Bloomington, IN, USA

Interactions Magazine available online

Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 by Kevin Makice

Putting People First recently suggested it, and coincidentally it just came true: Interactions is now available online. At least, the January-February issue is, at the moment.

According to Scott Delman, ACM Group Publisher:

ACM is pleased to announce a new innovation for subscribers to interactions, the leading magazine publication for the Human Computer Interactions community. As from the January-February 2008 issue, ACM will be offering a digital edition of each issue of the magazine as an added benefit to subscribers. This new offering is provided in addition to the current print edition of the magazine and articles posted in the ACM Digital Library. The magazine’s new digital edition will serve as an additional service that will enable members to view a true digital representation of the entire print magazine from cover to cover in an easy to use digital format.

The “added benefit to subscribers” part may be an indication that ACM plans or at least reserves the right to pull the online version under the account firewall. For the time being, the images and navigation are a nice way to read the content assembled by editors Richard Anderson and Jon Kolko.

I was particularly interested in Steve Portigal’s rant on personas, a continual point of debate in HCI. A very diverse range of global perspectives, including a rather insightful Gary Marsden.

Posted in Bloomington, IN, USA
Tags: ACM | Interactions Magazine | online reading | subscriptions
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Bloomington Startup Weekend - Feb. 8-10

Sunday, January 20th, 2008 by Kevin Makice

Startup Weekend is proud to announce that the Bloomington Startup Weekend will be held February 8-10 2008. This will be the 15th Startup Weekend to take place across the globe since the idea originated last July.

Startup Weekend recruits a few dozen highly motivated people to build a community and company in a weekend. Tickets for Bloomington Startup Weekend will be sold for $20 online. Some scholarship opportunities and childcare may be available, as well.

There are 7 main areas of expertise that participants can sign up for:

Design
Developer
PR/ Marketing
Business Development
User Experience
Legal
Project Management

Other skill sets are welcome. The most important attribute is a willingness to contribute all three days of the weekend. Make sure to get tickets early, it will most likely sell out fast. For more information, visit our local event blog and pre-event Ning community.

This is a community event organized by local students and technology professionals. Participants from past weekends have raved about the quality of professional friendships made and the opportunity to evaluate people in the context of project work.

Posted in Bloomington, IN, USA
Tags: announcement | Bloomington | Event type | February | Startup Weekend
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PDC 2008 (Bloomington, IN, USA)

Sunday, January 13th, 2008 by Conference Editor

September 30, 2008

October 4, 2008

The conference theme for this Participatory Design Conference, PDC 2008, is Experiences and Challenges. Join us to celebrate two decades of biennial PDCs. We invite you to reflect on past experiences and review the important lessons we have learned so as to better meet the new challenges of the future. What are the important trends, phenomena, developments, and views on participation and design etc., which in so many different ways challenge our traditions, our experiences and/or the current ‘wisdom’ within the field?

Participatory Design (PD) is a diverse collection of principles and practices aimed at making technologies, tools, environments, businesses, and social institutions more responsive to human needs. A central tenet of PD is the direct involvement of people in the co-design of things and technologies they use. Participatory Design Conferences have been held every two years since 1990 and have formed an important venue for international discussion of the collaborative, social, and political dimensions of technology innovation and use.

The conference bring together a multidisciplinary and international group of software developers, researchers, social scientists, managers, designers, practitioners, users, cultural workers, activists and citizens who both advocate and adopt distinctively participatory approaches in the development of information and communication artifacts, systems, services and technology. A central concern has always been to understand how collaborative design processes can be driven by the participation of the people affected by the technology designed.

Posted in Bloomington, IN, USA | CPSR | Calendar
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Bloomington is in the Design House

Friday, November 16th, 2007 by Kevin Makice

Bloomington, Indiana is a unique mix of small-town community and big-city perks. The city of Bloomington is surprisingly tech-savvy, sporting an extensive local wiki and a growing awareness of its own technical expertise. At the Indiana University School of Informatics, our human-computer interaction program has a decidedly design focus and an active academic community, both online and off. Currently, projects—like the Design Studies Initiative and organizing a local Startup Weekend—are underway to connect our local human resources.

I am pleased to introduce you to several local bloggers of potential interest to the UX community. Current students and faculty in the HCI program at the School of Informatics include:

Marty Siegel, faculty

Erik Stolterman, faculty

Christian Briggs, Ph.D. student

Heekyoung Jung, Ph.D. student

Justin Donaldson, Ph.D. student

Kevin Makice, Ph.D. student

Marty McCrory, Ph.D. student

Richie Hazlewood, Ph.D. student

Will Ryan, Ph.D. student

Aaron Houssian

Amber Kim

Ankit Khare