Manifesto

Human-computer Interface (HCI) Design is a strange discipline. One might suppose that it would just end up being an add-on to industrial design where machine interface design has been in practice for a number of years. But digital technology blows machine interface design into virtual, imaginary, and pure information realms. The range of possible HCI problems is broad and skills from engineering, cognitive psychology, graphic design, and well as industrial design are needed in varying combinations.

This spectrum of skills ranging from engineering to aesthetics generates a practice of extremes. It stretches from those that demand adherence to the most rigorous analysis and rigid system-based rules to those that seek to craft transcendent interactive experiences. One end of the spectrum routinely scoffs at the other. “Bean-counters!” “Flakes!”

Oddly enough, after I have created this neat scale of scientist to artist, I do not seem to fit on the scale; I am an aesthetician rather than engineer, but very grounded in science. I find myself in a third place: usability. Science and aesthetics both inform usability equally, and seamlessly; where usability becomes transparent and transcendent.

I believe what we know about usability today is just the tip of the iceberg. So much research and advancement is happening in the realm of technology. So much research and advancement is also happening in fields related to humans, such as physiology, psychology, neuro-anatomy, biology, and medicine. The marriage of the knowledge from these two realms is the fertile ground that will nourish the study of usability.

Although interfaces will continue to become easier to use, that doesn’t mean that they are getting simpler to design (although that may occur is some cases). On the contrary, the amount of variety and complexity of new technology requires a much deeper understanding of how humans interact with the world.

Dr. Dorothy Shamonsky

PROFESSION
Graphic and industrial designer specializing in the human-computer interface

SPECIALTIES
-- Agile usability design methodology
-- Robust and creative processes for interface designers
-- Broad practical experience mixed with deep theoretical knowledge in interface design and usability

CURRENTLY
-- Teaches in the Interactive Media Department, New England Institute of Art
-- Coaches interface and usability design teams in creative and agile design methodologies
-- Works as a designer

CLIENT LIST
Includes Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Viacom Networks, Merrill Lynch, Citibank, MOMA, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts

PRIOR TEACHING EXPERIENCE
-- Adjunct Professor, Computer Graphics Department, Pratt Institute
-- Associate Professor, Interactive Telecommunications Department, N.Y.U.

EDUCATION
-- Ph.D., Design and Computation Group, School of Architecture, M.I.T. (Researched usability challenge of mixed-reality interfaces.)
-- SMvis, Media Lab, M.I.T. (Studied with the late Muriel Cooper.)
-- BFA, Sculpture, Rhode Island School of Design. (Minored in Graphic Deisgn.)

RECENT READS
Mind Hacks, Tips & Tools for Using Your Brain, by Tom Stafford & Matt Webb
Small Pieces Loosely Joined, A Unified Theory of the Web, by David Weinberger