Category Archives: Design Philosophy
Communication in the process of co-design
This post will most likely feel like like a train coming off the rails. I will clean it up at some point. Maybe. Anyway… Most designs are the result of a process of co-design, involving several stakeholders and people directly involved in the creation of something. In this process, there is a constant state of [...]
Also posted in Design, Opinion, Reflection Tagged Co-Design, Design Thinking, Ideas, language, process, Reflections 4 Comments
Design Thinkers, Design Keepers, and Design Baggage
I was going to write a post today about the ways in which design is being discussed, viewed, and used by individuals and organizations. My colleague, Matty Snyder, and I have spent a lot of time discussing this and alas, he beat me to it and wrote it better than I could have. Check it [...]
Also posted in Design, Opinion, Reflection Tagged Design, Design Thinking, Ideas, Interdisciplinary, philosophy, Reflections Leave a comment
My Thoughts on “Thoughts on Thoughts on Interaction Design”
J. Ambrose Little just posted recently about reading Jon Kolko’s Thoughts on Interaction Design. While I am new to this whole design thing, I have previously posted about my uneasiness with the claim that we design behavior.
Also posted in Human-Centered, Readings Tagged Behavior, Design, Human-Centered, Readings 2 Comments
Phenomenological Reading of WoW Machinima
For my Interaction Culture class I decided to a close phenomological reading of a bit of machinima made from WoW clips set to the song “Here Without You” by 3 Doors Down. It has been an interesting journey. It is incredible to think that some clips from World of Warcraft set to a cheesy late [...]
Also posted in Critique, Games, Projects Tagged Academics, Critique, Games, Human-Centered, MMORPG Leave a comment
On Tools and Process
I recently participated in one of those joint school-company training sessions. I will just call the company “Acme”, and state that they provide a large assortment of design tools that we all know and love. I was quite disappointed with it. I can deal with being shamelessly advertised to, but this event was particularly bad [...]
Also posted in Design, Opinion Tagged creative software, Design Thinking, process, tools, training Leave a comment
Interaction Culture Class
So this week I embarked upon a new journey in my HCI/d education in Indiana University’s Master’s program. The ship I am on is called Interaction Culture, and it is headed by Captain Jeffrey Bardzell. In this class we will look at how theories in the humanities, specifically aesthetics and critical theory can be applied [...]
Incentives and the Path of Least Resistance
This is sort of a continuation of the previous post about designing to change behavior. I am not really arguing one side or the other here, rather I am searching for some insights about design. To that end I have chosen a few books to dive into this summer, among them the book Freakonomics. One [...]
Also posted in Design, Human-Centered, Opinion Tagged Behavior, Green, Human-Centered, Incentives, Sustainability Leave a comment
Is it a designer's job to change behavior?
I have read a lot of articles that specifically say a designer’s job is to change behavior. Perhaps I am but a naive designer, but I don’t know if I buy into that statement. I have been thinking a lot about it, and I had a fellow student ask me why I thought this. Here [...]
Human-Centered vs. User-Centered
After attending CHI 2009 I gained some perspective. It seems that the industry that I am about to dive into, full of youthful exuberance and naivety, has grossly understated the value and potential of HCI. The field of HCI seems to still be very focused on user-centered design, and sometimes uses the phrase human-centered design [...]
Also posted in Design, Human-Centered, Opinion Tagged Academics, Human-Centered, User-Centered Leave a comment
How do you improve or update your knowledge on user experience design?