Category Archives: Design Thinking

We’re (Cyborgs) disappearing into our Devices

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Watching Amber Case’s presentation (‘From Solid to Liquid to Air’) about us ‘cyborgs’ at Media Evolution 2011 in Malmö, I went back to look at a video-skit I’d done for a project 2.5 years ago while still at UID.

The video was hacked together very quickly in a few hours, with my friends as actors and scenographers (a big thank you to all, if you’re reading!) but what struck me about it now was how much closer to the dream/myth/promise of augmented reality we are today. And where we’ll be in a few years from now.

I was reading ‘Talk to Me’, the exhibition put together at the MoMA by Paola Antonelli (another amazing person I was honored to meet at the conference) and I was astonished by the writing and thought of Kevin Slavin about why we needed to keep our reality untouched and intact.

More on that later, but this video needed a bit of dusting, and now I’m smiling. :)

IxD Bauhaus at Media Evolution in Malmö

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I recently spoke at Media Evolution 2011 at Malmö in the beautiful southern parts of Sweden. My talk was loosely based around the theme: ‘Seeing the Future through User’s eyes’ and I presented my thoughts on the ‘IxD Bauhaus’, design evolution, Kevin Kelly’s ‘What Technology Wants’ and concepts related to object-envy, nostalgia during the design process etc.

The talks are available here. There is a well-documented Flickrstream here.

There were several really incredible presentations at the conference. My favorites were the keynote speeches by Paolla Antonelli and Amber Case, presentations by Luke Williams, Riyad Minty and several others.

Massive thanks at Media Evolution organizers, especially Martin Thörnkvist and Yasemin Arhaan Modeer for a fantastic conference. I had the honor of sharing the stage with some of the brightest minds around, learnt a lot about public speaking and also made some great friends. Thanks!

IxD Bauhaus at Microsoft Sweden

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I spoke at Microsoft Sweden, a couple of days after returning from IxD Bauhaus in Seattle. My talk was to an audience consisting primarily of developers within the Microsoft community. I tried to infuse a presentation we did about Windows phone at Ergonomidesign with my talk in Seattle. The result is here for you to see.

Direct link here.

Speaking at Media Evolution at Malmo @mediaev

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Media Evolution and Me

Just wanted to preserve for posterity, the fact that I’ll be speaking at Media Evolution on August 24-25th with an awesome lineup of speakers.

Almost surreal to think I’d be on the same panel but I’m thanking my lucky stars and the angels that guard me. :)

More on Media Evolution Conference here.

My slides from the IxD Bauhaus in Seattle

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I just returned from the IxD Bauhaus event for which I was invited as a speaker.

The event was an amazing experience with a crowd of about 200+ designers, developers, students and other creative minds from the Pacific Northwest all gathered together to discuss an important revolution. I was humbled that the seed for thought was planted by the article I wrote on Johnny Holland called ‘The IxD Bauhaus – What Happens Next?’.  For this massive honor, I have Mike Kruzeniski (Windows Phone), Vicky Teinaki (Johnny Holland) and my colleagues at Ergonomidesign to thank.

The poster from the IxD Bauhaus event -

My slides from the IxD Bauhaus Event are embedded below -

IxD Bauhaus

View more presentations from Rahul Sen.


The Anatomy of Cool

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cool is what stands up – what makes you take a notice and appreciate something beyond the norm. When you see a product or a design or creation and your mind just screams at the want of it – or the appreciation to understand it more fully – that is cool.

via The Cool Hunter.

Maps and Macroscopes via BERG

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Reading a very interesting article by Matt Webb on Macroscopes:

Some very insightful excerpts, valuable learning for me -

Macroscopes give us a kind of superpower: an ability to feel the human scale and the grand view all at once.

(On double views) This double view of a flower doesn’t fixate on its beauty. When you see two scales simultaneously — the flower in your hand; the atoms and processes of nature at a global scale — your consciousness ricochets between them, producing awe and enlightenment both.

Astronomers and peeping toms have telescopes. The instruments we have here, to use the designer John Thackera’s term, are macroscopes. Thackara gives a definition: “A macro scope is some thing that helps us see what the aggregation of many small actions looks like when added together.”

A macroscope will focus ideas as a microscope focuses light. A designer’s job is not only to fulfil their craft, in graphics, or furniture, or silver or what ever it may be. And it’s not only to understand all kinds of context and produce objects that are aesthetically and functionally pleasing. A designer’s job is also to invent culture.