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Chris Haller
Founder and CEO at Urban Interactive Studio

Chris Haller heads up Urban Interactive Studio (UIS), a technology consulting firm specializing in web and mobile solutions for urban planning agencies and firms. He's the founder of EngagingCities.com where he helps urban planners understand and use the Internet and gives practical advice.

  • DCWEEK 2011 Preview: Pop-up Extravaganza (Projects)

    Digital Capital Week is a ten day festival in Washington DC focused on digital technology and innovation. For those unfamiliar with DCWEEK, the festival is made up of 100s of distributed events powered by the community and complemented by core conferences, parties, and projects. DCWEEK (4th – 11Nov) brings together community members from around the world, from many different professions, and areas of passion and expertise, uniting to share ideas about technology, entrepreneurship, marketing, content creation, among many other topics. DCWEEK 2010, the first annual event of its kind, drew 6,000 attendees. This year organizers, iStrategyLabs and TechCocktail, expect more than 10,000 participants.

    By: Chris Haller
  • User Experience Experts Have Much to Offer Gov2.0 (Trends)

    Government does not have to be inefficient and unpleasant to deal with - especially in a democracy where we are seeing a more concerted effort to help define best practices in user experience for government agencies. So what is the ideal design to offer citizens a touch point with government agencies which builds trust, transparency and loyalty? In a recent article published by UX Magazine, these complex questions were explored - in search of techniques that might be employed by Gov2.0 supporters, to inspire positive alternatives in typically change-resistant environments.  

    By: Chris Haller
    1 Comments
  • Create, Collaborate and Discover with AllOurIdeas.org (Tools)

    Last month, you may remember that we highlighted our favorite civic engagement apps and tools from a list published by Next American City. Among our top picks from the list was a crowd sourcing website, AllOurIdeas.org - a survey platform enabling groups to collect and prioritize ideas in a transparent and democratic fashion. AllOurIdeas.org is gaining momentum, recently reporting more than a million votes being cast since inception, as groups such as the Junior League, Catholic Relief Services, the city of New York, and other big projects have begun utilizing this tool to collect valuable data and feedback from local citizens from around the globe.

    By: Chris Haller
    1 Comments
  • BMW Guggenheim Lab: Urbanology Game (Projects)

    Part urban think tank, part community center and public gathering space, the BMW Guggenheim Lab was conceived to inspire public discourse in cities around the world and through the Lab’s website and online social communities.

    By: Chris Haller
  • Study Highlights Increased Smartphone Internet Use by Minorities (Research)

    A recent Pew Research Center study indicates a significant rise in smartphone use by minorities, reporting that 44 percent of African Americans and Hispanics say they own a smartphone, compared to just 30 percent of non-Hispanic whites. Of the smartphone operating platforms, Android seems to be the most prevalent type used these days, followed by iPhones and Blackberry devices. Demographically, Android phones are especially common among young adults and African-Americans, as opposed to iPhones and Blackberry devices most commonly used among college graduates and the financially well-off.

    By: Chris Haller
  • Change by Us NYC: Fostering Collaboration Between Community Groups (Tools)

    Recently, New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, announced $15,000 worth of private grants to community groups to fund gardening, composting and stewardship of the city's community gardens and other green spaces. The 19 community groups who were awarded funding for their projects, applied for grants the city’s new community collaboration platform, Change by Us.

    By: Chris Haller
  • Strong Towns: Shedding “Dead Ideas” from Suburban Era (Trends)

    This morning, in response to America’s current economic conditions, Strong Towns released a new report calling for a dramatic change in America’s approach to growth and development. Curbside Chat; A candid talk about the future of America’s cities, towns and neighborhoods, suggests an entirely new approach to growth. In the report, Strong Towns calls on local officials to change course and shed the “dead ideas” of the suburban era and to take control of their own financial futures.

    By: Chris Haller
  • National Broadband Plan: A Framework for Building Digitally Inclusive Communities (Research)

    In a first step toward providing community leaders with tools for assessment and planning, the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS) recently released a preview of Building Digitally Inclusive Communities: A guide to the proposed framework.

    By: Chris Haller
    3 Comments
  • Appreciating Community Feedback (Guides)

    Excited by the possibilities, you may have embraced web 2.0 technology with open arms to engage residents in your community. But what if your sites aren’t drawing the quantities of visitors you had anticipated?  A commonly overlooked aspect of building an online community, is appreciating the one you already have.

    By: Chris Haller
    2 Comments
  • Examining Geosocial Mobile App Usage Among American Adults (Research)

    A recent study released by Pew Research Center on the use of mobile and social location-based services, confirmed that almost six out of ten of smartphone owners use a geosocial or a location-based information service of some kind these days.

    By: Chris Haller