How can social tools provide a vibrant and relevant experience to the people who use them? Amy Jo Kim explains how to create a richer experience through open tools for syndication, support of independent software developers, and especially game mechanics, which she categorizes as collecting, points, feedback, exchanges, and customization. Learn how YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and others use these elements of game mechanics to engage people more deeply.

When was the last time you made art at the art museum or gave a complete stranger advice in the middle of an anthropology exhibit? If the answer is "never," then you, like most people, have been visiting the museums of the past. Nina Simon discusses how to bring our science centers and museums into the modern age of active, participatory viewing.

As attempts to reform and improve the American health care system plod forward, little is said about giving patients more tools to manage their own health and wellness. Rajiv Mehta and Hugh Dubberly, applying their imagination as designers, suggest tools for patients to design their own treatment and improve personal well-being.

Listen to enough Baroque harpsichord music, and you'll decide you've heard enough! So says Elaine Wherry, and she applies that lesson to her web designs. Baroque composers used ornament and layering to overcome simple melodies and limited instruments like the harpsichord, but the effect can be grating. As musical technology progressed, composers created more refined works. Elaine draws a parallel with web design and suggests the history of classical music can be our guide toward more subtle designs.

What if you could type with your eyes? People with limited mobility may have no other choice. But it's slow, currently around 12-18 words per minute. Is that the best we can offer? Scott MacKenzie describes the physiology of the eye and technical limits on eye tracking, his work to evaluate various input methods, and his new approach, the "scanning ambiguous keyboard," that helps some disabled people communicate more freely than ever before.

People are born learners, but our instinct to strive, learn, and grow can be quickly derailed by the kind of praise we receive early in life. Those praised for being "smart" learn that intelligence is a fixed, innate, effortless gift, and they often fail to reach their full potential. Others learn early that effort is the key to life-long learning and go on to exceed our expectations. Those are the findings of social psychologist Carol Dweck's extensive research into the "Fixed Mindset" vs. the "Growth Mindset."

Everyone has too many distractions and too many fires to put out. How can you stay aware of the status of your systems and prioritize events that interrupt your day? Conrad Albrecht-Buehler presents "Heed": Simpler than a dashboard, but more informative. Less disruptive than an alarm, it helps you keep an eye on your systems and gives you a more usable warning when things are going to blow!

Remote research is cost-effective and produces quick results--and sometimes useful insights that you would not learn from subjects in a controlled setting. Juliette Melton offers practical advice on remote research: How to set it up, useful resources and tools, and how to recruit subjects and put them at ease. This interactive BayCHI session will help you decide when to use remote research and what to expect when you do.

Do great ideas just pop into the heads of lucky geniuses? Getting ideas on a reliable basis is important in a business culture. Brainstorming, although 80 years in existence, is still not well understood. Gayle Curtis explains the rules of brainstorming, or structured ideation, and how proper brainstorming not only promotes ideas, but also promotes a culture of respect, acceptance of points-of-view, and an attitude that continues to foster better ideas.

Just as once we moved from agrarian, home-based apprenticeships to industrial, school-based education, now we're moving to a new kind of education, driven by computers and the internet, customized, interactive, and learner-controlled. Allan Collins explains the pros and cons of the new model, and argues that students around the world are shifting to new, diverse modes of learning.