Webbit

I fully admit, I am a techno-geek. I love the wonderment of technology. I go ga-ga for the  possibility of what it can do for the advancement of people, and how when incorporated thoughtfully into our everyday lives, it can turn a previously frustrating and challenging experience into one of total engagement and excitement. One such technology that I’ve always thought could have that type of impact is Microsoft’s Surface technology (I also wrote a previous post on my infatuation with Surface a while back).

Well, the Surface technology (sort of a Jetson’s coffee table really) is now becoming more widely available. At Manifest, we’ve been concepting some Surface solutions for clients and figured it was time for us to get one ourselves. Fact of the matter is that it’s difficult for design agencies to get. Then again, Microsoft has never really met the likes of one Manifest Digital. We submitted our order and were told it was “in process”. Last week a couple Microsoft engineers came out to inspect the office. Their main goal - to determine if we were “Surface worthy” or so it seemed like. As a side note, it made me think back to an old episode of Seinfeld, where Elaine determines whether or not her boyfriend is “sponge worthy”. Anyway, the engineers examined the lighting, electrical and flooring to make sure the office environment wouldn’t cause any issues with the table. It makes sense especially given the number of cameras in the table itself. We received the approval and the Surface table arrived yesterday…. and everyone geeky enough to understand the possibilities of this new technology began drooling… literally.

Here are a few first pictures I snapped with my cell phone. It doesn’t look like much at all yet, just a giant box on a pallet. I’ll share more pictures as we unwrap the new beast on Friday.

Anyone have recommendations on great coffee table books?

written by webbit \\ tags: coffee table, gesture design, interaction design, Manifest Digital, Microsoft Surface, technology

Manifest Digital was recently selected by Microsoft as one of four Chicago design agencies to participate in their PhizzPop Design Challenge competition. As part of the competition, three people from each agency work together to address a particular business problem through solution design. The teams are provided with some initial Microsoft training. Then, the teams are provided the design challenge and given about a week to devise a solution. The competition is judged by design industry experts on November 20th, with the winning team moving on to showcase and compete at the SXSW conference in March 2009.

The PhizzPop Design Challenge - Chicago 2016 Olympics Bid Awareness

An overview of the challenge taken from Microsoft’s UX Evangelist Chris Bernard’s blog:

You’ve been selected by the Chicago 2016 Committee to help provide digital strategies to help Chicago be selected at the site of the 2016 Olympics. Chicago 2016 has less than a year before the International Olympic Committee votes on which of the four competing cities wins the bid. The four competing cities are Chicago, Madrid, Rio, and Tokyo.

One of the key elements to winning the bid for Chicago is getting the city’s youth behind the bid. Teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 will be in their late 20’s to early 30’s if/when the Olympic come to Chicago in 2016. This is the audience that in 2016 will be going to events, and taking their kids to cheer on the next Shawn Johnson or Michael Phelps.

The committee is looking for ways to actively engage and ultimately generate support with the city’s youth in a demonstrable way. It is very important to not just get the youth involved but somehow show their impact/support in a visual/meaningful way. It is also important to somehow find ways to activate those that influence youth, like teachers, coaches, and parents.

Introducing the Manifest PhizzPop Team

We’ve stacked the deck and have three great team members representing Manifest. Here’s a bit about them…

• Brian Henkel - One of Manifest’s wicked-hard-core User Experience Architects, Brian is leading the user experience design charge. Look for him to sketch, wireframe and incorporate plenty of multimedia ideas into the design. He’s a big thinker, so look for a solution with a true “WOW!” effect.
• Kevin Panke - An energetic and exciting interactive designer, Kevin is the team’s visual design magician. Kevin’s drive for creating fresh, bold and simple designs will help the team put the “pop” in their PhizzPop solution.
• Dan Thompson - As the team’s lead developer, Dan has the challenge of getting the solution to actually work (yes, this actually needs to happen). This will be challenge in itself, as Brian and Kevin will likely come up with large, kick-ass creative ideas. This isn’t anything new to Dan though - he’s constantly playing an integral role in developing many of the solutions for Manifest’s clients on a regular basis.

Look for the team to hit a homerun on the challenge. As I write, they’re cooped up in the design room across from me. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with. Don’t miss out on cheering them on during the showcase and judging event.

Don’t forget to RSVP to attend the showcase and the judging!

written by webbit \\ tags: Brian Henkel, Chicago, Chicago 2016, Dan Thompson, design challenge, Kevin Panke, Manifest Digital, Microsoft PhizzPop

Well, look at that… Manifest’s very own Carolyn Chandler talks about how we use Central Desktop to improve our company’s collaboration, knowledge sharing and document management.

Truth be told, we’ve been using Central Desktop for nearly two years now, both for internal projects and company assets and collaboration on client projects. Personally, the five best features of the Central Desktop tool are:

1. Workspaces - the ability to create individual workspaces, comprised of teams, topics or client projects to best manage the work at hand
2. Document Management and Version Tracking - goodbye file server, hello version control, history and comparison
3. Security and Configuration - super simple setup of users and access rights, including the ability to mix internal and external users all in one workspace
4. Discussions and Wikis - Simple, easy to implement and with core features for quickly generating discussion on a topic and documenting processes (even integrated with email!)
5. Quick and Simple Setup - It really wasn’t difficult to hit the ground running, and continuing to do so regularly when using it on client projects

written by webbit \\ tags: Carolyn Chandler, case study, Central Desktop, collaboration, interview, Manifest Digital, tool