Speaker: Fred Collopy, Professor, Case Western Reserve University

Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 4:15-5:15p

Location: 301 College Avenue, Seminar Room

Abstract -

For three centuries painters, composers, and inventors have tried to create a visual art form as compelling as music. In this talk, I will open with a brief history of visual instrument design and my experience of designing an instrument that allows painters to play images in the way that musicians play with sounds. I will present some design guidelines or principles that I have found useful in my own work, highlighting some of the issues that arise in mapping the complex domains of abstract visual art and music into each other. Then, I will reflect on how this research can inform the development of new tools to help managers to visualize information. And I will conclude with some observations about the implications of this work for management systems.


Bio -

Fred Collopy is Professor and Chair of Information Systems at Case Western Reserve University. As a software designer and developer, he created The Desk Organizer (published in 1982 by Warner Software), Rule-Based Forecasting (an expert system to select among alternative business forecasting models), Imager (an instrument for playing visual music), and most recently the Business Animator (an interactive implementation of the cycle model). He holds a PhD in Decision Sciences from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has done research on forecasting, the perception of time by computer users, the impact of competitor information on decision-making, and the application of design ideas to management. He and Dick Boland recently edited Managing as Designing, which was published by Stanford University Press. His research has been published in journals ranging from Management Science and Information Systems Research through Leonardo. A website detailing his work is available at http://collopy.case.edu.

If you would like to meet with Fred during his visit, please contact Anat Nidar-Levi.


For more information please contact Jeff Hancock.