Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Further complicating things our workplace are our titles, such as "interacTIVE designers"--the ones who do the visual interface design--and "interacTION designers", who do more of the IA work, testing, etc. Ah, the need for buckets to put people into... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
hi, On Tue, 2008-10-21 at 13:25 +, james horgan wrote: > actually i wanted to add something to what i was writing as this > reminds me of the same problem i used to have as an industrial > designer. Whether to call myself an industrial or a product designer. I solved my design education in Germany, where all traditional graphic design courses were renamed to Kommunikationsdesign or Visuelle Kommunikation (I think you can guess what these terms mean :) most people that graduated with me call themselves communication designers, because the abstract, high-level communication between viewer and artifact is what's interesting about it, not making some nice graphics, and because this opens the field to cover things like film, web, signage, interface (haha) etc. besides it was the name of the course. despite of this development, graphic design is still far more known and easier to understand. the discussion on interface vs interaction design actually reminds me of graphic vs. communication design. regarding terms like social interaction design, I think inventing names for special areas of expertise is a natural way for an emerging discipline. my counterpart example from communication design would be editorial design. milan -- milan guenther * interaction design ||| | | || | || | || +33 6 67 11 13 83 * www.guenther.cx Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
There certainly is a lot of crossover between this thread and the one on 'What to teach interaction design students' - and the heart of both topics seems to center around language and understanding. First, needing to have a clearly articulated definition of the discipline and it's relationship and differentiation from those related. That has been explored well here and it's clear that it is a continuum - there are some whose talents overlap ranging from theoretical to the practical. (I love the author/illustrator analogy, and I'd add David Macaulay to that list!) Think 'theory of interaction' on through interface design, prototyping and the skills to actually develop the site/application/device. It's a rare few that can competently do all of those things, but there are certainly more who can do much and direct the rest effectively. What Dave has brought up here and in the other thread is a need to effectively critique the work - both by students and I'd say also by practitioners 'out in the world'. In developing the right language and vocabularies to effectively critique, and therefore explain (!) the work. This is vital to the education process and equally so in conveying the value and effectiveness of work being done. In visual design there are more known vocabularies for describing and evaluating design from an aesthetic point of view. However in interface design (such as for the web or a software application) there are additional concerns around usability (affected by the interaction design), how well it solves business objectives and how well/efficiently it can be produced. There is beauty to be found in all - or perhaps at least elegance. The vocabularies to describe a beautiful code solution versus a truly elegant business solution versus a completely intuitive interaction solution are all quite different from the set of words and phrases applied when evaluating color, composition and 'visual tension' found in a great piece of visual design (a painting, a print, a poster or a software interface). In actuality some of the words may be the same, but the theory and criteria with which they are applied is quite different. So I think that to answer either thread (what's the difference or what to teach) we must first be able to describe and understand both what is entailed in any of these disciplines and how one can describe 'success' in any of them. From there it's easier to say 'I'm an interaction designer' or 'I'm an interface designer' or in someone like Andrei's situation, I'd say that he's more than either in that he may think of himself as an interaction designer primarily, but having the ability to perform and/or direct what comes after (interface/ visual design and the actual prototyping and production of the end product) is definitely a broader role. I think we all live in worlds where it flows from Dave's situation of being surrounded by other experts so he can focus solely on interaction design and others like myself and other in this thread who by necessity or desire involve themselves in other surrounding roles. It doesn't diminish the importance of any one of them, but without the language to articulate the differences and importance of the various distinct disciplines then there will always be a danger of important tasks and roles being eliminated from the world. Cheers, Jason Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
On Oct 21, 2008, at 3:51 PM, Russell Wilson wrote: Jack - do you have any examples of the project you mention? I'd be very interested in seeing them. I don't have any examples from Chris' class, as he first conceived that project the year after I had taken the class. I wish I did. However, I borrowed the project for a class I taught a couple years later. The results weren't quite as polished, as I was teaching masters students in HCI, but there were some decent ones. I'll see if I can dig them up. I have them on a CD around here somewhere. Best, Jack Jack L. Moffett Interaction Designer inmedius 412.459.0310 x219 http://www.inmedius.com If I'd have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me "A faster horse." - Henry Ford Jack L. Moffett Interaction Designer inmedius 412.459.0310 x219 http://www.inmedius.com Design is a process - an intimate collaboration between engineers, designers, and clients. - Henry Dreyfuss Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
I agree with Will's argument that "interaction design", whatever the final definition eventually comes out to be, can be more than what we think of as a "standard" interface. In his description, I did not see a civil engineer any more than I see in the description of an interface/interaction designer a software engineer. I'm not sure that I'm following the descriptions of what many of the majority on this list are proposing as what it is that an interaction designer does. The general examples seem to a bit esoteric, while the practical descriptions seem to have more to do with a person's level of autonomy and status at work than their actual application of skills. Rather than discuss what an interaction or interface designer is, why not discuss what it is they are not. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Jack, I don't think you shirk away from your education. Just because I have never seen or studied germs doesn't mean I should stop washing my hands. Yes, in some cases a disconnect exists between academic research and general practice, probably in all fields, and probably especially in one where holding a more advanced degree is not required. However, the fact that practioners do not attempt to apply what research they can, when it is appropriate and relevant, should not diminish the value of that research. It may also be true that academics should try to make more of an effort to get to know their GP counterparts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
actually i wanted to add something to what i was writing as this reminds me of the same problem i used to have as an industrial designer. Whether to call myself an industrial or a product designer. The actual difference is that industrial may have more engineering involvement, while the product designer is a more high level thinker. The choice came down to this: If im at a party, whats the optimal job description i would tell someone who knew nothing about my area of expertise. so product designer won the day. I will normally say Interaction or User experience designer today because it makes most sense to people and expresses the full range of what i do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Hi Tashin, can of worms you opened there! i would say it started with graphic design, then became interface design as people got a better understanding of the UI process, then became interaction design as people understood the business value of a UI designer on board and the range of functions they serve on a project expanded Its a matter of choice, based on the clients expectations, or stage of the project, ill flip my title around, but generally User Experience Designer (UX Designer) covers it for me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Hi everyone, I conceive interface design as a combination of visual design (if it is a visual interface), interaction design, and information design (or IA) and some other skills. Although they are deeply intertwingled, and some people might disagree, I see visual design as the part of UI design that lets people quickly and easily understand and start using an interface, Information design as the part of design that lets people navigate to information they need, and interaction design as focusing on the needs and tasks and goals of the users and ensuring that the functionality is easily guessable (or intuitive or usable or...). Tim On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 5:36 AM, David Malouf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > To be honest, there may or may not be any difference at all at the > level of practice. One term has gained more traction as it has moved > away from GUI software design where UI has been prevelant and has > been encompassing systems design and hardware interface design as > well as service design. In many ways, Interaction design is interface > design (but not graphical interface design). It is about the story > that is made up of moments of dialog between different interfacing > moments made complex through intelligent connections and > relationships. > > To me Interaction Design is an evolution from Interface Design > historically. > > Then academically I think Interaction Design is much more than > interface design in many ways. Interface Design really doesn't have > academic offerings outside of computer science that I have seen. The > closest are interactive design programs that are mostly either > computer arts programs or skills certification programs. But > Interaction Design especially in the European schools has built > itself out of the Industrial Design tradition of design education > that combines craft and thinking processes as well as a long history > of critique. > > So your question can be answered in so many ways and most answers are > going to be skewed by a persons current context and their > community/geography connections to their practice and education. It > is basically evolving, but through IxDA and other efforts I would say > the direction is as I describe it above. But I'm sure others have > other thoughts. > > -- dave > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 > > > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Kei te kōrero tiki au. Kei te kōrero tiki koe. Ka kōrero tiki tāua. Kōrero ai tiki tāua. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
On Oct 21, 2008, at 12:35 AM, David Malouf wrote: Hi Jack, And how many practitioners have taken Daniel Boyarski's course? How has that course been made manifest in the great part of practice? I think it is one thing to say that there is a theory put out there like Jonas' Pliability, but quite another to say that that same theory has reached the arena of practice and is well understood by that community of practice. I think as a community of practice we are far from understanding what Daniel Boyarski is teaching. It is not spoken about here on this list, nor is it spoken in the hallways at our conferences. I suppose you are right. I realize that the practitioners with graduate degrees make up a minority. There are a number of CMU graduates involved in IxDA, and I would expect that other graduate programs have courses with similar content. So, why don't we have more discussions about these qualities of IxD? I suppose it is thought of as being less practical to the practitioner who is trying to get a product out the door and in need of quick and dirty usability testing methods or a solution for a particular type of form interaction. And I guess that's what you're getting at. On the other hand, the influence of design for entertainment is becoming a popular topic, and involves many of the "softer" pieces of IxD. As far as conferences go, for those of you that were selecting speakers for Interaction 09, what percentage of the submissions were more academic/theoretical/artistic, and how were they received in comparison to the more practical submissions? Looking back on it now, I recognize that I was trying to write a proposal that was solidly on the practical side, expecting that to be better received. Of course, these days, I'm very much down in the trenches myself, so that wasn't a difficult path to take. Was any effort taken to balance the practical and theoretical with the invited speakers? And, how would a more balanced conference change the number and type of attendees? We have complained quite a bit about the overly academic bent of CHI. We need WAY more programs in IxD (ooo! I'm about to do that) at the masters level that are teaching the types of theory and converting them to practice that you are mentioning. They also need to be brought into the "continuing ed" universe where at this point they are almost non-existent as we as a community of practice have been frightened away from theoretical in favor of the practical when it comes to these events. This means that these ideas get closeted to a select few, never getting aired out and applied in wider use. Agreed (and I'm excited for you!). But I know there are a lot of intelligent people on this list that would enjoy discussing higher order topics. Perhaps we all need to make an effort to occasionally broach them. Best, Jack Jack L. Moffett Interaction Designer inmedius 412.459.0310 x219 http://www.inmedius.com Charles Eames was asked the question, "What are the boundaries of design?" He answered, "What are the boundaries of problems?" - Charles Eames Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Hi Jack, And how many practitioners have taken Daniel Boyarski's course? How has that course been made manifest in the great part of practice? I think it is one thing to say that there is a theory put out there like Jonas' Pliability, but quite another to say that that same theory has reached the arena of practice and is well understood by that community of practice. I think as a community of practice we are far from understanding what Daniel Boyarski is teaching. It is not spoken about here on this list, nor is it spoken in the hallways at our conferences. We need WAY more programs in IxD (ooo! I'm about to do that) at the masters level that are teaching the types of theory and converting them to practice that you are mentioning. They also need to be brought into the "continuing ed" universe where at this point they are almost non-existent as we as a community of practice have been frightened away from theoretical in favor of the practical when it comes to these events. This means that these ideas get closeted to a select few, never getting aired out and applied in wider use. -- dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Aaah. Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I was reading some psychology recently and it turns out that there is no hierarchy - that is, you don't need to satisfy the lower levels in order to satisfy the higher levels. I just wish I could remember the book I was reading that cited this! (although Wikipedia does mention some of the anti-heirarchy research at the bottom of the article). Tim On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 9:01 PM, Jarod Tang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Andy, > > > I'm saying this, by the way, as someone writing their PhD on > interactivity > > and trying to find and build definitions in it. Sigh. I don't > particularly > > agree that someone needs a goal to drive the interaction, not an explicit > > one at least. A lot of what I've written about and done in the past has > been > > about play and playful discovery in interaction, both in an arts context > as > > well as an approach to interaction design. Play is much more open and not > > necessarily goal-based (and when it is, it's a game instead). > > That's the great point. Maybe motivation( for needs) is better than > goal for the people side. And, maslow's motivation theory > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy_of_needs) fits well at this > place. > > Cheers, > -- Jarod > > -- > http://designforuse.blogspot.com/ > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Kei te kōrero tiki au. Kei te kōrero tiki koe. Ka kōrero tiki tāua. Kōrero ai tiki tāua. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Hi Andy, > I'm saying this, by the way, as someone writing their PhD on interactivity > and trying to find and build definitions in it. Sigh. I don't particularly > agree that someone needs a goal to drive the interaction, not an explicit > one at least. A lot of what I've written about and done in the past has been > about play and playful discovery in interaction, both in an arts context as > well as an approach to interaction design. Play is much more open and not > necessarily goal-based (and when it is, it's a game instead). That's the great point. Maybe motivation( for needs) is better than goal for the people side. And, maslow's motivation theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy_of_needs) fits well at this place. Cheers, -- Jarod -- http://designforuse.blogspot.com/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
People [with goal] <--> interaction <--> interface [of object's function/features]. I was about to say that the problem with trying to find a single definition is that it will necessarily have too many clear boundaries. Really it's a continuum, and I think Jarod's example there is pretty good. Continuum's allow for overlap and how you interpret anything on it depends on where you are standing on it. I'm saying this, by the way, as someone writing their PhD on interactivity and trying to find and build definitions in it. Sigh. I don't particularly agree that someone needs a goal to drive the interaction, not an explicit one at least. A lot of what I've written about and done in the past has been about play and playful discovery in interaction, both in an arts context as well as an approach to interaction design. Play is much more open and not necessarily goal- based (and when it is, it's a game instead). Much as I would like to be able to explain to my mum what I've done for the last 15 years, I think we're still a way off something as clear as "a carpenter". Best, Andy Andy Polaine Research | Writing | Strategy Interaction Concept Design Education Futures Twitter: apolaine Skype: apolaine http://playpen.polaine.com http://www.designersreviewofbooks.com http://www.omnium.net.au http://www.antirom.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
The definition of IxD I currently favor is: A design approach that seeks to harmonize the behaviors of products, environments, and systems with the behaviors of target users, in order to produce optimal outcomes. As in previous definitions I've proposed, form is a means of manifesting, supporting, or reflecting behavior and thus also a concern of IxD, but secondary to the behavior itself. Optimal outcomes may include not only the immediate experience of users, but short, medium and long term outcomes for both users and anyone / anything affected by the design. To me what makes IxD important as an approach (if not a discipline in its own right) is its unique focus on behavior (and the aesthetics thereof) rather than form. In practice, as others have stated, there is not much difference between the terms "interface design" and IxD, except that "interface" as a term is not very explicit about the medium of exchange between human and artifact being behavior, whereas IxD highlights this fact. I therefore feel it is a more appropriately descriptive term that cuts to the chase of the design activity involved. "Interface" design also implies the design of a control surface (and the term comes from an era when relatively unsophisticated GUIs were slapped on top of piles of code), while interaction clearly reaches far beneath the surface to define the entire purpose of a product or service. A matter of semantics? Perhaps, but sometimes semantics are important if they can bring clarity to the task at hand. Robert. Robert Reimann IxDA Seattle Associate Creative Director frog design Seattle, WA On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 8:07 PM, Kurt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Well, somebody has to be unpopular... > > I don't think there is a difference really, in that Interaction > Design IMHO is not long for this world as a stand-alone discipline. > There are many, many kinds of designers, from architects to interface > designers to interior designers. Any field of design needs to > consider the interaction of the viewer or the user, else who are we > designing for? > > With the advent of web design, job titles got a little screwy. > Trying to keep up with who does what on a web team from company to > company is like playing whack-a-mole. At one place I'm a web > designer, at another I'm the IA, at another I'm the user experience > architect, yada, yada, yada. > > I'm glad that there has been a push to bring web design's focus > back towards the practical considerations of interaction. That said > though, I don't think we'll be looking at Interaction Designers as a > separate practice in a few years, and academically I think it will > settle in as a sub-field within psychology, e.g. cognitive studies. > > Just my opinion, I swear I'm not trolling! > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 > > > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Dave, I find it interesting that you believe we don't have an understanding of these. While working on my masters degree at CMU, I took Dan Boyarski's course titled "Time, Motion, and Communication". The aesthetics of motion and time have been an integrated part of my training. There are many theatrical aspects that can be applied to interaction design. As for the aesthetics of interaction, I could list a number of projects that dealt quite tangibly with this. One in particular comes to mind. Chris Pacione taught Visual Interface Design, and one of his early projects was to design a simple square that communicated a single action to the user, such as "push me" or "don't touch me". There was much beauty shown at the end of that project in the form of simplistic, intuitive, and effective communication. Best, Jack On Oct 20, 2008, at 12:48 PM, David Malouf wrote: What we don't have is an understanding of the aesthetics of motion, interaction, and other behaviors. Is there beauty here? Are there qualities outside of "usability" in this space. Jack L. Moffett Interaction Designer inmedius 412.459.0310 x219 http://www.inmedius.com To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit; it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse. - Paul Rand Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Well, somebody has to be unpopular... I don't think there is a difference really, in that Interaction Design IMHO is not long for this world as a stand-alone discipline. There are many, many kinds of designers, from architects to interface designers to interior designers. Any field of design needs to consider the interaction of the viewer or the user, else who are we designing for? With the advent of web design, job titles got a little screwy. Trying to keep up with who does what on a web team from company to company is like playing whack-a-mole. At one place I'm a web designer, at another I'm the IA, at another I'm the user experience architect, yada, yada, yada. I'm glad that there has been a push to bring web design's focus back towards the practical considerations of interaction. That said though, I don't think we'll be looking at Interaction Designers as a separate practice in a few years, and academically I think it will settle in as a sub-field within psychology, e.g. cognitive studies. Just my opinion, I swear I'm not trolling! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
1. Different guys have different explanation on interaction/interface design, some guys interface design may include interaction design. 2. But, from more than less literature, we can come up with a model (simplified) like People [with goal] <--> interaction <--> interface [of object's function/features]. Interface design is more to the Object side, while interaction design is more to the middle between people and object(or more to human side). Let's imagine design a web site, interface is about design the interface after how people use the site is defined, while interaction design is about design how people use the site. 3. If as 2, the design process and methods, and evaluation points are different ( but not totally different) for the two Ds, ( what's the good , how to evaluate it's good , blahblah... ) Cheers, -- Jarod On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 8:12 PM, Tahsin Shamma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi all, I'm new to this discussion group and have been a systems > developer/web developer for quite a while. I only recently heard the term > "Interaction Design" used to refer to those doing interface design. > > > > So, my question immediately was. what's the difference? > > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- http://designforuse.blogspot.com/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
I suspect that this is also what happened to plain old "usability". It got applied to everything and as such has lost most of its meaning. I'm with Andrei here - we need a decent defination or else interaction design risks being a lost term. On ther other hand, I think "User Experiance Design" was a lost term before it was devised and doesn't have any meaning anyway ;) For me, interaction design is about determining the optimal interaction between a person and a technology to help the person achieve their goals and needs. To help model interactions I write use cases and link these back to the goals in my user role (or Actor) description. Tim On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 1:07 PM, Andrei Herasimchuk < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Oct 20, 2008, at 4:14 PM, William Brall wrote: > > So where in this melange of different systems is the interaction >> design? It is everywhere. Because road planning and signage theory, >> and all of this are also a form of interaction design. >> > > I am often accused of pushing my own experiences onto public discussion of > the definitions of certain things. But surely this is even beyond what I'm > accused of, is it not? Attempting to redefine city planning and civil > engineering as "interaction design?" This is the kind of thing -- this broad > attempt to make the ultimate umbrella term -- is the very reason why "user > experience" never worked.( What is user experience? It's everything!) If > something aims to be everything, it's effectively meaningless for practical, > day to day work. > -- > Kei te kōrero tiki au. Kei te kōrero tiki koe. Ka kōrero tiki tāua. Kōrero > ai tiki tāua. > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
On Oct 20, 2008, at 4:14 PM, William Brall wrote: So where in this melange of different systems is the interaction design? It is everywhere. Because road planning and signage theory, and all of this are also a form of interaction design. I am often accused of pushing my own experiences onto public discussion of the definitions of certain things. But surely this is even beyond what I'm accused of, is it not? Attempting to redefine city planning and civil engineering as "interaction design?" This is the kind of thing -- this broad attempt to make the ultimate umbrella term -- is the very reason why "user experience" never worked.( What is user experience? It's everything!) If something aims to be everything, it's effectively meaningless for practical, day to day work. -- Andrei Herasimchuk Principal, Involution Studios innovating the digital world e. [EMAIL PROTECTED] c. +1 408 306 6422 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
I think I really started wondering about the question because there are many approaches to software development that incorporate the strategies the Interaction Design discussions here have taken. I think in researching this question, the real answer comes from the approach you take to (in my case) software development. I believe users needs in terms of how they interact with the software are just as important as how they interact with the data, so having an "Interaction Designer" is really just a software developer who focuses on requirements from a visual/user interaction perspective. An "Interface Designer" is more likely to be, as I have seen mentioned, someone who comes in later in the process to design screens after requirements have been gathered. However, some may feel the term Interface Designer is sufficient already, because an "interface" is any scope where a user interacts with a device, so... Interaction (what the user does with an interface) Design vs Interface (what the user uses to manipulate the device) Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
I think I really started wondering about the question because there are many approaches to software development that incorporate the strategies the Interaction Design discussions here have taken. I think in researching this question, the real answer comes from the approach you take to (in my case) software development. I believe users needs in terms of how the interact with the software are just as important as how they interact with the data, so having an "Interaction Designer" is really just a software designer who focuses on requirements from a visual/user interaction perspective. The important thing is that I believe all web applications/web pages to be software, even if there is no input or output. An "Interface Designer" is more likely to be, as I have seen mentioned, someone who comes in later in the process to design screens after requirements have been gathered. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David Malouf Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 9:36 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design To be honest, there may or may not be any difference at all at the level of practice. One term has gained more traction as it has moved away from GUI software design where UI has been prevelant and has been encompassing systems design and hardware interface design as well as service design. In many ways, Interaction design is interface design (but not graphical interface design). It is about the story that is made up of moments of dialog between different interfacing moments made complex through intelligent connections and relationships. To me Interaction Design is an evolution from Interface Design historically. Then academically I think Interaction Design is much more than interface design in many ways. Interface Design really doesn't have academic offerings outside of computer science that I have seen. The closest are interactive design programs that are mostly either computer arts programs or skills certification programs. But Interaction Design especially in the European schools has built itself out of the Industrial Design tradition of design education that combines craft and thinking processes as well as a long history of critique. So your question can be answered in so many ways and most answers are going to be skewed by a persons current context and their community/geography connections to their practice and education. It is basically evolving, but through IxDA and other efforts I would say the direction is as I describe it above. But I'm sure others have other thoughts. -- dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Will, that's a very expansive definition. I'm afraid if you go there, you just end up on that slippery slop that everything is design. And if you zoom out far enough, yup you end up there. All the points are human interaction points. Every symbol & bit of white space in a graphic is a moment to interact at some level with a human being by eliciting emotion or other response. By putting a sign up that says "Sale" am I not hoping to elicit a behavior of an impulse purchase. By your definitions then it is all interaction design. Let's face it words fail us. They are imprecise, but we must bring meaning to them and we must figure out where that meaning begins and ends. These meanings also evolve over time. So far, I have heard several entymologies in this thread for interface > interaction design, but none of those actually connect to the coining of the term which more precisely comes from industrial designers use of the term and later co-opted by software designers mainly b/c industrial designers didn't want to deal with it except in very small audiences. But that isn't the point either b/c the history of the terms as we've seen is so convoluted. What is important to me and I hope to others are 3 things: 1) what do we do in practice? 2) how do we teach future practitioners? 3) how can we evaluate the work? For me #1 is a mixed bag. There are people like Andrei who control the entire experience as a single designer and there are people like me who work more compartmentalized and collaboratively with with other experts (currently industrial designers, but also graphic designers) and always with technologists. I'm sure is a continuum here. But the fact that they can be separated. (Like in children's books the story writer and the illustrator are often separate people but there are the Boyton and Sendacks of the world as well.Yes, I'm the father of a toddler.) #2 This is my new thing (well new old, but now my new focus). To me you most certainly have to have different courses for the frames and the skins. 1 there is 1 frame and there are many different skins. To translate, there is one behavioral design, but there are many crafts that can wrap around that behavior (visual, audio, gestural, industrial, architectural, etc.). This by itself means that from an education stand point we must separate out interaction from interface (or form), but they also must be conjoined in that same education process otherwise as noted above they become quite meaningless. #3 is another new biggie for me. (its amazing how the threads are coming together.) We are ok at evaluating 2 things so far in interface design: function (i.e. usability) and visual aesthetics & legibility. What we don't have is an understanding of the aesthetics of motion, interaction, and other behaviors. Is there beauty here? Are there qualities outside of "usability" in this space. I certainly think so, but I also know they are derived holistically so onion skinning the pieces is intricate and probably bordering on navel gazing at a certain level. -- dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Saying that things not traditionally thought of as interactive are certainly not, is dangerous. True, people rarely design the interaction a band has with the audience, but it is becoming more common. One can argue that this is interaction design as well. As I have said in the past, locking ourselves into digital projects is a bad idea. Our philosophies directly apply to all interaction, and as meat and microchips meld, they won't be so easy to draw lines through anymore. Imagine a day when the lines on the highway are purely saint Elmo's fire in our brains, controlled ultimately by a connection of computers in the map of the street, where ever it comes from, our car, and our own head. Whole streets can change direction at different times of the day, new traffic lights can be erected or their time altered without ever going to those locations. Even suggested route alterations could be presented directly in out field of vision. Perhaps even more subliminally than that. So where in this melange of different systems is the interaction design? It is everywhere. Because road planning and signage theory, and all of this are also a form of interaction design. In fact, interface design is also a form of interaction design, and so is graphic design, and abstract expressionism and so many other things. The difference is the Interaction Designer knows a good bit about all of these types of interaction, and while their core competency might be Abstract Expressionism, an Interaction Designer will not try to solve a problem Abstract Expressionism isn't suited to fix. They will either learn a new competency or point the person who requires the product in the right direction. Interface Designers will always try to solve a problem with an interface, and by that I mean the interfaces they are familiar with, which is normally computer GUI. If they are a web Interface Designer, they will solve a problem with a web interface. Meanwhile, an interaction designer will solve a problem by finding the right kind of interfaces and interactions to solve the problem. Which means, if a new hand-held device that hospital professionals need to carry at all times, which is synced with the hospital via Wifi, and will call out like a pager when someone nearby has an emergency, and can automatically call your team in when the system tracks that it is required, is what it needed, that is what they will say is needed. Even if the company thought they needed to create a desktop app that runs on wired carts that people wheel around the hospital. IxDs are the inventors of the computer age. They see a tool that is needed and are equipped to design something to fit that need. Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
On Oct 20, 2008, at 2:43 PM, Andrei Herasimchuk wrote: On Oct 20, 2008, at 2:37 PM, Dan Saffer wrote: Not sure I understand the question. You stated that interface design without the underlying interaction is graphic design. I'm curious what you would then call interface design with the underlying visual design. Would you call that interaction design or something else? Traditional interface design doesn't exist without visual design. In my mind, it exists in the overlap between interaction and graphic design. Removing the visual aspect, you are likely doing another kind of design (interaction, sound, industrial). Remove the interaction (behavior) aspect and only leaving the visual, you are doing graphic design. It could be argued that any physical/sensory layer, be it sound, physical controls/form, haptics, or visuals, placed on top of a layer of digital behavior, is interface design as well. Dan Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
I have to disagree with others here. An interface designer could design an interface for a non-visual product, but the general role of interface design is of the interface, and how it functions, and not the whole of the product, and how it acts. And interface designer would design how the telephone person will sound, how they might phrase things, What order the items in a section might be in, perhaps even what each section of the tree will be. But the skill set of an interface designer doesn't normally include the tools to tell the company that wants this device that they are better off having a better online FAQ system, a better designed product that requires less tech support in the first place, and a simple telephone system with fewer options, that after those options moves to a live person quickly. Answer the most pressing questions that make sense to use a telephone interface, but don't withhold human contact. The expense of real people will be offset by the quality of their advice if their own systems are designed so they can quickly answer questions. In other words, the end user wants to talk to a real person unless they are seeking the most simple of rote tasks, such as getting the location of a package verbally after saying a tracking number. In all other cases is it better to talk to a seemingly knowledgeable real person. Onstar does a good job at this. So, An interface designer can design the best ever telephone system for a company, that does the best possible job of what it can do. While the interaction designer tells the company that the best course of action is for the system to do less, be easier to understand, and to give the user what they want. Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
On Oct 20, 2008, at 2:37 PM, Dan Saffer wrote: Not sure I understand the question. You stated that interface design without the underlying interaction is graphic design. I'm curious what you would then call interface design with the underlying visual design. Would you call that interaction design or something else? -- Andrei Herasimchuk Principal, Involution Studios innovating the digital world e. [EMAIL PROTECTED] c. +1 408 306 6422 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
On Oct 20, 2008, at 2:15 PM, Andrei Herasimchuk wrote: On Oct 20, 2008, at 1:55 PM, Dan Saffer wrote: As to why I think interface design is a subset of interaction design, it is because interface design without the underlying interaction is graphic design. You can, however, have interaction design without any interface at all, although it is unlikely. So then I have to ask: what is interface design without the underlying visuals or graphic design? Not sure I understand the question. Almost all traditional interfaces are visual in nature, although there are voice interfaces that are all sound. And there are interfaces that are purely industrial design, and I'm not sure something like a blinking LED is graphic design per se. If you meant to ask what is interaction design without visuals, there are many examples of sound, haptic, and mechanical responses that are triggered by human action that are controlled by digital systems and thus have interaction design but not visual design, involved. Dan Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
So then I have to ask: what is interface design without the underlying visuals or graphic design? Ask a blind person using screen reader. Interface is more than visual surely? Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Best post in this thread, if you ask me :) ...But it seems we never get tired of it, somehow. Sebi On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 11:05 PM, Jeff Howard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Tahsin, > > We discuss this question every now and then without resolving it. > Here's the most recent attempt: > > Difference between user interface and interaction design? > http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=25077 > > // jeff > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 > > > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Sergiu Sebastian Tauciuc http://www.sergiutauciuc.ro/en/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
On Oct 20, 2008, at 1:55 PM, Dan Saffer wrote: As to why I think interface design is a subset of interaction design, it is because interface design without the underlying interaction is graphic design. You can, however, have interaction design without any interface at all, although it is unlikely. So then I have to ask: what is interface design without the underlying visuals or graphic design? -- Andrei Herasimchuk Principal, Involution Studios innovating the digital world e. [EMAIL PROTECTED] c. +1 408 306 6422 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Dan - I nearly said the same about it being a subset, but I'm not sure it's true (which is why I like your Venn diagram). I'll be interested to see what you have to say in Designing Gestural Interfaces because its there that you start to get interaction without an interface, at least not one that is visible. The two-diagonally- separating-fingers gesture for zooming up a photo, for example, isn't an interface at all. It's an action/interaction with the content, content that also has no other sign or symbol of itself either if it's a photo taken with, say, the iPhone's built-in camera. Interface design is the physical manifestation of the interaction design. They are typically intertwined. As to why I think interface design is a subset of interaction design, it is because interface design without the underlying interaction is graphic design. You can, however, have interaction design without any interface at all, although it is unlikely. Best, Andy Andy Polaine Research | Writing | Strategy Interaction Concept Design Education Futures Twitter: apolaine Skype: apolaine http://playpen.polaine.com http://www.designersreviewofbooks.com http://www.omnium.net.au http://www.antirom.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Hi Tahsin, We discuss this question every now and then without resolving it. Here's the most recent attempt: Difference between user interface and interaction design? http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=25077 // jeff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Interface design is the physical manifestation of the interaction design. They are typically intertwined. As to why I think interface design is a subset of interaction design, it is because interface design without the underlying interaction is graphic design. You can, however, have interaction design without any interface at all, although it is unlikely. Dan Dan Saffer Principal, Kicker Studio http://www.kickerstudio.com http://www.odannyboy.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
I think Andrei has a point. The real, and useless, answer here is: "It depends on who you are talking to." Graphic Information Design is one of the precursors to what we now know as interface design and interaction design and user experience design. But GID didn't always include interaction (or experience for that matter). There has also been a lot of interaction design that is about designing the interaction and not really the interface. Or at least where the interface (such as an artwork that employs camera tracking) is the body and largely invisible to the user. Personally I like "interaction design" because it seems to cover more of what I do than "interface design". I come from a different background to the GID folks, which is probably why. The best description I've seen is the Venn diagram in Dan Saffer's Designing for Interaction. Although incomplete, it shows the whole overlapping mess of the area very well. (It's on page 17 for those playing at home). Best, Andy Andy Polaine Research | Writing | Strategy Interaction Concept Design Education Futures Skype: apolaine http://playpen.polaine.com http://www.designersreviewofbooks.com http://www.omnium.net.au http://www.antirom.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Hello Andrei, one remark. I have being working with interface design for a while (8 years). I understand your point but I like the perspective the label gives. I am not focussed on the interface, but on the interaction. Talking about screen-based interface this can sounds fuzzy. When you are talking about designing "intelligent/responsive" products/ambient, where I can define shape, hand-fit, textures and movement required to interact, I am not designing the interface, but the interaction. Aiming this type of tangible/physical/multimodal interaction I left my former web-interface position do a master on Product Design, regarding Design for Interaction. Take mobiles for instance, There we can see loads of shapes, sizes and solutions that fits different interaction styles, beyond the screen interface it self. cheers, Bernardo On 20/10/2008, at 21:06 , Andrei Herasimchuk wrote: This all sounds like revisionism to me. As someone who's been practicing interface design for nearly 20 years, I can tell you there's never been a time where what you folks describe as "interaction" was never a part of interface design as I practiced it. I understand I'm probably in the minority here about what I've been allowed to control and design in my career, but what irks me the most is how the IxD community is taking over a term, and in doing so, negating certain skill sets in the process. It all feels as bad as the decision by some to call folks "user experience designers." It's always been about what the designer is expected to know and do in their day to day work. Again, I don't care if in 20 years I'm called an interaction designer, but the expectation better be that I get accountability and control over the design of the interaction, the visuals, and the information, along with the ability to budget and pay for coding and building real prototypes. -- Andrei Herasimchuk Principal, Involution Studios innovating the digital world e. [EMAIL PROTECTED] c. +1 408 306 6422 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
I don't think I was being revisionist. I do think that new complexities outside of screen/mouse/keyboard have meant that learnings from traditional UI Design (in your world) have been married with other disciplines and have congealed towards the creation of a new creole discipline of sorts. I don't think you loose anything here and the issues are less about what *I* do as a practitioner and more about how we move forward as technologies and learnings need to be expressed in new ways outside of the interfaces themselves. Many many organizations HAVE created splits between interaction and interface. They have done so with some levels of arguable success and so have proven that while you want to retain all that control, many organizations have decided to live in a more collaborative arena and have succeeded doing so. Basically, you do BOTH Interface and Interaction Design and that makes you and the processes you live in ONE model that some have succeeded with and others have not. It is neither the only way or the best way, but a way that YOU have had a lot of success with. No one is trying to define away your way of seeing the world, but just trying to acknowledge and contend that there are divisions of tasks, roles and disciplines at work here. I think your belaboring of interface design as everything b/c you do everything ends up becoming a defensive truism, without substantiation except within the confines of individual practice. Further, it does not constitute a real counter argument that interface and interaction can be separated from one another (they can equally be conjoined through practice as well). -- dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
This all sounds like revisionism to me. As someone who's been practicing interface design for nearly 20 years, I can tell you there's never been a time where what you folks describe as "interaction" was never a part of interface design as I practiced it. I understand I'm probably in the minority here about what I've been allowed to control and design in my career, but what irks me the most is how the IxD community is taking over a term, and in doing so, negating certain skill sets in the process. It all feels as bad as the decision by some to call folks "user experience designers." It's always been about what the designer is expected to know and do in their day to day work. Again, I don't care if in 20 years I'm called an interaction designer, but the expectation better be that I get accountability and control over the design of the interaction, the visuals, and the information, along with the ability to budget and pay for coding and building real prototypes. -- Andrei Herasimchuk Principal, Involution Studios innovating the digital world e. [EMAIL PROTECTED] c. +1 408 306 6422 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
David is completely right, however, it seems valuable to draw a line somewhere. Interface Design was and is the practice of designing the way someone interacts with a product, traditionally on a screen by screen basis. Interaction Design grew out of Interface Design, as those who practiced it realized that in order to design a very useful product, you must begin by designing how people will interact with it as a whole. Interaction Design (IxD) is a reverse blanket term that describes how people apply many theories in psychology and physiology, including Heuristics, Cybernetics, Ergonomics, Planning Theory, and even more disparate fields dealing with Audio and Visual design. To reduce that. Interface Design is about where buttons appear on a page, and what those buttons look like. IxD is whether or not that page needs to exist at all. Or Interface Design will tell you how best to ask a user for his address, IxD will tell you to harvest it from somewhere that you already have it stored. Or Interface Designers design interfaces, IxDs design ways to avoid them. Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
To be honest, there may or may not be any difference at all at the level of practice. One term has gained more traction as it has moved away from GUI software design where UI has been prevelant and has been encompassing systems design and hardware interface design as well as service design. In many ways, Interaction design is interface design (but not graphical interface design). It is about the story that is made up of moments of dialog between different interfacing moments made complex through intelligent connections and relationships. To me Interaction Design is an evolution from Interface Design historically. Then academically I think Interaction Design is much more than interface design in many ways. Interface Design really doesn't have academic offerings outside of computer science that I have seen. The closest are interactive design programs that are mostly either computer arts programs or skills certification programs. But Interaction Design especially in the European schools has built itself out of the Industrial Design tradition of design education that combines craft and thinking processes as well as a long history of critique. So your question can be answered in so many ways and most answers are going to be skewed by a persons current context and their community/geography connections to their practice and education. It is basically evolving, but through IxDA and other efforts I would say the direction is as I describe it above. But I'm sure others have other thoughts. -- dave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34525 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Hi Tahsin, I think that's a great question, and one I've been wondering about myself (at least how they're defined in the web world). I've always felt that while both terms could describe a designer who defines how users interact, or use, an application or web page, an *interface *designer would likely be creating the visual designs for the UI. An *interaction *designer on the other hand, might not (they'd hand off to a visual designer). Anyhow, I'd like to hear others weigh in on this, especially those in the academic world. On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 6:12 AM, Tahsin Shamma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi all, I'm new to this discussion group and have been a systems > developer/web developer for quite a while. I only recently heard the term > "Interaction Design" used to refer to those doing interface design. > > > > So, my question immediately was. what's the difference? > > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Hugh Griffith User Interface Designer Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Interface Design vs Interaction Design
Hi all, I'm new to this discussion group and have been a systems developer/web developer for quite a while. I only recently heard the term "Interaction Design" used to refer to those doing interface design. So, my question immediately was. what's the difference? Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
