There was an interesting article by David Malouf on the similarities between industrial and interaction design. I’m still struggling with that one. I wish I had the time right now to sit down and work it through as there are many half-baked ideas bumping around my head.

Industrial design is something I know relatively little about, but from what I have gleaned so far, it is a craft that involves the execution of an idea, the creation of an artifact, or the expression of a concept…essentially, the creative shaping of objects in peoples lives towards a particular effect.  The goal is the effect.

Interaction design in contrast…well, how can I describe it?  The goal of interaction design is the creation of processes within the lives of our users. In my conception of interaction design, creativity or any kind of emotional design is simply a means to an end. Interaction design is the creation of a product. The goal is the product – the business  – and the work of an interaction designer is to support the product and the business.

…and here is were this post ends, because it’s 1am and I have work tomorrow. You know, I never thought I’d say it, but I do kind of miss grad school, where it was my job to think about these kind of things…