Design Context Clues
2008
IDEA CONFERENCE

Hi. I’m Jason.
Here’s my portfolio.

Today’s talk in 3 parts
How do we take context into account when
designing experiences that take place in physical
and digital spaces?
How does context inform our practice and day to
day culture?
Some aspirational crap you can mock me for at a
bar later

T.S. Eliot:
Modernist, Curmudgeon.

TS Eliot:
Modernist, Hip Hop Artist

Working in Space and Place

FastFrog, 1999

FastFrog, 1999

TWEC Listening and Viewing Station, 2001-2002

TWEC Kiosk, 2001-2002

TWEC Video?

Field Museum, 2002

Orbitz + Orbitz for Business, 2003-2007

Ronin

ThePoint.com, 2007

Vibes 2007

Vibes 2007

Vibes 2007

Vibes 2007

LeapFrog 2007-2008

Microsoft 2008

cMomGo

Along the way
I’d acquired
team members,
partners,
+ clients,
but there was something missing.

Who am I? Who are we?
We can’t agree on a definition of what we do, though
our job is often to define and label other domains.
We can’t differentiate ourselves from interaction
designers or usability professionals without utterly
confusing the lay person.
As a community, we debate these things amongst
ourselves semi-annually.
Why?
We’re willing to accept the oddest of jobs dealing
with people and how they use technology to
manipulate and retrieve information. It doesn’t give
us firm ground to stand on.

What do

It Leaves Us Feeling Defensive
“ Go for quick learning generalists
over ingrained specialists. We’ll
“never hire someone who’s an
information architect. It’s just
too overly specific. With a small
team like ours, it doesn’t make
sense to hire people with such a
narrowly defined skill-set.
1 March 2006
”
”

Our Thinking About This
Has Become Way Too Uptight

Let me suggest we are Bricoleurs
It has come to mean one who works with his hands, usually in
devious or \"crafty\" ways when compared to the true craftsman,
whom Levi-Strauss equates with the Engineer. The Bricoleur is adept
at many tasks and at putting preexisting things together in new ways.
The Engineer deals with projects in their entirety, taking into account
the availability of materials and tools required. The Bricoleur
approximates the mind of \"the savage mind\" and the Engineer
approximates the scientific mind. Levi-Strauss says that the universe
of the Bricoleur is closed, and he is often forced to make do with
whatever is at hand, whereas the universe of the Engineer is open in
that he is able to create new tools and materials.

So when I say IA, you mean...
So when we say Information Architect, Fried says
designer, and we both mean bricoleurs.
The difference is the context in which we perform our
work, but the result is the same:
We derive intuitive, learnable, efficient patterns of
human activity for addressing the problems of
chaotic, analog life.

“Be so good
that they can’t
ignore you.”
- Steve Martin

The Design Ecosystem

40 Years of Computing Devices
in 60 Seconds

1970’s: consumer ready

2008 won’t be like 1984

It will be much more playful

Design is bringing the power of computing
to the oddest of interfaces

Ushering in a New Era of Interactions

We’re Dancing on the Surface

We must balance that potential against a
common language

We Don’t Do This

We Do This

We Have to Innovate Our Way Out

And now for something completely
different

Ken Garland:
First Things First 1964, 2000

Victor Papanek:
Design for the Real World, 1970

Viridian Design

The internet of things

Valerie Casey:
The Designer’s Accord, 2008

Santa Barbara’s Light Blue Line

Special Thanks To
The IDEA Conference volunteers and organizers,
especially Jorge Arango and Russ Unger.
My team: Mark Baldino, Ben Ihnchak, Jef Lear
My Friends & Clients: Paul D’Alessandro, Chris
Cooper, Joseph Wanka, Jeff Laubach, Keith Daniels,
Michael Chanover, Gillian Jetson, Janna Devylder,
Devin Henkel, Brendan Gramer, Brian Maggi
My family: Lora Kovac and Sophia Kunesh

Thank You for Your Consideration
Jason Kunesh
jason@kuneshdesign.com
(312) 925-7533
4445 North Sacramento Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625–3827