Over the summer, while travelling and working, I kept a note of some ideas I had for my dissertation, whenever something popped into my head I wrote it down to give me a starting point for my idea generation in final year. I noticed different everyday problems people have, especaily when travelling in europe I noticed the lifestyle they have and how comaprred to the UK and Ireland, is drastically different. I was also inspired by events that occurred over the summer around the world and by working in a nursery, my notes app is shown below. I think it will be interesting to see if I end up with any of these ideas in a couple weeks when I decide on the final idea for my dissertation.

To begin my idea generation I started off using some idea generation methods, firstly, I choose 2 digital products that I use and then wrote one advantage and done disadvantage to each product. Then I started writing some ideas that I would potentially be interested in for an idea for my dissertation. I circled two ideas, as you can see below that sparked my interest. I was thinking I could maybe combine these two ideas together to create a new idea, however I will continue my research further, before locking in an idea.

The next research method I used was, I created a sticky note scatter board to explore what people use digital products for. This helped me visualise the different interactions people have with technology, from communication to online shopping, giving me an insight into some user needs.

Next, I brainstormed words that related to Interaction Design, to give me a refresher on some principles and features behind digital experiences. Seeing these post it notes together makes it easier for me to visualise what people use and what they use the products for.

I decided to complete some Trend Research, exploring some social, cultural or technological trends that are relevant to today. I thought this would be a good way to look at some key points of interest in today’s world and give me some inspiration for an idea. Below are a couple of articles I read.

This article talks about how AI is becoming the next big bubble, suggesting that it is slowly becoming similar to the late 2020–2021 cryptocurrency bubble, and the 2022 NFT bubble. It explains that the hype around AI is not really backed up by much progress, they aren’t actually that useful or even profitable and investors are realising this. The writer says that while AI is still being focused on, there is already something else brewing.

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“Speculation rules the world. It didn’t used to. But from the 1980s through to 2008, something changed. Investors realised that they could get far more return from hype than from any kind of legitimate business”

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The AI Bubble Is About To Burst, But The Next Bubble Is Already Growing

THis article questioned whether AI will improve dating apps or make them worse. It a states that a “quarter of American singles now use ai to enhance their dating profiles and write messages”. This piece points out that users a re now relying on AI features to write attractive and successful messages for the user in hopes of gaining more interest.

Recently Tinder has launched a new feature that AI suggests to he user possible partners based on their preferences, similar to Hinge that has a new ai-powered matching algorithm and which personalised prompts to encourage users into more stimulating conversations. Users may feel more suspicous of other users as AI becomes more integrated, in which has resulted in a delcine of the use of these apps.

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“Some have already complained of being “Chatgpt-ed into bed” by a match’s computer-generated charm.”

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Will AI make dating apps better—or even worse?

After looking at a couple articles surrounding what current trends are going on within Interaction Design, I realised that I wasn't sure I wanted to write about current trends or emerging technologies such as AI, as I felt these topics were likely to be overused and could risk becoming irrelevant as realistically we cannot predict how the future will turn out. Instead, I wanted to focus on something timeless and impactful, I wanted to write about something I am passionate about but also would like to learn more about.

Since I knew I wanted an idea that I am passionate about, I wanted to jot some of these down, I completed some affinity mapping, firstly I wrote some personal interests, including interests outside of IXD. Then in another colour I added some topics associated with IXD, such as AI, Design, VR/AR etc.