Workshop »Alternating Interfaces«

Timeline

10:00 Meeting in room D226
10:15 Input Kim
10:30 Input Boris
10:45 Team building & kickoff workshop part 1
12:30 Update round
12:45 Lunch
13:30 Workshop part 2
14:45 Presentation & discussion
15:30 Workshop closes

Workshop

Teams of 4 12 FHP & 12 Folkwang → 24 students → 6 teams

Assignment »Design an Interface that should not exist.«

Design an interface that is deliberately problematic—
aesthetically, socially, politically, or epistemically. Show not only what it does, but why it exists and why it
is problematic.

The interface must:

1. be functionally plausible
2. be aesthetically convincing
3. exaggerate a real logic

→ Good projects are too close to reality; they could actually exist, but it would be terrible if they did.

Pitfalls

• Too dystopian → irrelevant (no one would build it)
• Too moralistic → shallow (»Surveillance is bad«)
• Too abstract → no interface (just theory, no form)

Each team defines:

• Systems: What is connected?
• Users: Who uses it (voluntarily or involuntarily)?
• Mechanism: How does the translation work?
• Failure: Why shouldn’t this interface exist?
• Who benefits from this interface?
• How does this interface feel?
• How does it compel users to take certain actions?
• What becomes visible / what remains hidden?

Goal: The problem should not only be explained, but must
be made tangible.

Possible formats for the prototype / presentation:

• physical prototypes
• software sketches
• storyboards
• paper prototypes
• pen & paper visualisations
• performances
• …