- 1) What makes up interaction design and what are some of the industry’s challenges?
Interaction design is made up of various parts. Not only does it involve the designer, but it also involves the consumer as well. Interaction designers work to build relationships between products, services, people, and systems by encouraging dialogue through the use of functions, technology, and other forms as they develop over time. The act of interaction design includes studying the consumer in order to better understand and change the way that they think, do, and view things. Interaction designers may work under the practice of visual interface design, information architecture, or even usability engineering. The purpose of interaction design is to help change the way people view and use design. In order to accomplish this, the designers must be able to understand how people relate to the world, each other, and also the changes that are happening in technology and businesses.
There are many challenges when it comes to interaction design. One of the biggest challenges is uncovering the wants and needs of the consumer. Since every person is different, it’s hard for designers to know exactly what their consumers might want at any given moment. In order to accomplish this task, the designer must be able to pinpoint the needs and wants of their consumer. This includes doing research, among other things, in order to figure out what these needs and wants are. The designer must also must be able to carry out the task of refining their designs in order to meet the demands of the consumer. Another issue, which designers may face, is in the area of navigation and usability. Since digital interfaces are often very complex, a lot of people have a hard time understanding how they work and where to go when using them. That being said, interaction designers must meet the challenge of making these interfaces easier to understand and work with. This involves taking what’s not physical, or the digital interface, and designing it in such a way as to make it attainable for the common man, without it actually being a physical product.
2) What is interaction design, how its evolving. What fields does it draw knowledge from?
According to the book, “Thoughts on Interaction Design”, interaction design can be defined as “the creation of a dialogue between a person and a product, system, or service.” It involves changing the behavior of others and redefining the way that they view things. That being said, interaction design is always changing and evolving over time. As the wants, needs, and desires of the consumers change, the evolution of interaction design begins to blossom as well. With technology and social media on the rise, it makes sense that the growth of interaction design would continue along with it. Although the interaction design industry has its own separate field, it encompasses various ideas which it has gained from other fields of study. For example, interaction designers have gained a lot of their knowledge about memory, perception, and cognition from the field of cognitive psychology. They also rely heavily on the field of art as a way to learn how to capture the emotions and visual appeal of their consumers.