Earlier this month the Ford Foundation published Roads and Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure. Written by Nadia Eghbal, the report addresses the challenges of sustaining our digital infrastructure: Everybody relies on shared code to write software, including Fortune 500 companies, government, major software companies and startups. In a world driven by technology,…
Resources for Running User Research Workshops
Below are a few resources that I have found (and used) from across the web that I have genuinely found useful when running user research workshops. Empathy Maps and User Journeys This is a fantastic post on running empathy mapping and user journey workshops. It also includes some downloadable resources such as the poster below. There…
Altmetrics: A New Role for Library and Information Professionals (Video)
Following on from my recent post on the evolution of scholarly metrics I posted my chapter from Andy Tattersall’s new book on Altmetrics. Well, Andy’s also done a nice little video on the subject which you might also be interested in.
Not on Your Keyboard ✂ ♫ ☠
You are desperately trying to finish something important, and you have to include an unusual character that’s not on your keyboard. You know like a ¿ or a ©. What do you do? Well, now there’s Not on Your Keyboard. What, you say, is Not on Your Keyboard? Notonyourkeyboard.com lists characters that aren’t on your keyboard and copies…
On Humane Technology
As technology seeps deeper into our everyday lives, it’s increasingly important to make sure that we challenge assumptions about its role in our lives, and the philosophical and ethical issues of technology. Recently, there have been some interesting articles on how technology can be designed to quietly fit into our lives. This technology is described as Humane or…
The Seductive Lie of the Literature of Creativity
The literature of creativity describes the heroic pathways of discovery and invention. You know the stories: The post-it note and Swiffer to the music of Dylan and the art of Monet. These creations form the heart of gripping non-fiction accounts that provide a narrative around the individual achievements and miraculous inspirations that have delivered disruptive new ideas and technologies….
The Politics of Bitcoin – A Reading List
I am increasingly fascinated by Bitcoin, the crypto-currency, and thought it might be useful to begin compiling a list – a reading list – of articles and posts on bitcoin and the distributed ledger Block Chain. Specifically, these articles relate to the politics and social/political implications of the technology. Over the next few days and weeks I’ll…
Twitter’s Missing User Manual
In a recent tweet, Eric Stoller shared a wonderful resource: Twitter’s missing user manual. Twitter’s missing user manual [***share this with everyone!***] https://t.co/glwMrxdvfh — Eric Stoller (@EricStoller) March 7, 2016 The ‘manual’ (it’s really an extended blog post) aims to clarify and highlight all those additional bits of functionality or clever tricks that aren’t immediately obvious…
Redesigning Government
I recently came across this fantastic video of Mike Bracken (ex. Head of GDS and currently CDO at Co-Op Digital) and Tim O’Reily (O’Reily Media). It’s worth watching to find out more about how design and user research is transforming government services and systems. It’s also really interesting to hear Mike talk about his current…
What’s in a Name? Digital Engagement or Digital Inclusion
The Government Digital Inclusion team have recently announced their move into the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS). As part of the move the move the Inclusion team also revealed a change in their name. A change from Inclusion to Engagement. This change in name made me think about the terms used to address digital…
Bookmarked: Report – From Bricks to Clicks
Today sees the release of The Higher Education Commission’s report entitled: From Bricks to Clicks – The Potential of Data and Analytics in Higher Education As the authors describe it, the report: undertakes a review of the current data landscape across English higher education institutions, looking at data collections, learning analytics and the current barriers…
A New Chapter
In mid-March this year I will be starting a new job as Head of Digital at the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB). I will be working on a combination of new digital projects and the more corporate web/social media side of things as well. I will greatly miss my colleagues and work at the…
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