This how to write your PhD…

The correct way to write a PhD…

Write up and iteration 2

As my PhD draws to a close I am now in the final stages of iterating improvements to The Circle of Visual Interpretation method cards, and writing up my PhD thesis. I've been invited to workshop the new method card iteration in September at another interaction design conference so I'll be renewing posts to this blog very soon.

In the meantime to show that I've been active here are a few image teasers from the visual appendix that will accompany my thesis…

Going Dutch… very soon.

Nearly ready for Interaction 14 and my workshop. Just a slight detour via Newcastle before I fly out.

I've just posted this teaser shot on Circle of Visual Interpretation Cards page…

…nearly there (suitcase wheels permitting).

Interaction 14 workshop nearly sold out :-)

WOW! A near sell out. I was only expecting @5 people and now I've got 20+ people attending my Interaction 14 workshop. Good job I printed enough sets of method cards for a full house, but I never thought I'd need them all. I'm honoured. ‏

From Twitter:

@ixdconf Only 5 tickets left for 'Circle of Visual Interpretation Workshop' by @VisualHermeneut http://interaction14.ixda.org/program/wednesday/286-circle-of-visual-interpretation-workshop #IxD14

Interface Design book now out

My new book Interface Design: An introduction to visual communication in UI design is now out. Order your copy from here.

REVIEW

"Interface Design: An introduction to visual communication in UI design delivers real examples of the process of designing for UI and interactive projects. Seeing and learning from real examples of maps and diagramming while outlining critical components of the UI design process at various stages, makes this book an incredibly important resource for anyone wanting to learn about and implement a UI strategy - especially for graphic designers who were educated in the print world but want to make the transition to working on UI and interactive projects. Applying the information in this book can absolutely make any designer a more valuable and strategic contributor to current and prospective clients and employers. This book is easy to follow, provides a clear understanding of what to expect in each chapter, offers insight into key questions to be asked throughout the UI process and is loaded with relevant and applicable content and insight. This is not only a book, but an incredibly useful learning tool that can be utilized on daily basis."

Sean Brennan, Senior Project Manager, Haneke Design, Tampa, Florida, USA 

Re-emerging from the PhD… my upcoming workshop at Interaction 14

After months of hard work of PhD projects, I'll be workshopping the first practical iteration of my research into a Visual Phenomenological Methodology in Amsterdam in February at Interaction 14.
In my workshop Circle of Visual Interpretation I'll be using packs of 11 method cards featuring 7 steps to visually interpret an experience…

Front and back of Step 4 card.

Places on the workshop are now available. Book a place via http://interaction14.ixda.org/program/wednesday/286-circle-of-visual-interpretation-workshop

More information will be posted on this blog in it's own designated Circle of Visual Interpretation Cards area.

Circle of Visual Interpretation Workshop

February 5th, Wednesday 09:30 HKU Hilversum, Amsterdam.

Morning workshop by Dave Wood

Workshop using a visually interpretive method that reveals to interaction designers what users experience in ways that personas can’t communicate.

It is difficult to know for certain that the experience of one user will be the same as that for other users, and if other users sense the same things or encounter the world in the same way as each other. Yet interaction designers have to find a way of designing new interactions to suit their target audiences. Alan Cooper argues quite rightly that, “if you’re going to do user-centered design you’ve got to understand the user.”

This half-day workshop will give you, the interaction design professional, direct, hands–on experience of a new low cost methodology you can employ to reveal the meaning of user experiences through interpretation of the user’s experience itself. This emergent methodology will augment your personas within the normal ideation phase of your design process, creating a deeper understanding of what your users actually do, think, feel etc. rather that what they consciously think they know.
The practical workshop’s activities encourage the application of a method to reveal actual user experience through ‘the eyes of the users’ by applying a technique of hermeneutic-semiosis - which means visual interpretation through semiotics.

Themes in workshop include:

• The Essence of Experience;
• Hermeneutic-Semiosis;
• The Circle of Interpretation.

Dave will lead you through a process of revealing user experience through a visual hermeneutic circle of interpretation to reveal what was previously hidden. This creates visual stimuli for interaction designers that reveals the essence of what is really happening with the user, in ways that personas and mental models cannot do. Through this new visual interpretive methodology a fresh perspective that illustrates the core phenomenological essence of an experience can be interpreted from the user’s own points-of-view.

During this half-day workshop, we will use a very practical method card approach rather than a dry academic approach. The underlying hermeneutic-semiosis theory that (synthesising aspects of Pragmatism, and Martin Heidegger through C.S. Peirce’s semiotics) acts as a framework for the practical exploration.

You’ll come away with a clear understanding of the principles behind the methodology, and practical ideas that can inform your future interaction designs in new ways. It will also open up the debate as to how Visual Communication can be utilised more in the design of better interactive user experiences.
In the workshop you will:

• Discover how the methodology works through easy-to-use method cards;
• Participate in structured practical activities from the method cards to help show how you can apply it to your projects;
• Understand how to reveal more from your user research to achieve a fuller picture of your users, based on their actual points-of-view;
• Feedback your thoughts from the exercises and help further develop the methodology.

Activities include:

• Identifying themes of an experience—training participants to identify invariant themes in an experience from within user research;
• Revealing essence of experience—applying the principles of the method to reveal hidden user experience;
• Visually interpreting the experience—using a visual hermeneutic circle to refine the revealed experiential essence.