Jonas Löwgren

Erik Stolterman

How to think about the shaping and composing of information technology from a design perspective: the aesthetics and ethics of interaction design.

A Design Perspective on Information Technology

Thoughtful Interaction Design

Nelson Zagalo

The book is from 2004, and in such a new and technological dependent domain as Interaction Design, time matters. Even for a book like this that centres discourse around mere theory, it gets to be completely outdated 15 years after.

I believe, in part, this happens because Löwgren and Stolterman chose to ground the discourse in main common sense. The book works as a research project to find the right position of design and interaction designer in the world of HCI, however much of it doesn't stand neither for historical appreciation. Scientifically speaking it would have been advisable to do a work like, to use at least some ethnographic work, do some interviews with people working.

By the end of the book, we get the feeling of having read just a bunch of good intentions, probably thoughtful ones by the author, but incapable of standing the test of time.

Joshua Line

The authors of Thoughtful Interaction Design go beyond the usual technical concerns of usability and usefulness to consider interaction design from a design perspective. The shaping of digital artifacts is a design process that influences the form and functions of workplaces, schools, communication, and culture; the successful interaction designer must use both ethical and aesthetic judgment to create designs that are appropriate to a given environment. This book is not a how-to manual, but a collection of tools for thought about interaction design. Working with information technology—called by the authors "the material without qualities"—interaction designers create not a static object but a dynamic pattern of interactivity. The design vision is closely linked to context and not simply focused on the technology. The authors' action-oriented and context-dependent design theory, drawing on design theorist Donald Schon's concept of the reflective practitioner, helps designers deal with complex design challenges created by new technology and new knowledge. Their approach, based on a foundation of thoughtfulness that acknowledges the designer's responsibility not only for the functional qualities of the design product but for the ethical and aesthetic qualities as well, fills the need for a theory of interaction design that can increase and nurture design knowledge. From this perspective they address the fundamental question of what kind of knowledge an aspiring designer needs, discussing the process of design, the designer, design methods and techniques, the design product and its qualities, and conditions for interaction design.

Thoughtful Interaction Design A Design Perspective on Information Technology

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