Interaction. Interface. Design Experience.

A friend of mine once said to me while drinking a carton juice: “it is so annoying to know that there is still some juice left, which I can’t drink unless I rip open the package”. She was referring to a package design from one of the world’s leading firms, and one that frustrated her!

I am fascinated about how people relate to things around them and spend a lot of time trying to understand why they use things the way they do. This hopefully gives me the capacity to see which solution is best suited to a certain product or situation, because in the end, what really counts is the way we experience things.

Why? Because it is on the basis of experience that we relate to our surroundings.

When I first joined this fantastic land of dreams, I remember João Silva (our Quality Assurance Director) telling me: “we have this product called Virtual Sightseeing scenic viewer (VSS), and it has some issues concerning usability. Can you figure out a way to improve the ergonomic experience?”

I never thought that my first job would involve such a complex product. I have been following the development of new, improved versions of the VSS since August 2007. This allowed me to work with a lot of different people at YDreams. It’s fascinating to see how engineers, designers and account managers have different (and valid) views regarding the same aspects of a specific problem.

My views on interaction and usability have changed a lot since I started working here. I recently read Bill Buxton’s “Sketching User Experiences”, which shows how effectively a simple design detail can make a world of difference. In fact, usability is no longer enough to provide a satisfactory experience regarding a product. A good experience is one that makes people want to go back and use the product again; it’s the one aspect that makes the experience remarkable.

Luis Vargas, one of our designers, once called me “Lady bug”! At YDreams I have become a “bug detective”. My work involves finding all the little bugs, hidden or not, so that the user doesn’t have to deal with them himself! My knack for ‘catching bugs’ is part of an effort to concentrate on details which can really make a difference in experiencing a product.

FAQ: FUTURE ASKED QUESTIONS

“If design is by nature a problem-solving discipline, what happens when designers and other creative professionals are themselves asking questions about the present, and the future, of our societies?”

To see the programme:

http://www.inspiredlisbon.net/2008/en/0401.html

OFFF, design conference, multimedia trade fair and digital animation festival all rolled into one, is described as an “enthusiastic celebration of a new visual culture” and “one of the essential meeting points for the international scene of post-digital creation”.

Next spring sensational OFFF is coming to Lisbon 8, 9 & 10 May. The event promises sensorial exercises in synesthesia, stage performances comprised of computer code and legendary participants from the fields of graphic design and visual communication.

I am personally looking forward to OFFF Lisbon 2008 and would love to see YDreams amongst the headlining participants because from the sounds of it, this one is right up our alley. Read more about OFFF.