Designing Interactions: People and Prototypes

Chapter Takeaways

• Overall, this chapter seems to be a lengthy repetition of the first 9 chapters of the book.
  
• Interaction Design is still in the blooming stages, but is set to thrive.
• Know thy user.
  
• Prototype.
• There is a hierarchy of complexity that necessitates a variety of discipline knowledge to solve.
• Even though everything else must work first, designers get the love because the we control the part that people want.
• Consider using IDEO's Method Cards to determine necessary research methods.
• Interaction Design has 3 main categories: Screen-based experiences, Interactive Products, and Services.
• Design patterns in every discipline take a while to evolve, coming soon to IxD.
  

Designing Interactions

What Is Design?

• Designers are must more at ease learning and knowing by doing than by explaining.
• Many definitions proposed, few accepted.

Good design comes from the successful synthesis of a solution that recognizes all the relevant constraints, and the nature of the constraints defines the difference between design disciplines.

Core Skills of Design

1. To synthesize a solution from all of the relevant constraints, understanding everything that will make a difference to the result.
2. To frame, or reframe, the problem and objective.
3. To create and envision alternatives.
4. To select from those alternatives, knowing intuitively how to choose the best approach.
5. To visualize and prototype the intended solution.

• Tacit knowledge over explicit knowledge of logically expressed thoughts.
• Nature of the constraint defines the design discipline.

A Hierarchy of Complexity

1. Anthropometrics - the size of people, for the design of physical objects.
2. Physiology - the way the body works, for the design of physical man-machine systems.
3. Cognitive psychology - the way the mind the works, for the design of human-computer interactions.
4. Sociology - the way people relate to each other, for the design of connected systems.
5. Culture anthropology - the human condition, for global design.
6. Ecology - the interdependence of living things, for sustainable design.

Why a Design Discipline?

• Designers get the love because the we control the part that people want.
• Everything else has to work before design has a chance: affordability, performance, usefulness, usability, then delight becomes important.

Where Does Interaction Design Fit?

• A definition: The design of the subjective and qualitative aspects of everything that is both digital and interactive, creating designs that are useful, desirable, and accessible.

Is Interaction Design Here to Stay?

• We are marching towards a period where everything that can be digital, will be digital.
• Computers will become invisible within our daily lives.
• Although many other disciplines will begin to include digital aspects, interaction designers will remain as experts in this sphere.

People

• Interaction Design must understand the perceptions, circumstances, habits, needs, and desires of the ultimate users.

Latent Needs and Desires

• Learn about existing habits and context of use.
• Observe, not just ask questions.

51 Ways of Learning about People

• Jane Fulton Suri - HF researcher for IDEO.
• From her, the human factors team was expanded so that every team could have HF influence.
• Represented the 51 methods of HF research with a deck of cards - Method Cards.
• A tool that can be used flexibly to sort, browse, search, spread out, or pin up.
• Four categories: Learn, Look, Ask, Try

Prototypes

A New Prototype Every Day

• When prototyping early and often, we will fail frequently but succeed sooner.

Interaction Design Prototypes: The Why

• Interaction Design Prototype Defined: A representation of a design, made before the final solution exists.
• The following are experts from "Experience Prototyping"
  
• Experience vs Object Prototyping.
• Understanding existing user experiences and context.
• Exploring and evaluating design ideas.
• Communicating ideas.

Prototyping Techniques: The How

• Duane Bray: BA in Printer Design. MS in Electornic Media. Became head of Interaction Design at IDEO. Believes Interaction Design has 3 main categories: Screen-based experiences, Interactive Products, and Services.

1. Screen-Based Experiences

• At first, company web sites were taken directly from their page-based print material.
• Then, agencies such as Razorfish emerged, specializing in sites for the new economy.
• Now the web is more like software or interactive media.

1.1. Screen-based experiences: early exploration.

• Can be taken from the "Try" method cards.
• Can use paper on appropriate size and content.
• Balance between "perfect looking" and too simple.
• Consider "flip book".

1.2. Exploring, evaluating, and communicating design ideas.

• Combine 2D representations with changes over time.
• Can use Director, Flash etc.
• Live prototyping: using code to prototype that can become a part of your final design. accessing real databases.

2. Interactive Products

• Everyday products that can "behave" as enabled by interactive technology.
• Challenge when the physical object and electronic behavior are integrated.
• At the beginning, tape random objects together, use Lego etc.
• Techniques are similar to mechanical or electrical engineering.

3. Designing Services

• Live prototyping.
• Consider the need for a scalable prototype.
• Designers and developers are converging.
• Don't get attached to the code during prototyping.

Process

Designing Something New

• People and prototypes are needed most when you are designing something with no precedent.

Designing a New Version

• Study what is out there already - previous designs, literature, alternative versions etc.
  
• Think about people.
• It takes a long time to develop design patterns.

Elements of the Design Process

1. Constraints
2. Synthesis
3. Framing
4. Ideation
5. Envisioning
6. Uncertainty
7. Selection
8. Visualization
9. Prototyping
10. Evaluation