A lot of people have asked me how I come up with ideas for new designs. While I can't offer a generic recipe for getting ideas and turning them into design solutions, in this article I've tried to express my own thoughts about working creatively. Interaction design research today is very focused on developing methods for establishing and creating so called design spaces that support the creation of good design solutions. I approach web design in a similar fashion however not necessarily in such a theory-based manner.

A wiki is a wonderful idea, in essence it's a website that anyone can edit and view. I've used wikis in several projects related to my studies in order to have a common site for storing documents and notes related to our work, and that has worked well and our teachers have appreciated it. So far I've used, tried and looked at four or five wikis, and despite the simple idea behind the wiki, none of them is easy to install, use or customize. Why does it have to be so complicated? I don't know, but I have some ideas on how to make a more usable wiki.

I am composing a paper about instant messaging (IM) and chat, two modes of communication that are becoming more and more popular today. Unfortunately I have caught a cold so things have been delayed, and I've been required to stay indoors, rest and drink tea, I hope to make a speedy recovery and get it done. Regardless, it's a very interesting and relevant topic, I don't know many people who don't have an IM account and use it daily so I was hoping maybe you, my dear blog readers might share your views and bring some more insight.

The primary way to store information on computers and digital media today is in text form and the reasons for this are traditional, it's easy to search and store text and it takes up little space. Stepping outside the traditional and limited sign systems of the digital era, allowing users to introduce their own signs, drawings and diagrams, seamlessly with typed text, will emulate the properties of traditional paper based media and add semantic richness to digital content.