Elements of Communication Part 1 by Andy Rutledge

Resources

At Automattic, we like to say that communication is just like oxygen. We think Andy Rutledge would agree.

Quick overview:
In Elements of Communication Part 1 Andy Rutledge explores how important context is to clear communication and how that context and our relationships to one another shape meaning. As Andy notes, the primary goal of any interactive design is to communicate: to inform, to educate, to encourage action of some kind, be it as simple as signing up or shelling out cash for a product or service. In this article, Andy has us consider a face-to-face communication scenario. In detail, he walks us through all the important, unspoken nuances that take place in conversation that convey and affirm meaning, such as posture, gesture, tone of voice, and eye contact. Andy wants us to understand how much more closely we need to consider precisely how we communicate through interactive design when we don’t have the benefit of being face-to-face with our users and customers.