Introduction

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was less than a mile from the smoking towers of the World Trade Center. As I walked dazed through the surreal streets of lower Manhattan, I saw powerful scenes of connection and interaction. People had pulled TVs out from their apartments onto the streets, and crowds were gathered around them. Commuters frantically called home from their mobile phones. An intricate web of systems coordinated firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians, who rushed to the terrible scene, sirens wailing down the avenues. At my office in SoHo, friends contacted me via instant messenger, wanting to know if I was okay. Since my phone was only sporadically working, I coordinated my eventual flight to Brooklyn through e-mail with a friend.

This is a book about design, a particular type of design called interaction design. It's a new discipline, even though humans have been using interaction design since before recorded history. Interaction design is about people: how people connect with other people through the products and services they use. Interaction designers create these products and servicesthose we rely on in times of crisis like September 11th, and those we enjoy in quiet, joyful moments.

Whether you're an interaction designer already or just interested in interaction design, even if you don't know (yet) what that really means, this book is for you. I hope it contains information of interest to novices and experts alike, starting with the questions "What is an interaction?" and "What is interaction design?" and ending with a look into the future of interaction design. My goal in writing this book is to make your understanding of interaction design richer, deeper, and broader.

A disclaimer before we begin: Interaction design is a new field, and it usually takes decades before any field has firm footing. This book is a stake in the groundwhat I've found to be right and true. I hope, either while reading or (even better) when practicing interaction design, you discover what I've recorded here to be true as well.

San Francisco

March 2006