Urban Technology at University of Michigan week 221
Interview with James Hovell
The degree we teach is transdisicplinary, meaning that we are intentionally looking for a space between urban planning, interaction/service design, and information science. You might think of this space as a valley surrounded by a mountain range whose peaks represent different forms of expertise. Down in the the valley, the melt from many heights combines to create an environment welcoming to new growth, new ideas. This week we’re chatting with James Hovell, a new instructor in UT, to see where his expertise and interests flow.
💬 Hello! This is the newsletter of the Urban Technology program at University of Michigan, in which we explore the ways that data, connectivity, computation, and automation can be harnessed to nurture and improve urban life. If you’re new here, try this short video of current students describing urban technology in their own words or this 90 second explainer video.
👨🏭 Hey James, Welding or Widgets?
James Hovell joined us this year as a lecturer teaching the second of four studios in the design sequence, UT 330: Interaction Design and Urban Experiences, alongside Matthew Wizinsky. He brings to the studio a diverse background in both the digital and physical realms, with experience designing apps, interactive exhibits, and many thing in between. In the urban context, the relationship between digital and physical is key, which is one of the reasons we’re happy to have James’ nuanced insights in the classroom.
MARIAH EVANS: Your resume lists you as a designer, a software developer, a machinist, and a metal fabricator. Which is your favorite hat to wear?
JAMES HOVELL: Building things with my hands has always been a part of what I love to do and where I find a lot of enjoyment. I can get lost in making things. Design is the approach to problem solving that then allows me to use those skills to build and try out a variety of solutions. And software falls into this virtual way of building things. Buildings are made out of concrete and steel and glass, and the rest of our software interfaced world is made up of wires and code. So building and designing is my space.
MARIAH: What delights you in moving between those worlds?
JAMES: It’s seeing an entire process, from development to final results and then back again, because everything is sort of iterative. You don't usually just build something and then you're done with it. Learning from what you've built and being able to go back and forth between designing and building has always been a lot of fun for me. Sitting in one place with one hat on, I get restless. I love moving my hands. Design gives my hands a rest while I think through what they can and will do next.
MARIAH: What are some of your favorite projects you worked on in California?
JAMES: I liked working with the Gray Area Foundation in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. A central neighborhood to the city, with a very diverse population, and a complexity of issues facing it. There are many social services that exist in the Tenderloin, being in the heart of San Francisco, so it was nice having an opportunity to work with the community members and the services that were frontline to the community, like soup kitchens, clothing drives, social services, and much more.
The Tenderloin Tech Lab was a big contributor. A part of the St. Anthony Foundation, they provide a space for technical literacy, where people can learn how to use the internet or how to write a resume and submit a job application. All of these resources are available for people, and so with the Gray Area Foundation, we tried to build applications that connected people to those resources. Getting an opportunity to support the community I lived in was really lovely.
I also loved developing exhibits with the Exploratorium, mostly with their outdoor exhibit work. Naturally a lot of exhibits are contained within the walls of museums and their educational spaces. It’s somewhat unfortunate. When you’re dealing with a region and its rich history, geology, or landscapes, you strive for educational experiences that leave the museum—that can exist out in the world beyond the pay wall. They shouldn't be hemmed into one particular environment, they should be everywhere.
MARIAH: What’s different about designing in a digital space compared to a physical space?
JAMES: I don't usually see the differences. Really, it’s what you have available to you, and the main consideration there is how the physical strengths and limitations of things are different. For example, physical signage is different from digital signage, in that one is reflective and static, the other is radiant and can be dynamic. For me, it’s selecting what medium and material is best for the problem you’re looking to solve, given that you aren’t restricted to one or the other.
MARIAH: Do you have the same priorities or concerns working in both types of spaces?
JAMES: Every medium has its set of priorities and its concerns in use. What makes a good book doesn't necessarily make for a good movie. But it's all storytelling, and it's all narrative. So you have to be considerate of where different mediums excel and where they aren't necessarily appropriate. Having a nice toolkit to choose appropriate solutions to problems that you find out in the world to solve is key. You could easily, as a hammer, see everything as a nail. If you're a graphic designer and you might work in print, then everything is a print project and for me that's somewhat limiting. It’s not inappropriate, necessarily, but there can't be a hammer solution for everything, plus it’s nice to have a few more tools in the toolbox.
MARIAH: Thinking from an urban technology standpoint, what changes when the digital and physical interplay moves outside of a museum, for example, and into an urban environment?
JAMES: Space! You have an abundance of space, weather, dirt, and sunlight to play with. And your audience isn’t always ready for it. You have less control naturally, but you get to add a little bit of magic to someone's walk to work, through a park, or across town. Apart from a different audience and a lack of control, you’re dealing with similar problems: attention span, ease of use, accessibility. You still want to create things that are quick to understand or easy and intuitive to use. Using a parking app to find your way into a place is not too dissimilar to navigating the little pre-recorded samples you get from a museum. The problem is really: what are you trying to achieve?
MARIAH: Do you have any examples of design that you think does a good job easily navigating both the physical and the digital environments?
JAMES: I’m particularly fond of projects like The Jejune Institute, the crazy marketing campaign I Love Bees, and spaces like Meow Wolf. I love blurring the edges where reality and construction meet. For me, it's about finding ways to experiment with storytelling. A lot of design is restrained by what's available to the project, sometimes we're kind of stuck, whether that’s in print, web, or park benches. Tying those all together can be really difficult; doing something different can be difficult. It’s about playing around with how we explore space, taking advantage of geolocation, for example. Can I navigate a place where an audio experience knows my location, so the stories I'm hearing change as I walk from one area of the city to another? I've seen some things like soundscapes come together nicely.
MARIAH: What has been the most surprising thing working with our urban technology students?
JAMES: I like the diversity of backgrounds these students come from, and I like how practical many students’ applications are. The thing I get the most enjoyment from is seeing their perspectives on various ideas and topics and how they approach solving problems. It’s a very sharp group of students. They are thinking about an entire system and how it could work better. It’s been really nice seeing their perspective on how things can be augmented, changed, and improved upon. It’s refreshing.
MARIAH: What is your favorite city, and why?
JAMES: I'm pretty fond of San Francisco. I like how approachable the neighborhoods are and how walkable the city is. It has a vibrant historical culture. There are just so many little communities that you can find yourself lost in. The spirit of the city is very inclusive and collaborative, and the culture of change and experimentation is something that has stuck with me.
These weeks: Fall-start travel conversations. Course development. Urban Tech happy hour in Detroit. Climate Futures Symposium at Taubman. Surely no shortage of exciting happenings this fall, though free time is becoming hard to come by. BRB in NYC for a guest lecture at Parsons. 🏃