If you are lucky, you get old
by Thalith on May 9, 2010
Freya Najade’s ‘If you are lucky you get old’ is extremely rich and compelling in its the narration and juxtaposition of images.
(via Conscientious)
esther duflo and wicked problems
by Thalith on May 5, 2010
I’m loving Esther Duflo of MIT’s Poverty Action Lab and her approach to wicked problems
design fail: job application edition
by Thalith on April 29, 2010
Why do websites exist that prevent natural user behavior?
And do pray tell, what are ‘undesirable results’?
experience design fail: placing trashcans
by Thalith on April 28, 2010
Why this bar/restaurant would want to put a trashcan slap bang in the middle of the bar, I don’t know. It was more disconcerting to see the waitress dump my leftover appetizers into it with a patron sitting next to it. I realize its not Disney but its a wonder that someone didn’t think twice before placing the trashcan there.
design as an enabler
by Thalith on April 23, 2010
I think truly successful designs are ones which enable humans to form connections with each other while making itself invisible. It is not how great your UI looks, or how you have the perfect marriage of Serif and Sans Serif on the page, it is whether people can reach out to one another. After all, reaching out to people is what technology itself has enabled.
design surprise: faucets
by Thalith on April 21, 2010
Its as simple as just exposing the flow of water that makes all the difference in this faucet. My surprise turned meta (surprised at being surprised) since it was such a simple design shift that made turning on the faucet, dare I say, delightful.
Rather than conventional faucets that conceal the water (first by covering it all around with metal, secondly by pointing it downwards), this faucet exposes you to the flowing water. Suddenly, an interaction thats seemingly disconnected to the natural world (Where does one find the Stainless Steel Enclosed River?) is made closer to us through the uncovering of its motion.
I love being surprised by designs in the mundane.
On a related note, here is a metal and glass faucet sculpture by Gary Guydosh.
Cheese Balls/Cereal
by Thalith on April 18, 2010
I think its sad when, as a culture, we can mistake a bowl of Cheese Balls for cereal.
On a side note, a bowl can be a good way of portion control when you’re dealing with a large bag.
Kalle Kataila : Landscapes and Contemplations
by Thalith on April 2, 2010
I find myself drawn to Kalle Kataila’s work and go back to it repeatedly.
A lot more on his site.
My Capstone Project
by Thalith on April 2, 2010
“Highlights and Interstices”
by Jack GilbertWe think of lifetimes as mostly the exceptional
and sorrows. Marriage we remember as the children,
vacations, and emergencies. The uncommon parts.
But the best is often when nothing is happening.
The way a mother picks up the child almost without
noticing and carries her across Waller Street
while talking with the other woman. What if she
could keep all of that? Our lives happen between
the memorable. I have lost two thousand habitual
breakfasts with Michiko. What I miss most about
her is that commonplace I can no longer remember.
This poem pretty much sums up my capstone project.
More about my capstone to follow.
(thanks to Rachel for finding the poem)
Bring context into demos
by Thalith on March 31, 2010
***UPDATE***
Turns out that the RemindMe extension updated the demo image on their page (consequently broke my link). The new screenshot shows more context though, so its a win in my book. 
The RemindMe extension for Chrome fails to add sample text into the primary text box. The simple act of including a real world example e.g ‘Remind me to Call Mom’ helps users place themselves into a demo. It provides a story with which they can relate to and tie their own experiences to. Yes, I know that this is a simple reminder app (with a terrible UI) but failing to provide some context within which this application fits into a user’s life is an unfortunate omission.
37signals does this rather well in their brief video demos. They are short and sweet. One key way of establishing a connection with people viewing the tour. We’re able to situate ourselves rather quickly within the context within which the application fits. 
Apple does this really well (go figure) with their commercials and Google did the something similar basing their Superbowl commercial on a similar premise.