Topher's Interactive Design Blog

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1. Start
2. Is the bread in the freezer or cupboard?
3. Set the toaster to the timing required to toast the bread
4. Open packet of bread
5. Pull desired amount of bread out
6. Does the desired amount fit? If not put aside and toast later
7. If it does fit, put bread in toaster, and pull lever down
8. Does it work? if not plug the toaster in and try again
9. Wait for toast to cook
10. Is the toast burnt? if not: eat
11. If toast is burnt, throw away and start again.

Johnny Smith

John is a 75-year-old retired carpenter who still enjoys hikes in national parks and ridding his Harley-Davidson. He looks forward to the local club raffle and a catch up with the boys on a Thursday evening. He also enjoys playing bingo, listening to local radio and watching old western movies with his wife Jill. As he gets older and has to visit the hospital more often, he prefers quick and efficient healthcare with simple, bold instructions and hospital signs. He aims to enjoy the rest of his life traveling a little and spending time with family, especially his grandchildren.

• Location: Hobart
• Toaster Usage: Unfortunately Johnny has never used a fancy new electric toaster
• Computer/Internet Usage: PC, Occasionally browses the Internet with the help of his grandchildren.
• Computer Skill: Novice user. Finds things too complicated on the computer to use. Has an email but doesn’t know how to use it properly.

A clear example of just how important instructional design is - it can save your life. If this wasn't clear, or if it was ineligible, you would die.



This simple, language-free instruction list is designed to overcome the main logistical obstacles that prevent the majority of well-designed homeless shelters from ever reaching any significant portion of the homeless population.



These graphic instructions are on the side of a wheeled, hydraulically-powered construction lift platform, the kind used to hoist a person to a high location to perform repairs. This was a rental unit. The visual instructions ease the process of learning how to operate the device.



A boat created using the technique of origami, the oriental art of paper folding. This boat, which has its instructions for use reproduced on its sails, is a model that may be used to make real paper boats.



And just a little bit of humour... lets pray no one has to use these instructions

What exactly makes a great example of Information Design? Well obviously, the ability to convey the information to the viewer would be a start, but lets focus on the design part. What makes a great example of Interactive Design? Lets look at how designers have presented information.

Instructional Design is the systematic development of instructional specifications using learning and instructional theory to ensure the quality of instruction. It is the entire process of analysis of learning needs and goals and the development of a delivery system to meet those needs. It includes development of instructional materials and activities; and tryout and evaluation of all instruction and learner activities.

Information design is concerned with transforming data into information, making the complex easier to understand and to use. It is a rapidly growing discipline that draws on typography, graphic design, applied linguistics, applied psychology, applied ergonomics, computing, and other fields. It emerged as a response to people's need to understand and use such things as forms, legal documents, computer interfaces and technical information.

Information designers consider the selection, structuring and presentation of the information provider's message in relation to the purposes, skills, experience, preferences and circumstances of the intended users. To do this they need specialist knowledge and skills in graphic communication and typography, the psychology of reading and learning, human-computer interaction, usability research and clear writing, plus an understanding of the potential and limitations of different media.

Again, watch if you can't be bothered to read:

Website: delicious (formerly del.icio.us)
Web 2.0 Type: Bookmarking/social

What is Delicious?



Delicious is a social bookmarking service that allows users to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a centralized source. With emphasis on the power of the community, Delicious greatly improves how people discover, remember and share on the Internet.

Things you can do with Delicious

• Bookmark any site on the Internet, and get to it from anywherehave a single set of bookmarks kept in sync between all of your computers.
• If your friends use Delicious, you can send them interesting bookmarks that they can check out the next time they log in.
• Of course, they can do the same for you.
• As you explore the site and find interesting users, you can use our Subscriptions and Network features to keep track of the Delicious tags and users you find most interesting.
• See what's hot with Delicious users by checking out our popular tags. By looking at popular bookmarks for a tag, you'll be able to discover the most interesting bookmarks on the topics you're most interested in.

Interaction design (IxD) is the branch of user experience design that illuminates the relationship between people and the interactive products they use. While interaction design has a firm foundation in the theory, practice, and methodology of traditional user interface design, its focus is on defining the complex dialogues that occur between people and interactive devices of many types—from computers to mobile communications devices to appliances.

Interaction designers strive to create useful and usable products and services. Following the fundamental tenets of user-centered design, the practice of interaction design is grounded in an understanding of real users—their goals, tasks, experiences, needs, and wants. Approaching design from a user-centered perspective, while endeavoring to balance users’ needs with business goals and technological capabilities, interaction designers provide solutions to complex design challenges, and define new and evolving interactive products and services.

The success of products in the marketplace depends on the design of high-quality, engaging interactive experiences. Good interaction design

• effectively communicates a system’s interactivity and functionality
• defines behaviors that communicate a system’s responses to user interactions
• reveals both simple and complex workflows
• informs users about system state changes
• prevents user error

While interaction designers often work closely with specialists in visual design, information architecture, industrial design, user research, or usability, and may even provide some of these services themselves, their primary focus is on defining interactivity.

The discipline of interaction design produces products and services that satisfy specific user needs, business goals, and technical constraints. Interaction designers advance their discipline by exploring innovative design paradigms and technological opportunities. As the capabilities of interactive devices evolve and their complexity increases, practitioners of the discipline of interaction design will play an increasingly important role in ensuring that technology serves people’s needs.

In summary, interaction design defines

• the structure and behaviors of interactive products and services
• user interactions with those products and services

Web 2.0 (or Web 2) is the popular term for advanced Internet technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS and social bookmarking. The two major components of Web 2.0 are the technological advances enabled by Ajax and other new applications such as RSS and Eclipse and the user empowerment that they support.

One of the most significant differences between Web 2.0 and the traditional World Wide Web (retroactively referred to as Web 1.0) is greater collaboration among Internet users and other users, content providers, and enterprises.

Originally, data was posted on Web sites, and users simply viewed or downloaded the content. Increasingly, users have more input into the nature and scope of Web content and in some cases exert real-time control over it. For example, multiple-vendor online book outlets such as BookFinder4U make it possible for users to upload book reviews as well as find rare and out-of-print books at a minimum price, and dynamic encyclopedias such as Wikipedia allow users to create and edit the content of a worldwide information database in multiple languages. Internet forums have become more extensive and led to the proliferation of blogging. The dissemination of news evolved into RSS.

There is no clear-cut demarcation between Web 2.0 and Web 1.0 technologies, hardware and applications. The distinction is, to a large extent, subjective. Here are a few characteristics often noted as descriptive of Web 2.0:

• blogging

• Ajax and other new technologies

• Google Base and other free Web services

• RSS-generated syndication

• social bookmarking

• mash-ups

• wikis and other collaborative applications

• dynamic as opposed to static site content

• interactive encyclopedias and dictionaries

• ease of data creation, modification or deletion by individual users

• advanced gaming.

Critics of Web 2.0 maintain that it makes it too easy for the average person to affect online content and that, as a result, the credibility, ethics and even legality of Web content could suffer. Defenders of Web 2.0 point out that these problems have existed ever since the infancy of the medium and that the alternative -- widespread censorship based on ill-defined elitism -- would be far worse. The final judgment concerning any Web content, say the defenders, should be made by end users alone. Web 2.0 reflects evolution in that direction.

Some industry pundits are already claiming that Web 2.0 is merely a transitional phase between the early days of the World Wide Web's existence and a more established phase they're calling Web 3.0

Can't be bothered to read it? Watch it below