Interaction Design

What is Interaction Design?Interaction design is an exciting field at the leading edge of technology innovation. Interaction designers aim to create experiences with products, services and environments which are not just useful and usable, but very often pleasurable, expressive and desirable.Learning interaction design is a matter of building a repertoire of methods, skills and theoretical perspectives. Importantly, you also develop a sensitivity to the critical role of stakeholders in design, the implications of design in society and your own sense of interaction aesthetics.Innovative, considered and well-executed design adds value to products and services. Interaction designers seek to understand the people and situations they are designing for, and, drawing on their mastery of interactive technology and forms of interactivity, design artefacts and experiences to improve the situation. In this process, we extensively research, sketch, prototype and test to not just get the right design, but get the design right. Designers very often take the role as the advocate for the user, and are skilled in mediating the complex of issues and stakeholders involved in the design and production process.Interaction Design at Malmö UniversityWe are not like other digital-design related educations. Interaction Design at Malmö University sets itself apart in three main ways:1. Design of interactionWe take interaction design to be in the design tradition, with a focus on the design of interactivity – not just how an artefact looks or what it does, but how it responds and how it feels to use. Exploring and expressing interactivity requires technical skills, and as such acquiring basic programming skills is developed throughout the programme. We teach programming in a way which is relevant for interaction design and that any motivated student can learn. You will prototype interactive experiences across a range of devices and platforms, including web and mobile.The products and services interaction designers shape are not just software. We have a strong tradition and world-class facilities for working with physical form, and you will learn techniques such as laser-cutting and 3D printing. Together with basic electronic skills and a microprocessor, you will be able to develop concepts in the area of Internet of Things, wearables and other forms of smart products.You won’t just make good-looking mock-ups, but bring your ideas to life.2. Responsible, sensitive designTo design is to make a change in the world, whether the designer intends or not, their work has wider implications. Our education instils a responsible, sensitive design approach which takes seriously issues of ethics and sustainability, and how to design with human values in mind. Moreover, at Malmö University we have a strong tradition in participatory design approaches, designing not just for users but with users and other stakeholders. Interaction design can be done not just for commercial purposes but also to serve and challenge the pressing societal issues of our time.3. Research-based teachingAt Malmö University, you will not just pick up the applied skills of an interaction designer – conducting fieldwork, programming, making mock-ups and concept videos, and so on – but you will engage with cutting-edge forms of interactivity and deep, theoretical perspectives on design and interaction. You will develop reflective, critical approaches, knowing not just how to do something, but when and why (or why not!). This is particularly important in a technology-related field such as interaction design where developments happen quickly and practitioners need to be able to make sense of new technologies and shifting practices.