Karen Fries

Seductive interfaces: satisfying a mass audience

There are two similar, but equally pressing issues currently facing interface designers -how to make increasingly complex applications usable and how to design effective interfaces for a broad audience, such as might exist for the coming wave of interactive consumer products. This tutorial questions some assumptions behind current interface design and why conventional interaction techniques are often unsatisfying to users, experienced as well as novice. Also examined are some of the underlying social transactions that occur between human and machine, like those that emerge when voice and moving images are added to the interface. The psychology of media viewing is reviewed for insights that may help bridge the gap between passive viewer <andactive user.