RSA Inclusive Design Student Award Winners Announced

The "Design to Include" theme in this year's RSA Student Design Awards challenged entrants to consider demographic shifts, growing accessibility legislation and the need for a more inclusive society. Some 2,200 students entered the competition, now in its 79th year, to compete for prizes of nearly £150,000. There is an exhibition of winners on the website below.

In the "New Design for Old" section which asked young designers to develop a product, service, system or interface that takes account of the needs, aspirations and capabilities of older people, Matthew Fiddimore of Nottingham Trent University won the Kohler Mira Limited Attachment Award and the Conran & Partners Travel Award.

His design, i-site, is a versatile, modular home security system that allows the user to choose the location of the sensors and to switch them on at the touch of a button. The portable passive infra-red (PIR) sensors communicate with the control panel via radio frequency allowing them to be placed anywhere, work entirely independently of one another and to be armed individually putting the user in complete control.

The "Interior Design" brief asked students to create a club, making it an environment where all the senses are enriched and also is accessible for people of different abilities including those with sensory impairments. Deborah Ingram of Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College won the ADAPT Trust Travel Award.

Her design includes a 'breeze' blowing out from the nightclub identifying the entrance. Moulded base camps rising from the dance floor provide seating, tables or podiums and, within these spaces, clubbers can create their own ambience by controlling the sound level, colour contrast and lighting.

The "Interactive Media" brief was to design a learning environment with full functionality and was presented within the constraints of the accepted accessibility guidelines to ensure students with visual impairment are able to enjoy the benefits of access to electronic information environments. Nym Jethwa at the University of Hertfordshire won the HEAD Trust Travel Award and a British Airways Flight Award.

Nym's "Clockwork Voice" aims to provide an interface that allows access to all site functions. The multimedia capabilities of the chosen software allows aural communication to be managed through digitised speech thus precluding the use of assistive technologies and screen readers.

"Future Homes" saw students designing an innovative problem-solving solution for bathing and showering within a prescribed space, that was universal, inclusive and safe - a good solution for 7 to 75 year old users. Keigo Harada of Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication won the PDD Attachment Award and The Ideal-Standard Designer's Award.

This ingenious design for a new bathing experience involves a helix system which causes water to project upwards from the rim of a disc on the floor, meeting at the top before falling back down the middle to create a shower. Floor controls are operated by standing on them to adjust the height and temperature of the water.

Associated Link: Exhibition of winners

All change at the top for System Concepts
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 3 July 2009
 
Leslie Fountain has been promoted to joint Managing Director of leading usability consultancy System Concepts.

Life in UCD immortalised in fiction: you couldn't make it up
Source: UN, 2 July 2009
 
Sarah Herman's fictitious book on life in a user-centred design company has hit the shelves and The Guardian's book pages...

Interfaces Magazine - Issue 79: The Education Issue
Source: Interaction Group, 1 July 2009
 
The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website.

Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus
Source: UN, 30 June 2009
 
Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier.

Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009
 
New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009
 
Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
Source: FT.com, 26 June 2009
 
In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.

And what do you do?
Source: Dexo Design, 25 June 2009
 
How do you describe your job role? Here are the results of a recent 'Preferred UX/UI Title' Poll.

Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption
Source: TMCNet, 24 June 2009
 
It's all about 'meaningful use'.

Glossy monitors look good but can hurt
Source: QUT, 23 June 2009
 
A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.