Fast Horses and Slow Elevators

Fast Horses and Slow Elevators: How Design Can Help You Build a Better Mobile Service

Abstract:

As a developer, what is the problem that keeps you awaken at night? How to connect your data feeds through undocumented APIs? How to keep your database neat and clean? Wrong answer.

What you should really be concerned about is ‘what would your potential users need?’ and ‘how can you help them improve their rich, busy, complicated life?’

The talk will present a point of view – and different examples – of how design disciplines can help you create a better service (SMS, website, app…).

Participants will take away a series of practical advices on how to put the quality of their users’ experience at the centre of the development process.

Biography:

Franco Papeschi joined the Web Foundation in January 2011, working on the creation of mobile training and innovation labs in Senegal, Ghana, Kenya.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Franco worked as User Experience manager in Vodafone Group, taking a human-centered approach to envision innovative and meaningful services.

Franco has 7 years of experience leading projects on the design of web sites and applications, mobile services, IPTV, change and knowledge management systems. He has been lecturer at the Politecnico of Milan from 2004 to 2007, teaching Communication and cognitive systems.

Franco is available on twitter (@bobbywatson), flickr (themepap), and - often - at a meet-up / conference near yo