Interaction & Service Design Concepts: Principles, Perspectives & Practices

The Pitfalls of Collecting Data

A large portion of my projects are related to emotion. I feel that the sensing and using of emotion related information is the next large step technology will take. This information can be used to create technology that has a more subtle understanding of when to assert its…

What’s “up” with our maps?

The politics of cartography

Eagle Eyes

The biggest question that had arisen in my mind while reading for this week is “Can you choose to opt out from such data collecting and surveillance?”. There seem to be three elements that would make it difficult for an individual to escape from the data collecting activities — invisibility, inconvenience…

IxD: A perspective on origin

Interaction Design a process that several people from different spheres — technology, psychology, engineering, etc — seem have stumbled upon. These people have started out solving a problem using a certain set of predefined tools, but somewhere along the way, realized that what…

The Politics of Objects

Every humanly-constructed object has politics surrounding its existence. When an object is created, it is designed with the particular cultural values and mores of its creator. Its purpose and use fits into the existing systems and structures and, if it is successful, will fulfill…

The Origin of Interaction Design

I think that in the broadest context, the concept of Interaction Design originated when mankind first used wooden instruments and ignited fire to satisfy the most basic of human needs — hunger and warmth: an animal was hunted down, man used fire to consume it; Seasons…

The observer-expectancy effect

Or, Considering the realities of context

In our studio class, my teammates (Lisa and Kate) and I are currently looking into ways in which the waiting time at Pittsburgh bus stops can be made a less frustrating experience.

Information Exchange and Cybernetics

Wiener first developed the theory of “Cybernetics” during the Second World War, where he worked on missile technology and studied how messages were delivered to control missions. It is defined by Wiener as feedback principle playing a key feature of life forms from…