Thoughts on Interaction Design

By Jon Kolko

Thoughts on Interaction Design, Second Edition, contemplates and contributes to the theory of Interaction Design by exploring the semantic connections that live between technology and form that are brought to life when someone uses a product. These connections may be thought of as interactions that, in aggregate, make up behavior, and are beginning to hint that a field known as design is a legitimately separate area of study alongside science or art.
This text defines Interaction Design in a way that emphasizes the intellectual and cultural facets of the discipline. It discusses the role of language, argument, and rhetoric in the design of products, services, and systems. This idea of language is extended to poetry, and the idea of a poetic interaction that affects not only the mind and body but also the soul is introduced. The text examines the process Interaction Designers in approaching complicated problems related to behavior and time. This process includes structuring large quantities of data, thinking about users, and attempting to support human behavior as it unfolds over time. Finally, the text prescribes a purposeful extraction of Interaction Design from the confines of business to leverage the design process for social, political, and economic problem solving.

*Provides new and fresh insights on designing for behavior in a world of increased connectivity and mobility and how design education has evolved over the decades

*Maintains the informal-yet-informative voice that made the first edition so popular

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Jan 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9780123809315

Jon Kolko

Jon Kolko is the Executive Director of Design Strategy for Thinktiv and is responsible for designing and delivering emotionally resonating and relevant products, services, and systems. Jon is also the Founder and Director of the Austin Center for Design, an educational institution in Texas. He has worked extensively in the professional world of interaction design, solving the problems of Fortune 500 clients. His work has extended into the worlds of consumer electronics, mobile, web, supply chain management, demand planning, and customer-relationship management. He has worked with clients such as AT&T, HP, Nielsen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ford, IBM, Palm and other leaders of the Global 2000. The underlying theme of these problems and projects was the creation of Design with a focus on Design Synthesis and the creation of meaning. Prior to working at Thinktiv, Kolko has held the positions of Principal Designer and Associate Creative Director at Frog. He was also a Professor of Interaction and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he was instrumental in shaping the Interaction and Industrial Design undergraduate and graduate programs. Kolko sits on the Board of Directors for the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), and is the Editor-in-Chief of Interactions Magazine, published by the ACM.