More on that later.

For now, here’s one of the better Rube Goldberg machines, made possible by the creative technologists at Syyn Labs.

You can read more about the event, including my illustrious co-speakers - Raj Aggarwal of Localytics, Steve Brykman of Apperian, Anna Callahan of RaizLabs, Dan Katcher of Rocket Farm Studios, and Yoni Samlan of Active Frequency - at the MITX blog. Thanks to Katie for covering the event, to Hill Holliday for hosting, and for Jaime for putting the event together.

If you’re a UX designer or developer and you’re interested in learning about the hows and whys of designing mobile applications – specifically for the iPhone – then this event is for you.

I’m honored to be a member of the panel of experts for the MITX event “Designing iPhone Apps: It’s more than just beautiful coding.” on February 19, starting at 8:00 pm. Mobile experiences present a new level of design challenges, and the panel of folks assembled is second to none:

• Steve Brykman – SVP, Lead Strategist, Apperian
• Anna Callahan – Software Developer, RaizLabs
• Dan Katcher - CEO & Co-Founder,  Rocket Farm Studios
• Bryan Maleszyk – Senior Consultant, Experience Design, Molecular (that’s me)
• Yoni Samlan – Partner, Active Frequency

This promises to kick off a great year of MITX experience design events. I hope to cover the basics, but I’ll also be talking about some of the mobile experience topics: Augmented Reality, Location-Based Services, and maybe even a bit about the iPad.

I’m Looking forward to mingling with the great folks above, – and I hope to see you there.

The session was filled with great minds, and as usual I learned at least as much as I imparted. For those of you not at the session, here are the top 5 things we learned:

• Think small. Break things up into small, manageable problems. Focus on the smallest possible challenge, innovate for solutions.
• Converse. You’re solving people problems. Get them involved. Find influencers - on Twitter, in support forums, in private communities. Go where they are and get them involved right now. Show you care.
• Listen. Social media presents the unique opportunity to listen. It’s cheap and it’s free.
• Fail. Solving small, manageable problems gives you more room to fail, which mean more to room to innovate. Lots of small, focused failures nearly always lead to a big win.
• Know your value. More importantly: Know you have value.

Bonus: Read Four Steps to the Epiphany. Apparently it’s good. I just ordered it.

I recently wrote an article for iMedia Connection called 4 Online Gimmicks that failed. Some hightlights:

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS:

• When telling a story, make it at least tangentially related to the brand
• Although it’s cliche, participating on equal footing with consumers is a necessity
• Once you’ve established a circle of trust, it is critical that you not break it

Feel free to leave comments – here is fine, but on the article is best. I’d love to hear your feedback!

I occasionally blog over at my company's blog, Molecular Voices.

I’ve been chipping away at the stack of New Yorker magazines that have accumulated on my nightstand recently. One of the better articles was John Colapinto’s “Lunch with M.” from the November 23, 2009 edition, in which he tags along with a reviewer for the New York edition of  the Michelin Guide.  I’ve been thinking about ways we, as designers, can help move away from our culture of consumption and help brands deliver real, sustainable value by focusing on providing service to the consumers. Based on that article, we can learn a lot from the Les Freres Michelin.

I occasionally blog over at my company's blog, Molecular Voices.

I’ll be blogging occasionally, along with the rest of my experience design, digital strategy, and emerging technologies brethren, over here at Molecular Voices. My first post, about the New York Times as a Service Platform, is up!