Author: Ron Cunningham

There is no better time than to observe users in the wild than day one of a trade show. After setting up monitors and computers, techs must be around but not in the booth. If we’re lucky there are tables near the exhibit. During this time, I like to observe not just how users interface with machine and software but it’s also a time to reflect on what the agency and/or developer did with the software that powers those interactives.

My first bit of coding wasn’t a webpage or application but a laserdisc controller. The RA Gray IDC-02 was a small metal box about half the size of a standard book.  I remember I was handed this device and told to re-engineer the functionality to an existing installation.  I used Happ Control arcade style buttons connected to a button encoder which plugged into the IDC-02 via DB-25 connection.  It was a hands on learning experience. I soldered a lot of RJ-11 to DB-25 serial cables making sure I got the pins correct in order to tell the Pioneer LDV-8000 Laserdisc player where to go.