Interaction Design

How to evaluate effectively Evaluation is a process where experience and what has been done is combined. It allows us to learn from mistakes and analyse future methods to avoid them. These learnings are especially important for future projects. An evaluation is made up from three phases:  1.  Conception phase :  During this period, a large amount of data is collected as detailed as possible. All participants should understand what their task and what the quality of the data should be. Having someone in charge can help the process. All of these insures a qualitative and efficient evaluation. Before starting any project, defining the data in advance ensures a more efficient evaluation. 2.  Design phase :  Appearance and functionality is the main focus during this phase - methods such as prototyping, user testing, experimentation are commonly used. Throughout the design phase, evaluation is crucial so that designers can continuously reflect and a...

Technology refers to the scientific knowledge for practical purposes. Today, technology is often used to describe any electronic tools, however, it also includes any tools that we've developed in order to change our environment. A pen, for example, is in fact a technology. Short Summary of the History of Technology Technology was initially characterised by the human's need of surviving, hunting and gathering food. In the Stone Age, our ancestors made stone tools that helped them to fulfil these needs. Once we learnt the skill of forging iron, we started to replace stone tools with ones out of this newly discovered, stronger material. The Ancient Age (3000BC to 610 AD) was dominated by Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Mayans, Byzantines and Mesopotamians. They were one of the first to introduce technologies such as the wheel, paper and toilets. During the Medieval Period (610 to 1760 AD) gunpowder lead to the development of new warfare tools such as cannons. There was also a m...

User Experience (UX) = User + Interaction User Experience can be defined as the overall experience users have when they are interacting with something. It focuses on the user's emotions and looks into creating technologies that solve human's problems. UX Design consist of the cycle of Research, Design, Prototyping, Testing and Measurement With this process we can create designs that are useful, usable and desirable. Usability is a part of UX Design, however, if something works, that doesn't mean that it provides a good experience. In fact, UX catches our attention mores when it's bad. Simultaneously, a beatiful design does not mean it's intuitive. UI = the things the user will actually interact with and see UX = the overall experience Users can impact the design and create the experience themselves. No matter what you design people will often find an appropriation of misuse. Misuse has several meanings: "to use something in the wrong way or for t...

Cybernetics and Machines Cybernetics means the science of communication and automatic control systems in both machines and living things (- Google) It's the notion of adapting to things. The term cybernetics originates from the Greek word "kubernetes" and means "to steer". Paul Pangaro, one of the leading figures in cybernetics, describes cybernetics as a process that includes a loop of sensing where the route is compared with its goal and then corrected if needed. Without this cycle no system can work.  "... as we steer a ship we want to make it to a goal. ... this loop of acting, sensing and comparing the goal ... is fundamental." Loop: A system has a goal and is always connected to the cycle of sensing, comparing and acting. For this a goal is always necessary too. There are two different feedback systems: positive or negative. Positive feedback systems include additive looping. As for an example: sound picked up from a micropho...

Research Labs (labs short for laboratory → lat: laborare = to work) have the purpose of advancing the knowledge of mankind. There are two main research environments: Academic Research Labs are pushed by universities and colleges. These labs don't work for an agenda and mainly conduct their research for the expansion of human knowledge. Industrial Research Labs are pushed by companies. Their goal is to enhance the company's own development so that they can prevail in the global market. Today, however, other research environment besides the two are become more and more popular. More often are community based research areas founded. Examples include hacking spaces, makers spaces, etc. Are mores specifically: Genspace in Brooklyn, USA, or FabLab in Zurich, Switzerland.  Research can also be conducted from home and not in external locations. Every object with which we've surrounded us, has a history of research behind it. This highlights the importance of resear...

Humans have communicated with stories for many thousand years and have learnt to understand and use different types such as visual, oral, written or sensorial (smell, touch, taste etc) storytellings. Naturally, these types can intertwine to enhance the communication. We humans use storytelling for education, sharing ideas or experiences, understanding situations or for illustrating problems. Today, storytelling has become even more important as it supports the creation of relatable situations that lead to empathy , a core step of design thinking and process. It is in addition also used for other purposes - for opening debates, exploring new concepts, analysing projects or promoting products. Adapt to Target Group Advertisement and marketing companies often resort to storytelling to promote their products. By doing so they have to adopt their story to their target audience - not every target group relates to the same story. Humour for example is not in every nation the same. Ther...

The future of design development lies in participation with the users . Designers shall no longer consider the user as a passive participant whose sole purpose it to be studied at. No longer shall a researcher serve as a translator between designers and users. This structure, originally known as classical design , only leads to a major loss of insights and information instead of achieving the best design results with all participants in mind. Today there's a move towards a participatory design process where users, researchers and designers alike are all on the same level which allows them to create the concept together as one. One of these participatory methods is called Co-Design. Co-Design: Participatory Design & Co-Creation Co-Design is made up from Participatory Design, Co-Creation and Open Design Process . While using this method, all participants are on equal grounds and are actively working on solving the problem as a unified team. This allows the creation ...

A collection of notes of Lalya Gaye's presentation on  Quirky  Designs On Thursday morning Lalya presented to use different examples of successful and unsuccessful design projects that were critical or had a social change. Utopia through state-driven design: Folkhemmet (Swedish for "home for the people") → Embrace new technologies and architecture with the goal of creating a living space where everyone can enjoy a good life (→ paradise) Critical Design: Critical design embodies fears and possibilities. It does not always have a function, instead it illustrates a fear and causes people to express criticism. Dunne & Raby  Natalie Jeremjienko  Breathless Corset, Kristin O'Friel → embodying pollution Dissolving Memory, Sarah Wisniewska → representation of dementia with the goal to cause empathy EnduraSphere(TM), The Yes Men → imitate representatives of authorities and of companies to provoke public to critique such organisation and ask w...

Design characteristics, process and principles Design is the activity of solving problems. We use design to have an impact on our everyday life. Most designs share the same characteristics such as: an incomplete description unclear possible steps unknown goal in advance trade-offs among interdependent elements need of different skills → relies on designers with a broad knowledge wide range and on-going impact on human activities Design often even follow the same process steps which roughly include: clarifying the problem identifying design moves envisioning the solution recognising trade-offs and dependencies integrating divers knowledge and skills anticipating impacts on human activity During design processes there are different types of principles that allow a more effective design. Most of these help in identifying solutions and designing with the user in mind . One form of design principles that focus on sustainability for environment and h...

Documentation of design processes are highly recommended for keeping an over-view of the project and for terminating what the next step should be. With the help of audiovisual materials knowing what to do next becomes easier to iterate. Using audiovisual materials as a language to communicate  Visual / audio visions are very helpful when representing design concepts to others especially when they are not directly linked to the project. Therefore, audiovisual materials should be considered as a communication language. To clarify ideas with co-designers or just for yourself, video is once again a good tool to use. Using audiovisual materials for research  Video is a great for documenting research. It can be used for: → research of design - document the methods that can be used for the design  → research for design - collect knowledge and information beforehand through interviews, etc → research through design - document the process and thereby new kn...

What do you want to change and why?  Design is an activity of trying to make sense of the world. Humans use design to respond to situations in their surroundings. When we design we alter the world. This altered world in turn creates new situations and therefore influences our design again. This cycle is what drives our constant search for change and improvement. However, before we can change the world, we have to first understand the world itself. For that, look at how it is represented. Focus on present and past views, observations and fantasies (→ an example of the past: greek mythologies). Illustrations and paintings are also tools of interpretations or portrayals of the word. Research into ideas that are already being developed. Are they dystopian or utopian?  It is important to look at all aspects - both the ugly and the beautiful can help with forming your ideas. Keep track of institutions that lead the change of the world such as MIT, TED, Notion...

What is included in Interaction Design?  Interaction design is a big field and includes many different subjects. These notes were collected during the very first interaction design methods class discussion. While dealing with interaction design, designers are often prompted to go into questions such as:  Who are we? Why are we here? What do we do while we're here? Simultaneously interaction designers always need to keep in mind how their tools and assistances interact with humans. These tools include computers, systems, installations etc. humans ⟺ "otherness" Interaction design always occurs in a space where its scale must always be considered. These places are often linked and influence each other. A great visual example is Eames'  Power of ten  video, created for IBM in 1977. Additional note: interaction designers should strive against the development of blackbox systems . Design method types  There are many differe...