For our first meeting in 2012 we were invited by the students from the social anthropology department of the University of Munich.

The department is specialized in visual anthropology and the students host a weekly movie programme where they watch and discuss films that are relevant for social anthropology in general and visual anthropology in particular.

The movie “Kitchen Stories” asks many questions that are of interest both for designers and anthropologists. How can design researcher/ ethnographers immerse in the subject’s life without interfering too much? Should researchers actually pretend to be “the fly on the wall”? How close should researchers become with their research subjects? And what if access to the field of research is blocked?

You are welcome to watch the movie with us and join the discussion afterwards.

Kitchen Stories (2003)

As a result of a study in the 1950s in which efficiency experts at the Home Research Institute observed the kitchen habits of Swedish housewives to come up with a better workspace design, eighteen men are transported in caravans to farms in Norway to observe the cooking habits of Norwegian single men. Kitchen Stories, a quirky comedy co-written by Swedish director Bent Hamer and Norway’s Jörgen Bergmark, depicts the relationship between two elderly single men, a relationship in which the observer ends up being the observed. The film is similar, in its deadpan humor and offbeat characters, to the work of Aki Kaurismäki, but without the Finnish director’s overbearing self-consciousness.

The scientists wear white lab coats and carry clipboards, seemingly poised for an ET-like invasion. The observers, however, must live outside the homes of their subjects in small trailers and are not allowed to talk, drink, or otherwise interact with their subjects. Some, however, are not willing subjects. One of the scientists, Folke, a Swede (Tomas Norström), draws Isak (Joachim Calmeyer), an antisocial Norwegian farmer used to living in solitude. Isak at first refuses to let Folke into his house, resentful that the horse he was promised in return for his participation turned out to be a figurine. Folke, however, eventually gains access to the kitchen and sits every day perched in his high observation chair, recording Isak’s every movement like the Lord High Executioner until Isak decides to take his hot plate up to his bedroom to frustrate his unwelcome guest.

The sly Isak drills a hole through the upstairs bedroom floor and now secretly watches Folke in the kitchen. When they start conversing, each man insists on speaking his own language (not shown by the subtitles) as if to doggedly maintain their separate identities. Gradually they become friends, breaking through the barriers in their life that have imposed a limiting solitude. They begin first by drinking coffee in the morning, sharing a bit of their background, and then celebrating Isak’s birthday with cake and bourbon whiskey. Their interaction, of course, is against the rules of the study, and there are consequences for Folke. His life, however, acquires new meaning the more willing he is to take risks and share himself openly. Kitchen Stories is a small film, but one that is warmhearted and thoroughly enjoyable, a work that celebrates the small pleasures in just being alive without trying to be profound or seduce us with blatant emotional appeals. (IMDB)

When: Tuesday, January 24th at 8pm c.t.

Where: We will meet in the main building of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1), room E006
And afterwards? Informal meetup at the “Dienstagsbar” of the Kunstakademie nearby with drinks and music.
Want to join? RSVP here.

Big thanks to the Film AG.

All the RESULTS are going to be published on this website for free. All questions are ANONYMOUS.

Survey for: interaction designers, web designers, UX professionals, visual designers, usability experts, product managers, information architects and other professionals involved in the design of products.

Open: until 31.12.2011.

Publish date: January 2012.

Fill the survey here!

Nick Myers: The Visual Interface is Now Your Brand. Nick Myers is the managing director of visual design and branding at Cooper where he works with teams to design experiences across a variety of digital products and services. He helps companies craft interfaces and brands that are both unique and compelling, yet authentic and usable.

During his time at Cooper, he has focused on the design of iPad collaboration tools, portfolio management, in-home patient care, 3D interior design, photo sharing, virtualization, medical informatics, and even check fraud. He is an instructor for Cooper’s visual interface design class and he writes often for the Cooper Journal. His designs have received several awards since he began working as a designer in 1996. When not designing, he’s usually training for his next marathon. You can follow him on Twitter at @nickmyer5

Stephen Anderson: Long After the Thrill: Sustaining Passionate Users. Stephen P. Anderson is a speaker and consultant based out of Dallas, Texas. He spends unhealthy amounts of time thinking about design, psychology and leading intrapreneurial teams– topics he frequently speaks about at national and international events.

Stephen recently published the Mental Notes card deck (getmentalnotes.com), a tool to help businesses use psychology to design better experiences. Heis also writing a book on “Seductive Interactions” that will explore this topic of psychology and design in more detail. Twitter: @stephenanderson

When? December 12, 2011. 19:00.
Where? amiando GmbH. Sandstr. 33, 80335 Munich (U1 Stiglmaierplatz)
RSVP: XING
How much? This is a free of charge event.
Who? Interaction, visual and web designers, developers, entrepreneurs interested in user experience.
Language? English

Sponsor

Special thanks to amiando GmbH for hosting the meeting and for providing snacks.

Update: see event pictures (21.11.2011)

Whole new industries emerge that base their revenue on selling services instead of ‘hard’ products. When designing for services interaction designers have to bear in mind how a single device is nested into the service environment by taking a more holistic stance.

Services can be described as ecosystems consisting of customers, manifold service touch points, a variety of technologies and of course service providers and sub-service providers. Hence, designing for services often resembles systems design with the exception that due to their intangible character services are much harder to address.

In their workshop Lenja Sorokin and Sebastian Wendlandt will invite participants to sketch services. They will present a hands-on approach with basic tinkering material that transforms intangible service systems into tangible boundary objects.

Lenja Sorokin and Sebastian Wendlandt will demonstrate a creative and designerly method that allows participants to visualize flows of tangible goods, intangible values and information. And what’s more the system can be easily manipulated in order to simulate effects of intervention into the service ecosystem.

Lenja Sorokin and Sebastian Wendlandt currently work as interaction designers at UID.

When? November 21, 2011. 19:00.
Where? UID GmbH, Claudius-Keller-Straße 3c, 81669 München
RSVP: XING
How much? This is a free of charge event.
Length? Introduction 10min, workshop 1h 30min
Language? English

Image by Brandon Schauer.

We thank our sponsor for providing location, sandwiches and drinks.

Not all companies innovate the same way. Some try harder than others and some – it seems – not at all. Some craft strategies and define roadmaps, others devise single breakthroughs with game-changing benefits while yet others just about cope with improving the next generation of their products.

Arguing that every company needs its own approach to innovation, rather than following glorified role models, this talk outlines basic methodologies to facilitate the early phases of innovation processes. It further presents what determines the selection of methodologies and how they are translated into specific tools and interventions.

Peter Brooren currently works as Head of Innovation at Indeed Innovation GmbH, an Hamburg based consultancy focussing on product development.

When? October 10th, 2011. 19:00.
Where? Sapient GmbH, Kellerstraße 27, 81667 München
RSVP: XING
How much? This is a free of charge event.
Length? Presentation 1hr, Discussion 1hr.

We thank our sponsor for providing location, sandwiches and drinks.