Experience Design for Hostile Environments
As User Experience professionals continue to tackle the challenges of designing for mobile solutions, the environment of use becomes increasingly important.
What do you do when you encounter obstacles to designing an effective touchscreen user experience, such as gloved hands, filthy environments, rain or snow, turbulence, or bright sun?
Often design considerations must be revisited. For instance, limiting the design to simpler actions – single taps versus more complex gestural interactions like swiping, touch-and-hold or pinching to zoom.
Conducting research where the designer can see first hand the challenges that await designing for these situations become very important.
We will be looking at things to consider when designing touch applications intended for hostile environments that are far removed from the sterile, white, clean environments portrayed in advertisements for mobile devices from Apple and Android.
Presenters
Steve, who joined Lextant in 2010, is an award-winning interaction and visual designer with over 20 years of experience in a variety of industries. He has been on the leading edge of user experience design since the earliest days of the industry, defining and designing interactive products. Steve started out as an illustrator and animator, embracing the emerging world of interaction and visual design, animation and sound. He draws on this background, capturing ideas visually and bridging the gap from concepts to final product solutions. Steve also works closely with engineering teams to help ensure the final product is aligned with the desired solution.
Prior to joining Lextant, Steve was a creative lead with his own
interactive design firms and other top consultancies. As an
experience design director with Masters Group International,
he worked on interface designs for mobile phone applications,
glass cockpits for aircraft, and conceptual designs for the auto
industry. Before that, Steve spent 9 years at the international
consultancy Fitch (after they acquired his start-up design firm,
Topkat Interactive), leading creative teams on interaction design
projects. Steve also worked at the design groups of Clement
Mok Designs and EPC Multimedia Group.
Sunday, March 10
