Ames' syllabi

Interaction design is made up of words defining the interaction, visual representation that the user interacts with, the physical aspect, time in which the design develops and changes, and the behavior of the users actions in reaction to the interface of the design.

Some of the industries challenges include finding the problem within the design and making a solution, understanding the wants and needs of the users, and accomplishing their own wants and needs.

Interaction design is a step-by-step process in which designers create appealing interfaces to give the user a better experience. It’s evolving through new technology, emerging science, and the growing demand for new apps, sites, and products. Some examples include 360-degree videos for your phone applications and the production of holographic technology. This draws knowledge from science, visual design, marketing, and engineering fields.

What makes up interaction design and what are some of the industry’s challenges?

Interaction design is made up of six different phases in completing a project.  It involves defining the design problem or opportunity, discovering hidden wants, needs, and desires, synthesizing, creating, refining, and reflecting.  It is a complex process of attempting to understand users and what they are looking to obtain from the final output.  Challenges to the industry include the complexity in people’s changing wants and desires, changing lifestyles, new technologies, and maximum usability efforts.

What is interaction design, how its evolving. What fields does it draw knowledge from?

Essentially, interaction design is “a creative process focused on people” (pg 20).  Based on how people react to and interact with the world around them, interaction designers design engaging user interfaces intended to offer maximum user satisfaction and usability.  With evolution in technology comes evolution in interaction design.  Changes among people also impact the process in interaction design.  Among other fields, it draws knowledge from marketing, engineering, and distribution.  Marketing is essential to ensure that the brand is both consistent and compelling.  Knowledge and expertise in engineering ensures that a product is functional, which becomes increasingly important in new technology.  Distribution knowledge is critical in moving a product into the market in a way that will make it thrive in a timely and cost-effective way.  In addition, knowing ethnographic information about people and using language to appeal to them will aid interaction designers in successfully completing their tasks.

• What information can ethnographic tools give you to improve the interactivity of an online banking website? (pp. 48-54)

Knowing the norms of a certain culture or cultures can help create a more welcoming website, meaning that if the online services look reliable and secure because the designer understood what is accepted from cultures than people are more likely to interact with it and come back to use the services again. It creates a more holistic website experience for the user.

• At what point is a design finished? What makes it a success? What is its purpose? (pp. 54-62)

I think a design is finished when the designer is happy with what the product has done for people, and that is also when it is considered a success. Even if the product does something the designer did not originally foresee, if the user finds a way to use it effectively then the designer should feel accomplished. The purpose of the design should just be to help something or someone in a positive way.

• Identify a product family you use regularly (can be anything from technology to consumables except for coffee). How has its branding effected your use, relationship and experience with the product? (pp. 78-84)

I think Apple has influenced the way I look at certain things. When I was looking for a new phone recently I found myself tied to the iPhone because of familiarity. They make all their products so intertwined that when I go out for a new product I think about the connectivity to my current Apple products and how they will tie in. This is why Apple has such a great user experience for me.

The movie “Objectified” was really eye opening for me. Before watching this movie, I did not really think about any of the things tat were talked about in the video. I didn’t think about how every little thing we use everyday has been designed specifically for a purpose and to try and make the use of the object as easy and as comfortable as they can for us. In the movie, on of the designers said, “ It should feel almost undesigned so that people think, ‘Why would you want it any other way?’”. I think this statement is so true about the products we work with everyday. The user would never even think to have it be any other way, but in actuality, there were hundreds or even thousands of other ways made before that one way was chosen. Nobody ever thinks of that part of the process when they are using it, besides the people who actually went through the process of making it. I also agree with the designer who stated that designers have to understand what people need even more than the people do themselves. If this were not true in the designers today, I do not believe that the products made would be successful. If the designers didn’t put as much thought into the products they make I believe that the users would not buy as much of the products because they would think that they could make something better for them then what is available. I know I think like this with some of the products I own because of their poor design. There were many things that some of the designers said that really made me think about how I actually thought of design before the movie. One of the designers said a quote from Henry Ford. The quote stated, Every object tells a story, you just have to know how to read it”. I believe that this can be applied to design and how easy designers make products for their user. Products should be simple so that even the least knowledgable person can figure it out. If a product has a bunch of different parts that have to attach a certain way of can only work ing a certain order and the instructions to use this object aren’t as clear as possible, the user will not be able to use it. In one of my other classes, I learned that a person who has a good experience with a product will usually tell 3-5 people about it. A person who has a bad experience with a product will tell at least nine people about their experience. If this word of mouth spreads far enough, the entire product could go under because no one will buy it. Another thing one of the designers said was that is is a designers job to look into the future, not what has happened, but what will happen. This sentence changed the way I had been thinking about designing. Even since I was little, I had been looking at things and trying to see how i could make it better. Although this is still a way that designers look at products, It is not the complete way that I should have been thinking about designing. I should have been looking to see how I can make a product last. Designers have to be able to make a product be able to stand the test of time and not just end up in a landfill in a few years or even a few months. I believe that this element will be key in our future to be able to minimize our carbon footprint and in making our world and products more eco-friendly. Lastly, each designer gave their own definition of designing. These ranged from everything from a puzzle to honesty. Before this movie, my definition of design was simple. It was the way in which you made a product with the features of additions that would work best for the user. I have drastically changed my definition of design after watching this video, because these designers really know what they are talking about and how to make their designs work for everyone. I believe that my definition of design now would be something like an ongoing and ever-changing process in which designers create products that will be long living, eco-friendly, and functional for the user that gives solutions to even the littlest problems.

Objectified presents a number of intriguing ways of looking at design as a whole and the thought that goes behind it, as told by a variety of designers themselves.  It highlights a number of simple truths about the way the world around us is constructed and why it was constructed in that way.  One designer points out that people generally do not consider the fact that everyday objects such as Post-It Notes were designed by someone.  When one realizes this, it becomes fascinating to consider the thought behind objects that are not necessarily considered by many to be significant triumphs in design.  Perhaps such objects that are not thought of in this way truly are the greatest triumphs, for their designs simply seem natural.

By examining the way people behave, designers can best judge the ways to reach them in terms of their design needs.  I agree with what one designer had to say about the design process: essentially, tending to both extremes in people will cover the majority who fall somewhere between those two extremes.  Grouping people into categories based on their need-level ensures that everyone’s needs have been considered and addressed.  I also agree with treating design as ways to improve daily life.  Design is a complex process of trial and error that is seemingly never finished because perfecting the process takes time, especially as the definition of what is “perfect” evolves.

The idea that if a component of a design is not necessary, it should not be there changed the way I view design.  Although this perhaps seems obvious, I realized that my own designs could have been improved by incorporating only what was essential and had an assigned purpose.  Understanding what was referred to in the documentary as “design hierarchy” aids in deliberate and thoughtful design, rather than design that cannot necessarily be explained because not every component is essential.

Many of the designers discussed the importance of an understanding of how and why people behave the ways that they do even more than they themselves do in crafting a successful design.  This awareness of natural instincts and basic behaviors ultimately provides the foundation for design.  As a designer, one wants to be able to predict how people will react and adjust to different factors based on how they have dealt with previous ones.  Creating parallels between other interactions people have with their surroundings and everyday objects and the experience with a new design ultimately allows for a smoother result.

Ultimately, design is the thoughtful craft of creating something with a designated purpose.  In the case of specifically interaction design, it is imperative to design with people in mind, and people must be conscious of the way that something has been designed and know that a poor design is to blame for problems in interacting with it, rather than the people themselves.  Designers must find the best ways to reach and serve people; it is a crucial part of the design process.  This definition has changed in that I now fully realize the designer’s accountability for how his or her design is perceived by others.  Poor design does not help anyone, but everyone has the potential to be impacted by good design, which is why the better something has been designed, the less bumps along the way in life.

What makes up interaction design and what are some of the industry’s challenges?

Interaction design is made up of many things. Companies designing objects for consumer use, artists making an object’s interface more appealing, a designer making an object more approachable. All of these can be examples of interaction design.  There are many challenges facing the industry. One of which is designers figuring out what the user wants and needs. These wants and needs change fast and it can be difficult to keep up.

What is interaction design, how it is evolving. What fields does it draw knowledge from?

In a general sense, it is the way an object is used by the user. It’s objective is to make the consumer’s life easier while still being appealing to the eye. It is the creation of a dialogue between a person and a product. It evolves with the desires of its users. It can draw knowledge from many fields, from art to science and technology. Anything to make a product easier to use and more appealing.

Interaction design is the mix of industrial design, engineering psychology, business strategy, and art. Some problems that face interaction designers include, different types of people needing different things, the merging of look with function and user experience, the latter can be difficult for those who go to school for a degree in fine arts. Another problem is the outsourcing of industrial designers to cheaper workers who are just as qualified but will get a product to market for less. Innovation in the relatively new field of software design is a key part of the new interaction designer, and an importance on user experience will decide whether a software is successful. Another part of interaction design is the physiological aspect, trying to shape what people do and how they think, or don’t think about their actions.

1.What makes up interaction design and what are some of the industry challenges?

On page 31, Kolko describes interaction design,”Divergent and convergent thinking requires a mixture of analytical skills (logic, engineering, and the development of “appropriate solutions”) and creative skills (drawing, mapping, “blue sky thinking”). This mixture is a rare but required duality that must exist in a successful designer. … The constraints placed on the design are a mix of human, technical, and aesthetic boundaries. The difficulty lies in discerning the hidden constraints, which the process itself helps uncover, and balancing these with the more explicit constraints, often defined by a client or business executive. … A common misconception is that formal methods can only be used with very well- established ideas.” Interaction design is made up of “innovated new ideas and challenging traditional ways of considering a product and doing business.”(30-31).

2.What is interaction design, how its evolving, what fields does it draw knowledge from?

“Interaction Design is the creation of a dialogue between a person and a product, service, or system. This dialogue is usually nearly invisible and found in the minutiae of daily life — the way someone may hold his knife and fork while cutting into a steak or the way another person may automatically switch windows to check her Facebook wall every few minutes or so. Structuring this form of ethereal dialogue is difficult, as it occurs in a fourth dimension- over time. To design for behavior requires an understanding of the fluidity of natural dialogue, which is both for reactionary and anticipatory at the same time.” (13). Interaction Design is evolving as people change their needs and expectations of a product or service. It draws knowledge from what has already been done and what needs to be improved or ways to make life easier.