Behavior is our Medium

In this talk at an IxDA event in 2009, Robert Fabricant, Executive Creative Director at frog design, describes interaction design as a practice that reaches well beyond computing technology.

He gives examples of interaction design going as far back as ancient history, all the way to a humanitarian project underway at the time of the talk. His argument is that interaction design’s primary medium is behaviour, extending far beyond the high-technology world into human behaviour and relationships.

For designers, it reframes the job: the screen or device is a means, while the thing actually being designed is what people do. Behaviour design patterns such as Trigger and Shaping build on that view.