Interaction design
-
Designing for emergent performances
Abstract: Design used to be about expert designers designing complex entities for society. Now, increasingly, design is about designing emergent performances among designers and usigners. Emergent performances include experiences, interactions, and any emergent relationships that unfold through time. Since they cannot be controlled, design can better learn from performance arts how to provide minimal improvisational […] - Oct 22, 2024 -
Anticolonial prospects for overcoming the coloniality of making in design
Saito, C., Freese Gonzatto, R., and van Amstel, F. (2024) Anticolonial prospects for overcoming the coloniality of making in design, in Gray, C., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.255 - Jun 17, 2024 -
Dancing Algorhythms in the Theater of the Techno-Oppressed
Presentation in the College of the Arts Fall 2023 Research Lightning Round, University of Florida. Abstract: Algorhythms are computer instructions that display recurrent logic and rhythm. They are introduced in our everyday life through digital technologies to structure our activities. The Theater of the Techno-Oppressed is a research program aimed at exploring the role of […] - Dec 14, 2023 -
Ethics and aesthetics of the experience designed for the Other
Keynote addressed in the A & D Visitors Series, School of Art & Design, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, October 2022. This is a provocative talk on design ethics that might spark a debate with the audience. The presenter will show well-known design products and processes that promise to deliver unique experiences. His critique of these […] - Oct 9, 2022 -
User oppression in human-computer interaction: a dialectical-existential perspective
Gonzatto, R.F. and Van Amstel, F.M.C. (2022), “User oppression in human-computer interaction: a dialectical-existential perspective”, Aslib Journal of Information Management, Vol. 74 No. 5, pp. 758-781. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-08-2021-0233 - Mar 13, 2022 -
Showing an object that has endured many decades and telling the human stories that this object was part of, highlighting its relation to other objects, places, and people. The relations are drawn with strings tied to pins over several corkwood plates, which effectively grouped the objects. Can be used in Speculative Design to ground future […] - Feb 3, 2022 -
Existential time and historicity in interaction design
Van Amstel, Frederick M. C. and Gonzatto, Rodrigo Freese. (2022). Existential time and historicity in interaction design. Human-Computer Interaction, 37(1), pp.29-68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07370024.2021.1912607 - Nov 17, 2021 -
Technology-Mediated Oppression
Summary: Can technology oppress or liberate people? This lecture introduces the Philosophy of Technology of Álvaro Vieira Pinto in dealing with this question. Vieira Pinto wrote extensively about cybernetics, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, and virtual reality’s role in mediating race, class, and colonial oppression, anticipating in the 1970s what STS scholars in other countries did in […] - Nov 3, 2021 -
The Anthropophagic Studio: Towards a Critical Pedagogy for Interaction Design
Van Amstel, Frederick M.C and Gonzatto, Rodrigo Freese. (2020) The Anthropophagic Studio: Towards a Critical Pedagogy for Interaction Design. Digital Creativity, 31(4), p. 259-283. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14626268.2020.1802295 - Jul 25, 2020 -
Since 2013, Apple has a partnership with several Brazilian Universities to offer an educational program to attract and train new software developers in their mobile application ecosystem. The program is called Apple Developer Academy and it includes everything a newcomer needs to develop a new app. The program is customized for each partnership to better […] - Mar 28, 2019 -
Design patterns deconstructs the myth that design projects are created by a single consciousness, the lonely designer. Every project, be that developed by a single designer or by a design team, reproduces common patterns that society at large cultivates. Card decks collect and organize design patterns with common problems and solutions in a certain design […] - Nov 22, 2018 -
Lego is a great tool to build early prototypes of games and apps. I like. to stimulate students to supplement talking with making to increase shared understanding. Physical prototypes are quicker to build together in a team and can be used to test if ideas work in the real world. In this video, participants learn […] - Nov 22, 2018 -
Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a set of standard diagrams and notations for creating software. We created at PUPCR a physical version of these diagrams with Lego to enable the participation of designers, clients, and users in software architecture and modeling activities. The concrete representations help the participants understand and make good use of software […] - Nov 1, 2018 -
Improvised Videos are short films recorded with smartphones to support a codesign process. They represent everyday scenarios where the design object plays a protagonist role. The interaction with the design object is depicted through variegated film and theater techniques such as enactment, role playing, props, puppets, cuts, and transitions. The main advantage of using video […] - Nov 1, 2018 -
Improvised Video as a Medium for Learning and Designing Interactions
Frederick M. C. van Amstel, Rodrigo Freese Gonzatto, and Gláucio H. M. Moro. 2018. Improvised Video as a Medium for Learning and Designing Interactions. In Proceedings of the 17th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems(IHC 2018), Raquel O. Prates, Heloisa Candello, André P. Freire, Isabela Gasparini, Marcelle Mota, and Bianchi Serique (Eds.). ACM, […] - Oct 31, 2018 -
Interaction design, like theater, depends on the performances of human actors to realize its aesthetic expression. Interaction designers create software code much like theater scripts, while users often ignore them and improvise. Drawing from the analogy of Computer as Theater proposed by Brenda Laurel and the Theater of the Oppressed developed by Augusto Boal, this […] - Oct 31, 2018 -
Brisa promotes the interaction and development of emotions through the deconstruction of the TV as we know it, creating an environment of projection. With this it is possible to transcend emotional states provided by the place, dark with a unique light source and surrounding songs, that enhance the interactive contact of people, leaving them more […] - Dec 27, 2017 -
Time Crisis (2017) is a speculative design mockumentary that provides a different explanation for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment in 2016. After the next elections in 2018, several public actors acknowledged that President Rousseff was removed from office without sound evidence, which fueled the thesis of a parliamentary white coup. The mockumentary tells a different […] - Nov 2, 2017 -
Designing oppressive and libertarian interactions with the conscious body
Gonzatto, R. F., & van Amstel, F. M. (2017, October). Designing oppressive and libertarian interactions with the conscious body. In Proceedings of the XVI Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-10). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Article 22, 10 pages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3160504.3160542 - Oct 31, 2017 -
In the first lecture of my Design Thinking course, I gave a historical perspective on the evolution of the design object. According to my thesis work, the object of design expanded in the last century from complex entities to emergent performances, such as experiences, interactions and business. The characteristics of this object are: It includes the user behavior, as […] - Sep 16, 2016 -
Interaction Design (a.k.a The Anthropophagic Studio)
Regular course – 80 hs – Digital Design Bachelor – Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR) – Taught together with Rodrigo Gonzatto This course develops students’ creative and critical skills related to technology and society. Since the Digital Design Bachelor has already separate courses on Usability, Information Architecture, Ergonomics, and Interface Design, the Interaction Design course focuses […] - Aug 8, 2016 -
Design Livre: designing locally, cannibalizing globally
Van Amstel, Frederick M.C., and Rodrigo Freese Gonzatto. (2016) “Design Livre: designing locally, cannibalizing globally.” XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students, 22(4), p.46-50. https://doi.org/10.1145/2930871 - Jun 28, 2016 -
Enigmatron is an analog synthesizer designed by Diogo Mattana to explore the subtleties of musical sound. The synthesizer is based on a tape potentiometer that modulates the digital sound according to the wishes of the musician. In the context of a Digital Design bachelor, this final work is not just a functional prototype, but also […] - Mar 31, 2016 -
The Conceal and Show Game (2015)
The way Facebook conceals or shows up messages in the news feed is a mystery to most users. Facebook gives the impression that if a user posts a status update, all of her friends receive it in the timeline, but that is not always true. The Edgerank algorithm decides what is shown in the timeline based on three variables: This abstract […] - Jul 31, 2015 -
Design Livre: Cannibalistic Interaction Design
Van Amstel, Frederick M.C.; Vassão, Caio A.; Ferraz, Gonçalo B. 2012. Design Livre: Cannibalistic Interaction Design. In: Innovation in Design Education: Proceedings of the Third International Forum of Design as a Process, Turin, Italy. - Apr 9, 2012 -
Interaction Design as a Cultural Project
I’ve been very lucky to attend Interaction 12 in Dublin last week. Everything was so well organized and still with a human touch. The conference allowed a lot of networking between presentations. There was large corridors and rooms for side conversations, which for me are the best part of going to conferences. On the background […] - Feb 8, 2012 -
Why measuring design aesthetics?
The aestheticization of politics pioneered by fascist and populist governments is not working so effective as it was in the past. People don’t trust politicians neither the media anymore because, among other factors, they could not keep up with the diversification of identity wishes from the population. Companies, at the other hand, have been very […] - Dec 15, 2011 -
A card deck for collaborative planning user experience projects. Each card is a UX method, with the necessary inputs and the expected outputs. The cards can be organized in a linear fashion to represent the planned process. There are also cards for representing risks, expected delays, and extra human/financial resources. UX Cards enables pattern-based codesign […] - Nov 24, 2011 -
Cannibalistic Interaction Design
Last week, I was in Italy for an academic forum about Latin perspectives on Design and I presented our view from Faber-Ludens Institute. I described the context where the Institute emerged and explained our Design Livre approach for project development. Previously, I used the translation Free Design, but from now on I’ll keep the original […] - Nov 9, 2011 -
The next step for social networks: Cycles
Social networking websites offer value by mapping social relationships. As with any map, relationships are represented in a simplified way, a kind of metaphor. First was the connection, now we have the circle, and what I believe to be the next step is the cycle. These relationships are evolving as long as technology companies figure […] - Aug 4, 2011 -
Interaction Design as Mediation
During my Master’s research, I looked for alternative views on Interaction Design that went further than User Interface Design. Most definitions say that the former is broader than the latter, but they didn’t provide clear objects to work with. David Malouf did a good job of extending Dan Saffer’s elements, but his foundations look still […] - Jul 26, 2011 -
Codesign of an interactive installation for the 2nd International Innovative Cities Conference, held in Curitiba, Brazil. The main conference’s theme was about the responsibility of individual’s action on the macro scale, bringing speakers like Fritjof Capra, Steven Johnson, and Jaime Lerner to discuss new frontiers of urban innovation. The main hall of the conference had […] - Jul 22, 2011 -
Usability consultancy for the Infinity I-Kitchen project at Electrolux Latin America, the first touchscreen controlled fridge. The touchscreen panel offers a messages application, recipes, and photo slideshow. The project included heuristic evaluation, usability test, and emotional affect evaluation. - Jul 22, 2011 -
Almanaque 2010 – Faber-Ludens Interaction Design Yearbook
The yearbook showcase Interaction Design student work from Faber-Ludens Institute, Brazil. Projects range from desktop applications to public services, all designed with the human being in mind. Get a look at inspiring new ideas for interacting with people through old and new technology! Language: Portuguese / English Editor: Frederick van Amstel The print version of […] - Feb 15, 2011 -
Tongos is a series of educational robot toys meant to support basic literacy created by Cassiano Azevedo during his studies at Faber-Ludens Interaction Design Institute. The toy stimulates children to associate letters and their combinations with sounds. Each robot can read a combination of images and letters: The toy is activated when children put letters […] - Dec 5, 2010 -
Interaction (Design) is a complex phenomenon
A common reference for defining Interaction Design are Bill Verplank’s drawings, one of the creators of the noun. Bill defines Interaction Design as a question threefolded: How do you do? What sort of ways do you affect the world: poke it, manipulate it, sit on it? How do you feel? What do you sense of […] - Oct 28, 2010 -
Toy Hack for opening the cultural black box
Last saturday, I organized a Toy Hack workshop at the brazilian national design students meetup with the purpose of invinting young designers to open the black box of electronic products, mix it’s components and see what happens. The new frankentoys created by the participants are shown in this video (portuguese): Industrial Designers are commonly not […] - Jul 20, 2010 -
Power over Mediated Agency and its Ethical Implications for Interaction Design
AbstractThere is little discussion about power within Interaction Design field. To call attention to this issue, we present a model for discussing conflicts that arises at the human-artifact interface. We argue that artifacts support human behavior by providing adaptations, but these adaptations can expand or restrict human actions. Human action cannot be fully controlled by […] - Jul 7, 2010 -
Interaction Design Foundations
Regular discipline – 40 hours – post-graduate program in Interaction Design – Faber-Ludens Interaction Design Institute. The goal of this course is to engage students into deep reflection about the possibilities of Interaction Design. The biggest challenge is to make them perceive that Interaction Design is not tied to any particular technology. It does what […] - Jul 9, 2009 -
Faber-Ludens Interaction Design Institute (2007-2012)
Inspired by European Design schools that embraced the Digital Culture, like Ivrea Institute and its successor, Copenhagen Institute for Interaction Design (cIId), a multidisciplinary group founded Faber-Ludens Institute for Interaction Design in Curitiba, in 2007. As a non-profit organization, Faber-Ludens had a democratic (sometimes anarchic) governance model, which favored intense collaboration between its members and […] - Mar 26, 2007