Taking the Forum out West

Ryan Murphy: World Economic Forum – Rethinking Personal Data Project

Downtown Seattle!

Checking in from the World Economic Forum, with an exciting two weeks since my last blog post and crunch time settling in as I finish up the summer.

As part of my work with the Forum, I am collaborating with Microsoft on project around cross-cultural personal data attitudes and behaviors and their impact on a potential recommender system, user agent and identity management system. My role as the designer in this work comes from the User Interface / User Experience (UI/UX) side, in laying out how such a system could play out as an interface and how best to engage individuals in the process of personal data use. Check out the image below for how this is starting to play out with a specific scenario related to Sweden.

Personal Data Management Interface – Scenario Example with Sweden

As part of this project I had the great opportunity to go out to Redmond, WA to work in person with Microsoft’s Technology Policy Group. Redmond is an interesting “little” place, about 30 minutes outside Seattle and home to Microsoft’s 60,000 person campus (headquarters). I stayed in Bellevue, a beautiful town in between Redmond and Seattle, giving me the opportunity to check out a few different places around the area. In my three days there, I was able to get over to downtown Seattle and check out the great sights (Space Needle!) as well as enjoy some delicious Washington coffee. Regardless of the great sights though, the trip was most beneficial because of the work I was able to do in person with Microsoft. In a world where we are so digitally connected I still see tremendous value in face-to-face meetings.

Microsoft showing off their latest products

Getting a test run at some of the new Kinect technology

Being on the West Coast already, I was able to hop down to San Francisco and the Bay Area for a few days to work on some RISD related initiatives. I had the great fortune of staying with a friend in Palo Alto who showed me a fantastic time.

Iconic Golden Gate Bridge

Back in New York things are winding down with only a week or so left, though I will certainly remain busy finishing things up. RISD all-nighters, critiques, and final projects have certainly prepared me well to hammer out the work, so no worries there!

Until next time,

Ryan Murphy

Lombard Street in SF!

Space Needle in Seattle!

Ferris Wheel along the coast in Seattle!