Week One: Defining Interaction Design: INFLUENCE and CONNECTION

So, here it is!
My very first blog about 'Interaction Design'. I've spent the last few days actually getting my head around the concept of 'Interaction Design' and what it all means. In class we were given the three broad areas to consider in Interaction Design:

a. Object- Tangible object, materials, CAD, dimensions, ergonomics ect

b. Scenario- environment, market, socio-cultural issues, feasibility ect

c. Behaviour- combining both object and scenario, with how people will interact with the item

I thought this was super interesting and got excited about how all these three concepts could come together to equal something new and innovative.

I came across a video on Youtube which further described exactly what interaction design was all about (find the video attached ).

It's interesting that they also break up interaction design into three different categories:

a. How do you affect the world? (ie; OBJECT)

b. How do you get feedback from the world? (ie; SCENARIO)

c. How do you know what you're providing will help someones life and they will interact with the product appropriately? (ie; BEHAVIOUR)

So, to get my head around this project, and to put it in blunt terms, we will need to create an object that positively affects the world, that we can easily get intuitive feedback from (both the product and the end user) and reassure the end user that their behaviour will positively change by interacting with this product. But to take this down into its most simple form, 'Interaction' is defined as "the reciprocal action or influence of someone or something". So by creating a product that will influence someones life in connecting with others is key to this project. I have highlighted the words 'influence' and 'connecting/tion' because throughout the entire project, the design must be focused upon these two words. The provide a good grounding of what the project is about, and allows for it to flow forward approproiately. So, now that we're a little more clearer of what exactly interaction design is, let's start designing!