Fundamentals of new media

Introduction to New Media and Interaction Design

Valeria Gasik 2013

Topics

• What is New Media?

• Interaction Design Fundamentals

• User-centered Design

In your opinion:What is New Media?

Several ways to describe it

New Media technologies are described as the ones with the nature of digital interactivity.

Digital data

Data

• Nesting vs linearity

• Oversupply? A lot to process!

• Designer’s role?

• Growing in demand: ability to deal with complex systems and extract wisdom from the data

Technology

Tactus' morphing smartphone

E-waste

Digital divide

New ethics and laws

Culture

“There is a tremendous ability for individual users – – to make connections to one another in a way that might allow them to circumvent the conventions of

institutional and closed opportunities.”

Bailey Socha, Barbara Eber-Schmid

http://www.newmedia.org/what-is-new-media.html

Art

Games

Social networks

Social events

Fun. “Jam with Chrome”

Evocation, self-expression

Mashups, memes

Interaction Design

There are many ways to approach a project

User-centered design

One of the possible approaches

• Focus on the user

• Users as a guide of design

• Designer translates user needs and goals

Interaction Design

“...shaping digital things for people’s use”

http://interaction-design.org/

Interaction DesignProcess of designing digital products, services, systems and environments

• User’s needs and goals?

• User’s abilities and limitations?

• The structure and behavior of interactive a system?

• Future challenges?

Process

1. Personas

2. Scenarios

3. User-Stories

4. (Development, design, testing)

5. (Presentation)

PersonasPersona is a brief description of a user archetype

• A focused act of designer’s empathetic role-play.

• 2-5 personas (primary, secondary, supplementary)

• Are composed from observation, interviews, etc.

• Serve as a guide to the design process but do not substitute involving real users in the design process

“Personas, as documents, should work for designers the way scent works for memories of your childhood.”(Alan Cooper)

“Genshi genbutsu”– Go and see

Scenarios

Scenarios describe likely interactions between types of users (personas) and the system

• Consists of settings, actors, goals, actions, events and objects

• Aims to mirror the real context and usage

Scenarios

Laura has a 4-year old dog. In a week Laura is planning to go on a vacation and is looking for a dog sitter.

Laura opens a dog sitter site and looks for a map. She wants to find someone trustful who lives nearby. Laura studies relevant results and sees Ulla’s profile. Laura likes Ulla’s resume and decides to contact her.

User Stories

Written sequences of actions and events that lead to an outcome

• Good stories are standalone, short and testable

• Bridge between users, designers and developers

User Stories

“As a user, I want to find reliable dog sitter near by so that I could contact her.”

User Stories

“As a <role>, I want to <do what > so that I could <benefit how>.”

Thank you!

Reference suggestion

• Putting people firsthttp://www.experientia.com

• Usability and interface design books

• Interaction Designhttp://interaction-design.org

• Generic Work Processhttp://project.cmd.hro.nl/cmi/hci/toolkit

• Personas and the role of documentationhttp://boxesandarrows.com/personas-and-the-role-of-design-documentation/

• To watch...Everything is a remix, Social network (2010), Black Mirror (2011)