360 in 5  workshop

Interaction Design from all angles, in five days.

Day one: Monday 20th April
Morning: “Sampling the world we live in” by G. Innella
Afternoon: “How to make a booklet” by V. Carta

Day two: Tuesday 21st April
Morning: “Low Cost - High Benefits” by S. Mirti
Afternoon: “Pins & Bags” by V. Carta

Day three: Wednesday 22nd April
Morning: “Design and its double” by G. Innella
Afternoon: “Pika Pika” by S. Muscolino

Day four: Thursday 23rd April
Morning: “Interactive?… Oh yes, that’s natural!” by G. Innella
Afternoon: “Rf ID” by S. Muscolino

Day five: Friday 24th April
Morning: “Form Follows Fiction” by S. Muscolino
Afternoon: “Colour Walk” by S. Muscolino

Introduction

For just one minute, forget about computers, digital technology, beautifully designed things, sophisticated cars, touch-screen mobile phones. Think about this:
Toasting bread.
People have been toasting bread for 6000, since the Roman times.
Toasting makes the bread crunchy, long-lasting, a nice platform to spread tasty things on. For 5,900 years, people have been toasting bread over open fire.
It is messy, a little dangerous, and requires your full attention.
But than, about 90 years ago, in Minnesota in the United-States, Mr. Charles Strite wanted a slice of toasted bread.
He asked himself: “What do we need so we can enjoy a slice of toasted bread, but also enjoy the process of toasting? – we need a safe energy to toast the bread. We need to measure time so we can do other things. We need to get the toasted slice when it is done.”
He had electricity.
He had a timer clock.
He had springs.
And in 1919, he came up with the Toaster. Charles P. Strite did not revolutionize technology, or invent the future.
He only built one of the most popular appliances in modern human history. Charles P. Strite was an Interaction Designer, and he didn’t even know it.
Interaction Design is a thinking and practice field that brings together the understanding of how people think and feel, how technology works, and how to make useful and beautiful things.
Interaction Designers realize that today’s technological reality is complex and dynamic, but the basic human needs stay the same. So they “hack” reality, use the rich tools they have, interact with the users, with each others, tell stories, prototype - all in order to design environments (physical and virtual), products, services and experiences that are useful as well as desirable.
It is not just about people or the world about them.
It is about the interaction between them.
Interaction Designers are experts in many fields, but not in all.
Some are experts in programming, some are electronic wizards, some draw and sketch, some shoot videos and some can analyze the human psyche. So they work together,in teams, sharing the knowledge for a successful process. Interaction designers design the future, but they often use tools of the present to do so.
Here at the Id-Lab we believe the Interaction Design approach is the right way to do design. We will pass this approach to you in a simple, clear, and fun way.
We will teach you the theoretical bases for design, We will put you through “hands-on” exercises so you can practice our simple and useful prototyping methods. We will teach you how to tell a story that can help your design process.
But most of all, we will show you that exploration, playfulness and storytelling are the most important components in designing for contemporary people and contemporary market.

courtesy of Eyal Fried