Interaction design content and method : a case study on industrial design students / Mohammad Zaki Sharifuddin

Due to the borderless communications in the Information world today, a shift of
focus is seen occurring from "product-as-object" approach towards the notion of
"product-as-event" where dynamic functionality and behavioral qualities of the new
products are increasingly important. Because of the interactive nature of these
products, the trend has enhanced the importance of Information Ergonomics in
general and Interaction Design in particular. However, the education of computer
professionals often concentrates on the understanding of computational mechanisms,
and on engineering methods to ensure that the mechanisms behave according to the
intention of the programmer. This research looks at the current product design issues
involving the single-sided focus on the design of interactive products and highlights
the importance of Industrial Design.
As a conceptual framework, this research study includes reviews on previous
research relevant to the scope of 'design' in relation to Industrial Design, which
involve the design process, design drawings and design methods. A case study,
involving qualitative and quantitative method was used in this research. A classroom
of Industrial Design students doing Applied Industrial Design subject at Universiti
Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, was taken as the study in understanding the thinking
process involved in delivering content for interactive products. Seven students were
selected for the study and their design documents such as; sketches, drawings
diagrams and reports were analyzed using three stages of analyses. Various
Interaction Design concern were discussed and towards the end of the study a design
method was proposed.
This research documented a specific type of project for the design of 'Cleaning
Appliances' where design intention and creative ability of the students in delivering
Interaction Design content and method was sought. Although without proper
guidelines from the Interaction Design discipline, the students showed the ability in
delivering basic interactive product design concepts using the Industrial Design
knowledge. This research study contributes to the knowledge of design disciplinary
areas in both Human Computer Interaction and Industrial Design, which highlights
the important role of Industrial Design students in delivering Interaction Design
content and methods.
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