industrial to interaction design

Hi people,

After completing my master’s in industrial design i have moved over to interaction design primarily as an attempt to explore this feild.

Interaction design focuses on user interface which is kinda interseting and helps me build expertise in human factors and usabilty of products too…

Would request you all to share some expert comments on the outcomes of convergence of both of these fields.Also on the future prosepect of interaction design for industrial designers

Somya

Hey Somya,

I am currently an industrial design undergrad at Pratt institute (NYC), and I am also interested in interaction design.

I would recommend reposting this question in the interaction design thread
You might want to try and connect with CG the moderator for the thread. He is also an interaction designer who started in the field as ID.

If you have any examples of what you’re working on I would be interested to hear about it. Also, how did you get into the field?

i’m an industrial designer and i’ve always thought of myself as a physical interaction designer. i might not do flash or design GUI’s but everyday i design interactions.

Note: I just moved this thread to the IxD thread.

That’s why ID and IxD are closely linked. IxD can approach problems differently, but ideally an Industrial Designer will be fluent in both methods. ie. If you’re designing a product, don’t just sketch, but create storyboards that depict behavior. Be able to speak to usability heuristics, conventions, IA strategies etc.

I highly recommend all Industrial Designers read “Designing Interactions” by Bill Moggridge. Bill was one of the first Industrial Designers to recognize the growing gulf between designing for hardware and software:

http://www.designinginteractions.com/book

Just Picked up designing interactions.

This thing is a brick, really good though.

With this, About Face 3, a few side projects, and a full time internship, it looks like I have “summer vacation” covered.

Yes, about Face 3 is a thick one. You might want to read ‘The Inmates are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy’. It does not discuss interaction design itself but it shows why it is important from a business stand of view. This could help you ‘sell’ interaction design in your job.