LiFT Studios - an Interaction Design Agency in Vancouver » andrea

An Interview with Julian Gosper

andrea — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:34:54 +0000

This week on LSB LiFT continues to explore the world of interaction design, from definitions to daily practice. For LSB026 Frederick Brummer sat down with Julian Gosper, a senior interaction designer at SAP, to discuss the questions we’ve been asking throughout the series – what is interaction design, how does interaction design differ from other types of design, what is the future of interaction design, and describe a typical day as an interaction designer. Julian’s detailed insight and articulate answers were difficult to cut because they were all great, so we’ve prepped a special ‘bonus question’ that isn’t part of the usual list but thought you might find interesting – how do you go from desirability to specification?

Product Development with Josh Viney

andrea — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:31:05 +0000

This week on LSB022, I sit down with Josh Viney to talk about the art of crafting products. Josh is the Director of Product Development at Eastmedia a Rails shop based in New York City creating custom apps (web and mobile) for a diverse range of clients. With over 10 years of experience creating digital products, Josh has a wealth of experience and knowledge to share.

For this broadcast, recorded over Skype with special audio hijinks courtesy of SoundFlower and LineIn, I ask Josh about what makes a good product, ways for teams and clients to communicate, how to manage client expectations, and what it takes to get into product development. Sit back and enjoy the show!

If you didn’t get enough of Josh in the podcast, you can find him tweeting on Twitter in his more natural state of inversion.

Julie Oya

andrea — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:42:44 +0000

This week on Lift Studios Broadcast 018 LiFT sits down with Vancouver native Julie Oya. Julie’s creative endeavors know no bounds – from photography to interface/playback design to crafting, she does it all. Uniting seemingly disparate mediums is an attention to process and a creative flow that transcends format and materials. Not wanting to give too much away in this intro, you’ll have to watch the podcast to catch the rest!

You can find Julie on the web at http://www.julieoya.com, posting about unicorns and bacon at http://lebird.tumblr.com and Twittering as Lebirdee.

Experiments in Open Source Design

andrea — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:04:09 +0000

In the twelfth episode of LiFT Studios Broadcasts, Andrea Mignolo sits down with Chris Stone to discuss his background in design, his experiments with the Open Source design community, his role in founding and being a local leader of the Vancouver branch of the Interaction Design Association, and design and development work flows in agile settings.

During the talk Chris’ mic went out, so we apologize that the audio has a bit more echo than usual.

For more about Chris check out his Nitobi blog or follow him on twitter.

Between Architecture, Music & Design

andrea — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:40:28 +0000

This week on LiFT Studios Broadcast double-oh seven, Andrea Mignolo sits down with Haig Armen to chat about ~~life as a secret agent~~ the intersection of design, architecture and music; and how a strong background in all of these disciplines informs the design process. From this conversation stems the LiFT Studios philosophy, how colour and sound go hand in hand, how architecture relates to programming, and quicker mentions ofScriptographer, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the theoretical future of interaction design in 5 years.

In respect to the numerical classification of this episode, grab a martini — shaken, not stirred — and enjoy the show!

If you’d like to know more about Haig you can read his bio on our site or follow him on Twitter.

Design Can Change?

andrea — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:58:53 +0000

On May 19th, 2009 Human Rights Watch published an 80 page report detailing the exploitation of migrant workers in Abu Dhabi. The publication targets a number of companies and organizations, including the Government of France, Gehry Partners LLP, Zaha Hadid Architects, and a number of construction companies. The publication is noteworthy because, in addition to the usual suspects, high profile architects Gehry and Hadid are also being called to task. This brought up some interesting discussion in the office concerning the ultimate culpability on the design side of multi-billion dollar development projects. Can and should people who are “just” architects/designers/creatives be held accountable for their role, as indirect as it may be, in contributing to the exploitation of workers and human rights abuses?

For me, the answer is a clear yes. No man is an island, and no designer works in a bubble (though I think most would like to). In a trans-national globalized world, the rippling impact of our work must be considered. With particular regards to the Abu Dhabi case, to be ignorant of both the environmental and human impact of such a huge development project is negligible at best. I’m not saying that architects should bear the brunt of the responsibility, just that they do have responsibility. We all do, for every aspect of our work and the world that work purports to create.

What do you think: do designers, architects, and other creatives bear responsibility for the work they choose to take on, no matter how small or large a role they may play in the overall product?