Metaphor
Interaction Design is married to language, as design is synonymous with communication. To create a compelling behavior means to have a cohesive dialogue with a person, and in order to speak with a person, we must first know, respect and understand a bit about that person. Consider the alienation that occurs in a foreign land where one does not speak the native language; the sense of anxiety, yet the embracement of possibility is the same space that a person encounters when first discovering an interaction design.
A designer does not simply create an object; the importance of understanding the long term dialogue that occurs with a product focuses around the cultural methods of use and misuse that a person engages in with this object. Consider a teddy bear; the bear becomes worn, loved, the nose bitten off, the seams begin to sag. This bear has spoken, as has the user, and the course of the dialogue has created a relationship between inanimate (albeit highly personified) object and human. The language the bear speaks are the words of emotion; we understand the bear as on object, yet we love it as a human.
Design is to communicate, and this communication is not a monolog. It is a dialogue of persuasion, and argument, and learning. Rhetorical argument implies a sense of purpose, as is demonstrated by Richard Buchanan: "Indeed, design is an art of communication on two levels: it attempts to persuade audiences not only that a given design is useful, but also that the designer's premises or attitudes and values regarding practical life or the proper role of technology are important, as well". Consider the designer who works on the next generation of cell phones, dealing with the physical form of the telephone, the material and manufacturing choices, as well as the software interface that a user encounters to perform calls. We can view this designer's communication on several levels; on a highly superficial level, we could discuss the implications of using brushed aluminum and long, slender lines to illustrate a sense of futurism and references to technology in architecture. We could delve deeper, and consider the usability of the phone - has the designer created a well structured dialogue, so the user and object can communicate efficiently and effectively? And finally, we could consider the argument the designer has made by choosing to design cellular communication at all. They may be - implicitly, obviously - making a statement concerning the benefits technology has awarded us with rapid communication across geographical boundaries. Or, the commentary may be considered more superficial: I Make Cool Things.
The communication of language can be considered on a level of content, and can also be thought of on a level of clarity. How well is the message, whatever it may be, disseminated? Has the styling been corrupted through poor materials or lost in translation as the product traveled to China to be manufactured? Does the message communicated through software make sense when viewed in light of the hardware?