This class, I300, may give you a new thought: becoming an interaction/experience designer. Instead of leaving with your Bachelor's degree in Informatics and getting a starter-job in a company, you're beginning to think that maybe you'd like to enter the Master's program in HCI Design and become a professional designer.
If you're having these thoughts... or you're just at the stage of wondering what a designer does... check out this new site:
http://www.connecthcid.com/
The site is a design podcast. It's produced by the Master's students in IU's HCI Design program (including some of the AIs in I300). The most recent podcast is an interview with Nina Mehta. She is an alumni of our program and now works in San Francisco. Listen to her interview.
I'd be very interested to know what you learned from this interview about "playing the whole game" of interaction design... or anything else. Write a comment and share your thoughts.
When Nina was talking about her art, designing visuals in clubs, she mentioned that she was concerned when people commented (even positively) on her work. This, to her, meant that she had done something wrong. Essentially that she had not designed into invisibility. It’s really unexpected to me that her design and HCID is not really about technology, its about people and experiences. It also appeals to me in how egoless it is. At least for Nina it was not about being lauded, it was about seeing people having a positive experience, and that being enough.
ReplyDeleteNina, a graduate of our Master's program, has developed this sophisticated view of design. There is great satisfaction in knowing that you've improved the world, perhaps in very small ways or big impactful ways, and yet the recipients of these designs do not know who did them. You pull a tissue from the Kleenex box and it simply works--transparently, efficiently, effectively--and yet we don't know who made this happen; we don't even think, "Good job, Kleenex!" We simply proceed with our lives--just as we should.
DeleteI really like the idea that you've addressed in that comment, Marty. When we're using a product that works the way it's supposed to, we don't take notice to it. However, when we come along a product that is designed in such a way that we find it difficult to use, we are much more likely to voice our opinion on it. Even since the beginning of the class I've gone out of my way to think about how everything I'm using works, and thinking about what goals the designer who created that product was trying to accomplish. I'm fascinated with this mindset and I'm glad that I've been able to change my perspective in such a short amount of time. Although I'm not going to seek out and congratulate that person on a great design, the designers with this mindset are happy just knowing that they've improved my experience. I think that as a designer it would take a lot to be this open and ego-less about my designs, but if everyone was thinking this way I think that the world of design would be a much more pleasant and efficient place to work in!
DeleteGood post, Ben. I suppose we thank the designers when we continue to buy or use their products, particularly when there are choices. I'm glad you're catching the "design bug." :)
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