Design Versus design-From the Shaping of Products to the Creation of User Experiences

Abstract

The concept of design in the context of human-computer interaction is discussed based on definitions from industrial design to the very practical problem of achieving usability in industrial projects in practice. Design is an important quality of a product that today has not been receiving enough attention when it comes to computerized artifacts. Design is also a process of creating the user's experience of a system. This article focuses more on design as a creative process of communication than on a posteriori product quality aspects. The Scandinavian tradition has stressed the importance of users participating actively in a user-centered design process. The article defines and discusses user-centered design in light of the theories of communication as put forth by Herbert Clark (1996). Communication is identified as one of the key issues that needs to be addressed to achieve well-functioning user-centered design. The article discusses different terminology and gives examples from a theory on common ground. Finally, mock-ups, prototypes, and video are discussed as tools for facilitating communication and construction of common ground.