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THEORY
AND CONTEXT: INTERACTION DESIGN FOR VISUAL COMMUNICATORS
Melissa Niederhelman
Human behavior, user experience, navigation, information structure and organization, adaptivity, visibility, metaphor, mapping, choice, feedback - these are just a few of the fundamental principles of interaction design and a reflection of the diversity required to understand interactivity in all its forms. Unfortunately interactivity in most design programs and in the experience of most graphic designers is limited at best and focused primarily on technical knowledge Ð teaching applications first and context last. More than just teaching software, we owe students the opportunity to study interactivity from a more theoretical, critical, contextual and human perspective.
Unlike what many graphic designers have stereotyped, interactivity is far more than web sites and CDROMS. Interactivity includes signage and wayfinding, information kiosks, packaging, interior spaces and architecture, interfaces, cell phones, automatic checkout machines, video games, toasters, etc., etc. Fundamentally, interaction design is about choice, which is what distinguishes it from other more passive design solutions. When the element of choice is present for the audience, an entirely different set of issues and considerations comes into play for the designer who often can be hindered by stereotypes.
Through research into interaction design and experience teaching students from all areas of design and architecture on the subject, I have uncovered several unique challenges facing graphic design students that often limit their understanding of interactivity and it's role in communication. This presentation reviews some of these challenges and briefly introduces new curriculum I have developed to address the theoretical and contextual foundation of interactivity for designers.
Shouldn't we be teaching design for interactivity as theory as well as application? Through my investigation into this issue I realized that it is not a student's deficiency in software or technical knowledge that is the problem, but rather their perception of interactivity as a specialized and primarily digital area within the world of design. Many of them do not realize how interactivity will affect their work in the future, whether they learn the software or not. There is at times a na•ve impression that interactivity is just like any other design problem, just with a different outcome. From the ATM to the Web, interaction design effects the way people use and access information in a world of choices and options. In order to embrace this idea, our students need a new model; they need the opportunity to study the unique principles behind this complex and powerful communication tool.