[IxDA Discuss] "Elements of Interaction Design"

[Dan Saffer]

On May 12, 2006, at 6:31 AM, Fred van Amstel wrote:

> I think symbolic, social and cultural factors are much more suitable
> to be called "the elements of interaction design" instead of thoose
> isolated intrinsic caracteristics.

I think how the designer uses the elements and how they appear in the  
final design are influenced by symbolic, social, and cultural  
factors. The elements themselves are agnostic about them. At least  
how I tried to outline them.

The problem with excerpts is that, well, they're excerpts. :)  They  
grab a chunk from a chapter, losing some context. Later on in this  
same chapter, I talk about the attributes of good interaction design,  
the second one of which is appropriate, meaning: "The solutions that  
interaction designers come up with need to be appropriate to the  
culture, situation, and context that they live in. All of these  
factors can drastically affect the type of product or service that a  
designer makes."

Time and space, to use two of the elements, aren't different from  
culture to culture, although how they are used and perceived  
certainly are.



Dan Saffer
Designing for Interaction
New Riders, August 2006
http://www.designingforinteraction.com