#thought id be fun to share my digital sketchbook

[robbie-verse]

sketchbook dump !

[ruettira]

Interaction Design Method

Monday, 16 March, Lesson 4

Due to the Coronavirus the ZHdK had to close the school. For the next few weeks we will use Zoom as communication tool. In advance I would like to say that it is much harder to focus on the lesson than in real life. But special situations sometimes require special measures.

Gian-Carlo started with his presentation and was the first person who had to use Zoom as a presentation-tool. In my opinion he did it really well. He first talked about HCI which means Human-Computer Interaction. He pointed out that the first use of the term HCI was in the year 1975. This is quite impressive when you think about what time the first computer was invented. Gian-Carlo showed us a quote from the Interaction Design Fundation, 2020 which explains what HCI is. Human-Computer Interaction is a multidisciplinary field of study focusing on the design of computer technology and, in particular, the interaction between humans (the users) and computers. 

I found e special passage in the text Interaction Design Sketchbook from Bill Verplank, 2009, page 2 the author writes; “Interaction Design is design for people - design for human use. When we interact with technology or with others through technology we are increasingly faced with computers.” Therefore I think there are some similarities and difference between HCI and Interaction design, Gian-Carlo listed a few of them.

HCI:

is more academically focused

conducts scientific research 

try's to develop an empirical understanding of the users

can be a great source of inspiration if one know how to read academic papers

IAD Designer:

can make use of all the findings published by HCI researchers

can make use of all the methods that HCI researchers have applied and found to be useful

After that he presented us the approaches of HCI in the different readings we read. In the text Cultural Probes, Gaver et al. from 1999, they wrote about what kind of cultural probes existed in that time:

disposable camera to document everyday life. 

diary to record television / radio use 

note telephone calls 

maps exploring attitude toward environment 

postcards 

We got an exercise where we had to paint an example what kind of cultural probes today could exist. There were e few that share my opinion, like the smartphone in general, the Whatsapp-Chat, the application Snapchat, the laptop and other digital devices. One very creative example was the fridge, this could be a really interesting cultural probe. 

In the end of Gian-Carlo’s presentation we had a discussion about this two phrases:

"Computers are what makes Interaction Design challenging." IAD Sketchbook, Bill Verplank, 2009

“Humans are what makes Interaction Design challenging." IAD student 2nd semester, Gian-Carlo Huber, 2020

Suddenly there was e third opinion from a few students:

“The interaction is what makes Interaction Design challenging.”

In my opinion you can’t say that in general the computers nor the humans are what make Interaction Design challenging, because it always depends on the point of view. Humans are sometimes more complicated than computers, because they can change their mind or because not every human is the same.

Alec had a very different style of presenting, but it was pretty fun. He worked with a Google doc, where we could always write down our thoughts to the topic. 

Within his presentation we talked about these three main topics: 

What we can learn about humans from HCI

The three stages of learning

Ubiquitous Computing

Why good designers want to be good observers

How to increase observation abilities

How to increase our creativity and build better design systems?

So he repeated the three stages of learning which we read in the text Interaction Design Sketchbook from Bill Verplank, 2009. 

Honestly when I read in the texts about the ubiquitous computing, I did not understand the therm. I had to google and found a very good explanation on this homepage on the 15 March, posted by: Margaret Rouse:

https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/pervasive-computing-ubiquitous-computing

“Pervasive computing, also called ubiquitous computing, is the growing trend of embedding computational capability (generally in the form of microprocessors) into everyday objects to make them effectively communicate and perform useful tasks in a way that minimizes the end user's need to interact with computers as computers. Pervasive computing devices are network-connected and constantly available.

Unlike desktop computing, pervasive computing can occur with any device, at any time, in any place and in any data format across any network and can hand tasks from one computer to another as, for example, a user moves from his car to his office. Pervasive computing devices have evolved to include:

laptops;

notebooks;

smartphones;

tablets;

wearable devices;

and sensors (for example, on fleet management and pipeline components, lighting systems, appliances).

Often considered the successor to mobile computing, ubiquitous computing generally involves wireless communication and networking technologies, mobile devices, embedded systems, wearable computers, radio frequency ID (RFID) tags, middleware and software agents. Internet capabilities, voice recognition and artificial intelligence (AI) are often also included.” 

After reading this explanation I understood what ubiquitous computing is and thought about what kind of ubiquitous computing I need in my everyday life. This was the moment when I realised that I definitely use devices with ubiquitous computing every day multiple times. I use my smartphone, laptop, tablet, smartwatch, smart scale and even on the street they use smart traffic lights.

In the reading Lessons from Improvisation, from Danzico, 2010 he writes that “The more we can be active participants in observing our experiences, being critical observers in our surroundings, the better creators we will be.”

So we talked about what we think, how we can be good designers: 

listen to the people and not talking

be aware of that interview situation are not good for getting a honest feedback, sometimes the interviewed person tends to answer in “favor” of the interviewer

understanding, comprehending and respecting your surroundings

coming from a designers perspective we kind of are learning to observe in a more deep and critical way. More than the average person.

empathy is key

showing understanding for others, listening, not judging, look on from the outside

being aware of your bias

In the end we discussed how we can increase creative potential (in the design process).

These is my and my classmates opinion: 

I think it’s important to include people that are not designers in the design process, from all ages and sexes, to give their ideas, the things they find useful, the things they understand or find complicated. 

yes and… rather than no. (technic from the reading; Lessons from Improvisation, from Danzico, 2010, page 22)

Let there be silence.

be open for different opinions and approaches 

being able to change the personal opinion, if there are better arguments

have a structure so that the creativity can run

body storming: being in the place 

co-design with the people that are going to end up using and implementing the design

gaining different perspectives

being able to build the trust is important, inform the user what you do with the data

To these examples I would like to add one last thing, build trust with the users and create a strong relationship.

It was an exciting lesson of Interaction Design Method today with a many new things. I wish everyone good health and strength with the Coronavirus.