MIT Media Lab is the closest I can think of, in terms of product design innovation. I think we've got a problem impeding this type of relationship in our field, though; overall, we still have a divide between our (HCI-focused) academic programs and the way the majority of us practice our professions.
[Note: I'm not throwing around generalizations just to be incendiary. Specific example: my old company acquired a smaller company who had a prior relationship with a university professor in HCI who would run user tests for them. When we acquired them, as head of UX, I inherited this relationship, and was tasked with working with him to plan the next study and feed the findings into the dev cycle. Despite our shared native fluency in the same mother tongue, and years of experience in "the same field," I swear to you all, it was like we were talking about apples and fish. His research was smart and interesting, but not really actionable for product design purposes.] Hopefully, as we bridge this divide (say, for instance, by some of us bringing our front-line design studio mindsets back to the academy - and vice versa, of course), it will become more possible in our field for academic and think tank-type research to drive innovation. Cheers, - Billie ********* Billie Mandel Director, User Experience Purple Labs S.A. [EMAIL PROTECTED] This message, including attachments, is intended solely for the addressee indicated in this message and is strictly confidential or otherwise Privileged. If you are not the intended recipient (or responsible for delivery of the message to such person) : - (1) please immediately (i) notify the sender by reply email and (ii) delete this message and attachments, - (2) any use, copy or dissemination of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you or your employer does not consent to Internet email messages of this kind, please advise Purple Labs by reply e-mail immediately. Opinions, conclusions and other information expressed in this message are not given or endorsed by Purple Labs unless otherwise indicated by an authorized representative independent of this message. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
