By
Jon Kolko, Jon Kolko, Editor-in-Chief, ACM Interactions Magazine; Executive Director of Design Strategy for Thinktiv; Board of Directors, Interaction
Design Association (IxDA); former Professor of Interaction and Industrial Design, Savannah College of Art and Design
Description
Interaction Designers—whether practicing as Usability Engineers, Visual Interface Designers, or Information Architects—attempt to understand
and shape human behavior in order to design products that are at once usable, useful, and desirable. Although the value of design is
now recognized as essential to product development, the field is often misunderstood by managers and other team members, who don’t understand
a designer’s role in a team. This can cause inefficient and ineffective products.
Thoughts on Interaction Design
gives individuals engaged in this profession the dialogue to justify their work to other stakeholders. It provides a framework upon which
to build intellectual discourse, and it substantiates the rigorous and unique nature of interaction design work. Ultimately, the text
exists to provide a definition that encompasses the intellectual facets of the field, the conceptual underpinnings of interaction design
as a legitimate human-centered field, and the particular methods used by practitioners in their day to day experiences.
