Thoughtful Interaction Design | Reflection
By Jonas Löwgren and Erik Stolterman
We now live in an artificial world created by humans. Technology has become a vital and fundamental part of our everyday lives, used to better our living and the environment. Digital artefacts can be found everywhere, in our homes, workplaces and even public spaces. They influence our lives at individual and social levels, they help or hinder us in almost all our activities, and could possibly influence our individual and social developments as time passes.
By designing digital artefacts, is to design people’s lives. The creator of this artificial world, of course, is us – humans, and we have the designers who helps us along the way to find the best solution for the problems. With this much influence and impact, comes power and responsibility.
“Designer wields significant power, and with such power, comes responsibility.”
A designer has the power to change and influence the society or at a personal level. It could be something as simple as your mobile phone and everyday utensils, to architectural buildings and roadworks. The world is made up of environments, systems and things that are designed, formed and produced by humans. All things have been designed and all new things have to be designed.
Being thorough and thoughtful on the design process and thinking for every project is essential. No matter how small the project is, it becomes a big project due to its impact on the society and environment. To design is to create something new. Design is a chance, that forces you to challenge the unknown and to create something that has not exist.
As mentioned in the reading, design is very much an ethical activity. Behind every design is a combination of long, intensive research, thought processes, actions and decisions that are thoroughly analysed on its impact on the people and environment before it is carried out. Interaction design is deeply influenced by values and ideals of the society, it could be said design is with the people, not for the people.
Being thoughtful is about caring for yourself, your design project and for the people. As mentioned, we live in a world where everything is almost artificial and designed. For every new artificial addition in the world, it impacts how we experience the whole. The world will be influenced and changed by new design ideas and decisions. The designer influences the overall experience of the world that humans will spend their lives in.
It is common to say designers are built to work for their clients, to fulfil the clients needs and wants. But each designer needs to have their own set or morales and values they follow due to the power they hold. It is a responsibility that transcends the client’s contract and condition, that sets limitations on how far their work can go, so as to not disrupt and peace and flow of the society. An example would be advertising. The world of advertising is so powerful as it is broadcasted to the world. A simple message that was delivered unethically due to the client’s wishes could cause an uproar in the public. The designer needs to care about the society, and be aware of the boundaries.
We are all aware that interaction design is gradually becoming one of the most influential design fields in the world as it is what makes up people’s everyday lives. With such influence, the reading has once again highlighted the importance of being a thoughtful and responsible creator. The objects that are created are up close and personal to every individual, thus one needs to be cautious and attentive to it’s impact in hopes to make a positive change and better the lives of the people.
Design for the People
An example that I feel embodies the idea of a thoughtful design is the EnChroma Glasses which is designed for the colour blind. It is made with a colour vision technology, uniquely engineered to give those with colour blindness the ability to see the broad spectrum of bright colour that most of us take for granted.
When someone with red-green color blindness wears a pair of EnChroma glasses, they perceive a more accurate range of colors – and the experience can be life changing.
Colour blindness has been an issue for centuries and this glasses was only released in 2012. It is an old product (as of now it’s 2019), but when it was released, I was so touched and awed by the creation as this has helped many to see what most of us can see.
How the glasses work is that it utilises a light filter technique, with mathematical precision applied to address the common forms of red-green colour blindness. It simple terms, it works just like a photo filter, genius isn’t it? Such a simple idea yet is works wonders. Also, the glasses comes in different forms of designs that simply looks like you’re shopping for a pair of designer sunglasses. I feel the designer has put in a lot of thought and process to make sure the glasses does not look any different from other sunglasses so that the users can wear it at ease, without feeling they are wearing a “special” glasses.
With the application of science, optics, mathematics and more than 10 years of clinical research, EnChroma continues to advance the field of color vision research and bring new products to market that solve unique color deficiency issues. EnChroma is a company that I feel has ultimately solved the problem for many of the humans with colour deficiency. It is a product that is life-changing.
