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Risk is a risky topic. “Risk mitigation” has become the focus of business efforts rather than taking a risk; so what is the future of risk? Last Wednesday evening, accompanied by fellow Momenteers Peter and Yixiu, we attended a discussion on that very topic hosted by Smart Design and IIT’s Institute of Design.
The three-person panel discussion highlighted a recent change in the nature of risk; specifically the risks associated with bringing a new product to market; or failing to do so. The panel consisted of:
- Patrick Whitney, Dean of the Institute of Design at IIT
- Charles Adler, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Kickstarter, and
- Tucker Fort from Smart Design
Underlying the discussion was the shift in how companies (and those who run them) think about risk. To paraphrase Patrick Whitney: ”Risk” has historically been viewed as a direct result of “Change.” In past decades, business models were set, product development processes were well understood, and customer choice was limited. Now, business models are rapidly evolving, new product development processes are fluid and fuzzy, and customers are overwhelmed with choice. In this new world, “Risk” is a result of standing still. Read More »
If you’re an interaction designer, it’s likely that wireframing takes up a good portion of your day. Having tools that you enjoy using and help you get the job done are essential. Talking to colleagues at various IxDA events and at a recent Agile UX meetup, we know that many people in the industry have adopted UX specific tools for wireframing. At Moment, we are fans of Adobe Illustrator for both wireframing AND visual design. We have tried tools like Axure, Omnigraffle, Balsamiq and Visio over the years, but we always come back to Illustrator.
So why do we use Illustrator?
Among the many reasons we’re loyal to Illustrator, the most important reasons are about how it functions as a tool: it brings an idea to life without leading the design, it encourages digital sketching, and it makes designing for a multi-platform world much simpler and more efficient. Read More »
Today’s most coveted digital devices have an array of input hardware that goes far beyond the traditional keyboard and mouse. At Moment, we design digital products that live on these wonderful new devices, primarily smart phones and tablets.
Inside these devices are microphones, accelerometers, magnetometers, cameras, light sensors, proximity sensors, near field communication hardware, and even bio-metric scanners. They operate on faster, denser networks that allow for more accurate location detection and for cloud-based processing and storage. With all of these evolutions, today’s machines are able to engage in a much more sophisticated dialogue with their users. As an interaction designer, my challenge is to embrace these new capabilities and weave them into the conversation between man and machine in a way that is intuitive and purposeful. Read More »
