Hello there. I'm an interaction designer and researcher. My interests lie in the future of interaction design, be it playing
with new web technologies (HTML5, JQuery, Processing.js), considering what the 'Internet of things' might look like, or looking at the dystopian side of digital communication.
My current home is in the Digital Interaction Design department at the University of Dundee, where I have become part of the
furniture, albeit a bit of furniture that does some research, teaching and plays ping pong.
I'm a designer and creative coder. I think experimentation and fun are the key to truly innovative and engaging design. Once playtime is over, I enjoy working with users and clients to iterate towards a result that excells for both sides.
Stuff I'm good at:
Stuff I'm OK at:
email: shaun /a/ howzitgaun /dot/ com.
twitter: himseelf.
blog: http://howzitgaun.com
Part of my research has been looking at people's attitude towards their own creative process. Creata is a tool to analyse a simple card sorting exercise, where different groups of creative practitioners would group a series crowdsourced 'elements' of the creative process together. The groups say something meangful yet human about each group's creative process. This process of building some meaningful information from obscure data is one of the the reasons I love working in Processing.
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After studyinng a subject like interactive media design, it's easy to get jaded by the idealism that surrounds new forms of communication technologies. MPBLT was a research topic that looked at the increasing disconnect people feel when using digital technology. MPBLT explored the effect that digital techologies have on the creative process. This spawned the satirical and shortly lived service design company Connecti_On, and their range of devices and services intended to make users lives harder, rather than easier. Although, as mentioned, deeply satirical, the project has shaped my belief that web technologies and devices must be applied according to the users need, rather than following trends or the designer's ego.
My 3rd year undergraduate project involved "restoring" a forgotten communcation technology for the Museum of Lost Interaction. Under lead curator Graham Pullin, myself and colleague Alison Thomson restored the case communicator, the oft forgotten precursor to the modern laptop. For the 'businessman on the go', the Case Communicator offered auditory access to their personal secretary who could read their mail, listen to recent news, or play the latest hit LPs. The project allowed us to reflect on modern digital phenomena, whilst exploring forgotten methods of interactin. The end result was an exhibition of the cohorts finds which found acclaim both nationally, and online.
All content © Shaun McWhinnie, 2011.