Sharon Poggenpohl

Bio: Sharon Poggenpohl is an academic researcher from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Design education & Communication design. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 37 publications receiving 882 citations.

Thoughtful Interaction Design: A Design Perspective on Information Technology

Abstract: JONAS LOWGREN AND ERIK STOLTERMAN THOUGHTFUL INTERACTION DESIGN A DESIGN PERSPECTIVE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MIT Press, 2004 ISBN 0-262-12271-5, 198 pages, hardbound, black and white illustrations, $35.00 When I picked up this book, I thought I'd give it a quick browse. The early pages confirmed this approach as it identified its goal as representing design to information technology (IT). However by the end of the first chapter I knew I needed to read it thoroughly. The authors are in the Scandinavian human-centered tradition that emphasizes development of the human side of technology use. As designers in search of digital solutions, they traverse design processes, understanding people and technology in use and development. This book is important because designers increasingly work with information technologists and epistemologically their worlds are quite different. What is important, what constitutes evidence for a solution, how a process unfolds and what is the goal are all somewhat different between these disciplines. Many designers lack basic understanding of science or logic and find interdisciplinary work difficult or even troubling. This book serves to provide a bridge from design to IT. Another book is needed for traffic going in the other direction, from IT to design. In an early chapter the authors develop terms for the design process in order to speak clearly about it; the terms are vision, a largely intuitive first organizing principle for what will unfold; operative image, the externalization of the vision that bridges the abstract and the concrete; and specification, the transition from an operative image into a specific something to be built. The way a designer works, holistically, fluidly and in a search for the character of an emergent whole, is significantly different from that of an engineer. The authors enumerate design ability with the following (p. 45): * Creating and shaping demands creative and analytical ability * Deciding demands critical judgment * Working with a client demands rationality and ability to communicate * Design of structural qualities demands knowledge of technology and material * Design of functional qualities demands knowledge of technology use * Design of ethical qualities demands knowledge of relevant values and ideals * Design of aesthetic qualities demands an ability to appreciate and compose After establishing design fundamentals, a chapter explores design methods and techniques. …

Open Design Now: Why Design Cannot Remain Exclusive

Abstract: Open Design Now: Why Design Cannot Remain Exclusive BAS VAN ABEL, LUCUS EVERS, ROEL KLAASSEN AND PETER TROXLER Amsterdam, NL: BIS Publishers, 2011 ISBN 9789063692599 Softbound, 320 pages, full color illustrations, $39.00 "Open design is rooted in information and communication technology, giving us all the instruments to become the one-man factory, the world player operating from a small back room" (p.17). Peppered with words like amateurissmo, hyper-craft, co-creation, social design, remix, open source and crowd-sourcing, this book examines the freeing aspects of technology and what pursuit of them might mean today. It runs counter to our conservative expectations for the future that usually look a lot like an expanded present. The book is very much a Dutch production based on the collaborative effort of Creative Commons (Netherlands), Premsela and the Waag Society's Open Design Lab. Creative Commons is a different take on copyright fostering more openness, while Premsela promotes design and fashion in The Netherlands from a cultural perspective and the Waag Society is a foundation interested in developing creative technology for social innovation. Taking its cue from technology, the feature articles forming the bulk of the book and case studies delivering a smaller portion push on possibilities for culture production rather than culture consumption by ordinary citizens. It takes Norbert Wiener's 1950 book, The Human Use of Human Beings, seriously. Wiener, the father of cybernetics, was ahead of his time, both his book and this one share a Utopian perspective. But this book gives credence and a practical viewpoint to releasing people to be creative and celebrate human inventiveness, sharing and community. The book also contains a visual index that covers 32 concepts dealt with in the book. Each concept is visually documented by grassroot or designer applications. These sometimes show the breadth of application and make the conceptual idea real. Some individual images are tied back to discussion in an article or case study. The images demonstrate creative possibility with a technological backdrop. The case studies discuss specific projects and most have a uri attached for further investigation. The range of case ideas is impressive. There has been much talk of the democratization of media and information; this book takes democratization into the world of object design; it challenges copyright along with patent, production and distribution as well. While user-centered and co-design practices have developed and taken hold, this variation on thinking about design goes further proposing the development of a post-professional design world, citing, as examples, the changes to journalism, photography and graphic design that technology has effected through putting hardware and software into the hands of amateurs. One key to the open design initiative is the 60 Fab Labs distributed globally. Fab is short for fabrication; these labs use 3D technology to generate objects for a limited run and are available to amateurs. It supports personal design and one-off creations. What does this mean for designers and their process, even what they design, if they are no longer designing for mass production or even customization within the frame of mass production? In his article, Paul Atkinson suggests that designers create generative software, templates and systems that can morph giving the amateur a base from which to create. This could facilitate the sharing of knowledge between professional designer and amateur. Sharing knowledge is a critical idea to open design- how to identify what knowledge is needed and how to effectively share it. The limited number of case studies (21) and their brief presentations suggest that this is a design change in the early stages. Clearly there is much thinking, investigation and development yet to do. Jos de MuI offers an article from a more critical perspective, briefly discussing four problems inherent in the development of open design. …

Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art and the Myth of Transparency

Abstract: JAY DAVID BOLTER AND DIANE GROMALA WINDOWS AND MIRRORS INTERACTION DESIGN, DIGITAL ART AND THE MYTH OF TRANSPARENCY Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003 ISBN 0-262-02545-0, 182 pages, softbound, black and white illustrations, $17.95 Buzz surrounding new concepts, techniques and computer applications is hard to escape. Making sense of it requires some time to elapse so that a perspective is possible. Bolter and Gromala have a perspective and they share it in Windows and Mirrors, a book that is part polemic and part history of dichotomous positions regarding digital development. First, let's look at the polemics. Using Siggraph's 2000 digital art show as a device with which to illustrate positions and developments, the authors focus primarily on the myth of transparency. A favorite theme of structuralists, who rationally organize interface, navigation and interaction so these elements fade into the background leaving only engagement with the user's task at hand, Bolter and Gromala expose transparency as a myth belonging to a long line of reductive approaches to communication and design. "Text Rain," an interactive physical interface, is the Siggraph exemplar for the counter position in which awareness of and interaction with digital mechanics as pleasurable and essential to the experience. In similar fashion, artificial intelligence (Al) is put into perspective as a big idea that has not delivered on its promises despite its continued exploration in computer science and science fiction cinema. Virtual reality (VR) is also challenged as the supreme focus of the developmental future as Western culture repairs its mind-body split (see Lakoff and Johnson's Philosophy in the Flesh for more on this). Interestingly, Eastern culture never suffered this fragmentation in the first place (see Nisbett's Geography of Thought). VR's role in simulation (for pilots or surgeons for example) is acknowledged, but its potential role in daily life is questionable. Augmented reality (AR) is understood as a more useful mediation between physical or psychological reality with focused feedback based on sensors and sensory stimulation. The exemplar for (AR) is Gromala's own "Meditation Chamber" that provides real-time feedback based on bodily signals (respiration, galvanic skin response, etc.). second, the other structural element of the book is history. This is woven through the pages to put the various digital developmental perspectives into context. The history is interesting in terms of the growth of scientific knowledge regarding human cognition and the technological developments that drive change. …

When second wave HCI meets third wave challenges

Abstract: This paper surveys the current status of second generation HCI theory, faced with the challenges brought to HCI by the so-called third wave. In the third wave, the use context and application types are broadened, and intermixed, relative to the focus of the second wave on work. Technology spreads from the workplace to our homes and everyday lives and culture. Using these challenges the paper specifically addresses the topics of multiplicity, context, boundaries, experience and participation in order to discuss where second wave theory and conceptions can still be positioned to make a contribution as part of the maturing of our handling of the challenges brought on by the third wave.

Reality-Based Interaction: A Framework for Post-WIMP Interfaces Robert J.K. Jacob Audrey Girouard Leanne M. Hirshfield Michael S. Horn

Abstract: We are in the midst of an explosion of emerging humancomputer interaction techniques that redefine our understanding of both computers and interaction. We propose the notion of Reality-Based Interaction (RBI) as a unifying concept that ties together a large subset of these emerging interaction styles. Based on this concept of RBI, we provide a framework that can be used to understand, compare, and relate current paths of recent HCI research as well as to analyze specific interaction designs. We believe that viewing interaction through the lens of RBI provides insights for design and uncovers gaps or opportunities for future research.

Reality-based interaction: a framework for post-WIMP interfaces

Abstract: We are in the midst of an explosion of emerging human-computer interaction techniques that redefine our understanding of both computers and interaction. We propose the notion of Reality-Based Interaction (RBI) as a unifying concept that ties together a large subset of these emerging interaction styles. Based on this concept of RBI, we provide a framework that can be used to understand, compare, and relate current paths of recent HCI research as well as to analyze specific interaction designs. We believe that viewing interaction through the lens of RBI provides insights for design and uncovers gaps or opportunities for future research.

The anatomy of prototypes: Prototypes as filters, prototypes as manifestations of design ideas

Abstract: The role of prototypes is well established in the field of HCI and Design. A lack of knowledge, however, about the fundamental nature of prototypes still exists. Researchers have attempted to identify different types of prototypes, such as low- vs. high-fidelity prototypes, but these attempts have centered on evaluation rather than support of design exploration. There have also been efforts to provide new ways of thinking about the activity of using prototypes, such as experience prototyping and paper prototyping, but these efforts do not provide a discourse for understanding fundamental characteristics of prototypes. In this article, we propose an anatomy of prototypes as a framework for prototype conceptualization. We view prototypes not only in their role in evaluation but also in their generative role in enabling designers to reflect on their design activities in exploring a design space. We base this framework on the findings of two case studies that reveal two key dimensions: prototypes as filters and prototypes as manifestations. We explain why these two dimensions are important and how this conceptual framework can benefit our field by establishing more solid and systematic knowledge about prototypes and prototyping.

The Nature of Design Practice and Implications for Interaction Design Research

Abstract: The focus of this paper is interaction design research aimed at supporting interaction design practice. The main argument is that this kind of interaction design research has not (always) been succ ...