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Chapter 6
Interaction Design: Leaving the Engineering Perspective Behind

Peter Nilsson and Ingrid Ottersten
Linn Data, Frolunda, Sweden
email: pn@acm.org    ingrid.ottersten@lig.linnedata.se

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
1.  A Design Story
2.  Bridging the Gap
2.1.  Generation of Ideas
2.2.  Reflecting on Ideas
2.3.  Making a Design Decision
2.4.  An Example of Bridging the Gap
3.  Design Context
3.1.  Context and Requirements Analysis
3.2.  Design
3.2.1.  The Design Space
3.2.1.1.  Customer, the Organization
3.2.1.2.  User Values and Goals
3.2.1.3.  Material
3.2.1.4.  Context of Use (Situation)
3.2.2.  The Design Process
3.2.2.1.  Conceptual Design
3.2.2.2.  Functional Design
3.2.2.3.  Graphical Design
3.2.2.4.  Working in the Design Process
3.3.  Evaluation
4.  Bubbling Technique
5.  Our Values and Considerations
6.  Conclusions
7.  Acknowledgments
8.  References

ABSTRACT

In this chapter we will address the intricate issues that arise while performing interaction design. Our view of design is that it is a mental process. Therefore, we will not focus on individual activities in the interaction design process. Instead we will try to communicate the designer’s experiences while performing interaction design. In doing so, we will give the collection of user data and usability evaluation activities less emphasis.

Often the literature on usability issues focuses heavily on the process of collecting user data and on usability evaluation activities. Also, in descriptions of design work, the artifact itself is emphasized, rather than the process of creating it. In this chapter we attempt to remedy this by attempting to help the reader bridge the gap between collected user data and a designed artifact.

This chapter describes a journey that passes through the designer’s concerns and experiences, the actual bridging of the gap, the design process as a whole, the techniques used by interaction designers, and the demands placed on them. All these topics contribute to the description of bridging the gap. We have chosen not to describe one specific design case, because we do not believe this will help in communicating the various aspects of design work. Describing one case also tends to draw attention to details, thus clouding the more important issue of the design process as a whole.

A word of wisdom from Albert Einstein has inspired us. He said, “In order to solve the problems created by the former way of thinking, one must find a new way of thinking.”

1. A DESIGN STORY

I (Peter) just received an assignment to perform the interaction design in a software development project. I have engaged in some informal discussions with the project leader and the Context and Requirements (C & R) analyst. These discussions have focused on the customers’ ways of expressing themselves, the assignment as a whole, and the customers’ organization.

My first step is to team up with a co-designer. When I began as an interaction designer, it was difficult to convince project leaders that I should work with a co-designer, because they were convinced that I would “burn” both time and money. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to try co-designing on one project because one of my colleagues was training to be an interaction designer. Therefore, the managers were willing to assign her to work with me to gain some experience. The result was that we produced three good design alternatives in half the time required for me to produce one design alternative on the preceding project. Following that success, the value of co-designers working together has never been questioned by our project managers.

On one project I worked with Linnéa, a colleague that usually works with multimedia productions because the system was a product aimed at the home market, at schools, and at libraries. Linnéa was able to spend 1 ½ days per week for the following 3 weeks, helping me out with the interaction design. We agreed to spend most of our time together sketching, discussing, and hopefully having a wonderful time. We searched for a room that suited us both, equipped with a whiteboard that we could have exclusively for our use. During the time I spent working independent of Linnéa, I reflected on the design at hand and discussed its technical aspects with other members of the project team.


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