Week 3 -- Project Management User Centered Design

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 Everyone:
Notes on Design Practice: Stories and Prototypes as Catalysts for Communication, Thomas Erickson [A version of this paper appeared in Scenario-Based Design: Envisioning Work and Technology in System Development. (ed. J. Carroll). New York: Wiley & Sons, 1995.]
Information Interaction Design: A Unified Field Theory of Design, Nathan Shedroff
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Communication – the word no one can escape. Every aspect of life can be improved or degraded by it. One thing which can be certain is most things are not usually hindered by communication but more likely the lack of. When describing design Erickson writes “it is also very much a social process in which communication plays a critical role” explaining how designers must communicate with users and their own organization. Terms such as “team building,” “collaborative,” “involve” characterize the successful practice of design. Something that stood out to me was the discussion of stories and their importance to compliment information gathering. Design is a collaboration of research, ideas combined with skill in communication and story telling to seamlessly satisfy the audience and design team.

One size fits all? Shedroff says, “Many people create or engineer interactions, presentations, and experiences for others. Almost all interactions—whether part of a book, a directory, a catalog, a newspaper, or a television program –can be created or addressed by one process.” The fact that some things stand the test of time over and over again regardless of technology advancement is comforting to hear. The design process is a foundation; building blocks which can be carried from one area to the next. Like many things learned in the classroom they have a purpose outside too.