Johnny Holland has a fantastic interview with anthropologist and researcher, Genevieve Bell who is the director of Interaction and Experience Research at Intel.

Storytelling and social participation, this woman is speaking my language!

Currently, we are exploring changing notions of storytelling and social participation; charting the shift in use of cameras, phones, and televisions; and hacking the latest screens, printers, and sensors to see what we can make with them, just to name some of our work. (my emphasis)

On collaborating across disciplines: 

DM: On the subject of messiness, designers are stepping up to challenges that address cultural, technological, and political complexity. We’re not only collaborating with other disciplines, but our work itself is becoming transdisciplinary. What do you see as the strengths and limitations of the designer’s contribution? What do we need to be aware of?

GB: I think our biggest challenges (and opportunities) are about creating the possibilities of collaboration. For me, that means we need to invest in making our work, our methods, and our insights intelligible to the broadest possible base. Being transdisciplinary means committing to work across disciplines and across cannons and methodologies. It means we have to be generous and genuine and always committed to moving the conversation forward.

On neo-Marxism, and understanding the whole, socio-political system:

DM: What new skills and knowledge should interaction designers who’ve been focused on screen-based projects be developing now to design for smart objects and environments?

GB: I think there is a lot to be gained for reading the work in material culture from neo-Marxism through the Manchester School and the various American reinterpretations of cultural studies. There is much to be gained from the theoretical perspectives that have been rehearsed in that body of work. I think we need to continue to privilege thinking holistically. Even if you are not designing for the whole system or the whole environment, I suspect you need to understand it. For me, that means we also need to attend to ideas of power, both social and political, as it has much to do with these news spaces we find ourselves exploring. (my emphasis)

Bell’s interview does a good job of highlighting the importance of social sciences in design and design research. Who knew that my BA in Sociology would come in handy in this way? I certainly didn’t.

Lots more yummy brain food in her interview — go read the whole thing.  You can also catch her at Interaction 12 in Dublin as she will be one of the keynote speakers.