As computing becomes more ubiquitous in our objects, designers need to be more aware of how to design meaningful interactions into electronically enhanced objects. At the University of Washington, a class of junior Interaction Design majors is exploring this question. These pages chronicle their efforts.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Weeks 1 & 2

Katie Hendricks & Scott Lui

Our first two weeks have been spent exploring situations and attempting to find one with great potential. We are specifically interested in situations that could be improved by teaching a behavior or alleviating a problematic interaction. On Wednesday 4/6 we brought 4 situations to class. Those ideas were as follows:

1. Intersections

Objects: stop lights, cars, cross walks, cross walk signs, pedestrians


2. Meeting New People

Objects: nametags, icebreaker games, coffee shops, bars, web sites


3. What to do with trash

Objects: trash, garbage cans, recycling bins, compost bins


4. Living with roommates

Objects: furniture, refrigerator, shower, appliances, dirty dishes

We quickly discovered that our situations were too general. We decided that before thinking about sensors we needed to first refine our situations. We narrowed our ideas down to two more specific scenarios:

1. People not paying attention at stop lights

Objects: cars, stoplight, cross walk, pedestrians


2. Getting out of other peoples’ way in elevators

Objects: people, elevator walls, buttons, floor mat, ceiling light

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