Experiments in Seeing @meaghannolan-blog - Tumblr Blog

Charts from OKCupid, showing how straight women and men rate each other based on ages. For women, the men they find most attractive are roughly their own age. For men, the women they find most attractive are roughly the same age - 20 to 23 - regardless of the age of the man. (538)

snarkymonkeyprime

Good fucking Christ.

meaghannolan-blog

o_O

ilovecharts

Lowbrow and Highbrow Tastes of 1949

sci-universe

This pen-device lets you draw every single color in the world. Scribble matches hues and transfers them onto paper or a mobile device. The pen is armed with a 16-bit RGB color sensor that stores the colors you tell it to.

meaghannolan-blog

Next up: soul vacuum.

Ok, seriously though, this is rad.

The sharing economy’s success is inextricably tied to the economic recession, making new American poverty palatable. It’s disaster capitalism. “Sharing” companies are not embarrassed by this — it appears to be a point of pride.

#sharing economy

Book Review: Nobrow by John Seabrook

As a member of Generation X and writer for The New Yorker magazine, John Seabrook examines the erosion of the distinction between High Brow (good taste) and Low Brow (bad taste), and the introduction of a new concept of what makes something culturally valuable.

For a long time, cultural value was based on whether or not the object was original, of high quality, and fit in with a well-known and agreed-upon canon of "good" objects of that kind. From men's suits to literature to furniture, taste, or your ability to identify and acquire objects that met these criteria, gave you class and status.

But why should one small group of people have the right to decide what is good and bad? The agreed-upon distinction between High Brow and Low Brow began to crumble as marketers empowered individuals to see themselves as tastemakers. Soon, having "good taste" meant being able to build an authentic and interesting identity for yourself out of the objects you consumed.

One of the most interesting ideas Seabrook introduces in Nobrow, centers on the particular importance of self-identity in the American psyche:

"There was the America of 200 million and there was the America of you and me. De Tocqueville had similarly observed in the United States in the 1840s that in the absence of a definite sense of the reality of the social world, Americans tended to be preoccupied with their own identities. 'In democratic communities, each citizen is habitually engaged in the contemplation of a very puny object: himself. If he ever raises his looks higher, he perceives only the immense form of society at large or the still more imposing aspect of mankind. His ideas are all extremely minute and clear or extremely general and vague; what lies between them is a void. When he has been drawn out of his own sphere, therefore, he always expects that some amazing object will be offered to his attention; and it is on these terms alone that he consents to tear himself for a moment from the petty, complicated cares that form the charm and excitement of his life.'"

De Tocqueville could have written this yesterday, much less 150 years ago, and provides an some pretty hefty insights into how people work (at least in America).

The habitual contemplation of self plays into the perceived importance of building self-identity through consumption. Marketers rely heavily on this deeply rooted need to perfect self identity to sell products, promising that they will help complete the picture. The problem being that there's always another flourish to add, another hole to fill, or a whole new outlook to express... with things.

Additionally, individuals can't be motivated to seriously tackle major social issues, generally not understanding how they connect to their everyday lives, which is where "charm and excitement" and thus, interest, lie.

How does the Internet fit into all of this?

On one hand, the Internet enables narcissistic and navel-gazing behaviour, building entire cults of personality around individuals who make it truly difficult to figure out what creative talent they possess. It's also pretty easy to reinforce your own beliefs and avoid content that challenges them, especially as websites cater more and more to personalization and particular world views.

On the other hand, the Internet is also used as a great equalizer, amplifying the smallest voices and forging unexpected, paradigm-shattering connections everyday. Powerful social changes have been catalyzed by the Internet and the social media networks using it to connect humans.

If anything, De Tocqueville's thesis is a good reminder to use this incredible medium we have at our fingertips almost anywhere we go, any time of day to spend a little less time contemplating puny things and more time filling in the void between ourselves and the truly important challenges we face.

#book review #nobrow

itsokaytobesmart

Hey New Yorkers… Manhattanhenge happens tomorrow and Friday!

Twice a year, the Manhattan street grid aligns perfectly with the setting sun, the glowing orb illuminating the east-west streets in golden splendor. Thursday, May 29 and Friday, May 30 mark the alignment for 2014. If the weather stays clear, you’ll be in for a treat.

From winter to summer, the point where the sun meets the horizon creeps northward, day by day, until the summer solstice, when it reverses its journey (the second Manhattanhenge of 2014 will happen July 11/12). Because the Manhattan street grid is oriented slightly northwest-southeast, the illuminating alignment doesn’t happen on the equinoxes, when the sun sets due west in the sky.

The AMNH has some suggested viewing locations on their site, but any street with a clear view of New Jersey should do the trick. If you take pictures, tag them with #manhattanhenge so we can all feel vicarious awe!

(top image by Hhawk, via Wikimedia)

meaghannolan-blog

This all goes down at 8:16pm tonight.

Curiosity is the intellectual need to answer questions and close open patterns. Story plays to this universal desire by doing the opposite, posing questions and opening situations.

Robert McKee (found in Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath)

I think this is a fundamental insight about humans that explains a lot of what experience designers try to do:

Craft a story that will play to someone's curiosity so that they engage with you. If your story is interesting enough and compelling enough, they will engage with you enough for a relationship between you to form.

#ux design

fastcodesign

App Turns NYC Subway Maps Into Interactive Data Visualizations

If you’re a New Yorker who likes to nerd out about maps, urbanism, and data visualization, a new app called Tunnel Vision will be like poetry to your eyes. But even if you’re not into any of those things, it might make dismal waits on subway platforms a little more fun.

meaghannolan-blog

"If you’re a New Yorker who likes to nerd out about maps, urbanism, and data visualization"

Yep, yep aaaaand yep.

architecture-apprentice

For the past few years Zaha Hadid’s Practice have been focusing their research efforts on the field of Parametricism. Simply put, they have been wanted to utilise digital technology to enable them to create complex forms. The exhibition showed work from the past year where they have focused on utilising this technology to create outer shells that reject firm, tectonic geometries in favour of organic, fluid forms.

meaghannolan-blog

Very cool. Digital --> Organic

For more than a century, this was how status had worked in America. You made some money in one commercial enterprise or another, and then to solidify your social position and to distinguish yourself from others, you cultivated a distaste for the cheap amusements and common spectacles that made up the mass culture

John Seabrook "Nobrow"

prostheticknowledge

Fish on Wheels

A small fishtank that is driven by a goldfish with the help of computer vision, put together by studio diip - video embedded below:

By using a camera and computer vision software it is possible to make a fish control a robot car over land. By swimming towards an interesting object, the fish can explore the world beyond the limits of his tank.

Link

karlis-deactivated20190623

This is brilliant.

fastcompany

Need some motivation for your run? Now you can have zombies chase you. - Inside The Crazy Google Glass Fitness App That Makes You Run For Your Life

nhr224

This may be the greatest Google Glass endorsement I’ve seen yet

theuxlab

Series #2 Wrapped Up: Zoraab knocking the socks off UX

As a self-motivated (and self-taught) designer with a desire to focus on UX, I’m keen on learning as much as I can. Fortunately, there is a plethora of resourceful content available. However, as the field itself can be broad and roles can be blurred, the initial process in determining which methodologies and deliverables to use can be disorientating. As I’ve continued to read and take courses, even participated in hackathons & the Startup Chile program, and attended meetups and conferences given by the field’s associations and experts, I’m grateful to the community for being so informative; yet, what I still found lacking was the opportunity to apply the knowledge learned while collaborating with others designers …until I found the UX Lab!

Introducing THE UX LAB

The UX Lab consist of GUIDED HANDS-ON workshop(s) working in teams with other designers, ranging from new to experienced, in a supportive learning environment warmly led by Meagan and Sean. The concept of partnering up with a startup to help them build a better UX design is absolutely brilliant. The ability to brainstorm with feedback and see the different approaches and proposals resulting in a real live solution implemented soon is awesome! A win-win for all: the startup, the designers AND the users!

Introducing ZORAAB

During this series, we worked with Zoraab – a wonderful sister & brother team (Tina & Sunny) founded to provide an alternative to the bland sock lifestyle. It’s a beautiful site that not only offers an online retail section to purchase an eclectic assortment of mens’ socks, but a monthly “sockscription” service, where you never have to shop for socks again! A great concept, depending upon your needs and preference, different styles of socks will be deliver to you.

ZORAAB + THE UX LAB =

GET READY TO HAVE YOUR SOCKS KNOCKED OFF!

meaghannolan-blog

So happy to be a part of this 😊

ryanpanos

Inhabiting Infrastructures: Indian Stepwells | Socks Studio

The stepwells are generally storage and irrigation tanks in which sets of steps must be descended in order to reach for water and maintain the well itself. These structures are mostly common in western India and in arid regions of South Asia where they provide regular supply in regions affected by heavy seasonal fluctuations in water availability.

The stepwells, (the erliest date to 600 AD), essentially appear as infrastructural monuments for water collection, huge artifacts somewhere between landscape and architecture sunken in the earth. They are usually composed of two constant elements, a well and an access route: the well collects monsoon rain percolating through layers of fine silt (to filter particulates), eventually reaching a layer of impermeable clay. The second elements, the staircases, are descended to reach water and allow the use of the infrastructure. There are no two identical stepwells, as each one of them, – about 3000 were built -, reveals specific features in the shape and in the decorative motives; in some cases the stepwells host galleries and chambers around the well.

UX Designer denied interview with own mom

I'm doing some initial user research for a side project I'm working on and sent out a survey to family and friends as one of the first steps. In the survey, respondents could opt-in to a follow-up interview.

I sent the survey to 27 people.

13 responded.

1 declined the interview.

That person was my mom.

Yep, that happened.

#loveyoumom