Process and Context

William “Bill” Lawrence Verplank emphasises the importance of having a practical and well balanced process when creating and designing an interactive. When undergoing the process of creating an interactive, it’s important that majority of time should be spent on sketches and solving issues that arise when creating interactive prototypes. Bill believes that every good interactive begins with an error which then enables an idea to be formed. This is followed by a metaphor , then continued by forming a scenario. This then enables one to complete set tasks which leads to representation then manipulation.

Context can be defined as the circumstances that form from an idea. There is a difference between context for use and context of use. In other words, when creating and designing an interactive, context is crucial. As a designer, you’ll need to focus on what an individual is trying to do and how they’ll go about doing/completing said task. Furthermore, you’ll need to focus on where they’ll complete the said task as well as what gets in the way and what assists in completing the task. As a designer, it’s best to form and create context scenarios to better improve the functionality of your interactive. This can be done by asking yourself three important questions; What is the situation? Who will be using the device or interface? What are the persons needs or goals?

Waterson, Sarah. (2019). Process and Context. 102265 Graphic Design: Introduction to Interactive Design. [Video File].

Wildnet Technologies. (2017). This is what you need to know about Interaction Design! [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.wildnettechnologies.com/this-is-what-you-need-to-know-about-interaction-design/