A View from the Rim

Thinking

Opportunities in India: Interview with Raoul Schoumaker

SonicRim founder and CEO Uday spoke with designer Raoul Schoumaker at the Pune Design Festival. In the interview below, Schoumaker discusses opportunities for design in India.

Read More »

Posted in Feature, Thinking | Comments closed

Scoping the New Social Network: Emergent Themes in Online Communities

Recently, I’ve found myself thinking about growth areas in social networking.  Specifically, I’ve been captivated by networks that extend beyond the more germane social networking tasks of sharing content and status updates, to those that empower their users to extend their capacities, meet their needs, and achieve their aspirations.

So far, I’ve honed in on five areas that I’m going to keep my eye on for future developments: Read More »

Posted in Feature, Thinking | Comments closed

Designing for China’s State of Mind

During my recent visit to China, along with the terrible quality of air, I also could not ignore the time wasted in traffic at any time of day in Beijing. I was driving a five-year-old, Chinese-manufactured, stick shift Cherokee Jeep, and literally half of my time during an outing was spent on the road. But it was neither the number of cars nor the quality of the roads that cause congestion– in fact, most of the city’s roads are in better shape than those in the Bay Area. It’s the imprudent drivers who created the chaos. Read More »

Posted in Thinking | Comments closed

Sketches from the Whiteboard: January

Last week’s Whiteboard was a success. About 18 professionals joined us from a range of industries– social media, finance, online publishing, and independent consulting, to name a few. With drinks in hand, 128 square feet of clean whiteboard space, and enough Expo pens to go around, everyone was ready to dive in. Read More »

Posted in Feature, Thinking | Comments closed

Insights from EPIC 2011

 

 

In 2011 SonicRim sponsored, helped organize, and presented at EPIC – the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference. EPIC is a confluence of ethnographers, anthropologists, designers, engineers, marketers and other professionals involved in the use of ethnography in industry. We support EPIC because we believe it is an important place to reflect on our work and identify new opportunities. The annual event follows a typical conference format, with separate paper and workshop sessions, and breakout sessions in between them.

The ideas that emerged provided insights on changes in our industry, collaborating more successfully with clients, and evolving research practices. Here’s an overview of what we learned from the experience: Read More »

Posted in Feature, Thinking | Comments closed

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

Whiteboard

Feb
24

Join Us at the Whiteboard

We are now accepting RSVPs for the next Whiteboard @SonicRim on February 24th 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 a relaxed afternoon of drinks and creative conversation. To learn more about what Whiteboard is, read on! learn more »

Done

Jan
3

SonicRim in the News

SonicRim CEO Uday Dandavate was featured on “India Art n Design,” a design blog. You can read the article, titled “Design Research– A Relentless Quest,” here. learn more »

Dec
9

Whiteboard

Join us at 2:00 pm for SonicRim’s new initiative, “Whiteboard”. Every month we will host a Friday afternoon session for design researchers to share emerging patterns, ideas and aspirations in the field of design research.Cutting across organizational affiliations, this opportunity transcends the competitive nature of the design research marketplace to serve as a forum for... learn more »

Oct
1

Uday at TCDC International Symposium

  Uday Dandavate has been invited to speak at the Thailand Creative Design Center’s (TCDC) International Symposium. He will join eight other world-renowned thought leaders in discussing how innovation can change the world. learn more »

Past events »