A View from the Rim

Thinking

Levels of Social Action

‘Social’ is a hot word in technology circles; new startups crop up everywhere promising social experiences, the term ‘social fabrics’ crops up in the strategy statements of Google and the like. ‘Collaboration’ shows up in business magazines, web technology conferences, activist manifestos. However, there is still a lot of confusion around what social action looks like.

The default word here – ‘collaboration’ – is used to describe a whole range of social or collective acts, leading to confusion on what social action is, and making technology seem more promising than it often turns out. Without more nuanced categories for describing social behavior, product & design teams will continue to struggle to understand what making their product more ‘social’ means, and how to understand the ways in which people do things together. Read More »

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Questions from Whiteboard @SonicRim

The March Whiteboard session was all about questions. There were about 18 of us– independent consultants, contractors, industry experts, students– and we began with an icebreaker that called for curiosity. Everyone was asked to write three to five questions on the whiteboard that were (closely or distantly) related to the field of design research. Once all questions were up, we all voted on the ones we wanted to further delve into. The most popular were: Read More »

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Chinese Generations through the Lens of Technology

 

As  design researchers, we often examine social categorizations– personas, life stages, generations, etc– to understand how commonalities across target populations can impact the way businesses interact with or cater to their customer base. In this piece, I examine the four main generation groups  (Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y) as they apply to the Chinese population with reference to their use of technology. Read More »

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Insights from Garbage: What Our Stuff Says About Us

The study of material culture is a critical but under-explored area of contemporary anthropology with powerful implications for design research.  Of course, as cultural researchers, we have techniques to elicit insights about how people interact with the objects that fill their world, but it isn’t always enough to ask participants how they interact with the stuff that surrounds them, or even observe them putting their stuff to use.  Sometimes, a researcher has to get dirty.  Read More »

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February Whiteboard in Review

This month, Whiteboard @SonicRim had a new emcee. Tamara Christensen of Portigal Consulting, kindly agreed to lead the session. She came prepared with icebreakers, energy, and plenty of fuel for thought. First thing, she asked people to come up, one at a time, and “high five the whiteboard.” Everyone had a chance to put their name (and hand tracing) on the board, and share their favorite scent.

A skilled facilitator and a Whiteboard veterean, Tamara clearly articulated the goals for the day: to cultivate creative conversation and for participants to harvest meaning for themselves from that conversation. And then we jumped into the conversation. Read More »

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Reading

The Death & Life of Great American Cities

The Death & Life of Great American Cities

Jacobs provocatively tackles the question of why some cities seem to thrive and some wither. Combining observation and analysis with a strong social conscience and sense of justice, Jacob's approach sets a high standard for the kind of holistic & humanistic approach design thinking needs to be. Read more »

Outisde Lies Magic

Outside Lies Magic

Stilgoe's keen eye for observation and detail bring this exercise in psychogeography to life, making it a down-to-earth field manual for exploring spaces & their histories. The book illustrates the importance of historical analysis in research, and of seeking explanations in more than momentary trends. Read more »

100% India

100% India

Geel & Levy conduct an inspiring investigation into the practice of design by "everyday" people in India, with implications for sustainability & reuse. The book is noteworthy for its research method: trawling the bazaars of Jaipur & Delhi for objects and photographically investigating their materials, form & aesthetics. Read more »

The Interpretation of Cultures

The Interpretation of Cultures

Geertz presents anthropological essays on culture & its manifestations in everything from Moroccan civic life to Balinese cockfights. Explaining the process of unpacking observations and drawing cultural insights through interpretation, the works in this book essentially established the modern ethnographic method. Read more »

More reading »

Doing

SonicRim Book Club

SonicRim Book Club- May

We have selected two new titles for the May Book Club. Submit a request to review one of them by May 21st! Read more here. learn more »

Whiteboard

Join Us at the Whiteboard

Due to the Memorial Day Holiday, we will not have a Whiteboard session in May. We are now accepting RSVPs for the next Whiteboard @SonicRim on Friday, June 29th from 2:00-5:00 p.m. Please email chris@sonicrim.com if you are interested in joining us at our San Francisco office for another relaxed afternoon of drinks and creative conversation. To learn more about Whiteboard, read on! learn more »

Done

Apr
27

Join Us at the Whiteboard

We are now accepting RSVPs for the next Whiteboard @SonicRim on April 27th from 2:00-5:00 p.m. The first hour will be spent in networking, and then we'll begin whiteboarding. Please email chris@sonicrim.com if you are interested in joining us at our San Francisco office for another relaxed afternoon of drinks and creative conversation. To learn more about Whiteboard, read on! learn more »

Mar
9

SonicRim Book Club- March

We are piloting the SonicRim Book Club initiative. This month we have selected two titles: The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success, by Carmine Gallo Age of the Unthinkable, by Joshua Cooper Ramo If you would like to read one of these books and submit your review to for publication... learn more »

Mar
23

Join Us at the Whiteboard

We are now accepting RSVPs for the next Whiteboard @SonicRim on March 23rd from 2:00-5:00 p.m. This time we are exploring the open-space meeting format. Please email chris@sonicrim.com if you are interested in joining us at our San Francisco office for another relaxed afternoon of drinks and creative conversation. To learn more, read on! learn more »

Past events »