User experience and the idea of design in HCI

Abstract

In this paper we argue that the idea of design in HCI is changing. For many years the design-as-engineering approach has dominated HCI research and practice, but now technological developments and new conceptions of 'the user' require more interdisciplinary conceptions of design. In particular, the turn to experience in HCI has lead us to consider a design-as-craft perspective which we exemplify in this paper by the work of digital jeweller, Jayne Wallace. But our aim is not to supplant one design perspective with an other. On the contrary, we argue that experience design requires a new form of radically interdisciplinary dialogue between different design perspectives that span the arts, sciences and humanities. However, such radically interdisciplinary dialogue is not without its problems and points of contention. We conclude by arguing that not only new conceptual tools but also new HCI curricula may be helpful in achieving this interdisciplinary dialogue. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.