User at the center of the interactive action
At the first Swiss Interactive Media Design Day, 16 inspiring presentations highlighted what interaction means in today’s digital media world and what must unanimously be the focus of attention: quite clearly, the user.
The premiere of the Swiss Interactive Media Design Day on November 7, 2014 took place at GBS St. Gallen. "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change". With this statement, Thomas Bühler of Google quoted the British natural scientist Charles Darwin in his speech. Bühler was not the only one to speak of change and adaptation in the fast-moving, digital and interactive media world.
Jan Rikus Hillmann (pictured above) of Burningbluesoul paraphrased his thoughts with the words of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: "The only thing that is unchanging is change". He even spoke of a paradigm shift. In the past, designers defined the future. They mainly designed for their professional colleagues. Today, on the other hand, the future is shaped by technology, he said. So designers clearly have to be guided by the user. "People, look at the users!" therefore demands Hillmann. Hansi Voigt, founder and editor-in-chief of Watson.ch, also told the audience that it is important to connect with users. Dialog and ultimately interaction are essential.
The user above all
Terms such as "Human Centered Design", "User Centered Design" or "User first" appeared again during the one-day symposium. There was widespread consensus among the speakers that it was the user who had to be placed at the center of interactive activities. In this context, a user's experience plays a decisive role in digital interaction. "Experience staging is at the top of the list," Nico Castagna from Swisscom knew. Other speakers added that content, good stories and the playful are important. As a medium for conveying information, video was also extremely popular at the conference. Moving images have long since become interactive, offering decision-making channels that allow the user to actively intervene in the process.
The design, branding and film agency Snask from Sweden delivered an extremely entertaining performance with their lively energy at the end of the day. As the "rock star of design", they spoke about creative entrepreneurship, about going full throttle in all situations and how to make enemies and find friends. With a live musical performance by the Swedes, the day finally moved on to a cozy get-together.
