Unsorted mail, overfull garden sheds, disheveled desks – we all know this kind of mess. Now and then, we sort the mail and clear the desk not only to be able to find things again but also to satisfy our psychological need for order and security.
Read MoreIf it comes to music, experiences are central. Concert "industry" is constantly rising. In 2009, people were willing to pay an average of$64 to see a top 100 act in the US, that is, to pay for an event, which is typically consumed in less than three hours. Such experiences get a good part of their positivity from personal meaning and re-experiencing.
Read MoreIn line with an experience-driven approach to technology design, Matthias Laschke suggest linked. as a communication device for teenage boys. An ethnography-inspired study revealed that teenage boys tend to "squabble" to express and fulfill their need for relatedness and physicality. linked. draws upon this.
Read MoreIn his book Hertzian Tales, Anthony Dunne explored the idea of products as "material tales." Each and every product, he argued, will inevitably change the way we act, think and feel in a given situation.
Read MoreGetting older poses a lot of challenges. One is to cope with increasing social isolation - a lack of relatedness. But "loneliness" is not only a result of increasing health problems and according limitations in personal mobility. It is a natural consequence of an ever narrower circle of friends. The telephone takes a central role in mediating relatedness, but at the same time it introduces a host of problems due to its design. Kathrin Völker did an analysis of older people's social situation and their use of the telephone...
Read MoreHave you ever wondered about the appeal of building paper planes? Christian Klemm and Christopher Sens took a look and found a recurring pattern: A plane is built, immediately tried outand then optimized with the goal to create the most beautiful flight path.
Read MoreJan Brechmann and Arne Loermann explored the idea of a cute, autonomous pet-like creature, which calls energy consumption to the attention of its owner and "rats on" the most notorious devices in the household – Meet Greenbro.
Read MoreEverybody knows it is important - but nobody is actually doing it. Or did you back-up your personal data, your pictures, music, and movies lately? Johannes Neusel created a concept for a slate PC, M!nd, which makes back-up fun and a littlemore likely by explicitly integrating external data back-up into the docking station.
Read MoreA three year old - especially if she is your own daughter - is definitely sweet. What else could a parent say? However, if it comes to particular activities, the explosive mixture of will, stubbornness and underdeveloped motor skills can be a true nightmare. Take baking, and especially cracking the eggs, as an example. Every kid wants to do it, none is good at it, and you end up with a lot of eggshell in the batter. What is needed is a way for three year olds to crack eggs in an experiential way. In a student project on experience design, Luisa Dursun and Annabell Meierkordt, devised a tool – Eggsplat – which is supposed to make cracking eggs fun.
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