Our design project teamwork

In this post I want to review my own ideas and questions related to the design project work in our team, including some short notes about my own field studies (physical or virtual) and inquiries of relevance for the design project.

Our design team decided to model our travel-related website after the metaphor of a digital dinner party. It is at dinner parties where people gather and share their ideas about different things. On a more material level, they also choose items from a menu. We wanted to use this concept to design a pleasing experience, a place where people could plan and share their ideas about travel to various specific places.

My own experience of engaging with this team of designers was that, first, designers themselves should have a good understanding of the domain of the design--the problem space--and the usage of the digital artifact, in this case the travel website. Without a good understanding of real applications of the digital artifact, team members are not able to implement an effective project. The most important prerequisite for any interaction design work is for team members to imagine the experience of using that artifact prior to beginning the work of the design itself. Importantly, they should come into contact with potential users of the digital artifact. In order not to get distracted from the proper vision and goal of the project--to create user experience--the designer must be focused on the would-be user, their real interests, wishes, and needs.

The second point that bears consideration in any interaction design work is awareness of the relationship between the designer and his/her tool. The designer should have a deep understanding of the capabilities and weaknesses of said tool. Every tool we use has its own limitations and constraints. Although any tool offers capabilities that help the designer, it has weaknesses, as well, due to technology constraints. These constraints can prevent the designer from implementing his/her design idea effectively. For example, if a designer only considers the capabilities of the tool at hand, s/he may lose the opportunity to think more broadly than the possibilities offered by the current tool allow. So, having a critical point of view about the tool used for interaction design, as well as thinking beyond any given tool's capabilities, helps the designer find new and creative ways to design a real user experience.