Interactive Environments Manual

Design Approach

As mentioned in the Background chapter, the design process in the Interactive Environments minor is iterative. An iteration is defined by a goal it sets out to reach. Any start with partitioning a project into iterations from a design assignment is a bit of voodoo, experience will help out in the end. It is important to keep the goals small at first. Don’t worry too much if things do not work out as planned.

The duration of one iteration can vary greatly depending on the drafted goal and the fidelity level of prototyping required. Perform all the steps in one day to end up with a quick rough prototype. Or perform the steps in one month (maybe has some more detailed iterations to find out technical possibilities eg. with technology prototypes). Below we provide a breakdown of one design iteration in a few steps.

Each phase of the project can involve multiple design iterations, and each iteration can involve a variety of creative activities, design research and engineering tasks.

Compendia such as IDEO Design kit, the Delft Design Guide or the book Designing for Connected Products and Understanding Industrial Design contain many approaches and methods that can be applied to organise and execute these activities effectively.

We encourage students to experiment with different ways to organise their design iterations, however we would also require adherence to the following general principles throughout the entire minor.

Isolate possible locations (context) and types of people (users) from the assignment. Next, prepare to visit that context, consider what kind of things should to pay attention to and how to capture the information: are you drawing maps, taking photos or video. Also prepare by determining how to obtain relevant information from the people, will it be enough to do observations or is it also needed to interview people. Check for ways of doing that properly and how to return with data that useful to generate ideas. Select and print some of the photos and answers or quotes from the research and post them clearly visible in the design space (and on Projectcampus).

Involve some people in a short brainstorm (typically no longer than 30 minutes) to come up with ideas of what to design for. Good ideas address a user’s need formulated with some nuance and depth – are inspirational (they can never be just a function!)

Organize each idea on a timeline: construct a narrative that consists of a beginning, a middle part and an ending (interaction scenario). Organize a body movement exercise to determine whether the apparent interaction qualities match with the formulated needs. Post the interaction scenario clearly visible in the design space and eg. the video of the body movement exercise or other relevant material on Projectcampus.

Determine which part of the interaction scenario has the focus of the making activities. What form and material expressions are in concert with the idea, what kind of technology can be employed to express the desired behaviour?

Next, put everything together – does it work without programming then test it quickly and establish that the desired effect is reached (the user feels his needs are addressed). At some point, it might be needed to have more realism in the interactive behaviour and it may thus be required to spend more time on engineering (embodiment, programming, routing cables, making tests of advanced sensors and actuators, etc.).

Arriving at a stage where making a prototype requires more time than a couple of hours it makes sense to take a step back and determine the optimal plan to finish the current iteration.

As soon as a convincing prototype experience has been reached. It is time to expose it to an outsider. This requires some preparation. At this point in the process, re-consider the goal for the iteration. What are the aspects for success? Prepare some carefully formulated open questions and avoid using terms that are directly related to the aspects that are to be tested. Success is achieved if an outsider reacts on the prototype with utterances or clear statements that align with the design ideas. Collect these utterances and consider what went right or wrong. What are the lessons from going into detail prototyping the idea? Does it warrant moving on in the same direction or is there evidence that another direction might be more promising? Use the answers to these questions to refine or adapt the design assignment and start a new iteration. Make some beauty shots (photos), fill out a prototype card and post that to Projectcampus, and lastly store the prototype in the exhibition area.