Happiness Machines at WebVisions 2012

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Summary: Andrew Hinton Talks at WebVisions Portland and interviewed by Metal Toad. Reflections, video, and presentation slides.

In May this year, I was honored to be one of the speakers at WebVisions in Portland, Oregon. The folks behind WebVisions have been growing an amazing conference and community in the northwest for a dozen years now; and in the last year, they’ve been working to grow similar events & communities in other places, like Chicago, NYC, Barcelona and Atlanta. My talk was aimed at those of us who make digital stuff for other people to use. It was a bit on the philosophical side, but it has very pragmatic implications:

  • Do we really understand the people we’re making things for, and the organizations they’re part of?

  • Are we assuming too much as designers?

  • And what is really at the heart of the relationship we and users have with the technological systems we’re paid to design, as information architects, interaction designers, content strategists and the rest?

Some friendly folks at Metal Toad in Portland also interviewed a number of the speakers at WebVisions.  My own interview is available on YouTube, and embedded below, along with slides & notes from the talk via SlideShare.


The Interview

The Presentation Slides & Notes