NEWS RELEASE
from Hutt City Council
24 June 2004

WINGATE SPEAKER SERIES TO FEATURE DON NORMAN

Internationally recognised advocate of design, author Don Norman, will be the inaugural speaker at the Wingate Speaker Series to be held at DMC Stratex, 3.30pm Wednesday 7 July.

Gary Craig, Hutt City's City Development Manager, said Don Norman's discussion should be thought provoking and timely given the increasing focus on design to provide and maintain a comparative advantage in NZ manufacturing.

"We are very fortunate to get someone of his calibre and reputation to kick off the Wingate speaker series," said Gary Craig.

The Wingate Speaker Series, organised in partnership with Hutt City Council and the Wingate Business Group, aims to lift the profile of the Wingate industrial area of Hutt City.

Wingate has been the focus of increased Council investment for the past two years and boasts some of the city's leading manufacturing companies including DMC Stratex, Metallion, Fraser Engineering, Precision, Optim, MF King, Superior Industries, Pertronic Industries and DUX industries.

"An objective of the series is to lift the profile of manufacturing generally - people talk about 'Creative Wellington' and perhaps automatically think first about the film and fashion industries.

"However, manufacturing often involves a tremendous amount of creativity, from the initial design and prototype development phase, through to the production and marketing of a finished product," said Gary Craig.

Those interested in attending the seminar can contact Gail Walker on 570 6901 by Fri. July 2 2004

The Wingate Speaker series begins at 3.30pm (light refreshments will be provided) at DMC Stratex Networks (NZ) offices

20 Peterkin Street, Wingate, Lower Hutt

There is a $10 charge to cover expenses, which will be collected at the door.

Design's contribution to the manufacturing process is becoming increasingly recognised. The Government established the Design Taskforce to develop a strategy to make more New Zealand companies, including manufacturers design capable. Its report 'Success by Design' aimed to achieve 3 things:

(i)more NZ businesses achieving sustainable export success

(ii)a more capable, business savvy design profession

(iii)greater international recognition of NZ design.

Don Norman is author or co-author of 13 books, including The Design of Everyday Things, the book that caused a rethink on door handles and his new book Emotional Design: Why we love (or hate) everyday things; which emphasises well rounded products that look good, work well and give pride to the owner.

He is a cofounder of the Nielson Norman Group - an executive consulting firm that helps companies produce human-centred products and services.

He has served as vice President of the Advanced Technology Group - Apple Computer, Executive at Hewlett Packard and UNext - a distance education company.

He is a Fellow of Human Factors & Ergonomics Society, The American Academy of Arts and Science, the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). Past fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences (Stanford).

Trustee of the Institute of Design, Chicago; Professor of Computer Science at North Western University; past faculty member at Harvard University; Professor Emeritus at the University of California.

For more information on Don Norman and his work, including some excerpts from his books, visit www.jnd.org

ENDS

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