As wearables and intimate technology integrate with daily life, this SXSW 2015 session examines emotional and sensory challenges in successful design. Alastair Somerville introduces research-informed topics including sensory cognition, multimodal design, neuroergonomics, and ego depletion, and hosts an open forum on wellbeing, empathy, and inclusion. The talk aims to broaden conversation about technology that supports human senses, cognition, and identity rather than working against them.
People
Alastair Somerville
Methods
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.
Interaction DesignDesigning how people act with a product over time: controls, states, feedback, flows and micro-interactions. Turns goals and constraints into concrete behaviours that feel clear and forgiving, informed by perception, cognition and the physical or digital context of use.