34&56&78&910

The Value of Graduate Degrees

Holistic IXD

What’s All the SASS About?

The Flat Movement

Interaction Design

Thank you for reviewing the inaugural edition of

Technology and Design (T+D). T+D is published by

the Louisville Center for Design (LC4D) and Lindsey

Wilson College and is distributed quarterly. T+D

presents the latest trends and information in the

areas of technology, design and education. We will

also include news, events, and other community

happenings from the Louisville and Midwest region.

LC4D offers the world an Online Master of Arts

Degree in Interactive Design. It will also offer the

Louisville community digital events, certificate

programs, creative workshops and professional

development for educators.

All things IxD, UX, IA, HCI, UI In this issue, we tackle

several topics in Interaction

Design (IxD). This has been

a hotbed of discussion in

the industry since the

advent of devices becoming smart. It includes

a highly demanding set of skills and practices that

focus on industrial, service and digital usability.

Some even claim it has run its course, but

regardless, the practices and principles that it

has brought to the table are here to stay for a

while. These are some of the job titles that grew

out of IxD:

• Interaction Designer • UX Designer

• UX Architect • UI Designer

• Information Architect • HCI Designer

• Content Strategist • Interactive Ninja

• IxD Rockstar • Happiness Architect

So read on and get orientated to a field that is in

constant flux as the Industrial Internet flexes

it’s muscles.

TECHNOLOGY DesignA

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T H E L O U I S V I L L E C E N T E R F O R D E S I G N | L C 4 D . O R G S U M 2 0 1 4

T+D and LC4D?WHAT’SINSIDE

S U M M E R 2 0 1 4

IxD

The Louisville Center for Design (LC4D) will be setting

up shop this summer in Louisville. LC4D is an initiative

by Lindsey Wilson College which is located in

Columbia, KY. They are committed to supporting LC4D

in its effort to provide professional development,

industry experts for speaking events and accredited

online education. LC4D currently has a virtual

presence and is actively in talks with local and

well established businesses in an effort to form

strategic alliances.

David Edwin Meyers, Director of LC4D says “Our

presence will raise the bar for industry professionals

and provide a mechanism for them to remain

active and engaged with the ever changing fields of

technology and design.” Meyers also wants to use

the talent and resources that Louisville has to offer.

“Louisville has talent and brilliance in the fields of

design and technology. We hope to utilize some of

these individuals in our professional development

offerings and our online Masters Degree program.”

LC4D has several missions. First and foremost their

online Masters Program will carry the torch in their

effort to bring world-class accredited education

to Kentucky and the region. This virtual effort will

extend the offering to all corners of the globe.

However, they are just as committed to supporting

local industry and the general community by offering

on-ground workshops in the heart of the city. “We

hope to get local talent involved in our effort to

create and develop open-education resources.”

Meyers, a native Kentuckian, points out that many

community colleges, technical schools and smaller

institutions simply don’t have the financial means

and industry personnel to keep up with the

curriculum that needs to be taught in the

classroom. This is a problem in Kentucky and beyond.

“These institutions don’t have the resources of an MIT

or Stanford.”

LC4D has a strategic alliance with the Interaction

Design Foundation (IDF), based in Denmark. The IDF

exists to create and supply open-education resources

to schools and the industry. This eases the burden

for many schools. “The IDF does have the contacts,

and has developed, in collaboration with top tier

universities, companies, authors and thought

leaders from Stanford, Cambridge, Harvard, MIT,

SAP Labs, IBM Research” says Meyers. As a strategic

partner with the IDF, Meyers has integrated some

of that expertise into the Master’s program. He also

hopes to recruit some of these experts to Louisville

for speaking engagements and special events.

To learn more about the Louisville Center for Design,

visit their Website at www.LC4D.org

TECHNOLOGY DesignAN

D

T H E L O U I S V I L L E C E N T E R F O R D E S I G N | L C 4 D. O R G

LC4D Lands in the ‘Ville.

“ Our presence will raise the bar for industry professionals . . .”

2

There seems to be a debate these days regarding

the value of academic education. Is it worth going

to college for four years and accumulating debt from

students loans? Unless you obtain scholarships from

your academic accomplishments or have family

support, it is likely you will have to utilize student

loans. Even if students qualify for grants by way the

federal student aid program (FAFSA), it usually doesn’t

cover the entire costs of college when you consider

tuition, books, housing and general living expenses.

Take this a step further. When looking at graduate

programs, the federal grants become none existent.

But other options may be available. Graduate

students continue to qualify for federal student

loans as long as they maintain a certain number

of credit hours. And if you can find an affordable

graduate program, this may very well suffice.

If you are a working professional, you should explore

options that your employer may have available.

Many companies provide a tuition benefit for

employees who are interested in continuing their

education. And then there are assistantships. Many

schools provide discounted tuition for graduate

assistants. In return, the graduate assistants are

usually required to assist a professor in program

duties. This could be doing administrative work or

possibly teaching an undergraduate class in a

topic that is related to their area of study.

In today’s job market, it is suggested that you arm

yourself with as many weapons as possible when

seeking employment. Continued engagement and

education is critical and illustrates to potential

employers your dedication and commitment. In the

fields of design and technology this is paramount

due to the rapid change and introduction of new

technologies, processes and platforms. Just in the

past decade alone, completely new disciplines have

mushroomed, as well as new platforms and devices.

When competing for jobs, it is critical that you have the

knowledge, experience, education and credentials.

Unless you are an ingenious savant or a Steven Jobs,

it is rare that an individual increases their odds for

opportunities, jobs, promotions and higher pay

without these.

A recent study from Georgetown University found

that the median earnings of those with a graduate

degree in the field, irrespective of tenure, earn an

average of 38.3 percent higher than those who only

possess a bachelor’s degree in the same field.

A senior manager in an international IT services

firm, quoted in a UK report, Talent Fishing: What

Businesses Want from Postgraduates, “Employers

do see more in master’s holders. When asked what

qualities they value about employees with graduate

degrees, nine out of ten of those employers who

recruited master’s holders liked their analytical

thinking and problem-solving skills.

APPLY TODAY FOR THE LC4D ONLINE

MASTER OF ARTS DEGREEin Interactive Design

www.LC4D.org | 1.888.871.1701

The Value of Graduate Degrees

“those with a graduate degree in the field, irrespective of tenure, make an average of 38.3 percent higher”

+38.3%HIGHER

SALARIES. . . . .

for those with a

graduate degree

$$

3

Imagine this scenario. An advertising agency gets a

new client. The client needs a Website. The account

executive meets with the client. Perhaps an assistant

AE attends - and possibly even a copywriter and

art director. The team gathers all of the pertinent

information and heads back to create. The writer

and designers work together to develop a series of

comps. They present to the agency and the agency

selects a direction. The team then goes back to refine

the designs based on feedback from the client and

over the next few weeks or months, they slowly build

the Web monster as the clients checks in periodically

to make sure the job is looking good and on track. In

time, they complete the job. They launch the site .

This scenario was pretty much the way Web sites and

other interactive endeavors were handled from the

early days of the Web up until the early to mid nineties.

Many agencies, firms and design studios still use

this method when creating interactive experiences,

whether it be Web sites, apps or other

digital experiences.

But there is one key player in this scenario that is

missing. And that is the user. Most corporate giants

and many progressive firms have altered this process

and started using what is referred to as a

“User-Centered” approach. This basically flips the

previous scenario on it head.

You can think of it as the same process but you are

adding tactics to the front end (Upfront research and

analysis), adding tactics to the middle (User-testing

and assessment) and adding tactics to the end

(Iteration based on testing).

It may still start with the client, but quickly shifts

to the “user”. So if you have a corporate entity like

Yum Brands, they would mine data on the users - the

customers of the restaurant outlets. They need to

understand their consumer’s behavior and what the

consumer’s wants, desires and needs are to better

deliver their product. In a global setting, this could

include cultural sensitivities, empathy to the user’s

point of view, and other items that were completely

ignored in the earlier scenario. This can be done with

surveys, interviews, observation, polls, user-testing

and so on. The list of tactics are many. But the point

is that, when developing a user-experience, be it a

Web site, mobile app, in-store experience - whatever.

User-centered design starts with the user.

This trend and discipline has come to be know as

interaction design. It includes many tactics and a

methodology of iteration. Iteration meaning a cycle

of collecting data, then designing, then testing, then

modifying the design based on test results. It is a

cycle of improving the product based on the user’s

needs, desires, intuition and usability. The term

interaction design was coined by Bill Moggridge and

Bill Verplank in 1984. In 2007, Moggridge stated “I

gave my first conference presentation on the subject

in 1984, and at that time I described it as “Soft-face”,

thinking of a combination between software and

user-interface design […] we went on thinking of

possible names until I eventually settled on

“interaction design” with he help of Bill Verplank.”

Since then the discipline slowly blossomed as the

world wide web and other platforms for interaction

came onto the scene. It grew out of the industrial

design area but has slowly made its way across the

spectrum of design. Since its spread there have been

many opinions on what it is, what its limitations and

scope are and even the very definition has aroused

debate.

There are a host of Web sites and publications that

address the topic. The two prominent organizations

are The Interaction Design Association (IXDA) and

the Interaction Design Foundation (IDF). These two

organizations exist to promote and support the field.

The IXDA is focused a bit more on professional topics

while the IDF does the same but also has a mission to

T H E L O U I S V I L L E C E N T E R F O R D E S I G N | L C 4 D. O R G

IxDI n t e r a c t i o n D e s i g n

4

support individuals and educational missions by

supplying open-education resources and free course

-ware. In fact, the Louisville Center for Design has an

official agreement with the IDF and an educational

resource exchange channel. The IDF offers members

a comprehensive Encyclopedia of Human-Computer

Interaction (2nd Edition) which includes chapters

from dozens of the world’s top designers. Even

though interaction designs scope reaches far beyond

just humans and computers, HCI was one of several

origins of IxD.

So as Jon Kolko states in his concise definition

“Interaction design is the creation of a dialogue

between a person and a product, service, or system”.

We want you to extend your thoughts beyond the

definition and think of the focus on the user, fact

gathering, research tactics, assessment and iterative

methodology that breath life into this definition.

Adding this methodology is sure to pay dividends to

your design, regardless of your specific discipline.

For more, see:

http://www.ixda.org

http://www.interaction-design.org

Several Points of View: IxD What is it?

“Designing interactive products to support the way people communi-

cate and interact in their everyday and working lives.”

Source: Interaction Design, Beyond Human Computer Interaction, Rogers, Sharp, Preece

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

“The design of the interaction between people and devices, systems

or services. This interaction usually involves the ‘new technologies’

of computing and communications. But interaction design remains a

creative activity – like architectural, graphic or product design. And it

concerns the social value and cultural meaning of what is designed, as

well as its functional efficiency and aesthetic appeal.”

Source: Gillian Crampton Smith and Philip Tabor, Iuav University of Venice, Italy

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

“Interaction designers strive to create useful and usable products and

services. Following the fundamental tenets of user-centered design, the

practice of interaction design is grounded in an understanding of real

users—their goals, tasks, experiences, needs, and wants. Approaching

design from a user-centered perspective, while endeavoring to

balance users’ needs with business goals and technological capabilities,

interaction designers provide solutions to complex design challenges,

and define new and evolving interactive products and services.”

Source: IXDA.org

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

“Interaction Design is the creation of a dialogue between a person and

a product, service, or system.”

Source: Thoughts on Interaction Design, Jon Kolko5

Professor David Edwin Meyers is on a mission. He is

authoring a new book entitled Holistic Interaction

Design, A New Paradigm for the Industrial Internet.

As a professor in a discipline (IxD) that claims to

simplify complexity, he is continually amazed at the

visualizations, diagrams and definitions that attempt

to explain the structure and state of the industry.

“When I look at diagrams like that (fig. 1), I am

immediately confused” says Meyers. “I think that

we are at a point in the evolution of Interaction

Design and across design fields in general, where

we’ve seen a convergence and slow succession of

transformations and additions of new disciplines

as digital technology has engulfed every aspect of

designs existence.” As someone who was educated

in design and the fine arts in a pre-digital

world, he and many like him, can see the full

spectrum of change from the beginning.

“What we have is a broken angel house-

like (reference to the famous landmark

Broken-Angel house in Brooklyn, NY)

contraption where new disciplines

and fields were added, stacked

and overlapped.”

Meyers’ theory of Holistic IxD

deconstructs the discipline and

restructures it using a new

paradigm from the ground up.

He starts at ground zero with

simple classifications across the

spectrum of design, stating that

all things designed by humans

start in one of the following

silos: Industrial, environmental,

system or communication. In his abstract

equation, these are represented as IND,

ENV, SYS and COM.” All design originates from

one of the silos but they all work in unison at

different proportions.”

As an example, if you are designing a new coffee

maker, it is predominantly an industrial design

project, although you will have considerations

and contributions from the environmental,

systems and communication areas. You have

to consider the environment (ENV) and design

accordingly in terms of ergonomics, dimensions

and consideration of palce and use in the user’s

environment. System (SYS) considerations are

also in play as there needs to be decisions made

regarding its functionality, operation, flow and

possibility of embedding smart capabilities within?

The Communication (COM) silo is represented as the

coffee maker will more than likely need instructional

text or iconic visual information, as well as

visual branding. In this example, it is clear that the

industrial silo is the primary vertical, but within this,

the other silos are required as well, just at lesser

levels of contribution. Typically you will have a

dominant silo that includes the remaining three

in some proportion. But they are all encapsulated

in the sphere of Holistic IxD. The “value” of these

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holistic interaction design

6

Figure 01

secondary silo contributions are of no less

importance. It is only their proportion of

presence that is less. Meyers claims, “These

secondary silos need the same HIxD considerations

as do the primary one. Information needs to be

gathered up front, there needs to be research,

they need design and testing and they need

iteration if the testing reveals such.” His stance is

that Interaction Design is not a merely a discipline

that simply overlaps other design disciplines,

rather it is a methodology and set of principles that

transcend discipline and encapsulates design.

This is not to say that a designer must embrace the

HIxD philosophy that Meyers puts forth. As a painter

and filmmaker also, he realizes and encourages the

value of artistic freedom and expression. For truly

artistic, progressive and innovative design, one

must sometimes reject the user’s opinion and step

out on a limb. This is the very recipe for ground

breaking innovation.

The holistic philosophical position is that “it is all

important”. Meyers states “Where there is a

human and a designed interaction, there is

HIxD.” The position is that everything involved

in the interaction, from the look and

feel, to the functionality, to the user

interface, to the fonts chosen - are

all important. Some trailblazers in

the industry have different opinions,

stating that it is the research,

architecture, testing and iteration that

is IxD, they claim the font and buttons

can be left to the graphic designers.

Meyers disagrees and states that

the size, placement, color, font, and

functionality, as well as all of the other

pieces to the puzzle are just as

important. All are critical parts of the user-

experience and emotional engagement, even when

its presence may appear secondary.

Meyers sees Interaction Design and User-Experience

Design as nearly one in the same. And he states the

purpose of HIxD is to create the most optimal and

rewarding user-experience. To break it down further,

Meyers has identified a secondary taxonomy that

represents human engagement of the user-

experience. These also include four categories,

which are cognitive, senses, physical and emotional.

Represented as COG, SEN, PHY and EMO.

“So the user-experience is the collision of these two

groups, the designed silos and human engagement”.

For example, consider a user interacting with an

app on a smart tablet. There are several designed

interactions at play. The first being the user and the

smart tablet (fig 2a), regardless of the app they are en-

gaged with, this is a sophisticated challenge in its own

right. The current app (fig 2b) on the tablet provides

yet another designed interaction and experience.

A lot of theory, eh! But it illustrates that all of these

SYS

IND

COM

ENV

Figure 02a

SYS

COM

IND

ENV

Figure 02b

HIxd = (COG || SEN || PHY || EMO) + (ENV || SYS || COM || IND)say what?

(continued on Back Page)

HIxd = (COG || SEN || PHY || EMO) + (ENV || SYS || COM || IND)

holistic interaction design

7

Figure 03

So flat design is in! The trend actually started several

years ago, peaked in 2013 and we see no sign of it

losing steam. It has moved to the forefront for many

mobile, tablet and Web endeavors. Say goodbye to

the three-dimensional buttons, drop shadows and,

God-forbid . . . beveling. So developers beware, if

your site is full of lens-flares and glossy dimensional

elements - you are behind the times. Get with the

program. Let’s look at a few “Ins and outs”.

What’s In: Focus on color and simplicity

What’s Out: Glossy 3-dimensional elements

I’ll miss the glossy finishes, but these should have

gone out in the 80s. Oh wait, there wasn’t a world

wide web in the 1980’s. As a professor of interactive

design, I don’t even allow my students to use lens

flares, beveling or drop shadows. That pretty much

sums up my opinion on the topic. The cycle seems to

have come back around to the golden rule of design.

Keep it simple!

The simplicity is also being driven by the platforms.

With smart phones and tablets, designers have less real

estate and the trend seems to be on the information

and content. A flat, solid and clean design lends itself

to a better presentation and delivery of data and

information. Add to this it’s positive responsive design

characteristics and it makes practical sense as well.

What’s In: Focus on typography via code

What’s Out: Image-generated typography

CSS, SASS, WebKit, font-face and Google fonts have

made embedding elegant fonts easy. Gone are the

days of having to make an image just so you could

display that unique typographical headline.

What’s In: Animation and transitions

What’s Out: Over-animated Flash

CSS, HTML5 and JavaScript features have made

elegant animations and transitions easy. The key

word being elegant. Keep it simple. Gone are the

days of AOOC (Animation out of control). I can’t recall

the last time I saw Flash used for a typical Web site?

My suggestion: toss Flash out of the development

options unless you are creating a game, Web app or

are dependent on the Flash player for video delivery.

Transitions, slideshows, animated navigation and

other low-stress tasks are much more streamlined

and efficient using code.

That Design Looks Flat hmmmm, maybe that’s a good thing?

8

Figure 01 (above)

Simple UI components from the framework kit - Flat UI

Figure 02 (top of page)

The popular email marketing Website Mail Chimp uses a flat UI

FLAT FRAMEWORKS AND UI KITS

Gumby 2.6Gumby 2 is built with the power of Sass. Sass is a

powerful CSS preprocessor which allows us to develop

Gumby itself with much more speed — and gives you

new tools to quickly customize and build on top of the

Gumby Framework.

Gumby 2 is an amazing responsive CSS Framework.

Websites built today must be mobile friendly in order

to survive. Why have two different sites for mobile

and desktop when you can have your main site be

one size fits all? Gumby Framework is also incredibly

customizable; it’s as easy as download, tweak, deploy!

Customizing Gumby to fit the needs of your project

has never been easier. Changing the entire design of

our UI kit is as simple as changing a few Sass variables

and assigning the appropriate classes to your markup

structure!

Source: http://gumbyframework.com/

FoundationThere’s so much shiny awesomeness in this release

we think it speaks for itself. In case it doesn’t though,

here’s a rundown on some of the new (and existing)

features in the first, most-advanced responsive frame-

work out there.

The nuts and bolts of Foundation have never been

speedier. Not just for responsive images any more,

Interchange in Foundation 5 lets you create beautifully

optimized sites by letting you selectively load entire

sections based on the client device type. It’s now even

faster to put together websites and applications.

We’ve put together all the pieces to make Foundation

the professional choice for companies, designers and

developers. We’re providing reliable support and

services to keep your organization up and running

with Foundation.

Source: http://foundation.zurb.com

Flat UIFlat UI Free is made on the basis of Twitter Bootstrap

in a stunning flat-style, and the kit also includes a PSD

version for designers.

We have considered your needs in developing the

html version of our bootstrap theme, which contains

the same elements as the PSD version and are perfect

for creating great websites. With this Framework, you

can spend even less time on routine work, saving that

time for creativity.

Flat UI Free contains many basic and complex

components which are great for designers to have at

hand: buttons, inputs, button groups, selects, check-

boxes and radio-buttons, tags, menus, progress bars

and sliders, navigation elements and more.

Source: http://designmodo.com/flat-free/

The following are frameworks that emphasize

and employ flat design. These frameworks

provide powerful shells from which to construct

impressive Web and HTML5-driven applications.

There are several out there at the moment but

these our three of our favorites. Graphic Source: http://foundation.zurb.com/docs/

9

T H E L O U I S V I L L E C E N T E R F O R D E S I G N | L C 4 D. O R G

What’sall the

About?Well if you visit the sass-lang.com, they make it

pretty clear. The headline reads “CSS with super-

powers”. And this certainly is the case. Any Web

developer will tell you, CSS was sent from heaven.

SASS allows programmers creative and aesthetic

control over the content on the page and throughout

their entire site. Imagine that you have a one

thousand page Web site, and the client wants to

change the headline color through. Simply open the

CSS file, make the change once, and the change is

reflected through all one thousand pages. Amazing,

right? Well not amazing but impressive nonetheless.

If you want amazing, meet SASS.

SASS is the most mature, stable and powerful

professional grade CSS extension language in

the world. It’s sort of CSS on steroids. SASS brings

several important elements to the table. The first

is pre-processing. Pre-processing allows users to

employ features that don’t yet exist in CSS. Things

like variables, nesting, inheritance and other

nifty goodies.

If your not a programmer and you’re scratching your

head right now, don’t worry. Just know it gives a

programmer many more options and simplifies

a very large and complex CSS style sheet. The

pre-processing feature actually figures everything

out and then spits out a normal CSS style sheet

which can then be used in your Web site.

As mentioned earlier, SASS allows coders to use

variables. Variables are like little storage containers.

Lets say you have dozens or hundreds of these

storage containers spread throughout your style sheet

and this container hold the value of a color - red.

Its similar to the core function of CSS as

explained in the first paragraph. As an example,

if you need to change all of the elements in

your code that are defined as red, instead of

searching, finding and changing all of the dozens or

hundreds of properties defined as red, you

simply change the single variable from

red to green and viola, ALL are

now green. So in simple terms, it

might work something like this:

In the example above, if I wanted

to change all of those elements to

green, I simply change the variable

to green in line 1.

SASS does the rest!

There are a few other nifty tricks including mixins,

import, extend, inheritance and operators, but

since I’m writing an article and not a book, I should

direct you to SASS-lang.com. SASS has been received

with a welcome by the industry and it does have a

large community, so you should be able to get the

help and support you need. I say go for it. If CSS was

heaven sent, perhaps SASS was sent from Krypton?

Visit: http://www.SASA-LANG.com

1 variable = red

2 --------------------------

3 headline 1 = variable

4 body text = variable

5 quote = variable

6 area A = variable

7 area B = variable

8 --------------------------

Simple conceptual example illustrating how a variable can change properties in multiple areas throughout the code. Changing the value of VARIABLE in line 1 will change the value in the remaining lines.

10

• Web Designers

• Graphic Designers

• Entrepreneurs

• Advertising Agencies

• Marketing and PR Firms

• Small Businesses

• Teachers and Educators

• Students

If you are a designer, design studio, small agency or freelancer and design Web sites, learn how to manage a shared Media Temple Grid Server that can host up to 100 Websites and 1000 email addresses for only $20.00 per month.

This workshop will walk you through everything you need to know, with absolutely no prior knowledge.

You will learn how to:

- Set up your server with your domain - Set DNS to point to your server - Set up new sites (up to 100) - Set up email (up to 1000 email addresses) - Set up FTP between you and the server - Install apps (wordpress) with one-click - and more

100Web Sites

1000Emails

$2000per month• No hardware costs

• No software costs

• No software updates required

• Ever . . .

Instructor: David Edwin Meyers

DIGITAL WORKSHOPManaging Your Own Virtual ServerHost and manage up to 100 Websites for only $20.00 per month

For details, costs and schedule, see:

http://www.LC4D.org/workshops

Earth to Designers: Get a Server!There are tons of options available for businesses

and developers for hosting Web sites. Sites like

Wix and Squarespace have pretty powerful free

options if you’re willing to promote their brand

with Web banners. And these are great for small

businesses and students, or individuals whose

presence on the Web is required and may not

be a priority.

But what can a true professional do to take that

leap to the next level? What about the student

who graduates and becomes a professional or

the small business that wants a more impressive

presence. It is highly unlikely that you will find any

professional designer or developer worth their

weight, using these solutions. This is not to diminish

their capability or power.

Professionals who need to control their brand and

appearance need other options. They don’t need or

want a Wix or Squarespace banner on their site and

if they upgrade and remove the banner, it will cost

between $4.00 and $24.00 per month.

So if a designer has developed ten client sites and

manages their hosting, this will cost them between

$40.00 and $240.00 per month.

Stop the madness!

You have options. Many hosting companies offer

virtual servers. These options allow you to host

multiple sites, add emails easily and resell the

hosting to your clients with a markup rate. And

the best part, you pay less than a Wix or Square-

space and you profit more. You provide your client a

better solution, you have more power and control

AND you make more money.

Learn the system. Its easy and any entrepreneur,

designer or small business person can do it.

It is low maintenance, affordable and highly

profitable.

The Louisville Center for Design will hold a

workshop that will walk you through the entire

process. See ad on this page.

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(holistic - continued from page 5)

components contribute to the user-experience,

just at different degrees. “To say that any of these

contributors have less value would be an injustice.

They may have a smaller footprint or presence,

but they are just as important.” These diagrams

represent anatomical thumbnails or blueprints of

the project and the contributions that are required

from each design silo. This is an early step when

starting any design project. But the most important

take-away is that there is no overlapping of IxD as

in Figure 1, there is total inclusion. All of these silos

fall under the guidelines and criteria of what most

designers currently consider to be IxD.

Consider these questions:

+ Does the IND portion of your project need fact

gathering, research, designing, testing and the

possibility of iteration? Yes

+ Does the SYS portion of your project need fact

gathering, research, designing, testing and the

possibility of iteration? Yes

+ Does the ENV portion of your project need fact

gathering, research, designing, testing and the

possibility of iteration? Yes

+ Does the COM portion of your project need fact

gathering, research, designing, testing and the

possibility of iteration? Yes

Of course there may be some projects where one

or more of the silos are not represented or required

at all. But when they are present, they all need the

same attention, assessment and option for iteration

if the overall project is to reach maximum success.

To further illustrate this theory, see the figure 4. “This

diagram represents many of the IxD tactics and

best practices that exist. These are added ‘into’

the mix as they are needed, regardless of the

discipline. They don’t overlap, cross or stack even

though they share many elements. If a silo

requires a discipline, then the expertise that

the discipline represents, is utilized in full

capacity. If the discipline is not needed, it is simply

in the queue.” He states that this chart doesn’t fully

represent all of the tactics, techniques or practices.

There are simply too many and new ones are popping

all the time.

Prior to interaction design coming into its own, design

disciplines relied on the client and the designer.

Regardless of whether an architect was designing

an environment, an industrial designer designing

a physical device or graphic designer designing a

brochure, the user was basically absent in the equation.

It was the client and the designer that determined

what was best for the user. What Meyers is suggesting

is that all of these disciplines could benefit from

the techniques and methods that interaction design

has introduced. Today’s employment recruiters are

always looking for the elusive “unicorn”. This is a term

recruiters call individuals with an understanding and

synthesis beyond their design discipline. For example,

a highly skilled designer who understand the

methodologies that interaction design brings to the

table. This can only happen when schools start to

incorporate a more holistic approach to design.

An individual must be introduced to these tactics and

understand their relevance to improving design.

This paradigm is sure to stir up the bee hive as the

design field is full of passionate individuals with

strong opinions. “Every time I see a blog post trying

to explain the state of the industry, it is bombarded

with critical commentary, by people who reject

new schools of thought or by those who think they

know better.” Meyers wants his reconstruction to be

reviewed with an open mind. “There is nothing

concrete about what I have presented. It is merely a

new way of seeing what’s right in front of us.”

TECHNOLOGY DesignAN

D

T H E L O U I S V I L L E C E N T E R F O R D E S I G N | L C 4 D. O R G

Figure 04

Visualization (left) illustrates

that regardless of design

discipline, all could benefit

from IxD tactics, principles

and methodologies.

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