In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast I have a brilliant conversation with Brooke Jamieson, the Experience Lead at PlaceOS. Brooke tells us about her background in mathematics and marketing, her passion for putting the user first and how she fell into the Smart Community space. We talk about the importance of helping people to make sense of data and the power for us as adults of doing things that are difficult and that we’re not good at but persisting anyway. Brooke then tells us a bit about her work at PlaceOS and why she chose to do further study in Data Engineering, as well as why a focus on ethics and philosophy is such an important piece of the puzzle in all careers, but especially in tech. We discuss the importance of nurturing critical thinking and getting more diversity behind the code, as well as changing ways of working and the opportunities that come from proactively responding to disruption. We finish our chat discussing the emerging trends of platform versus product and UX versus UI, as well as going beyond silos and screenshots when it comes to truly integrated Smart initiatives. As always we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. 

Listen here: 

What we cover in this episode:

• Brooke’s background in mathematics and marketing and her passion for putting the user first
• How Brooke helps people feel less stressed about and make sense of data
• The power in doing things that are difficult that we’re not good at as adults and persisting anyway 
• What sparked Brooke’s interest in Smart Community concepts and how she fell into the space 
• What a Smart Community means to her and why it’s important
• The difference between a Smart Home, Smart Building and Smart Community 
• Thinking holistically and beyond the traditional to solve people’s problems in a way that fits with their whole life/journey
• About Brooke’s work at PlaceOS and why she chose to do further study in Data Engineering
• Why a focus on ethics and philosophy is such an important piece of the puzzle in all careers, but especially in tech
• The reason we need more diversity behind the code and more understanding for everyone about what’s going on under the surface with technology 
• The importance of nurturing critical thinking and the role of different types and delivery of education going forward
• The changing ways of working and the opportunities that come from proactively responding to disruption
• Getting women in Regional Australia involved in tech
• The emerging trends of platform versus product and UX versus UI
• Going beyond silos and screenshots when it comes to truly integrated Smart initiatives
• Some of Brooke’s favourite resources
• The benefits of the fake commute

Quotes:

“It’s so much better to not know [the answer] and then find out the correct thing, than think you know something that’s actually wrong and be misinformed. So many aspects of the world would be improved if people were more fine with not knowing and then able to find out information based on that.”

“I’ve always had a really big interest in using data to make active decisions, rather than just hoarding it and not doing anything with it.”

“[There’s] so much about what we thought tech would be like versus what Smart Communities and Smart Buildings are like now, which is things actually working. The notion of integration coming together to actually improve the experiences of users in the space, rather than a flying car or an [underwater] whale bus.” 

“Nurturing critical thinking is so important. It really does flow on into so many aspects, everything we talk about— holistic solutions, using tech with empathy, doing human centred design—all of that centres around understanding someone else’s wants and needs and then applying that with the critical thinking through everything else you’re doing as part of the project.“

“I’m really passionate about women from regional Australia getting involved in tech. It’s not that women from regional Australia don’t use tech, it’s just that they’re often not really included in the development of that. “

“Something we see a lot of [is when] people just want an app for something but the app doesn’t connect to other things, so the idea of these band aid solutions…it doesn’t really fit into the ecosystem.”

“UX is not always about the screen or what the app looks like or what’s displayed as part of the user interface, user experience is about the holistic journey and how all the pieces fit together and how we can improve the lives of the users we’re working with.”

Links: 

Julia Powles, Professor of Law at UWA and Playmaker at futuresays.org 

Podcast: Pivot with Scott Gallaway and Cara Swisher 

Podcast: Talking Machines 

Podcast: Lex Fridman (podcast about AI)

PlaceOS on LinkedIn

Zoe’s IG account about traffic signage @ifimaysign

The IG account about curious and beautiful works from the past @publicdomainrev

Connect:

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community 

Connect with Brooke on LinkedIn or on her fashion based Instagram @brooke__jamieson

Connect with PlaceOS via the website https://place.technology/ 

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community 

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.