Ideas, Not Objects
More than ever, the design of things is driving change into markets, and defining the idea of what a company means to its constituents. Today, you can’t just create something, make and deliver it, and then expect it do well. Products must be more than just a “thing”. They need to be built off relevant ideas, and the story needs to be driven throughout the entire proposition in an authentic way.

Through observations and work examples, designer Robert Brunner will talk about why the notion of "ideas, not objects" is so important now, and how he and his company have created products that embody this principle. Highlighted will be his work for Barnes and Noble, Polaroid, Fuego, and Beats by Dr. Dre.

Extraordinary Design Considerations for Medical Devices

Knobs, Buttons, & Dials: A Brief History of NASA Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control Center
With the Shuttle program winding down, the flight controllers have begun the arduous task of archiving their projects, data sets, work processes, and various interesting artifacts that might be helpful in future operations work. In the spirit of archiving and a feeling of nostalgia, and this being a talk for Device Design Day, I will share a brief history of the Mission Control Center (MCC) including where the MCC will go post-Shuttle.

The Elements of Interactive Style
Design is a balance of Form and Function ­ — but in its short history, the design of interfaces has largely been driven by technology, usability, and functional goals. In the past few years, the relevant technologies that support the Form side of UI design — displays, processing speeds, and rendering engines — have matured to a point that they provide a more capable canvas for Design. The aesthetic experience of the digital surface can now be considered and explored in a more sophisticated manner. This talk will look at the new elements that make up a modern interactive experience.

Personal Robotic Devices
As robotic technologies become increasingly pervasive in homes, workplaces, and other everyday environments, there is an increasingly pressing need to understand how people make sense of personal robotic devices, interact with them, and use them. I will present two major design challenges for personal robotic devices: (1) making them invisible-in-use and (2) making agentic objects. Fleshing out these challenges, I will present some empirical work we have conducted with mobile remote presence systems and personal robots.

Designing Talking Devices

Bringing the Sidekick back

Making Technology Tactile

NONOBJECT: The Space Between You and the Object
What is beyond user-centered design, beyond actual objects, products, environments, marketing plans? Nonobject shifts the paradigm of current product design approaches and creates the new direction for design innovation: a thoughtful examination of the intangible, a conscious reinterpretation of how users relate to products. In Nonobject, award-winning designer Branko Lukic takes us on a tour of the charged spaces between people and the products they use. The objective world is one of facts and data. The world of the “nonobject” is about perception, experience, and possibility.

From a business perspective, Nonobject introduces a powerful mental aperture tool for radical innovation, a tool much needed as we enter the emotion economy.