This is where the big text will go. Talk about interests.

While working with Innovation Space to explore new methodologies for sustainable product development, I’ve had the opportunity to better understand the emerging discipline of biomimicry. Biomimicry explores the materials, processes and functions of nature for clues to solving design and engineering problems. This new area of study can help design teams to create innovative solutions that will minimize the environmental impact of new products.

This past month I’ve been working closely with my Innovation Space comrades to craft a submission for the IDEO Living Climate Change Video Challenge. We’ve put together a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style interactive video to challenge and inspire viewers to consider this underutilized resource.

Check out our entry.

My time at ASU has come and gone incredibly fast; too fast actually. After traveling around the country conducting primary research for my thesis, I’ve been eager to slow down and take time to explore thoughts I’ve been grappling with. This winter I’ve relished time spent working to realize these ideas, and this summer I’ll be sharing them.

After receiving positive feedback from our paper for the Chicago Ethnography Conference, Chris Meierling and I have decided to build on those thoughts for the IVSA 2010 Conference in Bologna. Our paper and presentation explore how researchers can put forth information that is accessible and actionable for others and asks how we might be able to create a space that is informative, facilitating, inspirational, and ethical.

I am also excited to announce a very special new piece of work – Community Futures Project. Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in the use of the Internet and online visualization tools to inform and inspire the design process. While considerable research exists on the social impacts of digital communication, online consumption and the Web, we have paid far less attention to the opportunities presented by digital technology to understand people’s lives. Interested in exploring this opportunity space, I’ve teamed up with Kyle Larkin to advance the use of online tools as a means to connect with people over time and space to produce new, deep and continuing insights. We’ll be presenting and showcasing our work at the Create10 conference
in Edinburgh.

This weekend, Krista and I spent some time with Kyle and Ange making mozzarella cheese and butter. We had heard it was quite easy to make but I have to admit I was a little skeptical. Well, I was so wrong, it was pretty easy to make & the results were delicious. You just have to have a little patience in an hour you have fresh mozzarella.

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Chris Meierling and I will be writing, and hopefully presenting, a paper for the 12th Annual Chicago Ethnography Conference this spring at Depaul University. Our proposal was recently accepted and showcases our most recent endeavor,The Things We Sell. On a personal level, this paper is a much needed way to further develop some ideas I have had on sharing research and design insights in a compelling and meaningful ways. Additionally, this is a way to get something out there and published, a goal both Chris and I have had for quite some time!

“Willie the Cat” had memorabilia from the first half of the 20th century covering every square inch of his garage. This, paired with an inconspicuous broken record player for sale, brought glimpses of the past with the sounds of saxophonist Coleman Hawkins; signed photos of Dixie Evans, the Marilyn Monroe of burlesque; and images of the American comic persona W.C. Fields. Willie enthusiastically shared his personal record collection with us in addition to his passion for jazz and vinyl.

Check it out here.

On an unusually cloudy morning in the Valley of the Sun, Mike and his wife had the usual things out on tables at their garage sale, but they also had an old 1971 MG convertible in their front yard. After introducing our project to Mike’s wife she immediately said, ‘Oh, talk to my husband. He’s got all kinds of stories.’

Check it out here.

This year’s winter break from classes has not been as restful as I originally imagined… On Saturday, I woke up at the crack of dawn, got my audio recorder, camera and notebook ready, and set out searching for garage sales in Mesa, Arizona with two friends. This was the third time we got together to document garage sales and the beginning of a project we are calling,
The Things We Sell.

This project (and soon-to-launch website) chronicles the stories contained within the personal belongings sold at garage, stoop and yard sales around the country. The premise: Every product being sold has a tale to tell and these tales reveal more than just a product’s monetary worth; they bring an authentic awareness to people’s choices, circumstances, and lives. The website will share a growing collection of these narratives with audio and photography, told first hand by the people selling the products.

Stay tuned for updates, we’ll be launching the site soon.