Thoughtful Interaction Design

A Design Perspective on Information Technology

MIT Press

The authors of Thoughtful Interaction Design go beyond
the usual technical concerns of usability and usefulness to consider interaction
design from a design perspective. The shaping of digital artifacts is a design
process that influences the form and functions of workplaces, schools,
communication, and culture; the successful interaction designer must use both
ethical and aesthetic judgment to create designs that are appropriate to a given
environment. This book is not a how-to manual, but a collection of tools for thought
about interaction design.

Working with information technology --
called by the authors "the material without qualities" -- interaction designers
create not a static object but a dynamic pattern of interactivity. The design vision
is closely linked to context and not simply focused on the technology. The authors'
action-oriented and context-dependent design theory, drawing on design theorist
Donald Schön's concept of the reflective practitioner, helps designers deal with
complex design challenges created by new technology and new knowledge. Their
approach, based on a foundation of thoughtfulness that acknowledges the designer's
responsibility not only for the functional qualities of the design product but for
the ethical and aesthetic qualities as well, fills the need for a theory of
interaction design that can increase and nurture design knowledge. From this
perspective they address the fundamental question of what kind of knowledge an
aspiring designer needs, discussing the process of design, the designer, design
methods and techniques, the design product and its qualities, and conditions for
interaction design.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Löwgren, Jonas

Stolterman, Erik

Fachgebiete

• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Informatik Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik EDV & Informatik Allgemein

Über Autor(innen)

Stolterman, Erik
Erik Stolterman is Professor of Informatics and Department Chair in the School of
Informatics and Computing at Indiana University Bloomington.

Löwgren, Jonas
Jonas Löwgren is Professor of Interaction Design at Malmö University. He is the
coauthor of Thoughtful Interaction Design: A Design Perspective on
Information Technology (MIT Press).