When practised in its widest form Human Centred Design is a paradigm which transcends simplicity, usability and interaction, becoming a way of achieving experience, aesthetics and lifestyle. Few texts provide a more powerful demonstration of what can be achieved than Graham Pullin's book "Design Meets Disability".

Why shouldn't design sensibilities be applied to hearing aids, prosthetic limbs and communication aids? And why can't approaches such as "experience prototyping" or "critical design" complement clinical trials? Pullin provides convincing answers to these questions and more. Through creative and convincing examples, areas are revealed where Human Centred Designers can achieve products and systems which are not only simple to use, but also aesthetic, stylish and fun.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-Meets-Disability-Graham-Pullin/dp/0262162555/r...

RayMatic is an interactive picture frame which interacts with people through facial expressions and gestures. If the room is too hot, for example, Ray fans himself. By tapping Ray on the shoulder the settings mode is called up to permit the inputting of the desired temperature.

http://code.arc.cmu.edu/projects/raymatic/

MyCake was set up in 2007 by ex-biologist and financial consultant Sarah Thelwall, who, after working alongside NESTA, saw the need for an online bookkeeping service for artists and designers.

Since few creatives learn software such as Excel while at college the lack of exposure can lead to a lack of confidence regarding numbers and a preference for visualisations rather than spreadsheets.

MyCake addresses this situation by providing a simple visual bookkeeping system which is now in regular use with hundreds of businesses.

http://www.jotta.com/jotta/published/home/article/v2-published/1662/mycake-ge...

A new report issued by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) provides evidence for how well designed buildings can deliver tangible social and economic benefits to those who use them and invest in them.

http://www.dexigner.com/news/23413

As of October 2010 design has been highlighted as a priority in the European Commission’s ‘Innovation Union’, which is the overarching policy objective of the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy.

A new Policy Booklet from the SEE project, a network of eleven design organisations in Europe, examines how to integrate design into regional, national and European policies. It outlines the role of design in bringing innovative ideas to market and discusses the methods by which this is achieved through a mix of examples and case histories.

http://jump.dexigner.com/news/23417

Interest in Human Centred Design (HCD) has been growing rapidly the past few years. PDD has thus partnered with the LUMA Institute to bring Human-Centred Design Workshops to London. The 2-day workshop introduces participants to the discipline of Human–Centred Design and covers a wide range of HCD methods, from ethnography, to usability inspection methods, to rapid prototyping.

http://pulse.pdd.co.uk/2011/06/pdd-offers-human-centred-design-workshop-londo...

Anthony Dunne of RCA challenges designers to think more broadly about the aesthetic role of electronic products in everyday life. In the preface of the book he writes that "Design is not engaging with the social, cultural, and ethical implications of the technologies it makes so sexy and consumable."

This collection provides a thought provoking reflection upon the industrial and human factors agendas, or, as Dunne calls it, "in-human factors". The insights and examples demonstrate that design can transcend the functional and reductionist agenda of human factors and of cognitive psychology, providing also elements which stimulate aesthetic and cultural experience.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hertzian-Tales-Electronic-Aesthetic-Experience/dp/026...