Guest Visitor - Jon Rimmer

Jon Rimmer is primarily a researcher into human behaviour and attitudes, specifically whilst engaging with interactive products and environments.

His talk today was inspirational and raised a lot of issues that we have been dealing with throughout this BA Digital Media Degree.

For example, understanding communication, interactive design and design futures are just some of his major studies. These studies have taken Jon around the world, experiencing different countries and cultures, something that I am envious of and enthusiastic to do after my degree.

Developing user-sensor design is one of Jon's recent studies, looking at how things work and how things dont work (inspired from Don Norman's "Design of Everyday Things" and Jacob Nilson's "Interactive Design" - PERSONAL REFERENCE - LOOK UP THESE BOOKS). Jon has gone around photographing and studying things that do and don't work, and looking at general design and interaction through different mediums.

Interaction Design also relates to film (According to Jon and also in relation to my Dissertation). Narrative structure is arguably the most important factor of my dissertation and looking at linear structure in interactive design can help my research, for example creating a film or interactive piece for a target audience of say children, causes you to produce a linear narrative for them to understand.

Narrative structure is toyed with in post-modern film and culture and raises many issues of how films should be produced and created (another sector of my dissertation).

More of Jon's studies can be seen on the slideshow via the student shared space and I will study his perspectives and work in more detail when I have more time after the D & AD Awards Brief.

To end this post I will raise an issue mentioned in Jon's Talk. Should we design for the "Empty-Nesters" - the upper class and rich target audience? Make money of those with money...

Interesting idea, makes sense but this relies on understanding what people want. People with money want to spend money...