Thoughts on Interaction Design An essay series by Boris Müller

Reflections on the role of design in technology, data visualisation and knowledge production.

The Urban Complexity Lab is a research space between the Design Department and the Urban Futures Institute for Applied Research. While our main topic is data visualization, the lab positions itself at the intersection of design, technology and the humanities. Our aim is not only to conduct research into interactive data visualisation but also to reflect on the research process and the context of their creation.

Boris Müller – co-director of the uclab – has started to write a series of essays under the general theme of »Thoughts on Interaction Design«. The essays are consciously written from a design perspective. They deal with questions that we engage on a daily basis in our design process and in our research. Many of these questions and discussions are highly relevant for our work, but they seldom find their way into formal publications.

So the essay series »Thoughts on Interaction Design« is an informal collection of observations and reflections on the role of design in the context of technology, data visualisation and knowledge production.

The essays

Thoughts on Interaction Design (Introduction)

Thoughts on Interaction Design (Introduction)

Quick introduction to the essay series and on the necessity to talk more about the interaction design discipline.

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In Defence of Intuition

In Defence of Intuition

As design becomes more methodological and scientific, it is important to acknowledge that the core ability of designers is intuition.

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Design in Four Revolutions

Design in Four Revolutions

In order to understand interface and interaction design, it is useful to look at the history of design – and at the history of industrial revolutions.

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Type Casting – or: The Comic Sans of Errors

Type Casting – or: The Comic Sans of Errors

Typefaces resemble actors. So which font is which performer? And who is Comic Sans?

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Picture, Depiction and Deception – Why Data Visualisations are Cultural Images

Picture, Depiction and Deception – Why Data Visualisations are Cultural Images

Data visualisations are usually created by computers – but they are not technical images. Every visualisations is an interpretation of data and as such a cultural image.

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Bringing Design to Science

Bringing Design to Science

How can design and science collaborate more closely? And how can both disciplines benefit from each other?

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Strategies for Design-Science Collaborations

Strategies for Design-Science Collaborations

In the second part of of »Bringing Design to Science«, I explore strategies for a closer collaboration between design and science.

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