Interaction Per Se

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Wiberg

Interaction is a core concept in the fields of Ubiquitous computing, Ambient systems design, and generally in the fields of HCI and Interaction Design. Despite this, a lack of knowledge about the fundamental character of interaction still exists. Researchers have explored interaction from the viewpoints of user-centered design and design of graphical user interfaces, where interaction stands for the link between technology and humans or denotes the use aspect. A framework is proposed for exploring interaction as a design space in itself between a human and the technology. It is proposed that this framework for interaction as a design space for Interaction Design, in which the very form of the in-between, the interaction, be explicitly targeted. It is an opportunity to go beyond user and usability studies to seek answers to fundamental questions concerning the form and character of interaction as implemented in today’s interactive systems. Moreover, this framework is an opportunity to expand and explain a new design space for Interaction Design. The proposed framework, anchored in two exemplifying cases, illustrates the character and the form of interaction as it situates itself in online, ubiquitous and everyday IT use.

Author(s):  
Mikael Wiberg

Interaction is a core concept in the fields of Ubiquitous computing, Ambient systems design, and generally in the fields of HCI and Interaction Design. Despite this, a lack of knowledge about the fundamental character of interaction still exists. Researchers have explored interaction from the viewpoints of user-centered design and design of graphical user interfaces, where interaction stands for the link between technology and humans or denotes the use aspect. A framework is proposed for exploring interaction as a design space in itself between a human and the technology. It is proposed that this framework for interaction as a design space for Interaction Design, in which the very form of the in-between, the interaction, be explicitly targeted. It is an opportunity to go beyond user and usability studies to seek answers to fundamental questions concerning the form and character of interaction as implemented in today’s interactive systems. Moreover, this framework is an opportunity to expand and explain a new design space for Interaction Design. The proposed framework, anchored in two exemplifying cases, illustrates the character and the form of interaction as it situates itself in online, ubiquitous and everyday IT use.


Author(s):  
Anders I. Mørch

In this chapter, the author presents a conceptual framework for early-stage interaction design (EDOS) together with a method for embedding conceptual artifacts in user interfaces. The notion of ‘externalized design’ from postmodern architecture is used as an analogy for how to incorporate conceptual artifacts like social ideas in user interfaces. This is proposed as a new approach to theory-based design in human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). The framework is applied to the retrospective analysis of two interactive systems the author has been involved in designing over a number of years. These systems were stimulated by two concepts associated with American pragmatism (generalized other, reflection-in-action). A multistage process for expressing the concepts in user interfaces is presented. The chapter ends by discussing the strengths and limitations of the EDOS framework, comparing it with related work, and suggesting directions for further work.


Author(s):  
Anders I. Mørch

This chapter presents a translational approach to socio-technical design, as a new approach to the theorybased design of user interfaces, supported by a multi-stage process. A survey of the early work on theorybased design in HCI identifies the strengths and limitations of this approach. This new approach extends HCI with a socio-cultural perspective, and adopts creative practices from the fields of architecture and furniture design. The process consists of three stages: selection, appropriation, and translation that “map” elements from the socio-cultural domain to the HCI domain. Two interactive systems are used to illustrate the process, informed by ideas of American pragmatism. The chapter ends by discussing the strengths and limitations of the translational approach, and points out directions for further work.


Author(s):  
Luís Cláudio Portugal do Nascimento

This essay examines whether contemporary design is undergoing a decline in its standards of professional and pedagogic quality, due to an identity crisis which has apparently been affecting the field since the late sixties. In light of Confucius’ “rectification of names” imperative, various linguistic and aesthetic implications associated with the alleged loss of design conceptual benchmarks of the very identity and definition of the design discipline and profession are explored. It analyses concrete situations in which narratives on design seemingly weaken its bonds with objective exterior reality, arguably leading to the deterioration of previously valued and nurtured patterns and canons of excellence in technical, aesthetic, linguistic, methodological, and, above all, moral terms in the discipline of design. Attention is also given to a relatively common trend displayed – often, but not always– by “neo design specialists” of erasing conceptual boundaries around the design field, in order to establish subdomains within the greater discipline of design. These tend to be marked by pleonastic and tautological, but nevertheless impressive terminology, such as “information design”, “interface design”, “interaction design”, “user-centered design”, “user-experience design”, “user-interface design”, “communication design”, “experimental design”, “authorial design”, “handicrafts design”, “modern design”, “contemporary design”, “emotional design”, “meta-design”, “sustainable design”, “design systems”, “design thinking” and more, which then subdivides the territory of design amongst various “neo-design specialists” by suggesting, in some instances, the possibility of isolating conceptual attributes (such as, respectively, “information”, “interface”, “interaction”, “user experience”, “user interface”, “design conceptual models and methodological approaches” and so on) from the very identity of the integral design discipline itself. In this context, Confucius’ message of the “rectification of names” may thus be perceived as an important and timely call.


This book presents computational interaction as an approach to explaining and enhancing the interaction between humans and information technology. Computational interaction applies abstraction, automation, and analysis to inform our understanding of the structure of interaction and also to inform the design of the software that drives new and exciting human-computer interfaces. The methods of computational interaction allow, for example, designers to identify user interfaces that are optimal against some objective criteria. They also allow software engineers to build interactive systems that adapt their behaviour to better suit individual capacities and preferences. Embedded in an iterative design process, computational interaction has the potential to complement human strengths and provide methods for generating inspiring and elegant designs. Computational interaction does not exclude the messy and complicated behaviour of humans, rather it embraces it by, for example, using models that are sensitive to uncertainty and that capture subtle variations between individual users. It also promotes the idea that there are many aspects of interaction that can be augmented by algorithms. This book introduces computational interaction design to the reader by exploring a wide range of computational interaction techniques, strategies and methods. It explains how techniques such as optimisation, economic modelling, machine learning, control theory, formal methods, cognitive models and statistical language processing can be used to model interaction and design more expressive, efficient and versatile interaction.


Author(s):  
Mikael Wiberg

No matter if we think about interaction design as a design tradition aimed at giving form to the interaction with computational objects, or if we think about interaction design as being simply about user interface design it is hard to escape the fact that the user interface to a large extent defines the scene and the form of the interaction. Without adopting a fully deterministic perspective here it is still a fact that if the user interface is screen-based and graphical and the input modality is mouse-based, then it is likely that the form of that interaction, that is what the turn-taking looks like and what is demanded by the user, is very similar to other screen-based interfaces with similar input devices. However, the design space for the form of interaction is growing fast. While command-based interfaces and text-based interfaces sort of defined the whole design space in the 1970s, the development since then, including novel ways of bringing sensors, actuators, and smart materials to the user interface has certainly opened up for a broader design space for interaction design. But it is not only the range of materials that has been extended over the last few decades, but we have also moved through a number of form paradigms for interaction design. With this as a point of departure I will in this chapter reflect on how we have moved from early days of command-based user interfaces, via the use of metaphors in the design of graphical user interfaces (GUIs), towards ways of interacting with the computer via tangible user interfaces (TUIs). Further on, I will describe how this movement towards TUIs was a first step away from building user interfaces based on representations and metaphors and a first step towards material interactions.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document