So, what is it that you do exactly? For once, I was in room full of people who get asked that same question. Simply put, I solve problems. IDEA is exactly that. Some of the brightest and most innovative minds in the industry share their ideas and experiences with designing for complex information spaces.
Right. So, cyberspace stuff? That’s part of it. However, I was intrigued by the range of topics that could fall into that category including; Panama’s up and coming Museum of Biodiversity, Graffiti for Butterflies and Aurora, a look into the internet of the future. More typical subjects and themes included; micro-interactions, context awareness, virtual identity and sustainability.
After the first day I had a thousand new thoughts buzzing about. But I began to wonder if anyone was going to talk about something that was actually going to help me. I needed more than inspiration, more than process flows and pretty pictures. Then it came.
Co-founder and President of 37signals Jason Fried has no plan. Really? Getting real is right, 37signals doesn’t have weekly meetings, they don’t work 9-5 m-f, they don’t give clients more than one option for design, and they don’t spend more than 3 months on any one project, or dedicate more than two people to work on it. Unconventional? Maybe, but it’s working. Some of their work includes Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, Campfire and a little open-sourced framework, Ruby on Rails. He was the only speaker who used no technology in his presentation, he did however use the entire stage and a few minor profanities. Refreshing.
Don’t worry if you missed it this year, you can tune in to the podcasts at Boxes and Arrows. ________________________________________________________________
The IDEA Conference is sponsored by the Information Architecture Institute. It is an annual conference about Information: Design, Experience and Access.
One Trackback