Design for the collective user’s experience

User experiences are always designed for single users, sometimes for single users taking part in social events. But what happens when we flip the coin and design for the collective FIRST, for the gathering, for the identity these people have as they congregate? This gives a refreshed view on what is important for the users of the technology or service you are designing. It might not make us more FREE, but it might widen the space of how we are able to think about the people we design for.

I can talk about some of the designs and technologies we have made at the Center for Interactive Spaces in Århus, Denmark. An Interactive Home prototype, an interactive floor and possibly a brand new design for large scale interaction for thousands of people.

Most of our work is about bringing digital technology into the physical world and join the best qualities of the physical with the highest potentials of the computers… That’s often called pervasive computing, and there’s a lot to be learned from that scene.