One of the best panels I've seen so far was called "Make It So: Learning from SciFi Interfaces" presented by Chris Noessel and Nathan Shedroff. They've been watching a ton of science fiction movies and mapping the ways in which they've influenced the design of real things and the ways in which design has influenced science fiction.

One of the big lessons I took away from the panel is the power and danger of anthropomorphism. Using human characteristics can aid learning and make people feel more comfortable, especially when it comes to new technology. The power is that even simple things like sound can anthropomorphize something. For example, in Star Wars, R2D2 is endearing because of the little sighs and bleeps he makes. Human-like behavior can allow be effective. The Amazon One-Click system is like a waiter who remembers what you like order.

The danger of anthropomorphism is that it raises the expectations of the user as to the sophistication of the system and the user will be more disappointed if the functionality isn't not there.

But what really blew my mind was the last session of the day called "LOLWUT? Why Do I Keep Coming Back to This Website?" presented by Ben Huh and Eric Nakagawa of icanhascheezburger.com. What in the world is I Can Has Cheezburger, you ask? It's a growing collection of funny pictures (mostly of cats) with silly captions.



What's so mind-blowing about that? This just-for-fun blog has become a real business with 9 employees and a growing fan base. The internets are a weird and wonderful place!

Posted by Megan