[IxD Theory] Goals

Reflect on your own goals as an interaction designer. What is your personal flavor of interaction? What part of interaction design excites you the most?

My goals as an interaction designer are, at their core, the same goals I had as a graphic designer. I want to use design to make a difference in people's lives, to solve problems, and to communicate meaningful stories. I majored in graphic design in college because because it was a compromise with my parents; they were pushing for engineering or architecture, I was pushing for studio art, design was a reasonable compromise.

I loved what I was doing in school, I graduated, I found a job.

But my jobs after college didn't fulfill my goals. Far too often I found myself at the mercy of my clients, churning out brochures and banner ads that "popped." Graphic design turned stale and, to be honest, I did it with half of my brain turned off. (Here's another goal as an interaction designer: I want to be challenged.) Perhaps this was my own fault for staying with clients who didn't value my perspective and problem solving abilities as a designer. I knew something was missing but I didn't really have the language to describe what exactly it was.


CCA and Studio 0 showed me what I was missing: interaction design. Before Studio 0 I didn't have a concrete understanding of what interaction design was or how broad of a discipline it is; I thought it was just designing apps and on-screen experiences. I didn't realize how important the study of systems and human engagement within systems is to interaction design.

With one semester under my belt, the part of interaction design that excites me the most is the study of larger systematic and conceptual problems (How do you improve a patients experience within a health care network? How do you engage visitors in a museum?). I also really enjoyed the design research course we had last fall. I am looking forward to this semester and (hopefully) my summer internship helping me narrow in on which part of interaction design I am most interested in.