[IxDA Discuss] The applicability of NLP to interaction design.

[Darlene]

Hi Alex,
I have to admit that I have almost no understanding of NLP, other
than having read about it briefly on Productivity and Success blogs
in the past few months. Here is a quote found on the web (pasted here
mostly for my benefit): "Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is an
incredibly powerful discipline that enables people to unblock the
structures of human communication and human excellence.  By doing so
people can think, communicate and manage themselves, and others, more
effectively. NLP explores the relationships between how we think
(neuro), how we communicate (linguistic) and our patterns of
behaviour and emotion (programmes)." - from the website
http://www.inspiritive.com.au/nlp.htm

I admit that I don't understand it completely enough to rule it out
of my list of interesting topics to investigate. And it might just
add to my toolset as a designer. This does, however, raise a red
flag. 

As an Interaction Designer, my first and foremost concern is
understanding the user through various user research methods. I try
to understand as best I can how our users are most likely to use our
products, with the time and resources that I have at my disposal.
This includes (but is not limited to) experience in and knowledge of
the field as well as employing Usability Testing methods. I am not
trying to alter or change people's behavior towards these designs.
That's really up to the individual. Rather, in understanding my
users and how they complete the tasks being presented to them, I can
try to optimize the design to the research. I have been surprised
countless times how differently users can react to what I initially
thought was a very carefully designed interface. IMHO it is much more
efficient to focus on what I have control over (the design) than what
I do not have control over (the behavior of the large number of users
that I design for). 


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Posted from the new ixda.org
http://gamma.ixda.org/discuss?post=24120