Globemaster

Interactive globe and map displays have become such a science-fiction and superhero movie trope that they're almost expected. Tony Stark used one in Iron Man 2 to look for rare elements; The X-Men used a dynamic map to visualize a city skyline; interplanetary conquistadors used a circular interactive display to plan their theft in Avatar.

Dave Harper, Mike Brand, and I used these science-fiction examples as inspiration when we brainstormed our physical computing project at the University of Queensland. We developed an idea for an interactive globe that would function by projecting Google Earth on to a sphere, with location data displayed around that sphere.

We wanted users to be able to manipulate the projection by physically moving the sphere, much as they would a traditional globe. We also wanted to be sure to only plan features we knew we could implement. We decided that for this proof-of-concept assignment, users should only have to stop moving the globe to get data about the apex location.

I was delighted to see people use the globe to explore information. Some users approached the globe and immediately looked for their own home country. Others looked for the smallest or most obscure country. Because the globe could only rotate on horizontal axes, users frequently had to look at the globe from a different perspective than they were accustomed.

Globemaster was accepted for display SAP TechEd DemoJam in Bangalore, India in October, 2011. More than 10,000 IT professionals watched as SAP Research Architect Marek Kowalkiewicz and I demonstrated the system on stage with a six-minute time constraint. The crowd voted by applause and selected Globemaster as the winner of the event.

Doctors and Handwashing

Doctors know they should wash their hands, but they're busy people. They don't need scolding or condescension; they just need to use the tools they already have to help remember.

In this video, we look at what doctors carry with them every day and how a hospital might leverage its existing infrastructure to help staff wash more frequently. Not only was it a good exercise to think about a simple solution to a real problem, the video was good practice for my budding motion graphics skills.

I collaborated on this service design with human factors expert Tristan Cooke as a part of our blog Humans in Design.

Mother Mita

Maternal mortality is a major problem in developing nations. Children whose mothers die during pregnancy or childbirth are more likely to fall into poverty or contract serious diseases. OpenIDEO, Nokia, and Oxfam challenged designers and activists to ideate systems for improving education and awareness networks for maternal health in developing nations.

We researched a solution that would use relatively low-tech and existing infrastructure to tackle the problem. We proposed a durable flip-book that would list basic hygiene and childbirth procedures along with a number that mothers could call for more help. The voice on the toll-free line would be "Mita," a trustworthy voice tailored for specific cultures.

I collaborated on this service design with human factors expert Tristan Cooke . More than 200 entries were submitted to the challenge; ours was one of ten winners selected by the three sponsors.

The Mineral Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC) at the University of Queensland's Sustainable Mineral Institute hired me in 2010 to help develop ideas for a Web software that would allow mining professionals to collaborate on risk assessment and management across physical locations and companies.

After exhaustive research, members of the RISKGATE team and I determined that users needed dynamic content and social incentives to improve engagement with online safety data. We envisioned a system that would combine some limited social networking conventions with a risk visualization model known as bow ties that include causes, controls to prevent or minimize harm, and consequences for unwanted events. The planned system would encourage users to share their own observations from mine sites, and to create custom risk assessment checklists. We wanted users to have a feeling of personal investment with the site.

My key responsibilities in the project have included identity and logo creation, navigation modeling, wire-framing, and paper prototypes of many pages. I designed RISKGATE's wordmark based around Gotham from Hoefler Frere-Jones. The almost-neutral blue color scheme and minimalist style were selected to emphasize the sites trustworthiness and familiarity. Above all, this system had to be unobstrusive to a diverse audience. MISHC held extensive workshops with representatives from the mining industry to determine RISKGATE's 12 topics.

RISKGATE's development is ongoing, with a public launch planned within 2011. The site's information and navigation models continue to be refined as team members receive feedback from stakeholders and users. The project is funded by the Australian Coal Association Research Project.

At Humans in Design, Tristan Cooke and I write about the user-centered design and how to make things better. We've covered topics like the Australian Census form and the design of power outlets. Our most popular writing has been about how to make mortgage statements into useful tools instead of boring lists. We've been featured in Choice, the leading Australian consumer advocacy magazine, and received positive feedback from behavioral economist Dan Airley. Cooke and I will be speaking at NextBank Asia in Singapore in May, 2012.