A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design + follow-up
Reading this article made me rethink how I usually imagine the future of technology. I realized that I tend to accept touchscreens and the sleek interfaces without really questioning whether they actually improve human interactions. I really liked the author’s idea of pictures under glass, because it reframes devices like phones and tablets as limiting rather than advanced. I had never really considered how much tactile feedback shapes my everyday actions, like holding a cup or turning a page, and how it completely disappears when interacting with digital screens. This made me more aware of how much current technology prioritizes visual simplicity over physical engagement.
I wonder whether designers will continue to rely on interfaces that ignore the full capabilities of the human body. If our hands and bodies are so complex and expressive, why is most technology reduced to tapping and swiping? His point about finger blindness really is scary to think about, especially if we lose the ability to feel and understand our objects. This makes me wonder whether convenience and market trends are prioritized over innovation, or if designing for full-body interactions is simply too difficult to do for every single person. It is interesting to see how we adapt to our devices rather than devices adapting to us. Overall, the reading challenged my assumption that technological progress is always linear and improving.
I think the follow-up was quite interesting. I understand that his goal was to highlight a problem and push others to explore it. I am not sure why people expect an immediate answer rather than seeing critique as the starting point for innovation. I was also surprised that removing the body from interaction, like through voice or brain interfaces, might actually reduce human experience. I had not thought about how much physical interaction shapes understanding. To be honest, this made me reflect on how passive I have become in using technology and whether easier always means better.