We are constantly simplifying the world around us and the people within it. This is a perfectly understandable reaction to the messy things we have to work with. But with every step back we are building a wall between the user and what it is to be human. We talk to Alastair about human centred design. How to use your senses and perception and take in the world around you.

“If you reduce humans to only being users then you remove large swathes of what it is to be human… the world of what it is to be human is vast and we really need to properly consider our humanity”  

This classic episode features both the original interview with Alastair, plus parts of our “Journey number 6” conversation originally only available on SoundCloud.

(Listening time: 36 minutes, transcript)

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References:

• Full transcript for episode 306
• Alastair Somerville:
  • Website: https://acuity.design/
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alastair-somerville-b48b368/
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/Acuity_Design
• Walking Through Information – Alastair’s slidedeck from his 2017 EuroIA workshop
• design.medium.com/making-sense-of-sensory-design-b566f698587">How to make sense of designing for all our senses? (Article by Alastair)
• User Experience as Embodied Experience – Considerations for UX Designers
• Structures for clarity and confidence in workshops 
• White Christmas (Episode of Black Mirror)
• Tech used in Black Mirror that exists or is on the horizon
• The art of unseeing in China Mieville’s The City and The City
• The City & the City (book by China Mieville)
• design.medium.com/the-meaning-of-things-information-architecture-in-time-and-space-86b47e3cdca3">Homological Design and the meaning of things (Article by Alastair)
• Beyond vision: Sound design as sensory design
• Saying no to normality (YouTube, Talk by Alastair)
• Sensory UX: A New approach that improves user experiences
• tech.com/news/2022/sep/26/the-importance-accessibility-first-effective-ux-design/">The importance of accessibility first for effective UX design
• Photos from Alastair to accompany our conversation:somerville-photos-episode-175.jpg">somerville-photos-episode-175-1024x1024.jpg" alt="Collage of 18 small photos and two larger ones. The first large photo is of a man and his small white dog, standing outside in a park. The man has his back to the camera and is looking down, seemingly on a mobile screen. The dog, on a leash, is sniffing a bush. The second large photo is of a table covered with wooden Jenga blocks in various structures and shapes. One of those structures is a portal, or rectangular gateway, with a small Lego figure looking through it. Other Jenga blocks are placed as if radiating outwards from this portal, and they have sticky notes in various colors attached, with words written on them, too small to read. The rest of the collage are many smaller pictures with further variants of Jenga blocks and sticky notes in different shapes and structures, often more portals. Lego figures sometimes stand around or atop these structures." width="1024" height="1024">
• Original show notes for Episode 175
• Journey Number 6 – extra interview with Alastair from EuroIA 2017
• Episode 105: Sensory experiences with Alastair Somerville
• Episode 144: Anticipatory design and cross-channel ecosystems
• UX Podcast on Mastodon
• Backstage mailing list (show notes to your inbox, plus extra stories, news and offers): Sign up here
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The post #306 Human centred design with Alastair Somerville (UXP Classic) appeared first on UX Podcast.