The document discusses how architects can embrace new sources of data and user feedback to better understand how design impacts people. It argues that architects must measure building performance through a human lens in order to stay relevant. This will require collecting real-time feedback from occupants using sensors and mobile apps. It also advocates expanding the definition of architecture to include related fields that can provide new insights into measuring human experience in buildings. Architects should view existing buildings as prototypes to iteratively improve performance based on data collected.
Download Buildling Tomorrow: www.psfk.com/report/building-tomorrow
PSFK Labs partnered with Architizer to launch Building Tomorrow: Trends Driving the Future of Design. This report provides an overview of future trends in architecture, as well as the societal forces moving them forward drawn from an analysis of Architizer’s global library of innovative designs and PSFK’s expertise in industries like travel, retail, and home living.
It is important to note, this report is not necessarily a study in architecture: it is a guide for any creative professional who is building today – whether that in the physical, media or digital landscape. The themes highlighted within Building Tomorrow can be used to inspire the cities of tomorrow, but the trends can be leveraged to build the next generation of products, services and experiences.
The report includes:
- 3 global drivers impacting design
- 9 Key Trends building tomorrow
- Implications for Retail, Product, and Digital Experience
- Perspectives from industry experts
- 4 Pillars for Creating Experiences
If you are interested in seeing a presentation of this report or would like to understand how PSFK can help your team ideate new possibilities for your brand, contact us at sales@psfk.com
Ver. 2 | Published September 2015
All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of PSFK Labs.
Transforming Sociotech Design (TSD) tutorial covers conceptual frameworks for designing and evaluating Persuasive Technology (PT) aimed at achieving sustainable transformations of our lives towards wellbeing. The tutorial introduces and explains how TSD contributes to PT research by extending our understanding beyond limitations of traditional behavioral change designs and interventions.
TSD embodies a fundamental understanding of the PT components that are essential for designing successful transformations, known as:
Socially Influencing Systems
Computer-Supported Influence
Persuasive Cities
Persuasive Backfiring
Persuasive Design for Sustainability
Tools and Techniques for Designing, Implementing, & Evaluating Ubiquitous Com...ijceronline
Interactive systems in the mobile, ubiquitous and virtual environments are at a stage of development where designers and developers are keen to find out more about design, use, and usability of these systems. Ubiquitous Computing is the design, implementation and usability that highlight the theories, techniques, tools and best practices in these environments. This paper shows that usable and useful systems that can be achieved in ways that will improve usability to enhance user experience. Research on the usability issues for young children, teenagers, adults and the elderly is presented with different techniques for the mobile, ubiquitous and virtual environments. Interactive frameworks in the portable, omnipresent, and virtual situations are at a phase of advancement where creators and engineers are quick to discover more about the outline, use, and ease of use of these frameworks. The objective of this research paper is to assess the tools and techniques for designing, implementing, and evaluating ubiquitous computing systems used by developers so as to formulate practical solutions that address the functionality of these systems. Ideal systems ensure that designers are able to develop and predict usability of systems at all the stages of virtual environments. This is particularly essential as it increases the experience of the users. This requires one to use the best tool and techniques backed by theories to practice the same. However this varies across different fields such as ubiquitous and mobile environments. In addition all the computing tools have to share visionary tools that allow them to network while at the same time they are processing and distinctively modeling the user interface. Some of the main methods that are used for smart devices include tools such as tabs, boards and pads. Various tools are usually used in the design of the works of the computer. The need to select appropriate techniques that will allow for the efficient use of the chosen techniques for the devices is thus a necessity. This implies that the selection of such tools should be based on set out effective techniques that have been tested so that the required output is achieved.
No Interface? No Problem: Applying HCD Agile to Data Projects (Righi)Kath Straub
This paper will be published in the Nov 2020 Issue of Journal of Usability Studies. (https://uxpajournal.org/). Its being pre-printed here with permission from the author and the Journal Board.
In October 2019, a group of human-centered designers,
agilists, data scientists, and other technology enablement
practitioners joined to share their thoughts about a topic of
common interest: How should the principles and practices of
human-centered design, Agile development, and the
overarching process of HCDAgile be applied to products that
have no obvious user interface?
The group’s objective was to develop guidance based upon
shared knowledge across disciplines and industries for
leveraging HCDAgile in data projects. In this paper we share
our initial observations from the meeting.
Fair balance: I participated in the huddle that led to this paper, but not in writing up the paper. Thanks to Carol Righi for doing the needful.
Download Buildling Tomorrow: www.psfk.com/report/building-tomorrow
PSFK Labs partnered with Architizer to launch Building Tomorrow: Trends Driving the Future of Design. This report provides an overview of future trends in architecture, as well as the societal forces moving them forward drawn from an analysis of Architizer’s global library of innovative designs and PSFK’s expertise in industries like travel, retail, and home living.
It is important to note, this report is not necessarily a study in architecture: it is a guide for any creative professional who is building today – whether that in the physical, media or digital landscape. The themes highlighted within Building Tomorrow can be used to inspire the cities of tomorrow, but the trends can be leveraged to build the next generation of products, services and experiences.
The report includes:
- 3 global drivers impacting design
- 9 Key Trends building tomorrow
- Implications for Retail, Product, and Digital Experience
- Perspectives from industry experts
- 4 Pillars for Creating Experiences
If you are interested in seeing a presentation of this report or would like to understand how PSFK can help your team ideate new possibilities for your brand, contact us at sales@psfk.com
Ver. 2 | Published September 2015
All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of PSFK Labs.
Transforming Sociotech Design (TSD) tutorial covers conceptual frameworks for designing and evaluating Persuasive Technology (PT) aimed at achieving sustainable transformations of our lives towards wellbeing. The tutorial introduces and explains how TSD contributes to PT research by extending our understanding beyond limitations of traditional behavioral change designs and interventions.
TSD embodies a fundamental understanding of the PT components that are essential for designing successful transformations, known as:
Socially Influencing Systems
Computer-Supported Influence
Persuasive Cities
Persuasive Backfiring
Persuasive Design for Sustainability
Tools and Techniques for Designing, Implementing, & Evaluating Ubiquitous Com...ijceronline
Interactive systems in the mobile, ubiquitous and virtual environments are at a stage of development where designers and developers are keen to find out more about design, use, and usability of these systems. Ubiquitous Computing is the design, implementation and usability that highlight the theories, techniques, tools and best practices in these environments. This paper shows that usable and useful systems that can be achieved in ways that will improve usability to enhance user experience. Research on the usability issues for young children, teenagers, adults and the elderly is presented with different techniques for the mobile, ubiquitous and virtual environments. Interactive frameworks in the portable, omnipresent, and virtual situations are at a phase of advancement where creators and engineers are quick to discover more about the outline, use, and ease of use of these frameworks. The objective of this research paper is to assess the tools and techniques for designing, implementing, and evaluating ubiquitous computing systems used by developers so as to formulate practical solutions that address the functionality of these systems. Ideal systems ensure that designers are able to develop and predict usability of systems at all the stages of virtual environments. This is particularly essential as it increases the experience of the users. This requires one to use the best tool and techniques backed by theories to practice the same. However this varies across different fields such as ubiquitous and mobile environments. In addition all the computing tools have to share visionary tools that allow them to network while at the same time they are processing and distinctively modeling the user interface. Some of the main methods that are used for smart devices include tools such as tabs, boards and pads. Various tools are usually used in the design of the works of the computer. The need to select appropriate techniques that will allow for the efficient use of the chosen techniques for the devices is thus a necessity. This implies that the selection of such tools should be based on set out effective techniques that have been tested so that the required output is achieved.
No Interface? No Problem: Applying HCD Agile to Data Projects (Righi)Kath Straub
This paper will be published in the Nov 2020 Issue of Journal of Usability Studies. (https://uxpajournal.org/). Its being pre-printed here with permission from the author and the Journal Board.
In October 2019, a group of human-centered designers,
agilists, data scientists, and other technology enablement
practitioners joined to share their thoughts about a topic of
common interest: How should the principles and practices of
human-centered design, Agile development, and the
overarching process of HCDAgile be applied to products that
have no obvious user interface?
The group’s objective was to develop guidance based upon
shared knowledge across disciplines and industries for
leveraging HCDAgile in data projects. In this paper we share
our initial observations from the meeting.
Fair balance: I participated in the huddle that led to this paper, but not in writing up the paper. Thanks to Carol Righi for doing the needful.
What if we had a method we could use with clients to better understand their stakeholder landscape and that would help us do more effective UX work? What if it was more like a consulting method instead of a design deliverable? Could that help us choose research, design and evaluation methods more effectively so we could have more impact on our projects?
4.If we are to develop an understanding of culture through ‘feedba.docxtroutmanboris
4.If we are to develop an understanding of culture through ‘feedback’, what does it mean for forms of organisation, aesthetics and practice?
如果我们要通过“反馈”来理解文化,这对组织、美学和实践的形式意味着什么?
Week 9: Feedback and Systems Wednesday, 13.03.2019
Through the application of mechanical and scientific models for the understanding of social and political life, cybernetic theory – in particular notions of feedback – informed the development of many cultural, artistic and political projects in the mid-late 20th century, yet its influence is still under-recognized, especially in contemporary techno-political debates. This session will address cybernetic genealogies of information theory and systems thinking to see how current ideas around ‘planetary computation’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ draw on much longer and more equivocal histories than is often recognised.
6.Hacking is seen as a paradigmatic form of innovation, but also of political resistance and of contemporary knowledge politics. Working through some examples, discuss how these might come together.
黑客行为被视为一种创新的典范形式,但也被视为一种政治阻力和当代知识政治。通过一些例子,讨论它们是如何组合在一起的。
Week 4: The Hacker Wednesday, 06.02.2019
As a figure of the culture industry, the hacker is both symbol of ultimate innovation, of a free- thinking high-skilled rebel, but also as the avatar of destruction and chaos. This lecture will survey some of the claims made around the figure of the hacker, in particular examine Mackenzie Wark's reading of the political economy of hacking as a general theory of the production of the new in 'A Hacker Manifesto'. We will also open up the concept of ‘hacking’ as an intervention into the nuts-and-bolts of a technological system to interventions on the very structures of cognition, as in Catherine Malabou’s concept of neuroplasticity, and a metaphorical cannibalism as post-colonial ‘culture hacking’.
7.The figure of the user has become increasingly important in contemporary culture, how has this come about and what effects does it have?
在当代文化中,用户的形象变得越来越重要,它是如何产生的,产生了什么影响?
Week 2: Users-Things-Machines Wednesday, 23.01.2019
Alongside the consumer, the figure of the user is one of the casts of the culture industry that is most incessantly modelled and pre-figured. As cultural processes are often interwoven with computational and networked digital media and as design might be said to provide if not a general theory of culture but a 'general practice' of entities, processes and events, this lecture traces some of the ways in which users, consumers and audiences have been theorised, created and invented. At the same time, the technologically and ecologically inspired shift in social theory from subjects to objects, from masses to networks, and from people to things means we need to re-visit some of our assumptions about the agents of cultural production, also viewing the production of culture in line with other shifts in social approaches to knowledge, technics and labour.
.
Building an Equitable Tech Future - By ThoughtWorks BrisbaneThoughtworks
At the heart of ThoughtWorks is an ambitious mission: to be a proactive agent of progressive change in the world. Aware of our own privilege, we strive to see the world from the perspective of the oppressed, the powerless and the invisible.
With QUT, here in Brisbane, we’re kicking off a series of research, projects, and conversations about the social impact of tech trends, with a view to building a more equitable tech future. Some of these topics include:
- Algorithmic accountability, transparency, bias & inclusion
- Responsible data practices (privacy and ownership of data)
- Automation and the future of work
- Data use in social media and elections
- Fake news and echo chambers
- Regulating decentralised technologies
- Blockchain for good
- End-user autonomy and privacy
Slides from: Felicity Ruby, Eru Penkman, Clayton Nyakana,
Assoc. Prof. Nic Suzor (QUT) & Dr. Monique Mann (QUT)
Digital Darwinism An Interview with Brian Solis, Global Innovation Evangelist...Brian Solis
Leaders Magazine features Brian Solis in an in-depth interview that explores innovation, digital Darwinism, distractions and wellness, and the future of business.
LEADERS Magazine Features Brian Solis on Innovation and PurposeBrian Solis
In this must read interview in LEADERS Magazine, Brian Solis explores the challenges and opportunities executives face in this Novel Economy.
Brian also details how companies can create a culture of innovation to grow and scale in uncertain times.
How Design Theories Evolved from User-Centered Design to Design Thinking.pdfWorxwideConsulting1
From textiles to architectural drawings to digital devices, every product is created with a function—and a user— in mind. Around mid-twentieth century, designers began considering “human factors” (also called ergonomics) to products, services, and interfaces to address human users’ needs. It has led to the evolution of designing theories and shift in designer’s point of attention.
Let’s see how?!
Working Out Loud: A step towards building your digital capabilityAnne Bartlett-Bragg
An article that uncovers some of the underpinning perspectives for creating Working Out Loud activities and how these can be a step towards building digital capabilities.
This article originally appeared in Training & Development magazine February 2016 Vol 43 No 1, published by the Australian Institute of Training and Development.
LOOKING FOR A UX DESIGNER? BUT STILL WONDERING WHAT UX IS? Kathleen Milbier
The purpose of this guide is to explain the areas of expertise that are under the umbrella of UX (user experience) design, how to figure out what type of UX professional you might need to add to your team, and how to evaluate the skills and experience of UX candidates.
If, by the end, you realize you might need help... we’re here to help!
Kathleen Milbier
AQUENT | Account Director, Media & Entertainment
p. 323.380.3267 | e. kmilbier@aquent.com | twitter: @kath4short
www.aquent.com
A centre for city simulation www.its.leeds.ac.uk/virtuocity
Cities are entering a new age where new technologies could dramatically change the way people move. New insight is required to understand how we will react to these new mobility options. The University of Leeds is developing a new centre of excellence, focused on engaging with the public to co-design and demonstrate new mobility options, and to gather feedback and build interest and user-acceptance. It brings together expertise from a number of our major research facilities – including the University of Leeds Driving Simulator and Leeds Institute for Data Analytics.
The Maker’s Manual explores how everyone from do-it-yourselfers and artists to inventors and entrepreneurs are leveraging new tools, platforms and services to take their ideas from concepts to reality.
In our Democratized Creation theme we explore how the hardware and tools required to start building DIY technology projects are becoming more widely available, cost-effective and user friendly, encouraging a greater number of people to become involved in the Maker Movement regardless of their knowledge and level of skill. With the Community Exchange theme we look at how a growing number of digital platforms and physical spaces are helping to cultivate the Maker Movement by bringing people together to share essential knowledge and resources, while simultaneously creating new marketplaces for buying and selling their products.
The report underwritten by Intel, also looks at Growth Systems and explores how a new set of services are allowing the Maker community to take their projects from personal passions to full-fledged product lines by providing flexible and cost-effective access to financial capital, copyright management tools and manufacturing facilities. Within these themes, we take an in-depth look at ten key trends, bringing them to life with best-in-class examples, constructing unique user experience paths for readers to navigate them based on their level of involvement in the Maker Movement. As you click through the following pages, we hope you find inspiration and innovation that you can leverage and share.
For more information about the report visit:
http://www.psfk.com/report/makers-manual
To view the complete editorial series around this report visit:
http://iq.intel.com/
Want to Learn More About This Topic or Any Other?
Go to labs.psfk.com to learn more about accessing in-depth trend reports on industries, markets, and topics, database access, workshops, presentations and events.
What if we had a method we could use with clients to better understand their stakeholder landscape and that would help us do more effective UX work? What if it was more like a consulting method instead of a design deliverable? Could that help us choose research, design and evaluation methods more effectively so we could have more impact on our projects?
4.If we are to develop an understanding of culture through ‘feedba.docxtroutmanboris
4.If we are to develop an understanding of culture through ‘feedback’, what does it mean for forms of organisation, aesthetics and practice?
如果我们要通过“反馈”来理解文化,这对组织、美学和实践的形式意味着什么?
Week 9: Feedback and Systems Wednesday, 13.03.2019
Through the application of mechanical and scientific models for the understanding of social and political life, cybernetic theory – in particular notions of feedback – informed the development of many cultural, artistic and political projects in the mid-late 20th century, yet its influence is still under-recognized, especially in contemporary techno-political debates. This session will address cybernetic genealogies of information theory and systems thinking to see how current ideas around ‘planetary computation’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ draw on much longer and more equivocal histories than is often recognised.
6.Hacking is seen as a paradigmatic form of innovation, but also of political resistance and of contemporary knowledge politics. Working through some examples, discuss how these might come together.
黑客行为被视为一种创新的典范形式,但也被视为一种政治阻力和当代知识政治。通过一些例子,讨论它们是如何组合在一起的。
Week 4: The Hacker Wednesday, 06.02.2019
As a figure of the culture industry, the hacker is both symbol of ultimate innovation, of a free- thinking high-skilled rebel, but also as the avatar of destruction and chaos. This lecture will survey some of the claims made around the figure of the hacker, in particular examine Mackenzie Wark's reading of the political economy of hacking as a general theory of the production of the new in 'A Hacker Manifesto'. We will also open up the concept of ‘hacking’ as an intervention into the nuts-and-bolts of a technological system to interventions on the very structures of cognition, as in Catherine Malabou’s concept of neuroplasticity, and a metaphorical cannibalism as post-colonial ‘culture hacking’.
7.The figure of the user has become increasingly important in contemporary culture, how has this come about and what effects does it have?
在当代文化中,用户的形象变得越来越重要,它是如何产生的,产生了什么影响?
Week 2: Users-Things-Machines Wednesday, 23.01.2019
Alongside the consumer, the figure of the user is one of the casts of the culture industry that is most incessantly modelled and pre-figured. As cultural processes are often interwoven with computational and networked digital media and as design might be said to provide if not a general theory of culture but a 'general practice' of entities, processes and events, this lecture traces some of the ways in which users, consumers and audiences have been theorised, created and invented. At the same time, the technologically and ecologically inspired shift in social theory from subjects to objects, from masses to networks, and from people to things means we need to re-visit some of our assumptions about the agents of cultural production, also viewing the production of culture in line with other shifts in social approaches to knowledge, technics and labour.
.
Building an Equitable Tech Future - By ThoughtWorks BrisbaneThoughtworks
At the heart of ThoughtWorks is an ambitious mission: to be a proactive agent of progressive change in the world. Aware of our own privilege, we strive to see the world from the perspective of the oppressed, the powerless and the invisible.
With QUT, here in Brisbane, we’re kicking off a series of research, projects, and conversations about the social impact of tech trends, with a view to building a more equitable tech future. Some of these topics include:
- Algorithmic accountability, transparency, bias & inclusion
- Responsible data practices (privacy and ownership of data)
- Automation and the future of work
- Data use in social media and elections
- Fake news and echo chambers
- Regulating decentralised technologies
- Blockchain for good
- End-user autonomy and privacy
Slides from: Felicity Ruby, Eru Penkman, Clayton Nyakana,
Assoc. Prof. Nic Suzor (QUT) & Dr. Monique Mann (QUT)
Digital Darwinism An Interview with Brian Solis, Global Innovation Evangelist...Brian Solis
Leaders Magazine features Brian Solis in an in-depth interview that explores innovation, digital Darwinism, distractions and wellness, and the future of business.
LEADERS Magazine Features Brian Solis on Innovation and PurposeBrian Solis
In this must read interview in LEADERS Magazine, Brian Solis explores the challenges and opportunities executives face in this Novel Economy.
Brian also details how companies can create a culture of innovation to grow and scale in uncertain times.
How Design Theories Evolved from User-Centered Design to Design Thinking.pdfWorxwideConsulting1
From textiles to architectural drawings to digital devices, every product is created with a function—and a user— in mind. Around mid-twentieth century, designers began considering “human factors” (also called ergonomics) to products, services, and interfaces to address human users’ needs. It has led to the evolution of designing theories and shift in designer’s point of attention.
Let’s see how?!
Working Out Loud: A step towards building your digital capabilityAnne Bartlett-Bragg
An article that uncovers some of the underpinning perspectives for creating Working Out Loud activities and how these can be a step towards building digital capabilities.
This article originally appeared in Training & Development magazine February 2016 Vol 43 No 1, published by the Australian Institute of Training and Development.
LOOKING FOR A UX DESIGNER? BUT STILL WONDERING WHAT UX IS? Kathleen Milbier
The purpose of this guide is to explain the areas of expertise that are under the umbrella of UX (user experience) design, how to figure out what type of UX professional you might need to add to your team, and how to evaluate the skills and experience of UX candidates.
If, by the end, you realize you might need help... we’re here to help!
Kathleen Milbier
AQUENT | Account Director, Media & Entertainment
p. 323.380.3267 | e. kmilbier@aquent.com | twitter: @kath4short
www.aquent.com
A centre for city simulation www.its.leeds.ac.uk/virtuocity
Cities are entering a new age where new technologies could dramatically change the way people move. New insight is required to understand how we will react to these new mobility options. The University of Leeds is developing a new centre of excellence, focused on engaging with the public to co-design and demonstrate new mobility options, and to gather feedback and build interest and user-acceptance. It brings together expertise from a number of our major research facilities – including the University of Leeds Driving Simulator and Leeds Institute for Data Analytics.
The Maker’s Manual explores how everyone from do-it-yourselfers and artists to inventors and entrepreneurs are leveraging new tools, platforms and services to take their ideas from concepts to reality.
In our Democratized Creation theme we explore how the hardware and tools required to start building DIY technology projects are becoming more widely available, cost-effective and user friendly, encouraging a greater number of people to become involved in the Maker Movement regardless of their knowledge and level of skill. With the Community Exchange theme we look at how a growing number of digital platforms and physical spaces are helping to cultivate the Maker Movement by bringing people together to share essential knowledge and resources, while simultaneously creating new marketplaces for buying and selling their products.
The report underwritten by Intel, also looks at Growth Systems and explores how a new set of services are allowing the Maker community to take their projects from personal passions to full-fledged product lines by providing flexible and cost-effective access to financial capital, copyright management tools and manufacturing facilities. Within these themes, we take an in-depth look at ten key trends, bringing them to life with best-in-class examples, constructing unique user experience paths for readers to navigate them based on their level of involvement in the Maker Movement. As you click through the following pages, we hope you find inspiration and innovation that you can leverage and share.
For more information about the report visit:
http://www.psfk.com/report/makers-manual
To view the complete editorial series around this report visit:
http://iq.intel.com/
Want to Learn More About This Topic or Any Other?
Go to labs.psfk.com to learn more about accessing in-depth trend reports on industries, markets, and topics, database access, workshops, presentations and events.
1. A Publication of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter Volume 77, Issue 1 | $10
Spring 2015
Mars in the Bronx
Spinning Research Into Practice
A Results-Oriented Think Tank
The Resilience Factor
Socrates at the Drafting Table
Architecture in the Social Data Era
Museum as Incubator
When Bottom-up Meets Top-down
Dialogues
from the Edge
of Practice
Dialogues
from the Edge
of Practice
3. A colleague recently said, “With social media at play, all the time that used to be spent marketing a
product will have to be spent making it a great product.” Today, with sensors and mobile apps, we can
collect building feedback to better inform client decisions. This work might once have required dozens
of engineers, hundreds of volunteers, innumerable hours, and other resources. It is now possible to
incorporate real-time, candid input from occupants, using technology to channel this information more
seamlessly into our work. With a streamlined discovery process, we can more easily draw upon what
we learn in order to inform the path of our design and improve our product.
At a moment of more and more availability, transparency, and optimization of data in other fields,
architects are increasingly being asked to show evidence that our solutions can and will perform for a
variety of occupants’ requirements. While other professionals speak in terms of product efficacy and
performance, architects tend not to, especially in relation to how our work affects people. We must
be willing to embrace the data and technological tools at our disposal, from building sensors and
digital thermostats, to Twitter and Foursquare data. It is essential for architects to take charge of these
performance criteria – to measure or be measured.
As consideration of human factors and behaviors in building performance moves to the forefront, it
is imperative that we explore new ways to measure and predict these variables. We must ask the
questions that help us understand the physical and psychological impacts of space at every scale.
We must pursue this both before and after design, leveraging emergent data for new discoveries, and
collaborating with neurological and cognitive science to explore the impact of our work. Moreover, these
measurable – and describable – impacts of design will include a full sensory repertoire, such as smell,
taste, texture – even humidity.
In a North America that is mostly built, our role as architects will shift from building new to reshaping.
The architectural business model will become more iterative. Each built work will operate less as a
finished work and more as a step in a perpetual learning process. Engaging continually with facility
managers and community clients, we can collaboratively evaluate how our buildings are working,
informed by improved information and public data.
Questions of design and human experience extend beyond architecture, and the future of evidence-
based architectural design will need to be an interdisciplinary venture. We will need to engage with
technologists, sociologists, psychologists, ergonomists, and others in the pursuit of measuring buildings
through the lens of human perception and performance. Simultaneously, we must train current and
future designers to use data, feedback, and user experience design tools in their practice.
(opposite page) Smart build-
ings are social buildings:
PLASTARC data showing
occupant-based building
performance assessments in
social-media-style.
To lead this effort, we must shift our own focus as professionals, while also expanding the definition of
“architect.” We need an inclusive rather than exclusive model of the profession: an architectural diaspora
composed of many experts. This future definition will be inclusive of many who contribute to the built
world, and embrace those who are educated as architects yet deploy their talents elsewhere. Whether they
are developing real-estate valuation apps or digital olfactory transmission products, these innovators are
expanding the frontier of our profession. <
Melissa Marsh is founder and CEO of PLASTARC, a social research, workplace innovation, and real-
estate strategy firm serving tenants and owner-occupiers, and collaborating with architecture and
design firms. Marsh is a regular contributor to e-Oculus and an organizer of AIANY Professional Practice
Committee’s Transforming Architectural Practice series.
Know that smart
buildings are
social buildings
Measure or be
measured
Consider user
experience (UX)
for architecture
Leverage current
buildings as
a full-scale
prototype
Embrace an
architectural
diaspora
Some observations from the field:
Dialogues from the Edge of Practice Spring 2015 Oculus 35