What makes up interaction design and what are some of the industry’s challenges?
Interaction design, as defined by the textbook, is “ a creative process focused on people.” What this means is it’s a dialogue between the product and the user. Interaction design focuses on satisfying as many users as the design/product/service can. Interaction designers focus on usability and instead of just analyzing the details of what they are designing for, they instead imagine how they could be and what they could evolve to. While usability is a big part, it is just a portion of the large set of characteristics that become important during the dialogue that is interaction design.
Industry challenges could be, as mentioned in the book, how hard the designers job is compared to the artist. While the artist creates mostly for a reaction, a designer (and specifically an interaction designer) has to work for a function and understand all aspects of the product and how they affect the users. This requires more time and a specific way of thinking that requires deeper thought into the problems and benefits of the product they are creating.
What is interaction design, how its evolving. What fields does it draw knowledge from?
Interaction design is about the user, and focused on their needs. This means there has to be communication between the designer and user so the needs and wants of the user are implemented into the final product. This means that a strong purpose is needed for the designs to succeed, as there has to be a benefit to the user. Interaction designers are continuing to try to understand and alter what people do, how they feel, and what they think. The book states that because of this manipulation, the behavior is tightly related to power, politics, and control.
This means it draws knowledge from psychology and sociology, especially because it is so focused on how people act and why they act the way that they do. It is also important that designers know how to create the designs they are making so knowledge is also drawn from developers, engineers, and similar fields that create physical products that interaction designers are trying to create.