Day 21 - Last Interview and Day in New York

With a number of my interviews cancelling I was fortunate that my host Isabelle was able to assist me in finding a number of other contact on the topic I am researching. Today I meet with Clay Shirky an adjunct Professor, interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU


Clay talked on a number topic but one of the interesting projects was RapidFDR this is a project that his students became involved with and worked with UNICEF. They have deployed this application which assists with the Children that are displaced within African Nations. It is an on and off line solution which utilises mobile technology and has been used in HAITI. 


Another area we discussed is the work of John Halamka and the Electronic Heath Records which are being using in the Harvard Hospital. Some of the development work has processes built into the system call "Break the Glass". In other words when a doctor needs to get access to a particular piece of data or information about a patient which he does not usually have access to as the patient may not be assigned to him. He has the option to break the glass to get on with the job. But the situation with breaking the glass is that all work is logged and monitored and then reviewed within 24hrs. The beauty of this process is that after a while if a patter emerges then the application is adjusted to incorporate that pattern thus there is a rapid change as circumstances dictate. In this way the system is updated as processes change and change is dictated by overriding process change with in the work environment. The application thus has a way to evolve and not stay static because of outdated processes.


We then discusses a number of issues with the display and management of data analysis and how the likes of Four Square and Kick Starter are using dashboards in presenting user specific data based on behaviour. Another area was two books which Clay had written called "Here Come Everybody" and "Cognitive Surplus". both of which I will be obtaining to further my breath of research.


After the session with Clay I then left on a high after feeling a lot better about the interactions that I have been able to have with people in the field of User Experience and Usability and its practical application.


From here I then went to do some further site seeing before heading home to pack and prepare for Boston. I have a number of interviews lined up both at Harvard, Microsoft and Bentley University Design & Usability Center.

Radio City

View from Rockerfeller Centre

On Top Of The Rock - Observation Deck Rockerfeller Centre