Creative Coding in Interaction Design with Tim Stutts OVERVIEW Creative coding is a practice that is infused in everything from programming 3D-printed furniture to generative, motion graphics for a commercial–essentially any place where design and development can overlap into a singular, art-directed process. But what is its place in the interaction design (UI/UX) field within the highly requirement-driven software industry? Can raw programmatic exploration for the sake of ideation amount to great, usable end-products? As interaction design touches on applications with increasingly advanced, off-screen technologies, traditional deliverables such as wireframes and user-flows in themselves can distance the designer from the technology and fail to fully explore the combined potential of the human and the application. On the other extreme, a designer may choose to work directly with API’s, but find themselves in over their head. The solution and middle ground is the creative coding platform. Presented at FITC Toronto 2014 on April 27-29, 2014 More info at www.FITC.ca

1. CREATIVE CODING IN
INTERACTION DESIGN
!
www.timstutts.com

7. UX

8. • The process wasn't necessarily creative. Could be driven almost
entirely by usability research, pre-existing patterns.
• Wireframes and user-flows, though important to the application design
process, could compartmentalize the imagination.
• Frequently fell behind the technology. Rather than make use of new
technologies, UX would wait for them to be distilled into templates.
• UX rarely tried to make a statement, show something new.
UX FRUSTRATIONS (CIRCA 2009)

9. IBM ‘SMARTER PLANET’ CAMPAIGN
my role: designer / programmer
programmed in: Java (Processing), C++ (OpenFrameworks)
firm: MotionTheory, Los Angeles
date: early 2010

17. CREATIVE CODING
‘Creative Coding’ (originally coined by the commercial world,
where a ‘creative’ is one who makes) encompasses a spectrum
of Designer/Programmer-type roles that emerge from the
unique needs of projects, where traditional design planning
and execution deliverables can no longer fully realize the ideas
made possible through newer technology, for example, specific
needs for branded generative graphics,‘big data’ visualization,
natural user interface, and physical computing.

18. SHINYSHINY

20. • openFrameworks (C++)
• Cinder (C++)
• Processing (Java)
• Three.js (JavaScript)
• Unity (C#)
• Many others!
TOOLS

21. • Individuals are beneficial in the design planning stages, as they
understand the possibilities / limitations of technology.
• Valuable in the execution phase, as they are able to move
back in forth between designing and programming without
intermediate hand-offs.
• Synaptic leaps and bounds through this process allow for new
design discoveries to be made and implemented during
software development.
BENEFITS OF CREATIVE CODING

22. + ?
The Commercial world gets it. Can the interaction
design community in the software industry warm up
to creative coding as part of the process?
UX

23. PushPopDesign specializes in the design and prototyping of
next-generation applications and experiences, along with the
creation of related audio-visual media assets. Harnessing the
combined potential of creativity and technology. Boldly
blending experience design with programmatic exploration.
Embracing best practices at times, but freely shattering them
when they are probative to innovation.

24. OBLONG ‘AIRBORNE BEATS’APPLICATION
my role: designer / programmer
programmed in: C++ (Cinder, g-Speak)
wired in: OmniGraffle
company: Oblong Industries, Los Angeles / Barcelona
date: 2012

36. HONDA ‘DEFENSIVE DRIVING’ HUD CONCEPTS
my role: designer / programmer
programmed in: C++ (openFrameworks)
wired in: OmniGraffle
company: Honda Research Institute, Sunnyvale CA
date: 2013

39. •Seek projects where ‘creative coding’ is beneficial.
•Establish your role and final deliverable expectations early on.
•Be flexible on choice of planning deliverables.
•Address usability issues while in the process of making.
•Know when it’s time to explore, when its time to commit.
LEARNED

40. WATSON LABS DESIGN AND RESEARCH
my role: concept designer
company: IBM,AustinTX
date: 2013 - present

43. WHY MORE INTERACTION DESIGNERS
WILL CODE INTHE FUTURE
• As technology advances,WYSIWYG type tools will become less quick to adapt to
design in conjunction with developing technologies.
• We are in the middle of massive paradigm shift as to what an application is. The
flat web is becoming a smaller piece of the overall landscape for UX possibilities.
• In particular spatial, gestural and data visualization paradigms benefit from a
designer’s ability to get their hands dirty and innovate with actual technology, rather
than just using sticky notes and wires.
• Design education programs are producing more and more students with hybrid
designer/programmer skill-sets to meet the design challenges of tomorrow.

44. THANKYOU
!
www.timstutts.com