Leif Krinkle, Director of the forthcoming Visible Futures Lab, during groundbreaking.

Nestled somewhere on the 7th floor of 132 West 21st Street through a narrow ramped doorway that adjoins separate building floor levels, sledge hammers and dustbins move furiously, breaking ground on SVA’s nascent and highly anticipated Visible Futures Lab. Frank Bonomo, MFA IxD department system admin, recently caught up with the lab’s newly appointed director, Leif Krinkle, to discuss the planning and opening of this exciting new make/build resource. Slated to open late-spring/early-summer, the Visible Futures Lab or “The VFL” gives students enrolled in the MFA Interaction Design and the MFA Products of Design programs a home to make, model, tinker, and innovate across disciplines, using both high-tech and traditional tools.

How is the ground breaking going, and what’s the current plan to open?

The ground breaking has just started this week with demolition of the 7th floor of 132 and 136 West 21st street. Construction is slated for the next 12 weeks and should allow us to begin moving in around end of March. It will take a couple months to install all the new equipment, get it running and put it through its paces. Without being too optimistic, we would like to have a soft opening during the summer semester and be fully running by fall 2012.

What kinds of tools and work areas will we find at the VFL?

The VFL is very unique among most labs as we will have a woodworking and machine shop, a rapid prototyping lab, a workshop, an electronics lab and gallery all in one space. There will be a whole slew of traditional woodworking tools including a table saw, miter saw, lathe, router, sanders, vertical mill, grinders, hand tools, etc. In addition, there will be a plethora of digital machines including 3D printers, laser cutters, and a CNC router.

What kind of planned activities will be taking place?

Regular events and workshops will be held in the lab featuring salon-stlye discussions and presentations on the labs capabilities, current trends in design and fabrication, and helpful techniques for a variety of skill sets.

There will also be an Artist-in-Residence program with a rotating cast of amazing artists and designers who will be using the lab throughout the year and presenting their work in the gallery.

What kind of access will students have?

Classes from the Interaction Design and Products of Design departments pertaining to fabrication, making, and electronics will be taught in the lab and these students will have access to work on class projects. SVA from other departments can apply to work in the lab for a period of time on a specific project for a nominal lab fee.

Who are you? Tell us a little about your background…

I started in Chicago working with musicians, performers, writers, designers, and programmers to create sensor-driven interactive multimedia performance spaces. This led me to New York where I studied at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. There I was exposed to microcontrollers, generative design and human-computer interface. I then worked with the League of Electronic Musical Robots (LEMUR) building robotic musical instruments, and the Madagascar Institute building jet-powered carnival rides.

What are you most excited about with the VFL?

The VFL will provide the most cutting-edge tools for students to actualize their ideas into tangible forms. I can’t wait to see how their various talents and skill levels use the tools to create things I never imagined.

Stay tuned as we bring you updates on the rollout and launch of the Visible Futures Lab later this semester.

—Frank Bonomo

“A résumé doesn’t provide much depth about a candidate, says Christina Cacioppo, an associate at Union Square Ventures who blogs about the hiring process on the company’s website and was herself hired after she compiled a profile comprising her personal blog, Twitter feed, LinkedIn profile, and links to social-media sites Delicious and Dopplr, which showed places where she had traveled.

“We are most interested in what people are like, what they are like to work with, how they think,” she says.”

Read the full article.

He expresses his views on behavior that the Facebook Timeline encourages and the media industry in New York city, terming it “The Epiphenator,” a large machine manufacturing epiphanies, without a beginning or an end:

When you read a story in a magazine, it tends to have an ending. But when you check in with Facebook or Twitter on a moment by moment basis, you start to have this experience of an unfolding never-ending stream of experience. It doesn’t have an end. It doesn’t conclude.

When you look at Facebook, you can actually see that they’re trying to deal with this, but they’re trying to deal with this in the way that database nerds would always deal with it, which is The Timeline. Look you made 79 friends in 2010, good for you. But that’s not really how it works. …. However hundreds of millions of people are now starting to get these stories in these streams and they’re not so worried about an end or a beginning. What they want is to have that experience and to swim in it.

Listen to the entire interview.

—Sana Rao

Day 2 was a good day. I got up at 8:30AM, made some breakfast, then walked down to the Convention Center. During the 25 minute walk from our apartment, I got to wander and take in the sights and sounds of the Dublin morning commute. The River Liffey is spanned by many pedestrian bridges, each unique with interesting key features. The Ha’penny Bridge is one of my favorites.

I managed to make it to the opening key note, Exploring, sketching, and other designerly ways of working with Jonas Lowgren. The talk heavily echoed conversations we’ve had in many of our classes, most recently, Prototyping. One of the sketches he presented was the Mediated Body, a clever exploration in physical computing to encourage strangers to interact with each other. The piece consisted of 2 vests each connected to a pair of headphones. When the 2 people wearing the vests touched each other, they closed a circuit that produced a sound in the headphones. The more physical contact, the more intense the sound. 

Dirk Knemeyer’s talk Understanding Us: The Next Frontier, is easily my pick of the conference so far. He spoke about the lack of relationship skills in our culture, and how strange this is since the important moments of our lives revolve around interactions with others. We’ve invested much in technological innovation over the last 500 years; we can fly around the world and transplant organs, but we still haven’t figured out how to help people have better relationships, express anger in productive ways, or even enjoy their jobs. Kneymeyer’s work revolves around finding ways to better understand how we relate to ourselves and each other, and translating that to better interaction design. He uses an applied empathy framework to step through different levels of human needs and desires. Current projects include a platform for sharing Meyers Briggs results amongst teams to help members better understand each other and work together.

After lunch, SVA IxD alum Katie Koch delivered an excellent presentation on Project:Interaction, entitled, “People ARE Software: The Story of Project: Interaction”. This project, a curriculum for teaching interaction design to high school students, was created and taught twice with fellow alum, Carmen Dukes. Katie stepped us through the process they worked through with their students. Enter, an introductory discussion about design and interaction in every day life; Explore, a phase investigating people and working with a variety of materials; a Make/Test/Reflect loop, where students are encouraged to iterate through different ideas and give each other feedback on their progress; and finally Show off, where students get to present progress made throughout the class. It was inspiring to see how readily high school students respond to the communication techniques we often use, such as post it noting and body storming; and also great to see an alum doing so well back in the real world. 

The day wrapped up with an SVA family dinner organized by faculty member Jill Nussbaum. The conference can be a little overwhelming at times, so it was great to spend the evening with a small group. The 10 of us gathered for a meal at The Church, a former synagogue, and reflected on the day over some great food and wine.

– Tash Wong

I wrote a post last year whilst attending SXSW Interactive 2011 on the non-stop cacophony of sans vowel salesmanship. It was an experience packed with startup pitches, BBQ, and swag (and a floor catching on fire). Right now, I’m attending the IxDA 2012 conference in Dublin, Ireland, and my trip couldn’t be farther from the opposite. So far I’ve been treated to breakfast by our Airbnb host, tasted Guinness and Jameson straight from the source, played tourist in most of Dublin, and enjoyed a solid day of conferencing n’ drinking.

To be honest, the conference feels like one big serendipitous family reunion. I unknowingly rode the subway with a design researcher Maggie Breslin, sat next to Michal Pasternak of Huge on the flight over, had a pint with Carla Diana at the Guinness Storehouse, and chatted with former SVA faculty members Rob Fabricant and Ben Fullerton during the opening talks. Aside from some familiar faces, I was able to sneak in a few pints with a few members of SVA IxD’s inaugural class – and conference presenters – Katie Koch and John Finley at a pub in Dublin’s Temple Bar district.

I’m knowingly gushing right now I know, but:

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The first day full day of the conference echoed a sense of family as Luke Williams, author of Disrupt, addressed the crowd in his opening keynote. He acknowledged interaction designers’ familiarity with patterned behavior and cognitive theory as a strength, but also as a fault. He explained that the audience should turn their lens inward, realizing cognitive bias in themselves. This bias could be a barrier for innovation and disruptive ideas, and he challenged that disruptive ideas can be nothing more than annoying, fleeting notions without the right context and audience.

Caffeinated and inspired, we all poured out of the main hall to head for the first presentations of the day. I decided to check out “Design Language for Interactions”, a talk by Ziba’s Creative Director, Michael Lemmon.  Using concepts rooted in industrial design, Michael explained the concept of “form language” – creating cohesion across a product line using surface, material, color, function, brand, and customer. Pertaining to interaction design, he highlighted the use of consistent language, content, visual themes, and interaction to build a solid structure of experience across a multiple devices. Another key takeaway was his organizational approach to digital product development: form design teams around features, rather than devices, to generate higher level rules for core interactions and prevent siloing among team members.

After Michael’s talk, I took a breather and joined another SVA IxD alum Russ Maschmeyer and his co-workers for lunch at Facebook’s Dublin office. We caught up on his recent work with Facebook’s group and community features, enjoyed a view of Dublin from the roof, and headed back for round 2 of the conference’s talks.

The best presentation of the afternoon was RCA co-chair Anthony Dunne (a British Michael Rock, or the other way around) explaining his approach to interaction design and showcasing student work. He pointed out a disconnect in the design profession between problem solving and critique/commentary. His solution to bridge the gap was to generate conversation through designing the possible, the probable, and the potential future. In doing so, designers could, “shift design from how things are now to design how the world could be”. In concert with SVA’s Allan Chochinov, Mr. Dunne pointed out that designers have the unique ability to explain amorphous, forward-thinking concepts by giving them form. This facilitates dialogue around a visible object rather than around an intangible idea.

Closing out the day, a few of us, along with faculty member Jill Nussbaum, headed to a sponsored networking event a few blocks away. As we enjoyed a few rounds of Guinness, we discussed and debated the day’s events, looking forward to what day number 2 of the reunion would bring.

– Dave Bellona

…to what extent does this demographic - people who have grown up with social technology- care about privacy? Does sharing of savings goals and the act of depositing money towards a goal help keep them accountable and give them a greater awareness of what one could (or should) be saving for? When talking about the social motivations and boundaries of information sharing in my thesis, I often use Weight Watchers as an analog. How is it that groups of women, who, under most circumstances will not go near a conversation about weight, come together and not only talk about their weight, share their struggles with losing weight, but also support each other as they work towards their weight loss goals? All of this is done in an open environment where women are encouraged to share only what they feel comfortable sharing and what will personally motivate them. There are few things more uncomfortable and personal than talking about money. Weight, especially for women, is one of them. Weight Watchers is one example of a service who has made the issue of privacy a non-issue. They have achieved this through by providing a framework through which communities can motivate and support each other and individuals can work towards personal goals in ways that are meaningful to them. WW gives users control of the information and also a platform to communicate this information. These insights are driving my decisions around privacy and information sharing.

Read more on Erin Moore’s thesis blog.

Even at just a glance, a map can reveal what no amount of description can. Maps are the language of geography, often the most direct and effective way to convey grand ideas or complex theories. —Harm de Blij

This is a statement that was clearly evident in the talk last Friday with Mike Migurski and Sarah Williams as they discussed two of their recent projects. Migurski is a partner and the Director of Technology at Stamen, a San Francisco-based studio that specializes in map and data visualization projects. Williams is currently the Director of Columbia’s Spatial Information Design Lab, which concentrates on connecting social data with geography. This talk was of special interest to me, being a lifelong map aficionado as well as a second-year graduate student whose thesis subject is on geographic illiteracy.

As the first in a series this year of On the Verge talks held here at the Interaction Design Department, the format for these events has changed a bit from past talks. Gone is the lecture podium and monologue. Equipped with a couch, pairs of speakers are invited to introduce, analyze and discuss each other other’s work in a moderated conversation. This approach to dialogue made for a more informative, relaxed experience.

Spatial Information Design Lab’s “Million Dollar Blocks”

Mike spoke about Sarah’s project Million Dollar Blocks which visualizes on a map of Brooklyn where concentrations of prisoners reside in the borough. These locations are color-coded to reflect the amount of government expenditure per capita for transporting and incarcerating these residents. What this map illustrates in an almost perverse way, is where these residents are densely clustered on the map are not only some of the poorest parts of New York City, but also some of the most expensive to maintain in terms of dealing with convicted criminals. Its aim is to raise the questions about incarceration and how money could be better spent within the criminal justice system.

Stamen’s “Oakland Crimespotting”

Sarah then presented Stamen’s Oakland Crimespotting map, their tool for better understanding crime in those cities. The premise under which Stamen approached this project was that public information should be made public. Crime data already existed, but it was either for police or other government agencies, or it was cumbersome, unwieldy and hard to find, buried under a myriad of links. What Crimespotting does is to visualize in real time where crimes are happening in various neighborhoods, giving the user the ability to filter by date, time of day or the type of crime. With this information, people can look for individual crimes or see broader patterns and trends in crime over time. This project is beautifully explained in the BBC program “The Joy of Stats,” which actually makes statistics a sexy subject.

What both of their projects shared was a marriage of data and aesthetics, design and technology to address important issues. Whereas Crimespotting focuses on the crime itself, Million Dollar Blocks investigates the repercussions for the perpetrator and their community. Both projects have garnered attention through their advocacy, bringing attention to these issues to the powers that be: police departments, legislators, community boards, and the mayor’s office.

A question about data neutrality was asked by an audience member—namely, is there any bias within these maps? Migurski and Williams ended the talk with this shared belief and great insight:

Data is never neutral. There is no such thing as raw data.

—Chris Cannon, MFA candidate, 2012

The Manifesto 2011 in Spanish

Department chair Liz Danzico was a steering committee member and contributor to the update to the update, which launched during the Icograda General Assembly 24 in Taipei this October. Liz was joined on the committee by Hugh Dubberly, Steven Heller, Jamer Hunt, Dave Malouf, Victor Margolin, Lita Talarico, and sixteen other members of the Icograda network, who have each written a 1,000-word essay on the future of design education.

The Design Education Manifesto 2011 is manifest of a 2-year-long process engaging some of the most prominent design education experts from around the world. The final output addresses the needs and desires of the future of design education in a world both converging and expanding,” said Omar Vulpinari, Icograda President Elect and Co-chair of the Manifesto update.

2011 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Manifesto’s publication, and the 2009-2011 Icograda Executive Board resolved to update it, its intention being “to help steer design curriculum and equip faculty and students to handle current and future issues in design education.”

The Icograda Design Education Manifesto, a key legacy of Oullim, is a core document that defines Icograda’s position on design education. The Manifesto advocates that design education must be a learning-centred environment, enabling students to develop their potential in and beyond academic programs.

The Icograda Design Education Manifesto was developed in 2000 as collaboration by an international group of designers. Participants represented a geographically, politically, economically, culturally, and socially diverse cross section of the design education community. Prof. Ahn Sang-Soo (South Korea) led the project which was translated into seventeen languages and presented at the Icograda Millennium Congress Oullim 2000 Seoul.

Read more and download the manifesto here.

Three months passed like three weeks. There were lectures, projects, group meetings, museum visits, workshops, first-year special Thursday nights, a party night-out and several project night-outs, Interaction Salons, presentations, and final critiques. So while I wrap up my first semester here and prepare for one final week of presentations, here’s what it looked like through the lens of my Nikon D40.

–Prachi Pundeer

The December 2011 cover.

A spread from the interview.

“At .net magazine, we get a lot of emails from web design students expressing dissatisfaction with their courses. That may be the nature of the beast – people don’t often contact the press to tell them how content they are – but the number of complaints is striking. And when I mention this to Liz Danzico, chair and co-founder of the MFA in Interaction Design program at New York’s School of Visual Arts, there’s no surprise in her reaction: she’s heard a lot of similar comments herself.

Danzico’s course, though, takes a different approach. Although many of those who enroll are interested in pursuing web design, the syllabus is less about coding and specific web technologies and more about a wider design philosophy.

Interaction Design is about observing and designing for the relationship between people over time”, [Liz] explains. “That could be how it feels to swipe between screens on an iPad or iPhone, or something as simple as the way a door communicates to you that it’s push or pull.” Rather than just building homepages, her students get to do things such as experiment with prototyping products, using everything from woodworking to 3D printers.

Even when they do tackle coding, it’s not what you’d expect. “The coding class doesn’t actually touch a screen or any kind of device for three or four weeks,” Danzico explains. “So they learn about variables and loops and the logic of code programming in paper format. Among humans. That way, they learn about decision making. And so when they go to actually design for a mobile device or a website, that foundational knowledge they have about how the things work give them a much richer sense in terms of larger system.”

It’s a radical approach that offers wide horizons and rewards an open mind. “It’s not a vocational course,” stresses Danzico. “My students are more interested in the way that interaction design can influence their thinking such that they can apply that to other areas. That may be someone who ultimately wants to go into web design, or someone who’s already a web designer who wants to move into other areas.”

It’s not a unique concept, but it is a rarity. “There are a couple of universities in the States that teach interaction design and a handful in Europe, in Scandinavia,” Danzico explains. “Even for a small narrow field they’re all quite different.” One thing that marks out her course is that all the faculty members work in the industry.

What’s truly fascinating to Danzico is the crosspollination of disciplines that takes place. “You have to consider how this person, who’s studied neuroscience and fine arts, but who now wants to be an interaction designer, is going to work with the industrial designer, who’s always been a practitioner. It’s the mingling of completely different cultures. They all have the same kind of ideas but such different reference points.”

Continue reading in the December 2011 issue of .net Magazine.