Research Operations Office
Technology: Interaction and Design
A one-day seminar held at the University of Cambridge on 22nd June 2005.
Summary
The day included academic speakers from diverse Departments including the
Computer Laboratory, Engineering Design Centre and Social Psychology to examine
questions of technology design, function, innovation and use. Professor John
Clarkson, Director of the Engineering Design Centre, opened the day with a
thought-provoking talk on the compelling business case for inclusive design. The
importance of understanding design principles was emphasised by presentations
from Nathan Crilly, who spoke about the role of product aesthetics, and Max
Bielenberg from the Design Council’s Technology Programme.
Developments in Human-Computer Interaction were illustrated by presentations
from the Computer Laboratory’s Rainbow Group, with James Scott from Intel
Research and Nicola Millard from BT providing an industry perspective and a
glimpse in to the near future of ubiquitous computing.
The day also showcased the work of the interdisciplinary network Crucible,
headed up by Dr Alan Blackwell (Computer Laboratory) and Dr David Good (Social &
Developmental Psychology), which uses design as a catalyst to promote
collaboration between technologists and researchers from the Arts, Humanities
and Social Sciences in novel research collaborations.
Alongside our academic speakers we were pleased to welcome Tony Temple, Head of
Ease of Use, IBM; Ken Wood, Microsoft Research; and Ian Hoskins, Scientific
Generics, who gave perspectives from their own companies' research efforts in to
user-centric design, interactive technology and applications.
You can read a
review of the day by technology writer Bill Thompson on BBC Online.
