Posts by Hugh Dubberly

Nov 1, 2008

An Evolving Map of Design Practice and Design Research

*Written for Interactions magazine by Liz Sanders. Edited by Hugh Dubberly.* Design research is in a state of flux. The design research landscape has been the focus of a tremendous amount of exploration and growth over the past five to 10 years. It is currently a jumble of approaches that, while competing as well as […]

Nov 1, 2008

BD Biosciences Website

DDO has been working with BD Biosciences, a business unit of Becton, Dickinson, for three years. We began our work by re-creating the taxonomy for the site’s online product catalog, which involved reorganizing thousands of product SKUs.

Sep 1, 2008

Design in The Age of Biology: Shifting From a Mechanical-Object Ethos to an Organic-Systems Ethos

*Written for Interactions magazine by Hugh Dubberly.* In the early twentieth century, our understanding of physics changed rapidly; now, our understanding of biology is undergoing a similar rapid change. Freeman Dyson wrote, “It is likely that biotechnology will dominate our lives and our economic activities during the second half of the twenty-first century, just as […]

Jul 1, 2008

Learning Curves for Design

*Written for Interactions magazine by Hugh Dubberly.* When businesspeople discuss growth, they often refer to S-curves or “hockey sticks”—diagrams depicting quantity changing over time, typically units sold per month or quarter. Growth begins slowly and gradually increases to an inflection point; from there it accelerates. Eventually, growth begins to slow and tapers off, for instance, […]

Jun 4, 2008

Zume Life Health Management Service

DDO worked with Zume Life to create interaction design prototypes for a personal mobile health management service. The service integrates hardware and software to improve the relationship between individuals and health professionals.

May 1, 2008

The Experience Cycle

*Written for Interactions magazine by Hugh Dubberly and Shelley Evenson.* In this article, we contrast the “sales cycle” and related models with the “experience cycle” model. The sales cycle model is a traditional tool in business. The sales cycle frames the producer-customer relationship from the producer’s point of view and aims to funnel potential customers […]

Mar 11, 2008

A Model of Play

*Created in collaboration with Satoko Kakihara, Jack Chung, and Paul Pangaro.* This model is built on the idea that play is a type of conversation. It involves two individuals, who might also be teams, or points of view with in a single person, or a virtual person and a real person. Through conversation, they create […]

Mar 1, 2008

The Analysis-Synthesis Bridge Model

Written for Interactions magazine by Hugh Dubberly, Shelley Evenson, and Rick Robinson. The simplest way to describe the design process is to divide it into two phases: analysis and synthesis. Or preparation and inspiration. But those descriptions miss a crucial element—the connection between the two, the active move from one state to another, the transition […]

Jan 1, 2008

Toward a Model of Innovation

*Written for Interactions magazine by Hugh Dubberly.* For the last few years, innovation has been a big topic in conversation about business management. A small industry fuels the conversation with articles, books, and conferences. Designers, too, are involved. Prominent product design firms offer workshops and other services promising innovation. Leading design schools promote “design thinking” […]

Jul 31, 2007

Nikon my Picturetown

Nikon’s my Picturetown service is the only photo storage and sharing site created by a camera manufacturer. Wi-Fi-enabled Nikon camera users can upload images directly to the site—essentially eliminating the PC from the equation—creating an integrated hardware and software service.