Hardware interface design
A Hardware Interface Designer is a transdisciplinary designer who shapes the physical connection between people & computers.
As more and more of the things around us connect to the internet and operate with grander digital implications, the unconsidered controls on these devices begin to matter. Glossy touchscreens have their time & place, as do knobs, buttons, sliders, and switches. An example of a hardware interface could include a control panel for a nuclear power plant[1] or even the cockpit of an aircraft.[2]
By drawing upon the fields of industrial design, interaction design, and electrical engineering these designers are able to transcend the typical boundaries of each respective field in order to prototype and invent physical interfaces that feel, sound, and behave beautifully.
Hardware interface designers have the sensibility of a designer, ingenuity of an engineer, the ability to converse fluently with creative and technical teams, and a limitless passion for learning and tinkering with unproven and cutting edge technologies and user interaction models.
These all then culminate to answer one simple, driving question during the job: what do we want people to feel, when using technology?
The development of hardware interfaces as a field is both unique and budding. More information can be found on the grander subject of interface design here: Interface design
References
- ^ E.E. Shultz. "User interface design in safety parameter display systems: direction for enhancement". Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Lance Sherry. "DESIGNING USER-INTERFACES FOR THE COCKPIT:" (PDF). Society of Automotive Engineers. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
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