Comments on: What is Advanced Interaction Design Anyway? http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2007/06/28/what-is-advanced-interaction-design-anyway/ Adaptive Path Blog Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:05:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Donna Maurer http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2007/06/28/what-is-advanced-interaction-design-anyway/#comment-96274 Donna Maurer Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:19:03 +0000 http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2007/06/28/what-is-advanced-interaction-design-anyway/#comment-96274 Hey Dan. This isn't an answer to your question, but a comment on my observation of similar things. I've been teaching information architecture for what feels like a long time (5 years I think). I've spent time thinking about participants expectations/reactions and have observed our field for a while. This is going to sound a bit condescending, and I don't mean it like that. But I've learned that people don't (usually) go to workshops to learn how to think. They go to workshops to get practical skills and answers - things they can walk out and use. So I'd expect many are hoping for an advanced version of how to design good interfaces. This balance is very tricky. I try to manage it (and it mostly works) by layering my teaching. At the bottom layer I teach mechanics - how to do user research, how to card sort. The next layer is case studies and stories that illustrate the variations and complexity. The third layer is my philosophical approach to design which is all about thinking, teamwork and that there aren't being black & white answers. And I always provide lots of resources for people to follow up. And in your workshop, I like everything except the 'communicating' part. I think that is well covered elsewhere. Hey Dan. This isn’t an answer to your question, but a comment on my observation of similar things. I’ve been teaching information architecture for what feels like a long time (5 years I think). I’ve spent time thinking about participants expectations/reactions and have observed our field for a while.

This is going to sound a bit condescending, and I don’t mean it like that. But I’ve learned that people don’t (usually) go to workshops to learn how to think. They go to workshops to get practical skills and answers - things they can walk out and use. So I’d expect many are hoping for an advanced version of how to design good interfaces.

This balance is very tricky. I try to manage it (and it mostly works) by layering my teaching. At the bottom layer I teach mechanics - how to do user research, how to card sort. The next layer is case studies and stories that illustrate the variations and complexity. The third layer is my philosophical approach to design which is all about thinking, teamwork and that there aren’t being black & white answers. And I always provide lots of resources for people to follow up.

And in your workshop, I like everything except the ‘communicating’ part. I think that is well covered elsewhere.

]]> By: Henning http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2007/06/28/what-is-advanced-interaction-design-anyway/#comment-96267 Henning Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:37:42 +0000 http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2007/06/28/what-is-advanced-interaction-design-anyway/#comment-96267 i just attended the amsterdam workshop and, too, was puzzled (at least till lunchbreak) about the appoach to the workshop. But the real eye-opener came the day after. Chiara opened her workshop with Jesses Diagram of the levels of user experience. Interaction Design is on the same level as IA, and not something more concrete like Interface Design or Visual Design (and I got the impression that it was the latter two aspects, at least some people expected). So, just a thought: why not use the Elements Diagram on one of the first slides to define, what is meant by Interaction Design. What you described in the Workshop - and what we tried in the excersises, where different methods that help achieve better results when the more concrete design work is due. That, at least, is what I got as (definitely valuable) insights. i just attended the amsterdam workshop and, too, was puzzled (at least till lunchbreak) about the appoach to the workshop. But the real eye-opener came the day after. Chiara opened her workshop with Jesses Diagram of the levels of user experience. Interaction Design is on the same level as IA, and not something more concrete like Interface Design or Visual Design (and I got the impression that it was the latter two aspects, at least some people expected). So, just a thought: why not use the Elements Diagram on one of the first slides to define, what is meant by Interaction Design.

What you described in the Workshop - and what we tried in the excersises, where different methods that help achieve better results when the more concrete design work is due. That, at least, is what I got as (definitely valuable) insights.

]]> By: Nick http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2007/06/28/what-is-advanced-interaction-design-anyway/#comment-96228 Nick Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:51:43 +0000 http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2007/06/28/what-is-advanced-interaction-design-anyway/#comment-96228 I'd like to see a course on designing human to human interactions in service encounters. That's the <i>really</i> advanced stuff. I’d like to see a course on designing human to human interactions in service encounters. That’s the really advanced stuff.

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