Hi, I’m Alexa Roman.
I am a user experience practitioner and project manager for Kluge.
This is my blog about architecture, design and technology.
Processing: Code for Architects
Architects are coding.
In fact, there is a coding language that is intended for architects called Processing. Last weekend, I took a workshop on Processing from Biayna Bogosian and Jason King at Somewhere Something. I had heard of Processing before but I did not know it was developed with the designer in mind. Computer scientists – engineers – considering that it might be powerful for designers to draw with code. Specifically, architects. Designers who build large-scale, physical infrastructure. Continue reading
Save Coldwater Canyon
This post is particularly local but it is important.
A couple weeks ago, I found out that the private school near my church, Harvard Westlake, wants to build a 3 story parking structure into the hillside of Coldwater Canyon. With a soccer field on top.
For those of you who don’t know Los Angeles, Coldwater Canyon cuts through the Santa Monica mountains and connects Studio City to Beverly Hills. It is highly developed already with pavement, sidewalks, many houses, our church and this high school, Harvard Westlake. It is still, somehow, a beautiful drive and a scenic view of the valley and Beverly Hills. Continue reading
Design Starts with a Problem
Everyone seems to think they are a designer.
And it is no wonder why – the Merriam-Webster definition of design is so broad it includes the idea of “designing a crime”. There are over 35 occupations that list “design” in their title. Among these, sound design, floral design and theatrical design.
Karl Ulrich, Product Design Professor at UPenn, uses this definition:
Design is conceiving and giving form to artifacts that solve problems. Continue reading
Brave New Digital World
We all know that the world is becoming increasingly digital. Innovations like Google Glass and Leap Motion are becoming household words. 3D printing is practically old news. Did you know they 3D print human organs?
Of course you did.
We are rapidly more interested in pulling our interfaces off of flat screens and pushing them out into space. While right now, we still see the distinction – an iPad on a wall, a watch on a wrist, the Kinect controller… Continue reading
Design Intervention
People often send me “design inspiration”. From logos and graphics to actual working products.
I think it is important to make a distinction between something that inspires you, which can be broad and something that is well designed.
In assessing interfaces, interactions and experiences, I look for 3 key things:
