I always enjoy getting questions from people interested in integrating media applications into their field of study or in pursuing a career in media psychology. The questions come from around the world and are always full of enthusiasm for learning, the potential of media technologies, and making a positive contribution to society. It is always a chance for me to remember not only how much I love the field of media psychology, but why I think it is so very important. Media psychology is a broad field. Recently I received a question from a new graduate in the Middle East about how to follow a path that integrates psychology and education using interactive technologies, particularly for special needs populations. I am posting my response since many people may have similar questions and this is a good way to get a conversation going. -- You can learn how to actually build the interactive programs by studying gaming and software development or how to implement them by studying … [Read more...]
Drucker and Facebook–Organizing for Change
There's a story about the demise of Facebook in the Washington Post: Worldwide ebb for Facebook. I like the logic--when a company's been around long enough for someone to make a movie out of it, then it's probably on the downhill slide, even if they do get Justin Timberlake. That people are interested in something new shouldn't be surprising to anyone in business, marketing or evolutionary psychology. Same ol', same ol' won't cut it, especially in a world where expectations about the speed of change have reached new highs. But rather than speculate on trends and following the migration across social media tools of whoever's cool, it's time to revisit some words of wisdom from the original management guru, Peter Drucker. Organizations must be organized for innovation. Using economist Joseph Schumpeter's term "creative destruction," Drucker said companies should be: organized for the systematic abandonment of whatever is established, customary, family and comfortable, … [Read more...]
The Psychology of Website Design – PowerPoint Overview
This slide show was originally created for a presentation in 2006 but was updated for a group of student web site developers at NYU a few months ago. Web technologies continue to rocket along and the tools have become more flexible, innovative and sophisticated. The fundamental psychological issues of effective design, however, haven't changed, because now, more than ever, information must be delivered with a client or user-centric perspective. Social media and extensive ability to interact and paricipate in new media has made us less tolerant of any medium, website or otherwise, that does not address our needs. Psychology of Website Design View more presentations from pamelarutledge. … [Read more...]
