http://www.db798.com/pictobrowser.swf

I’ve already mentioned the One Laptop Per Child presentation. Here’s my UX Week roundup of other presentations that I found moving:

The Charmr
Adaptive Path introduced its product concept for how a diabetes management device should look and function.

Clear Rx
Deb Adler presented her revolutionary redesign of prescription pill bottles, which was later purchased by Target. She noted that 60 percent of Americans don’t take their prescriptions correctly, often because instructions are so confusing and bottles look so much alike. She also said that the toughest logo to design was “for external use only.” So if you have a lightening-bolt idea, let her know.

Yahoo Teachers
Bill Scott and Karon Weber are creating a new tool that helps teachers collect web research and share lesson plans. It is unbelievable. You can drag and drop any element of a web page while you’re researching, then search for other people’s lesson plans by grade, subject, and state standards. You can even locate nearby teachers who have to teach around the same local events (Chinese New Year in San Francisco, for example). It shows you top-rated, most recent, and most copied lesson plans, and lets you build a network of teachers whose work you trust. Holy crap, it’s going to rock your world, teachers.

Also, Andrew Hinton from Vanguard said something that I’ve been mulling over lately, “An individual is not defined by any one practice, but we do typically want to identify with one.” In other words, “What do you do?” can be a tough question for some of us

http://www.db798.com/pictobrowser.swf

So, as I mentioned, Adaptive Path’s UX Week was amazing this year — so inspiring. These photos are of the One Laptop Per Child Operating System presentation. If you’re not familiar with the project, their aim is to make sure that every child in the world has access to a laptop. Their first large scale distribution is in September, and the computers are amazing.

Details:

-They work in direct sunlight and have hand cranks to power them.
-The icon on the front of the computer represents a little person, and can be color customized to suit a kid’s preferences.
-The operating system is awesome. It’s based on the idea of a community of people participating in activities. When someone in your network is doing something (playing a music game, making a drawing, writing something), and they want others to join in, they make their activity public. That activity icon appears on everyone’s desktops. You can see at a glance which activities are popular, because the xo icons gather around a task in which they’re participating. You click on your preferred activity icon to join the fun, and clicking puts you into an interface with the tools you need to play or learn. A “journal” feature automatically records (saves) everything you do, so you can go back and see what you did, when you did it, and who else helped.
-About 2,000 developers around the world are developing activities for the laptop.
-The laptops are tied to a leasing system that immediately deactivates a laptop if its reported missing or stolen.
-School participation is way up in communities where kids get these laptops, and for many families, the laptop is the brightest source of light available in their homes.

You can learn more at the One Laptop Per Child site. It’s a genius project.