rana.chakrabarti@sap.com 1/5
Design-Thinking & Software Interactions
Rana Chakrabarti 27th July, 2009
Question: Where is software interaction headed? How will software interactions be like in the near future? What will be the driving forces shaping design of software interactions? Are iPhone and Tivo interaction designs accidental innovations or a shape of things to come? What makes them usable? What are the limits of cognition in an ever increasingly connected world? How will living evolve in a world where everything is connected, search cost is zero and bad mental models proliferate? Introduction Software will augment living by helping us make sense of an increasingly complex world. To do so, it will use mechanisms we understand naturally: objects to navigate, narratives to understand. : Interaction Design – software is implicit hence omitted. Interaction Design is at the intersection of the two arcs of design: product design and narrative design. Product design lends the principles for creation of meaningful objects and narratives design the principles for creation of meaningful narratives. Understanding the two arcs might give us insight into the future of software interaction. The imagery is of two powerful streams which have run parallel to each other now merging into as single very powerful stream. Narrative design this can be seen as a complementary discipline which has evolved separately from product design, but is now merging. In line with natural selection, the elements of each discipline which create the most meaning for human lives, in the overall frame of connectedness, will survive. Those that don’t will become extinct. This paper attempts to articulate the effect of this merging.
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rana.chakrabarti@sap.com 2/5
Design-Thinking & Software Interactions
Rana Chakrabarti 27th July, 2009
The graphic above explains the overall context for the article. The central arrow is the arc of product design. Narrative design is not seen here and will be explained along the lines of product design. The slider on the far right is the global awareness level and has three settings: passive, active, interactive. For reasons beyond the scope of this paper, the setting has moved from active towards interactive. This has propelled the product design arc towards service design. In addition, this phase of the evolution is being played out at the edge of physical and digital space. The article attempts to make sense of what this means to design.
Arc of Product Design: moving on to subtler spaces Here we take a look at the progressions in product design. Understanding where it has been might give us clue to where it will go next. Understanding the source of power for design may allow us to predict accurately the nature of artifacts that will emerge. Product Design as a discipline is evolving from the gross to the subtle. Accordingly the arc is traveling from the design of spaces to the design of objects and finally to design of services| experiences. Phrased in human terms, design affords living. The progression in design is from protective living, to effective living to connective living. This follows the evolution from gross to subtle living. We now take a look beneath the hood to try and understand: what are the sources of power that drive the discipline? Sources of Power: The imagery here is of power lines embedded within the central arc. They represent primary and secondary sources of power. Intertwined like DNA. At each instant while both are present, only one dominates. Till now Goal has dominated as the primary source of power. We are now seeing a shift to Activity as the primary source of power. This section attempts to explain the dynamics of each source of power. Goal: The desire to create The goal is the answer to the question “Who do I create for?� It is a manifestation of the gross-tosubtle dynamic. Phrased in human terms the progression is from personal, communal to societal goals. It progresses on to more subtle spaces. For instance, conceptual. Or universal. As the goal travels within the arc of product design it manifests itself as different disciplines. These can be seen emerging in waves in the diagram: Space Design | personal - workplace design, interior design Space Design | communal - architecture, landscape design Space Design | societal - town planning
Object Design | personal - motorbike, recliner, stove Object Design | communal - car, lawn furniture, bar-b-que Object Design | societal - bus, park bench, commercial grill Service Design | personal - courier Service Design | communal - mass transit Service Design | societal – government; immigration services This document may contain trade secrets or privileged, undisclosed, or otherwise confidential information. If you have received this document in error, you are hereby notified that any review, copying, or distribution of it is strictly prohibited. Please inform us immediately and destroy the original transmittal. Thank you for your cooperation
rana.chakrabarti@sap.com 3/5
Design-Thinking & Software Interactions
Rana Chakrabarti 27th July, 2009
Impact: The arc of product design is completing one journey at the current phase: service and experience design. However, along this journey, the substrate is changing as well. From the "real" space, the arc is traveling towards "virtual" space. Since virtual space is largely untamed, design will follow the space, object, service trajectory. However the dynamics will be different. Real spaces are governed by the laws of physics. Virtual spaces are governed by the laws of digits. This is less friction here. There is no visible cost for building badly. As a result the cycles between space, object and service will emerge faster. It will take several turns of the design fan seen in the top left part of the graphic before the discipline matures in digital space. They may also mature more or less simultaneously. However, there is a second source of power to be considered within product design. This source has been evolving in tandem with the discipline, but has been invisible so far. It is now surfacing due to the change in the substratum.
Activity: The desire to connect Activity is the answer to the question “What aspect of living will design support?�. This can be understood in terms of the slider labeled systemic awareness on the far right of the graphic. The slider has three settings, explained below. The setting is currently moved from Active and towards Interactive. The transition is not complete yet. Understanding each setting may help us understand how the discipline of design will be affected by the current setting. Passive: Products Design starts with giving form to spaces to make them livable. Objects are designed to make living in spaces effective. Services or experiences are ways of connecting spaces and objects meaningfully. Generally speaking services move objects, experience move humans. There are combinations possible. The products creates do not have awareness of their environment. These may be considered passive products. Active: There are increasingly products with a degree of awareness and responsiveness of their environment. This is facilitated by input sensors, output displays and embedded or available computational ability. This is perceived by humans as making the product more "expressive". Collectively it renders the product "active". For example, we embed sensors and hi intensity flashing led into a road divider. We also include a simple activation heuristic ( car 100 m from divider) and signaling heuristic ( double flash rate for halving of distance from divider ). The driver perceives the road divider as expressive and more naturalistic. Interactive: Software products are second generation active products. The difference is one of kind. Software interactions give the product a larger range of expressions. This is perceived by humans as "personality" and triggers naturalistic interaction patterns within humans. Collectively software interactions render the product "interactive". For example, consider TiVo. A hard disk drive has limited expressiveness. A whine and some clicks. A weak personality. Software interactions extend and in this case replace the drives personality. The result if done well is TiVo, a product with a personality created by its software interaction. As with personalities, the stronger one wins. Specifically it overwrites the mental
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rana.chakrabarti@sap.com 4/5
Design-Thinking & Software Interactions
Rana Chakrabarti 27th July, 2009
model of the user with a new one. As with personalities, rude personalities engender intense dislike, resonant personalities engender affection.
Impact: The high cognitive load placed on us by the increasingly complex world will drive a desire for products that create immediate meaning for us. Humans will interact with them naturalistically and expect a response in kind. Those that do, we will develop and affinity for. Those that don't we will reject without consideration. We will not give these products a second chance. Software interaction design if executed skillfully will fulfill this desire by making interactions with product appear more naturalistic. Some interesting questions: If software interaction creates personality in products: a. Can we embed it into all products? b. Can virtual designed objects create personality in software?
Arc of Narrative Design: The sharper smaller screen. Narrative Design as a discipline is moving to the consumer phase of its evolution. This is coupled with the effects of flattening of the world, and high resolution touchable screens on personal devices, good enough to watch full length movies on. This section attempts to integrate the second arc, currently not seen in the graphic. Narrative design has traveled the arc from lead users and exclusivity to consumers and commodity. Pathfinders This is the early phase of cinema marked by single screen theatres, analog work methods, low resolution recording and unaffordable tools. Early cinema is the example with he director being the equivalent of head designer. Professionals The 90's. This is the growth phase of cinema marked by emerging multi-screen theatres, analog and emerging digital work methods, high resolution recording and appearance of CGI. The tools are expensive high-end machines. Computer animated moved from Lucas film and ILM are the central example. Home videos proliferate without the ability to share them. Consumers Where are here. Multiplexes and home videos have proliferated. Digital work methods are gaining dominance. High resolution has progressed to high definition. The tools are now consumer class, due to the forces of democratization and flattening of the world. This has lead to a proliferation of personal narratives due to the ability to share. YouTube and Nokia mobile movies are examples. The narrative craft, however, has not yet been commoditized due to the degree of difficulty associated with learning it.
This document may contain trade secrets or privileged, undisclosed, or otherwise confidential information. If you have received this document in error, you are hereby notified that any review, copying, or distribution of it is strictly prohibited. Please inform us immediately and destroy the original transmittal. Thank you for your cooperation
rana.chakrabarti@sap.com 5/5
Design-Thinking & Software Interactions
Rana Chakrabarti 27th July, 2009
Finally narratives are “breaking out” and “going digital”. Screens are becoming smaller, sharper and touchable. They will replace buttons as the primary mode of interacting with digital content. The form factors in devices reflect this. Simultaneously, the duration a consumer spends before any one screen is falling. To keep a consumer engaged and trigger further consumption, new, more natural forms of interaction will emerge. This will require ordering information and interaction to align with natural principles of narratives rather than forcing the consumer to learn the product. Impact: Personal narratives are maturing with YouTube celebrities emerging periodically. Julia Nunes is an example here. Individuals as contributors rather than corporations as creators are emerging. Innocentive and Threadless.com are built around them. With the Millenials entering the workforce, this will force business narratives to turn to the principles of narrative design to make meaning of their complex worlds delivered in a natural, easy to consume way. Software interactions will be the “default setting” to make this possible.
Summary: The future of software interactions will be linked explicitly with product design and narrative design. Both are co-evolving. The principles of product design and narrative design together will shape software interaction design. This will be the minimum condition for creating meaningful software interactions. The start point for this will be the ability to model large complex systems holistically. This is the domain of Systems Thinking which is now re-emerging.
This document may contain trade secrets or privileged, undisclosed, or otherwise confidential information. If you have received this document in error, you are hereby notified that any review, copying, or distribution of it is strictly prohibited. Please inform us immediately and destroy the original transmittal. Thank you for your cooperation