Namahn
Encyclopedia
Namahn is a user-centered design
User-centered design
In broad terms, user-centered design or pervasive usability is a design philosophy and a process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users of a product are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process...

 consultancy based in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

.
Considered a pioneer in user-centered design in Belgium, Namahn focuses on interaction design
Interaction design
In design, human–computer interaction, and software development, interaction design, often abbreviated IxD, is "the practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services." Like many other design fields interaction design also has an interest in form but its main...

 and information architecture
Information Architecture
Information architecture is the art of expressing a model or concept of information used in activities that require explicit details of complex systems. Among these activities are library systems, Content Management Systems, web development, user interactions, database development, programming,...

.

Its clientele falls largely into two groups: Belgian companies dominating the local market in the financial, industrial, healthcare and utilities sectors; and multinationals headquartered in Belgium that are active in the high-tech industry, and cater to a global market .
In an effort to deepen its specialization, Namahn has recently turned its attention to research into designing for safety-critical systems (e.g. medical applications, transportation control, plant management and emergency response). In 2006, it began a two-year research project on interaction design for safety-critical systems for the Institute for the Encouragement of Scientific Research and Innovation of Brussels
Institute for the Encouragement of Scientific Research and Innovation of Brussels
The Institute for the Encouragement of Scientific Research and Innovation of Brussels or ISRIB promotes scientific research and technological innovation in the...

 (ISRIB). The goal of the project is to translate knowledge acquired from research into practice-oriented and market-worthy methods for designing user interfaces for safety-critical systems .

Involvement in the arts

Since 2004, the Belgian composer of contemporary classical music Walter Hus
Walter Hus
Walter Hus is a Belgian composer and musician.Walter Hus studied at the music conservatories in Ghent and Brussels. In 1984, he graduated with excellence for piano with Prof. Dr. Robert Steyaert and soon became involved with new music in many different expressions...

  has been artist in residence at Namahn. Walter Hus’ recording studio, featuring a Decap organ, is located in the Namahn spaces.

History

Namahn was founded in 1987 by Joannes Vandermeulen. For five years, Namahn co-owned Integration by Design, a company Mr. Vandermeulen co-founded with Kris Vanstappen. When Mr. Vanstappen went on to found Human Interface Group in 1992 with Christel Dehaes, the company changed its name to Using It, and later to Namahn.
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