Psychology, Design & Computer Science

How the interdisciplinary tradition of

Liberal Arts & Sciences is creating

products that are shaping our future

@diegomendes

*slides will be posted J (with all sources)

the  mango  tree  story  

We are tool makers.

Tools augment our abilities as humans.

We make tools to improve our lives.

1 undeniable fact:

We shape our tools

Our tools shape us

Marshal MacLuan (1964) & Wilson Miner, When we build, 2010

The tool that is shaping the world today: connected software

connected software

in other words:

internet of things

but what things do you mean?

everything

It is the beginning of the smart…

home car

surfboard bank

basketball school fridge

“There are already hundreds of millions of things connected to the internet. We are headed for hundreds of billions, possibly trillions… and it will change our lives.”

Dr. John Barret, TedXCIT

phone

Apple Inc, iPhone 5s

fitbit aria

nest

nest thermostat

surgery room

fitbit aria

surgery room

iRobot, Essential Design

self-driving car

Google Inc, Self Driving Car

glass

glass

our future is being shaped by connected software – it is changing our world

We shape our tools

Our tools shape us

Marshal MacLuan (1964) & Wilson Miner, When we build, 2010

We are building an environment where we will spend most of our lives.

Wilson Miner, When we build, 2010  

What kind of connected software environment do you want to have in the

future?

If you want the world to be better, you have to help shape it.

That’s where User Experience comes in.

Designing experiences is basically understanding people and helping them.

Making the interaction between a person and a product feel natural.

And this is an increasingly interdisciplinary world

Adap0ve  Path,  2012  

Don Norman, 2014

“Design  is the practice of intentional creation to enhance the world. It is a field of doing and making, creating great products and services that fit human needs, that delight and inform. Design is exciting because it calls upon the arts and humanities, the social, physical, and biological sciences, engineering and business.”

Again…

This is an increasingly interdisciplinary world

Dan Saffer, Kicker Studio, 2008

UX follows a simple process called Human Centered Design

Human Centered Design

Discovery  

Idea0on  

Prototype  Experiment  

Improve  

Some important interdisciplinary roles

*Disclaimer: These roles are gray areas. They intersect with each other and are fluid.  

User Researcher or Design Researcher

Observe, listen, generate insight

Your are genuinely curious about human behavior. You love to observe and listen to people. You like to create insights from your observations and things you have heard. You are really good at evaluation, clarification, analysis, and communication. You like to ask questions that expose gaps and flaws. You enjoy testing assumptions with quantitative and qualitative data. ** Usability Analyst – In larger companies, usually towards the end of the product design cycle.

Interaction Designer

Invent, define direction, make ideas real

You can come up with enormous amounts of solutions for the problems you are solving for. You can link ideas, solutions and design easily. You can make solutions “look real” – design and communicate how the product could potentially work. You like both the grand vision and the step by step details of how the user will experience the product. You understand how to apply user interface and interaction design to products.

Visual Designer

Your weapons are color, style, type, icons and information design. You create visual hierarchy. You indicate relationships and hint at behavior to help users interact with the product. You like both the grand vision and the step by step details of how the user will experience the product. You can create different visual stylistic approaches for different mediums (digital product v. physical product).

Visual hierarchy, visual relationships & elegance

Content Strategist

Your weapons are your fantastic communication skills. You are great at understanding how to develop content that is meaningful to different audiences. You like to figure out “when” certain content should surface for the user. You love to make things “crystal clear”. You are always thinking about what engages people. You love to create new content and maintain relevant older content.

You love meaningful content

Information Architect

You like to visually structure information so it is intuitive to others. You are always trying to facilitate how others understand content. You see structure as a way to facilitate effective communication. You enjoy working in large projects across different departments and help maintain a unified vision of what you are trying to build.

You want to help others understand stuff

User Experience Designer

Observe, listen, generate insight

Invent, define direction, make ideas real

Hierarchy, relationships & elegance

Meaningful content

You want to help others understand

Research  

Interaction  

Visual  

Information  

Content  

You do it all… thinking about how the user will experience it

Dan Saffer, Kicker Studio, 2008

Why you should join this field?

Shape your future instead of reacting to it.

How do I get into this field?

Learn on the job Grad school

Career outlook is great

For sources go to http://goo.gl/MUyTmH