Thoughtful Interaction Design

Abstract

The authors of Thoughtful Interaction Design go beyond usual technical concerns of usability and usefulness to consider interaction design from a design perspective. The shaping of digital artifacts is a design process that influences form and functions of workplaces, schools, communication, and culture; successful interaction designer must use both ethical and aesthetic judgment to create designs that are appropriate to a given environment. This book is not a how-to manual, but a collection of tools for thought about interaction design. Working with information technology -- called by authors the material without -- interaction designers create not a static object but a dynamic pattern of interactivity. The design vision is closely linked to context and not simply focused on technology. The authors' action-oriented and context-dependent design theory, drawing on design theorist Donald Schon's concept of reflective practitioner, helps designers deal with complex design challenges created by new technology and new knowledge. Their approach, based on a foundation of thoughtfulness that acknowledges designer's responsibility not only for functional qualities of design product but for ethical and aesthetic qualities as well, fills need for a theory of interaction design that can increase and nurture design knowledge. From this perspective they address fundamental question of what kind of knowledge an aspiring designer needs, discussing process of design, designer, design methods and techniques, design product and its qualities, and conditions for interaction design.