Three steps to putting context to the work you do.

This post started on Tuesday with a day off work. I went to South Hall on Berkeley campus to listen to a guess lecture by Björn Hartmann for a class on Tangible UI.

South Hall, Berkeley campus

Björn listed three “dimensions” he keeps in the background of his mind for his research and projects on building tangible user interfaces. Here they are:

1. Re-purpose familiar objects vs. Employ familiar metaphors
2. Add tangible control to existing systems vs. Design new artifacts from scratch
3. Single user vs. Audience participation, where you’re trying to engage many people at once

Or, written as questions, he’s answering:

1. How do I help people understand (know how to use) a user interface?
2. What do I use to create something?
3. Who am I you building for?

This quick dissection leads nicely to a few steps on how to uncover the dimensions of your work.

1. Ask yourself three, or so, meaningful questions that you answer through your work. “How do you solve design problems regarding space?”
2. Write down possible answers to each question for various projects you’ve been part of.
3. Now, look for naturally opposed asnwers.  “I solve design problems in the natural environment vs. I solve design problems inside architectual spaces.” These become the dimensions of your work that should provide a framework for all of your work overtime.  And your work should naturally fall in one pole or the other, and not often be caught in the middle of the two.