeople.com/stories/joanna-pen%CC%83a-bickley-hydration-health-happiness/
• Around The World In 80 Brands: http://www.aroundtheworldin80brands.com/

 

#IBMiX: Are You Ready-To-Wear The Future?

While there has been much talked about over the last few years about the future of wearables, this year seems to be the year we go from novelty to necessity.  Whether you have the Apple watch on your wrist or Sensoria's smart sock on your feet, we have now entered an age where the internet of things, the quantified self and wearable tech is transforming the way we view design, digital and how we develop net new inventions for our customers.  This Ready-To-Wear The Future white paper put out by my team at IBM Interactive Experience helps you navigate how wearable technology is impacting finance, retail, entertainment, security and healthcare.  

Are you Ready-To-Wear the future?

IBMiX: Ready-To-Wear The Future from IBM Interactive Experience

 

#IBMiX: Ready-To-Wear The Future https://t.co/MHMDHGd3ka by @jojobickley @alittleseesay @afranks3 @adkrim #wearables #wearabletech #design

— Joanna Peña-Bickley (@jojobickley) May 19, 2015

The Internet of Things: Designing for Magical Moments of Truth

The Internet of Things: Designing for Magical Moments of Truth from IBM Interactive Experience

24 Hours of Happy

This week there has been a frenzy of music video innovation.  From Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone Interactive video to Pharrell Williams, 24 Hours of Happy its we are seeing a music video comeback instead of throwback.  The website is at 24hoursofhappy.com and was created by French directing team We Are From LA and produced by Iconoclast. 

When visiting the site, you join the clock at whatever the local time is. You can then check out different times of day and different scenes, all set to the sounds of Happy, which continues playing seamlessly throughout. Shot in different settings around the world, the footage features people dancing to the track: Pharrell pops up on the hour every hour, and there are cameos from other famous folks including Tyler, The Creator, Magic Johnson and Jamie Foxx.

The website allows you to share specific moments with friends via Facebook or Twitter. This is a useful feature as, let's face it, not even the most ardent Pharrell fan are likely to watch the full 24 hours -- at least not while still liking the song.

Re-imagining the Affordable Care Acts’s Insurance Exchange

Right as the U.S. government shut down on Oct. 1, the new national health-care exchange went live at healthcare.gov. The digital platform was intended to faciliate 48 million people who want to buy health insurance under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act.  In the first week nearly 9.5 million people visited HealthCare.gov but only 0.04 percent of them actually enrolled in a health plan through the site. Now after 3 weeks nearly 20 million Americans have now experienced the broken HealthCare.gov website first hand.

From Screens that don't load, to long waits via Web chats and disconnected databases the site is one of the most public technology SNAFUs in recent history.  It's important to note that Healthcare.gov isn’t just a website; it’s supposed to be a platform for building health-care marketplaces. Visiting the site should be as easy as it is to purchase car insurance or even purchasing a flight from Kayak.com


After hearing President Obama’s press conference and conducting an initial heuristics examination of the exchange platform, we decided to put the politics aside and unite our networks of digital professionals to help the administration fix and improve our government’s healthcare exchange.

I invite you to take action and join me and our all-star panel of digital design, user experience, and technology thought-leaders who will share their insights and ideas on how - together - we can improve the https://www.healthcare.gov digital experience for 48 million uninsured Americans.

Mark your calendars: On Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 1PM EST via a Public Google Hangout we will share what we have found and give concrete ideas on who this digital platform should be in service to the american people.

 

Research & Information Sources:

• Key Facts about the Uninsured Population: http://kff.org/uninsured/fact-sheet/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/
• Percentage of Americans Lacking Health Coverage Falls Again:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/percentage-of-americans-lacking-health-coverage-falls-again.html
• US Census: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/cb13-165.html
• 48 Million Americans Are Uninsured Ahead Of Obamacare Changes:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/census-uninsured-2012_n_3941339.html
• Health Care Law Fails to Lower Prices for Rural Areas:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/business/health-law-fails-to-keep-prices-low-in-rural-areas.html
• How to navigate the Healthcare Marketplace website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXf55gQibdk&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Problems with healthcare.gov: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsC7J7oTE-s&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Congress investigating Obamacare website problems: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIYpcZQ8rvc&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Obamacare technical problems continue beyond sign-ups:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb3jCZWLJv8&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• Weekly Address: Enrolling in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o1N3ko4wPE&feature=share&list=PLJ8SvCQNRCK7-hBp5nIhbHabh0dgNmq4f
• The Obamacare Website Didn't Have to Fail. How to Do Better Next Time: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-16/open-source-everything-the-moral-of-the-healthcare-dot-gov-debacle
• Traffic Didn’t Crash the Obamacare Site Alone. Bad Coding Did Too. http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/24/traffic-didnt-crash-the-obamacare-site-alone-bad-coding-did-too/#ixzz2j5P9oHWG
• FEDERAL OFFICIALS PREVENTED LENGTHY TESTING PROCESS OF OBAMACARE WEBSITE: http://www.fastcompany.com/3020204/fast-feed/federal-officials-prevented-lengthy-testing-process-of-obamacare-website
• CRITICAL HEALTHCARE.GOV DATA CENTER CRASHES:http://www.fastcompany.com/3020746/fast-feed/critical-healthcaregov-data-center-crashes
• OBAMACARE IS HERE, BUT FOR MANY, HEALTHCARE.GOV IS NOT:http://www.fastcompany.com/3019012/fast-feed/obamacare-is-here-but-for-many-healthcaregov-is-not
• U.S. Government Fixes Copyright Violation in Healthcare.gov Code:http://mashable.com/2013/10/24/obamacare-code-copyright/
• Obama Plays Tech Support for Healthcare.gov: http://mashable.com/2013/10/21/obama-healthcare-glitches/
• White House Recruits Tiger Team to Fix HealthCare.gov: http://mashable.com/2013/10/21/healthcare-gov-fix/
• LESS THAN 1 PERCENT OF HEALTHCARE.GOV VISITORS SUCCESSFULLY ENROLLED IN AN INSURANCE PLAN: http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/10/less-1-percent-healthcaregov-visitors-successfully-enrolled-insurance-plan/72041/

 

Video & News Coverage:

 

 

 

The 21st Century Beetle – Rock 'n' Scroll

Many of you know I love my Beetle.  I was jazzed to see the Webby for Best Automotive go to Tribal DDB Berlin's website for VW. The site uses nifty design to give a history of the iconic car.

What makes this one of my favorites it it's innovative use of video.

Visit The 21st Century Beetle – Rock 'n' Scroll at http://www.beetle.com/

 

 

Designing The 2012 Election

Calling all FIT, Parsons and SVA students: here's the latest way to get involved in President Obama's 2012 campaign.  Runway to Win, fashion designers' effort for Obama's reelection campaign, is holding a Design Challenge in which any designer can submit their designs to the current collection of Runway to Win gear.

If your design is selected, it will be sold in the Runway to Win collection, right alongside the likes of Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Jason Wu, Diane Von Furstenberg and more. As cool as that sounds, that's not the best part. The best part comes when the winning designers each receive a fully produced version of their item autographed by Anna Wintour.  Common That's hot!  (Have you seen the September Issue?)

Go to RunwayToWin.com to submit your Hope, Change or "Yes, we can!" themed design. 

Does A UCD focus make companies miss out on disruptive innovations?

Fast Company’s Co.Design blog published a controversial post that triggered a lot of discussion. In their article provocatively titled User-Led Innovation Can’t Create Breakthroughs; Just Ask Apple and Ikea, Jens Martin Skibsted and Rasmus Bech Hansen wrote:

“[User-centered design] doesn’t work. Here’s the truth: Great brands lead users, not the other way around.”

Skibsted and Hansen cited Apple and IKEA as some of the most innovative brands that don’t follow the user-centric design model. They say that the Apple design team spoke out against user-centric design because it’s “a waste of time”. Similarly IKEA claimes, “it doesn’t work.”

They argued that brands have to take the lead in innovation with a strong and consistent vision, and outlined several reasons why it’s actually detrimental to listen to your users.  Without vision and innovation we begin to create a sea of sameness.

I must admit, their points are compelling...[sigh] but are they correct?  Where does the user fit in?  After the innovation or to inspire the innovation?  How might we reconcile their claims with the value of design research and user-centered design?

You can read the article at http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663220/user-led-innovation-cant-create-breakthroughs-just-ask-apple-and-ikea

Are they right?  Sound off.  What do you think?

 

on: the grid

Are you a grid lover?  It's a design basic that so many do not use when planning out their site.  The grid has long been an invaluable tool for creating order out of chaos for designers of all kinds—from city planners to architects to typesetters and graphic artists. In recent years, web designers, too, have come to discover the remarkable power that grid-based design can afford in creating intuitive, immersive, and beautiful user experiences.

So if you answered yes to my question then you must get Ordering Disorder: Grid Principles for Web Design.   This great book delivers a definitive take on grids and the Web. It provides both the big ideas and the brass-tacks techniques of grid-based design.

If you prefer some online source, here are some of my favorite grid resources

• 960 Grid System
• The Grid System
• Grid System Generator

on: a facebook facelift

Facebook Facelift - Home & Profiles from Barton Smith on Vimeo.

 

[via Barton Smith ]