Interactive Design is a discipline in constant development. It takes a particular attitude of mind to come up with solutions that operate in the nexus of new materials, interactive environments and the integration of computer chip technologies with daily life.
Interactive Design places human experience and awareness at the centre and focuses on the interrelationship between people, objects and systems. Although interactive design has its roots in classic disciplines such as human computer interaction and cognitive psychology, as a design discipline it demands a recent, more radical form of cross-discipline capability, as any design proposal will be faced with an interplay of complex psychological, social and technological factors.
Therefore, Interactive Design’s daily study activities are characterised, to a large degree, by dialogue and teamwork that involves faculty and other collaborative partners with a range of cultural and professional backgrounds. For these reasons, the discipline is dependent on intelligent students who are ready to work in teams, with both users and other professional groups and who are willing to use their talents to experiment with both design expression and design methods.
As phenomena such as international communication and the Internet are essentially global, and since both marketing and production should be considered from an international point of view, the emphasis of the department is global.
The most important tool for an interaction designer is the computer. The ability of a designer to enable users to engage computerised technology on their terms and influence their use situation, rather than the reverse, is essential.
Students in the Department of Interactive Design work with design that places people at its centre; intelligent and innovative design that is market-oriented, both with regard to its production and its conception. Interactive Design emphasises the interplay between visual expression, the object, the ethical, the sociological, the political and the aesthetic.