Florence Chee's blog

I wanted to share an informative article from the BBC that interviewed Jan Chipchase, principal researcher at Nokia Design on how he has used ethnographic insights to inform the design of mobiles.  His work includes bringing research teams into the actual cultural contexts of use in order to make better business decisions for Nokia.   

A multi-disciplinary team:

"Mr. Chipchase takes a team--designers, psychologists--into different countries around the world, to look at people's lives in different contexts."

You might remember our discussions about the user experience research we conducted through mobilemuse, Nokia, and the metrocode application. The research centered around users' responses to sharing information about the sculptures using a mobile device and the cell phone tour.  I posted some discussion at Constructing Amusement about common questions to do with qualitative research in this case as well.

Context: the previous DiGRA was held in Vancouver in 2005, and is a meeting of individuals from academia and industry game developers--including those with an interest in mobility/mobile games, learning, etc.  

The next one, in 2007 is slated to take place in Tokyo--one of the main hubs of mobile gaming.  They should have lots of exhibits, events, and discussion (and plain just being there in the middle of it all should be inspiring on the things that can happen with mobility).  Are you interested in research on mobile games or related issues on play?  Take a look at this Call for Papers, and submit a proposal to present.  Better yet, organize a panel of people and have a dialogue.   

Coming back from Portugal this past Summer, I was miserable.  I know what you're thinking--'Portugal', and 'Summer' should not be in the same sentence as 'miserable'... but here's why:

One sunny (but windy) day on the beach, a lapse in judgment, and I was cooked. Red as a lobster. My back, on fire... my humility turned up a notch (but you can never get enough of that)... kind travelmates assisting me with my overhead luggage because it hurt way. too. much.  Afterwards, one must also wait out the period of molting and living the life of a lizard.

The iMobicon 2006 Korea will open its three-day run today at the Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul where dozens of information and technology (IT) visionaries will provide a glimpse of next-generation mobile solutions.

Co-hosted by the Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA) and Informa Telecoms & Media of Britain, the forum will cover broad areas of mobile technology with the title ``Step Into Tomorrow’s Mobile World.’’

``The event will feature up to 60 expert speakers from around the world, expert-led keynote sessions, two separate tracks and over 10 interactive panel sessions,’’ a KIPA official said.