The topics in this issue are difficult, as they challenge us to examine our own emotions, the depth of our feelings, and the extent of our personal responsibility. Beauty, loss, and despair are real, and as the reach of interaction design grows, so do our relationships and ties to emotions in our users and consumers. At the least, we must consider these topics in the due course of our often banal job; at the most, we should absolutely examine the emotional repercussions of our design activities when our efforts are embodied in real, delivered products and services.

Click to continue reading "interactions: We're Not in Kansas Anymore".

Design education continues to inadvertantly distance itself from the profession it is intended to support, and upon graduation, students are finding themselves thrust into a nearly unrecognizable environment. These students have been succesfully trained, but trained in an almost different cultural paradigm than the one they are to now support and ultimately lead. In this cover story, Meredith Davis, Director of Graduate Programs at NC State University's College of Design, challenges five assumptions that have become the defacto standard for design education:

• Students learn best through experiences that move from simple to complex
• Individual performance and control of outcomes are among the highest priorities
• The computer is an extension of traditional tools and media
• Underlying principles of "good design" are universal
• Graduate education in design should follow the model of the fine arts and be about refining visual skills

Meredith is director of graduate programs in graphic design and head of the Ph.D. in design program at NC State University's College of Design. She is a fellow, 2005 medalist, and member of the Visionary Design Council of the AIGA and a former member of the accreditation commission of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, for which she has authored a number of briefing papers on design education.

We hope you enjoy this piece, as well as the other challenging content in this issue. Click here to continue exploring "... We're Not in Kansas Anymore".