Read ”The future of interaction design”

I read an article about the ideas of interaction design, by Bret Victor. I really appreciate it because it changed my inherent concept of interaction design. I will summarize some points as follow which I think do inspire me a lot.
- A tool addresses human needs by amplifying human capabilities.
- A tool converts what we can do into what we want to do. A great tool is designed to fit both sides.
- I’m not going to talk about technology. That’s the easy part, in a sense, because we control it. Technology can be invented; human nature is something we’re stuck with.
- Take a moment to pick up the objects around you. Use them as you normally would, and sense their tactile response.
- Almost every object in the world offers this sort of feedback.
- The sense of touch is essential to everything that humans have called “work” for millions of years.
- Pictures Under Glass, which sacrifice all the tactile richness of working with our hands, offering instead a hokey visual facade.
When I first came into interaction design, I just thought that it’s a work to do some pretty user interfaces for electronic devices, which do not need too much professional backgrounds. If you got some graphic design skills, then you can do that. And I can easily find some agencies in China which announces to teach you to become an UI designer in a very short time, then you can find a job as a “designer”. And I’m sure a lot of people still consider UI design is just the Interaction Design.
After almost 2 years, I came to realize that this isn’t the case. UI design is just a small branch of Interaction Design.We can interactive with everything in our life, not just that screen. Then I try to figure out what causes this misunderstanding, I guess it’s because the “ Internet Wave” ,accompanied by the rise of many Internet companies in China. Concisely speaking, people do things which will make them money.
I agree with “Picture Under Glass” idea, which deprived us of more perceived ability. And I think people may have already feel bored with touching or sliding those different size of screens,at least for me, this is the case.
I will start thinking about the items we use everyday, I want to give them new feelings.


