formism

In 2010, Centre Pompidou Museum (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) consulted several french design agencies for the redesign of the museul website.

Blind was part of those agencies. A lot of attention have been put on the articulation between information architecture and information design.

We lost the constest (still being 6th of 30) but it was a great experience. Let's say that Selina Ebert, art director, provided the great modernist spirit that fueled the whole project.

Concept maps

For this project, we made an heavy use of concepts maps as blueprints for the organization between content and interaction. As functionnalists, we primed minimalism between the use and the form.

Maps were great tools to communicate and get quick consensus on fundamental understandings of the team.

Information architecture was important as a set of skills in order to share complex concepts, various point of views and transforming the collective works as a sustainable space of ideas and concepts.

Web of objects

Even if it was requested by the brief, we tried to push the innovative concept of web of objects to a certain reality. We then provided a full transversal framework of independant information designed dispositifs. The website is used as intended but is also augmented by the eco-system in which it is taking part.

The idea is not new. We just take it as something to realize. Most of the concept and analysis work can be found in books such Bruce Sterling's Shaping Things.

Crafting the semantic web of information

Small project for a small poster dedicated to the anniversary of blind. We all designed and printed a poster for the occasion and made a cool party in a parisian bar. It was fun.

The pattern

The poster used a generative algorithm based upon a branching system derived from a small attraction/repulsion of "random" walkers. The letters or shapes can be grow by adding a set of repulsors.

It has been implemented with nodebox framework/IDE. The code is not formidable and could be a day or another on github. You can still ask by email.

The project

IRIS was a data visualization project commissioned by heaven. The main purpose of the project was to show to clients the effectivness of the community management teams.

It was then important to have a scalable visualization that permit comparison between periods.

IRIS can also be used as representation of differential amount of work between clients and missions.

The system

To clarify the visual representation, the system uses 3 differents dimensions.

The communities are ordered by proximities with the topic. Which proximities is represented as distance from the center.
Being or not part of the community management is represented by contrast between active and passive actors. First one are colored and the latter none.
Importance of the actors by them themselves are represented by the normalized size corresponding to them.

The code

The posters have been produced with a python script using the nodebox framework/IDE.

The community mangers provided CSV files from their reports and we returned them the visualization in various vector formats (PDF, EPS and SVG) in order to be included in their own workflow (MS Powerpoint mainly).

The software also used to let the possibility to parametrize the colors in order to producre posters more compatible with the client's branding.

articles

A multi-agent model of cooperative and competitive strategies in supply chain
2007 – Yihong Hu, Joël Houdet & Tam-Kien Duong

liens socio

talks

Interfaces innovantes (clés de lecture)
Sharing day pour l’agence heaven
2009 – Tam-Kien Duong
Exploration de la communauté online du Parkour
Journée d’étude « pratiques ethnographiques sur internet »
2009 – Emmanuel Berne & Tam-Kien Duong
multipliCity Disorder : La complexité au service de la pluralité
Séminaire « esthétique et complexité » de l’Institut des Systèmes Complexes de Paris Île-de-France
2008 – Angélique Chedemois, Aleksandra Wasilkowska & Tam-Kien Duong

surveys

Les publics et non-publics de l’Espace Simone Signoret
Enquête par entretiens et questionnaires. Recherche-action
2006 – Espace Simone Signoret (Vitry le François)
Le devenir des étudiants inscrit en DESS en 2002-2003
Enquête par questionnaires et entretiens téléphoniques
2005 – Observatoire de l’Insertion Professionnelle de l’université Paris IV Sorbonne
L’analyse empirique de la gratuité. Le cas de la Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Enquête par questionnaires et observations
2004 – Département des études et de la prospective de la Bibliothèque Nationale de France

Duong Tam Kien
is the founder of formism
and then offering the one-man-show leading to crossroads between social sciences and information architecture.

Diplomas

Preparation of a PhD about information architecture
Currently – Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
Master philosophy and sociology of sciences
2006 – University Paris IV Sorbonne
MST applied social sciences
2005 – Univeristies Paris IV Sorbonne & Paris V Sorbonne Descartes
DEUG applied mathematics and psychology
2003 – Univeristy Paris V Sorbonne Descartes

Work experiences

UI and front web developper
Lusis
Information architect
Blind
Field sociologist
Communication executive
Complex Systems Institute