“Help Me! A New Approach to Support Interactions”: Doug Bolin’s talk at IxDA | Interaction ‘08 Conference

Let’s admit it, at some point in even our most elegantly designed interactions, most people will need support, or “Help”. So as interaction designers, we must depend upon support to achieve our design and business goals. Yet traditional support interactions are usually static, included as an afterthought, assume one generic size fits all, and risk compounding confusion.

In his talk at IxDA | Interaction ‘08 Conference, Doug Bolin briefly introduces a new conceptual framework for designing and delivering dynamic, personalized support interactions. Then a case study will concretely illustrate how the framework can be applied in an online setting. Topics and techniques to be covered: how to integrate personalized support thinking throughout the design process, why and how to design personalized support interactions that facilitate just-in-time learning, the technology and interfaces required, and how users can customize their support experience in real time to meet their precise needs.

Doug has been designing interactions for over 25 years in a variety of roles and settings. These include digital, live, and blended interactions for websites, hands-on exhibit spaces, interactive theater, interactive television, videodisc systems, CD-ROM’s, immersive simulations, videogames and emerging media.

Currently an Experience Lead at Avenue A | Razorfish, he has worked with a range of Fortune 500 companies, media networks, government agencies, educational institutions, the military and non-profits. In addition to speaking and publishing on different facets of interaction design, he teaches several graduate courses as an adjunct professor and dabbles in video/multimedia art.