Making More of Ourselves - Sensory & Multimodal UX
at SXSW 2014
Type
talk
This SXSW 2014 Interactive workshop provokes teams to move beyond visual dominance and explore touch, smell, hearing, metaphor, and gesture in multimodal UX for wearables and future products. Working in teams, attendees practice communicating through touch, sensory substitution and augmentation exercises, and prototyping services that use multiple senses. Alastair Somerville connects accessibility thinking with sensory cognition throughout the half-day session.
People
Alastair Somerville
Methods
PrototypingBuilding disposable stand-ins for a product — from paper and clickable wireframes to coded spikes — so teams can try interactions before committing to build. Used to explore options, align stakeholders, and run usability tests on something people can click or walk through. Fidelity should match the question: low for flow and structure, higher when timing, motion or real content matter.
Inclusive DesignInclusive design identifies who an experience excludes and involves people with different abilities and perspectives in shaping it. Start by examining assumptions and mismatches between a person and the product or environment. Work with people who experience those barriers, then explore solutions that address their needs and may benefit others. Use this approach throughout product and service development, including decisions about interaction, communication and participation. Revisit whose perspectives are missing as the design evolves.
Workshop FacilitationWorkshop facilitation guides a group towards a shared outcome without imposing the facilitator’s preferred answer. Define the purpose, prepare activities and materials, and create opportunities for everyone to contribute. Combine individual thinking with discussion when helpful, listen for different perspectives and adjust the plan to the group’s needs. Record decisions and clarify who will take the next steps. Use facilitation when a team must explore a problem, generate ideas or agree actions together; successful participation matters as much as the visible workshop outputs.