Sofia Svanteson shares how founding and growing her own design agency has helped to shape Elsa, her new life sciences venture which aims to support rheumatoid patients in achieving meaningful self-care. She talks to MEX founder Marek Pawlowski about cultural influences on the early interface design projects which helped establish her agency, Ocean Observations, as one of the pioneers of digital experience design and looks ahead to the challenges in turning data into meaning in healthcare applications. Get in touch with feedback and questions @mexfeed on Twitter or email designtalk@mobileuserexperience.com.

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On this edition

• • Marek Pawlowski, co-host & founder of MEX (@marekpawlowski)
  • Sofia Svanteson, co-founder & CEO, Elsa Science; founder and chairman, Ocean Observations (@sofiasvanteson)

Links

• MEX Jobs Board – who’s hiring in UX, digital and design?
• MEX Hidden Talents is an experimental service where you can share your dream job description – anonymously –  and invite prospective employers to get in touch with job offers. We’ve already started connecting our first ‘hidden talents’ – if you’d like to find out more, contact Marek Pawlowski in confidence.
• Our next MEX dining club is in London on 21st June 2018. Get in touch if you’d like an invite – it’s a relaxed dinner talking about experience design with fellow pioneers.
• KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, where Sofia studied
• PMN’s original 2003 article on Ocean’s work with Samsung
• Sofia’s 2003 article for PMN on mobile user experience design, including discussion of the 3 x 3 icon grids prevalent at the time
• A summary of the 2003 World Handset Forum conference mentioned by Sofia and organised by Marek and PMN
• Nokia 7110, one of the first phones with a WAP browser
• Background on i-Mode, NTT DoCoMo’s early mobile internet service
• Article about Natwest Bank’s WAP service
• Razorfish’s 1998 acquisition of Spray, where Sofia worked
• Karen McGrane, one of the influences cited by Sofia
• A MEX/15 talk by Kajsa Sundeson & Samir Fors of Ocean Observations, exploring some of the challenges and techniques in turning health data into meaningful insight.
• A background on Riskminder and the work with the Karolinska Institutet
• Time Well Spent, the Swedish initiative mentioned by Sofia
• Sofia’s MEX/13 talk on ‘Explore’, one of the MEX user modes, in which she performs her poem (starts at around 12:15) in the video
• The poem:

I got a new home and set out to explore
For storage so pretty, to build and adore
Inspiration I needed, let’s Pinterest go for
Millions of gems, let’s not ignore!

But any that shimmers is not great decor,
I’ll focus on something and plywood ask for.
I ponder through kitchens and beds, a French door
Oh there are so many items to fall for!

And Katie who pinned this, she also cares for,
One foxy home, in New York Times, before
I follow, I read and I scroll through first floor
But wait, it’s a detour, go back, let’s restore!

I better be careful, I’m lured through a trap door
But here is a pin from New Zealand decor.
And “Top of the lake”, I do really care for
Hello nifty Kiwis, I now come ashore!

I got a new home and set out to explore.
For storage so pretty, to build and adore,
Got lost in all content and forgot my first chore
I ended up ready and geared for the dance floor.

— Sofia Svanteson, MEX/13 conference, September 2013

About MEX Design Talk & how to get in touch

The podcast for the MEX community, interviewing UX pioneers, exploring emerging technologies, user behaviour and how to design better digital experiences.

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Thanks

• Jukedeck, for the artificial intelligence engine which provided the music