Can you create the next great mobile design? UO alumnus Ed Colligan, ‘ 83, a mobile technology pioneer and venture capital investor, is betting that a creative team of students at the University of Oregon will dream up the next mobile innovation.
Presented by the UO’s Office of the Vice President for Research & Innovation, the Colligan User Interface Design Challenge will ask students to design new graphic user interfaces, or GUI’s.
GUI’s — for example, the icons, buttons and other visual indicators on a smartphone that are touched to operate the device — are found in everything from hand-held devices such as MP3 players to portable media players to gaming devices to household appliances and office equipment.
As CEO of Palm, Inc., Colligan led a company that focused on perfecting the user experience. After leaving Palm, he went on to found Handspring, makers of the Treo, the precursor to the iPhone and other smartphones.
Today, Colligan is an investor and mentor to young entrepreneurs. He believes the UO can develop GUI design as an area of expertise.
“I thought we could leverage the UO’s strengths in education, graphic design, product design and psychology and bring them to a technology-oriented application in user interface design,” Colligan said. “Hopefully, we can build this into an area of expertise at the UO.”
Last year’s competition attracted 46 students on 16 teams representing 13 majors and all academic levels from across campus. Organizers of the event hope to double the number of students involved this year and to increase the number of majors represented in the competition.
“One of the great things about this competition is that it is open to any major on campus,” said Jason Germany, assistant professor of product design and one of the competition’s organizers. “Great product ideas can start anywhere, and the Colligan Challenge provides students with a great opportunity to get help realizing their ideas.”In anticipation of the challenge, Colligan sat down for an interview at his home in California to talk about careers in the technology industry and the second year of the program.
Read the full interview or register today for the 2014 Colligan User Interface Design Challenge. Registration closes Oct. 23 at midnight.