Vishal Iyer- Interaction Design

With over 5 million UV’s per month, AOL Shopping is one of the top Comparison Search Engine’s on the web. I led the Interaction Design efforts for the complete redesign of the Shopping channel. The first phase included negotiating a change in the business model to build a better user experience. Our efforts resulted in a 37% increase in PV’s, 57% increase in UV’s & 15% increase in PV’s/ UV Year over Year.

The Design process was kicked off with a two day brainstorming session, where we discussed at length the future of the channel. A day long field trip to a local mall was coupled with competitive analysis of the top virtual retailers- we studied the similarities and differences between shopping experiences. Finally, we created personas and themes which were used to create concept mocks. As we transitioned into production, each of these Design methods enabled us to create a compelling shopping experience for the user.

Working in an Agile environment, I created concepts, wireframes, prototypes and documentation to communicate the design to the Business, Product teams & Developers.

The second phase involved building shopping tools like List Management, Ratings & Reviews and Personalization. I conducted extensive Design Research (Iterative User Testing, Focus Groups, Quasi-Ethnographic Observation & Cognitive 1-1’s) to better understand user goals and expectations.

http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2008/01/ten-jobs.html

Interaction designer

Interaction designers work at all stages of product development to design innovative and user-friendly products. In addition to wearing the traditional hat of a designer, they work with executives to define goals for products and systems in development. They also investigate how people actually engage with new products and systems by creating “personas,” hypothetical users with constructed life stories, to predict their reactions.

Although many interaction designers have advanced degrees in design, such a background isn’t a prerequisite, says David Fore, head of consulting services at Cooper, a pioneering interaction design firm. Fore previously worked as a reporter for industry publications — valuable experience, given that interaction designers’ research requires “the skills of a reporter and an anthropologist,” according to him.

Because interaction designers bring such a comprehensive approach to design, their relatively new field, only ten to fifteen years old, is growing in demand. As a result, entry-level designers with two years of background can expect $75,000 to $80,000 a year, with ample opportunity for an increase in salary. Beginning interaction designers usually gain experience through an apprenticeship.

In addition to the competitive salary, interaction designers enjoy the opportunity “to learn about every walk of life and industry imaginable,” says Fore. “There’s working with stock brokers, working with a golf course superintendent, an advertising creative director, working with a nurse to build infusion pumps. Everyone needs product design.”

First post. Yay!

The Interaction Design Association (IxDA) is very pleased to announce
its full slate of speakers for its first annual conference
Interaction08 to be held in hip, historic Savannah, Georgia USA on
February 8-10, 2008. The conference will be held on the campus of
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

<http://interaction08.ixda.org/program.htm>

Joining keynote and session speakers Alan Cooper, Bill Buxton, Sigi
Moeslinger, Malcolm McCullough, Jared Spool, Regine Debatty, Dan
Brown, Molly Wright Steenson, Aza Raskin, Sarah Allen, Jenny Lam, and
Matt Jones are 21 international Lightning Session speakers discussing
a wide range of topics:

Kars Alfrink, More Than Useful: A Framework for Playful Products
Gretchen Anderson (Lunar), Concept Ideation and IxD
Jonathan Aronwitz (Google), Effective Prototyping Methods
Chris Bernard (Microsoft), Classic Design Movements and IxD: Kissing
Cousins?
Doug Bolin (Avenue A | Razorfish), Help Me! A New Approach to Support
Interactions
Chris Conley (Gravity Tank), Dramatic Features in Interaction Design
Dave Cronin (Cooper), Design for Flow
Anh Dang and Nirali Patel (Avenue A | Razorfish), Designing Information
Bill DeRouchey (Ziba), Conversations with Everyday Objects
Carl DiSalvo (Georgia Tech), Interaction Design for Community
Empowerment
Andrew Hieronymi (SCAD), Self-Conscious Gaming
Morten Hjerde (mBricks), Designing for the Other 99%
Saskia Idzerda (Media Catalyst), Redesigning Sony-Ericsson’s Product
Catalog
Matthew McCool (Southern Polytechnic SU), Optimizing the
International User Experience
Yasser Rashid (BBC), Visualizing Radio
Sajid Saiyed (Phillips), New Interaction Model for a Modular Personal
Infotainment System
Michele Tepper (frog), Interaction Across Disciplines
Liu Wei (Motorola), Tangible Interaction Design
Gabriel White (frog), Ethics of Everyday Design
Susan Wyche (Georgia Tech), Fieldwork and Sketching: Translating
Research Themes into Conceptual Designs

Lightning session presenters hail from the United States, The UK, The
Netherlands, Norway, China, and India.

In addition to these speakers, a set of pre-conference workshops will
be taught by industry experts Marc Rettig and Jenna Date, Darja
Isaksson, Jeff Patton, and Todd Warfel.

For the complete schedule and to register, please see the conference
website:

<http://interaction08.ixda.org>

Early bird registration has been extended to December 15, 2008. The
rates are $499 USD before December 15th and $599 USD after. Student
rate is $299 USD. 1/2 day workshops are $250 USD each. Take advantage
of the low US dollar!

Savannah is one of America’s finest small cities, filled with
historic homes, cobbled streets, gothic graveyards, and pirate
haunts, as well as art galleries, hip bars, and both modern and
traditional Southern restaurants. Direct flights can be had from
Boston, New York, Chicago, and Washington, DC. Frequent flights
connect Savannah to Atlanta, a major transportation hub. Highs in
February average 64F/18C.

We’re very excited about our program, and hope to see you in Savannah!

A bunch of links about how companies Design products…title from an internal presentation I made.

1. Microsoft - Designing in the trenches

2. eBay - Collaborating with Customers: Leveraging Design and Research Methods for Customer Success

3. CNN - CNN.com Relaunch Case Study

4. Best Buy - Stores, Web and Beyond: Serving Multi-channel Customers With Meaningful User Experiences

The IxDA is pleased to announce its first annual conference- Interaction 08.

Interaction 08 will be held from February 8-10, 2008 in historic and festive Savannah, Georgia, on the campus of The Savannah College of Art and Design. Join several hundred Interaction Designers from around the world as we address the design of interactive systems of all types: applications (web and desktop), mobile, consumer electronics, digitally enhanced environments, and more. Start your year off with stimulating talk, fun parties, and smart discussions about our growing field.

Interaction 08 will feature two days of inspirational and tactical sessions geared at anyone who practices Interaction Design, as well as a day of pre-conference workshops. We’re planning two tracks of thought provoking discussions during each day, followed by social gatherings on Friday and Saturday evenings.

One of the best things about living in New York were the awesome (but under-appreciated artists) who play all around the city. I’m heartened to see that one of the really good ones Susan Cagle has been signed up by BMG. Way to go!

One of the challenges in designing websites that are also businesses by itself (unlike ones for educational institutions, corporate websites, marketing campaigns etc) is that the design is meant to support the Business model. In an ideal world this relationship is harmonious and there is synergy between the two, but things don’t always work out that way. Think interstitial pages and websites that have way too many ads.

The users first instinct is to blame the Designer, but anyone worth his/her salt would have fought it out to avoid designing something that doesn’t serve the users need, especially something this obvious. So what exactly happened? Take the following example- a page in a website that primarily works on a CPM basis has 10 ads and the designer is arguing to have it cut to 5. The business team says that cutting the ads by half will cut the revenue by half. The designer counters by saying that cutting the ads by half will lead to a better experience for users which will increase engagement, encourage return visits and increase traffic because the product would be better- all of which equals more revenue.

The business model obviously has an impact on the design, but the design can potentially have an impact on the business model too. The imperative lies with the business team to consider these factors in creating their models. As a corollary, it is equally important for Designers to not only understand the business models, but also evaluate the impact their designs have on the business. Better communication between the two teams will go a long way in building a better product and a better business.

As the principal designer and developer, I proudly present Grassroots, the culmination of my Masters program at Michigan State University.Grassroots is a research project sponsored by the Writing In Digital Environments (WIDE) Research Center at Michigan State University (MSU). It was born out of a local need vocalized by community members to make compelling visual arguments, such as asset maps, to promote community change. In response to that need, WIDE Research Center created Grassroots, a mapping tool that allows individuals and community groups to create maps highlighting what assets they perceive as invaluable to their communities.

Using Grassroots, users can :

• Create maps showing important features of their community
• Save and share the maps they create with others
• Create new, specialized maps by starting with any map that is already shared
• Find maps by searching by geographic region, by users and groups, or by tags that identify maps’ purpose, features, etc.

There are many ways to use asset maps, ranging from creating maps showing current and proposed development patterns in a particular community, to maps that trace walking paths through historic neighborhoods. We hope Grassroots helps users discover many new ways to see their community and to share their vision with others.

http://vishaliyer.com/portfolio/wineis/

This production was derived from the group’s interest in Wine and how it not only relates to many aspects of life but acts as a metaphor for them as well. We sought out stories from people for whom wine is not only a drink, but an important part of their lives. We discovered five such fascinating people whose lifestyles were impacted by wine in different ways - Culture, Love, Wisdom, Memory and Work.