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It’s up to you! - Cast your vote for the 2014 People’s Choice Award

We're looking forward to celebrating the winners of the 2014 Interaction Awards, but the most prestigious one is left to choose: The People’s Choice Award.  

We invite our community to elevate and celebrate the project you think deserves the ultimate recognition - yours! The Interaction Awards’ People’s Choice voting is now open at http://awards.ixda.org/entries. All of the shortlisted projects are eligible for the Award and you have the power to decide the outcome.

How it works
This year we are trying something new - we are going social, utilizing Facebook as our voting system. Each LIKE for a project equals a vote and You can LIKE as many projects as you want. Be precious though, the more projects you like the more your vote gets diluted.

Cast your vote and follow our announcement on February 8th to see how your vote compares to our jurors' selections. The 2012 winner, Interaction Cubes by Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Museu da Vida, from Brazil, was also a top winner--taking home best in category, Engaging, but the 2013 winner, UX For Good: New Orleans was a shortlist candidate voted up by the community. Anything can happen!

Spread the word and promote your favorite projects before voting closes on February 8th at 9am CET. The winner of the People’s Choice Award will be announced at Interaction 14 in Amsterdam. We hope to see you there!

Three weeks ago, our global Jury met at Fabrica in Italy to review all of the shortlisted entries and choose the best examples of Interaction Design for 2014. It was a daunting task to select up to five finalists per category, but our amazing jury was up to the challenge. We’re pleased to announce the finalists of the 2014 Interaction Awards, all of whom will be celebrated at Interaction14 in Amsterdam 5-8 of February, 2014. Best in Category, Best Concept, Best Student, Best in Show and the winner of the People's Choice Award (all 91 shortlisted projects are eligible, with voting starting first week of January 2014) will be announced live at the Interaction Awards Celebration on Saturday evening, 8th of February. This will be a wonderful way to close out Interaction14 and celebrate.

Congratulations to the 2014 Interaction Awards finalists!

Optimizing

Making daily activities more efficient.

• Delta Brand Transformation, AKQA, Professional, US
• SAP Scouting, SAP Labs LLC, Professional, US
• Swegon IQ-Navigator – A Handheld Control Unit, Veryday, Professional, SE
• Terrarium – living maps, IUAV University of Venice, Student, IT        

Engaging

Capturing attention, creating delight and delivering meaning.

• Addicted Products, TU Delft / Haque Design Research, Student, IT
• Gallery One, Professional, US
• Megaphone, The National Film Board of Canada, Professional, CA
• Storsjöodjurscenter – an interactive monster laboratory, Unsworn Industries, Professional, SE
• Walls Have Ears, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Student, DK            

Empowering

Enabling people to go beyond their limits.

• Fittle, National Institute of Design, Student, IN
• Juice Box, Artefact, Professional, US
• Ledger Link, Grameen Foundation AppLab, Professional, UG
• Pivot, Public Practice Studio at the University of Washington, Student, US
• Scritch, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Student, JP              

Expressing

Encouraging self expression and/or creativity.

• Adobe Kuler iPhone App, Adobe Systems, Inc., Professional, US
• Dr. Wagon, Stanford University - Transformative Learning Technologies Laboratory, Student, US
• Iterazer, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, Student, DE
• Personal Billboard: Expression for the Here & Now, Intel Labs & Teague Design, Professional, US

Connecting

Facilitating communication between people and communities.

• The Emerging Issues Commons, Second Story Interactive Studios, Professional, US
• KonneKt: a social game for isolated children in the hospital, Delft University of Technology, Student, NL
• MetaCancer’s Mosaic, Intuitive Company, Professional, US
• The Redesigned NYC.gov, Huge, Professional, US        

Disrupting

Re-imagining completely an existing product or service by creating new behaviors, usages or markets.

• Avena+ Test Bed, Royal College of Art, Student, GB
• Fisher-Price® Little People™ Apptivity™ Barnyard, Fisher-Price, Professional, US
• goBalto Tracker 2.0, goBalto, Inc., Professional, US
• Public Health England – Longer Lives, SapientNitro + Public Health England, Professional, GB
• RCS 5 Boomer, Atlas Copco, Professional, SE          

Special thanks again to Fabrica for being a sponsor to the Interaction Awards and hosting the jury weekend. We look forward to seeing you in Amsterdam at Interaction14!

It's about a week since we wrapped up our stay in Italy, and we look back at a truly exhilarating weekend with our jury of globally recognized thought leaders.

After 10 months of planning and conspiring the 2014 Interaction Awards jury gathered at the amazing Fabrica campus outside Treviso. Over the weekend in Italy our esteemed group of 6 and our jury chair went through an incredible portfolio of work from all over the world, evaluating each entry based on context, opportunity, impact and craft. It was a daunting task we asked of them. It’s was hectic, sometimes heated, and a lot of the time excruciatingly difficult to select the pieces worthy of international recognition, but our amazing Jury was up to the challenge.

We’ve had a record number of entries for the 2014 Interaction Awards, and the quality of the body of entries has been amazing. In it’s third year, the Awards is delighted to see an increased amount of work from industries not traditionally associated with Interaction design, exposing projects and experiences that are not necessary mainstream, but in an of itself important and sometimes critical for their intended audience.

We are also very pleased to see an increased number of entries from outside USA and Europe. We recognize that we want to see even more work from outside the traditional strongholds of our profession, and this will have a continued focus in developing the Interaction Awards moving forward.

It is no coincidence that we spent the weekend in Treviso. Today, we are pleased to officially recognize Fabrica as a 2014 Interaction Awards sponsor. Fabrica is a true hub for creative and disruptive discourse, and a perfect stage for the Interaction Awards jury weekend. The campus on the outskirts of Treviso house some of the worlds best creative talents across a multiple disciplines, and we are proud to welcome Fabrica on board as a champion of the Interaction Awards.

We look forward to announce our finalists december 1st, meanwhile; Buona fortuna accordataci ea presto!

Announcing the 2014 Interaction Awards Shortlist!

We're excited to announce the shortlist of entries for the 2014 Interaction Awards. Out of the 350 projects submitted from around the world, 91 projects from 18 countries have been elevated for consideration. Many thanks to all who shared their stories and submitted their work. Congratulations to those who have been selected.

Many thanks to our legion of international peer reviewers who helped narrow down the work and to our Jury who added additional projects for consideration.

2014 Interaction Awards Shortlist:

Optimizing

Making daily activities more efficient.

• Artemis -  McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Salesforce.com - FX, Professional, US
• Cerner's Population Health: Smart Registries, Cerner Corp., Professional, US
• Delta Brand Transformation, AKQA, Professional, US
• Engineering EduKit, Artefact, Professional, US
• Enjoy Your Passion, Jeppesen GmbH, Professional, DE
• KLM, redefined flight search, Mirabeau b.v., Professional, NL
• Lego Calendar, Vitamins, Professional, GB
• MobilePay by Danske Bank, In2media, Professional, DK
• Nike+ Kinect Training, AKQA, Professional, GB
• Point Break, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design , Student, DK
• SAP Scouting, SAP Labs LLC, Professional, US
• Swegon IQ-Navigator - A Handheld Control Unit, Veryday, Professional, SE
• Terrarium - living maps, IUAV University of Venice, Student, IT
• Wassenburg Endoscope Cleaning - Touch interface, VanBerlo, Professional, NL          

Engaging

Capturing attention, creating delight and delivering meaning.

• Addicted Products, Student, NL
• Blind Duck Hunt, Copenhaden Institute of Interaction Design, Student, CA
• Burgundy Jazz, Catbird Productions, inc, Professional, CA
• Compass: A concept for Google Glass and the Bronx Zoo, Moment, Professional, US
• Fittle, National Institute of Design, Student, IN
• Gallery One, Professional, US
• Iceberg, ATOMIC3, Professional, CA
• The International Space Orchestra, Student, US
• Learning is a Breeze, Formula D interactive, Professional, ZA
• Megaphone, The National Film Board of Canada, Professional, CA
• Merrill Edge - Face Retirement, Starcom, Professional, US
• Pareidolic Robot, Student, GB
• Sentiment Analysis Project, Thomson Reuters, Professional, GB
• Storsjöodjurscenter – an interactive monster laboratory, Unsworn Industries, Professional, SE
• Target Thursday Lights, Target, Professional, US
• The HypeMeter, SapientNitro, Professional, US
• The Living Cell, CLEVER°FRANKE, Professional, NL
• Walls Have Ears, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Student, DK
• WWF Together, AKQA, Professional, US                  

Empowering

Enabling people to go beyond their limits.

• Artefact Juice Box, Artefact, Professional, US
• Breathe.Easy Asthma Management, Umeå Institute of Design, Student, SE
• Consumer Barometer, CLEVER°FRANKE, Professional, NL
• The Finnish Law Legislative Drafting Process Guide, Professional, FI
• Fittle, National Institute of Design, Student, IN
• IK BEN STER(K). A peer-to-peer talent development platform empowering young adults, Creating 010 - Hogeschool Rotterdam, Student, NL
• Iris – Calgary Board of Education, Habanero Consulting Group, Professional, CA
• Ledger Link, Grameen Foundation AppLab, Professional, UG
• Memory Maps, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Student, DK
• NOM, School of Visual Arts, Student, US
• Philips EchoNavigator, Philips Design, Professional, NL
• Pivot, Public Practice Studio at the University of Washington, Student, US
• QardioArm, Vitamins, Professional, GB
• Scritch, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Student, JP
• Tele-Panchayat, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Student, IN
• three.js playGnd, Branger_Briz, Professional, US                

Expressing

Encouraging self expression and/or creativity.

• Adobe Kuler iPhone app, Adobe Systems, Inc., Professional, US
• Bank of America - Express Your Thanks, Starcom, Professional, US
• DIRTI for iPad, User Studio, Professional, FR
• Dr. Wagon, Student, Student, US
• Fisher-Price® Little People™ Apptivity™ Barnyard, Fisher-Price, Professional, US
• Indigo Studio, Infragistics, Inc., Professional, US
• Iterazer, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, Student, DE
• MasterCard Miyamo, R/GA , Professional, US
• Personal Billboard: Expression for the Here & Now, Intel Labs & Teague Design, Professional, US
• Standard Chartered Bank - Tech Ball, SapientNitro, Professional, GB
• The Boticário Makeup for iPad and iPhone, Welab Design and Innovation, Professional, BR
• The School of Life Project, Blink UX, Professional, US          
• TOTEM Tangible Interactions, Smart Design, Professional, US

Connecting

Facilitating communication between people and communities.

• Community Slate, University of Washington, Student, US
• The Emerging Issues Commons, Professional, US
• Hello bank! Live on- and offline co-creation, USEEDS° GmbH, Professional, DE
• KonneKt: a social game for isolated children in the hospital, Delft University of Technology, Student, NL
• Livox - Alternative Communication App, Agora Eu Consigo Tecnologias de Inclusão Social Ltda, Professional, BR
• MetaCancer's Mosaic, Intuitive Company, Professional, US
• Music Under the City, School of Visual Arts, Student, US
• Pemory, National Chengchi University, Student, TW
• PINGMD, PINGMD, Professional, US
• Postcard Poets, School of Visual Arts, Student, US
• RBS - Get Cash, SapientNitro , Professional, GB
• The Redesigned NYC.gov, Huge, Professional, US
• TIM BLABLAMETER, R/GA Sao Paulo, Professional, BR
• Xero, Xero, Professional, NZ              

Disrupting

Re-imagining completely an existing product or service by creating new behaviors, usages or markets.

• Avena+ Test Bed, Student, GB
• Briggo Coffee Haus, SapientNitro, Professional, US
• Fisher-Price® Little People™ Apptivity™ Barnyard, Fisher-Price, Professional, US
• goBalto Tracker 2.0, goBalto, Inc., Professional, US
• iGaranti - revolutionising the way we bank, FJORD , Professional, GB
• MyLook Magic Mirror, SapientNitro, Professional, US
• Public Health England - Longer Lives, SapientNitro + Public Health England, Professional, GB
• RANDO, ustwo™, Professional, GB
• RCS 5 Boomer, Atlas Copco, Professional, SE
• Scritch, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Student, JP
• Squared, Umeå Institute of Design, Student, US
• The Feed from Getty Images, R/GA London, Professional, US
• The Haptic Drive, Umeå Institute of Design, Student, SI
• Triia, Umeå Institute of Design, Student, SI
• X-Porte Ultrasound System, Fujifilm SonoSite, Professional, US              

Our Jury have been going over the shortlist this weekend in Treviso, Italy. Special thanks to Fabrica for being a sponsor to the Interaction Awards and hosting the jury weekend.

The finalists will be announced December 1st, with winners announced on February 8th in Amsterdam at Interaction14. We hope to see you there!

We’re mixing things up a bit, with the best of intentions. Instead of announcing the Shortlist on November 1st, we’re going to announce it while at the Jury weekend, on November 10th.

Why? Well, the Jury want to make their jobs even more challenging!

We have a shortlist that emerged from our Peer Review process, conducted by 130 designers, academics and leaders from around the world. The caliber of work entered was astonishing, and drawing the line at 12 per category was incredibly difficult. At the Jury Weekend the 9th-10th of November at Fabrica, our Jury want the opportunity to (potentially) elevate additional entries to the shortlist based on their review of their entire category as a portfolio of work. This means we may see more than 12 entries per category shortlisted, and the Jury can then ensure the shortlist for their category represents the depth and breadth of entries to consider as they narrow to the finalists and winners.

It's hard to wait, but it means we’ll get to tell even submitters they've been shortlisted.

A critical part of the Interaction Awards is the Peer Review process. Rather than having the jury evaluate all entries (which could never happen in a weekend), we ask designers and colleagues from around the world to share their time with us and to review 5 or more entries. Our goal is to have each entry viewed by a minimum of three people.

Wondering how the entries are evaluated?

Each entry was asked to provide information about Opportunity, Audience, Impact and Craft. They also have an opportunity to provide some images and a video to bring the project to life. We ask our Peer Reviewers to rate them along the same dimensions, while taking care to evaluate the project in and of itself, not comparatively across the entries.

OPPORTUNITY

In the submission, we asked: Looking at the driving force behind the project, what challenge or opportunity is the project addressing? Is the intent clear?

Peer reviewers are asked: How well did the team identify the opportunity & intent of the project?

AUDIENCE

In the submission, we asked: How well did the project team understand the people most impacted by the project –its intended audience– and design for that audience? In what contexts is this product or service to be used?

Peer reviewers are asked: How well did the team demonstrate understanding of the audience, their contexts of use, and design for that?

IMPACT

In the submission, we asked: How well did the project deliver on its intended impact, against the challenge at hand (opportunity addressed), the audience (needs & behavior addressed), and the business (profit, cost, brand)?

Peer reviewers are asked: How well did the team deliver on its intended impact?

CRAFT

In the submission, we asked: How well did the project team convey their design process? How well did the final project demonstrate its elegance in language, functionality, and use, as it supports human interaction? How well does the final project demonstrate attention to detail, fit and finish, and how the chosen medium serves the purpose and goals of the design?

Peer reviewers are asked: How well did the team demonstrate craft?

The Peer Review process will help us narrow down the body of work to 12 per category, making up 72 shortlisted entries that will be taken into the Jury Weekend. We will announce the shortlist by November 1. All shortlisted entries will be eligible for the People's Choice process, opening January 2014.

Thank you again to all who have entered! We are privileged to hear the stories you are sharing, and we cannot wait to bring that back out to the community.

What an exciting time! Interaction Design work from around the world has been shared, and we cannot wait to start our peer review process on 2 October!

Here’s what you can expect over the next several months:

October:  All entries will be peer reviewed and shortlisted. Up to 12 entries per category will be shortlisted and announced by November 2013.

November:  The shortlisted entries will be evaluated by our 2014 Interaction Awards Jury to evaluate on the weekend of November 9-10 at Fabrica in Treviso, Italy. Finalists will be announced by December 2013.

January: All shortlisted entries will be eligible for the People’s Choice Award, which will open up for voting throughout January in the lead-up to Interaction14. Be sure to encourage voting for you, as everyone is eligible!

February: Winners will be celebrated and announced at Interaction14 in Amsterdam 5-8 February, 2014. Each finalist entry is eligible for one free Interaction14 registration, and can accept your finalist trophy and “Best-in” category and show winning trophies.

Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thank you again!

Here's your chance to push it across the line.

Share you story, submit to the 2014 Interaction Awards!

Enter now!

Check the time where you are!

Questions? Ask us!

Today's your day!

There's still time to share your story and submit your great work to the 2014 Interaction Awards.

Trying to figure out what time it is for where you are in the world?

(or here's a countdown for those of you who enjoy pressure!)

Make the work for our peer reviewers and jury members difficult. Celebrate your work!

Sunday has arrived. That means you have one more day to pull together your story and celebrate your good work with the 2014 Interaction Awards!

You have until tomorrow, Monday 30 September, at 11:59 EDT to enter. Go go go! Start an entry, or finish one you've begun. We want to celebrate work from around the world!

Enter now!

The deadline for submission to the 2014 Interaction Awards is next Monday, 30 September at 11:59 EST.

You have seven days - now's the time - enter now!

The Interaction Awards recognize and celebrate examples of excellence in Interaction Design across domains, channels, environments and cultures. We're looking for work from around the world that showcases the best that Interaction Design can offer across six categories:

Connecting:  Facilitating communication between people and communities.

Engaging:  Capturing attention, creating delight and delivering meaning.

Empowering:  Enabling people to go beyond their limits.

Expressing:  Encouraging self expression and/or creativity.

Disrupting:  Re-imagining completely an existing product or service by creating new behaviors, usages or markets.

Optimizing:  Making daily activities more efficient.

See last year’s award winners for sample projects in each category.

Entry to the awards competition is open to all companies, individuals and students. Check out the rules for more details.

A shortlist of up to 72 projects will be announced publicly by November 2013, and will be showcased online. We’ll invite the community to evaluate the shortlist and their favorites for People’s Choice.

The shortlisted projects will be evaluated by the Interaction Awards Jury at an on-site final judging event at Fabrica in Treviso, Italy, November 9-10, 2013. Up to five finalist winners in each category will be announced shortly thereafter and will receive one registration to the Interaction14 conference in Amsterdam in February 2014, where we’ll announce the Best in Category, Best in Student, Best in Show, People’s Choice and IxDA Future Voice Award winners. All winners will receive a trophy and all Best in winners a cash prize.

Be proud! Inspire others with your work. Let's showcase what's happening globally.

In just two weeks, submissions will close for the 2014 Interaction Awards. Will you be giving our Jury the opportunity to celebrate your work?

There is still plenty of time for you to submit. Enter now!

Here are some common misconceptions about the Awards. If you haven’t submitted yet due to any of these reasons, we’ll tell you why we think you should reconsider:

I work on an established product. Isn’t this for new products and services?

We want to celebrate impactful Interaction Design, be it with a new or established product/service. Maybe you’ve redesigned a part of your product; or perhaps you’ve incorporated something new into your service. Did the new work address the opportunity area? Have you seen impact? Pick a category and share your story!

I’m not an Interaction Designer. We have no one with that title working on our project.

It doesn’t matter what you are (or aren’t) called. Interaction Design is about designing a product or service that enables people to interact with an object, another person, a system, a service, and does so with impact to the opportunity area. What matters are these two things:

1. You have deep understanding of the people you’re making your product/service for, and your solution has great impact addressing an identified opportunity for them.

2. You should be able to say that your product or service is demonstrating at least one of the following categories:

“Our product/service is…”

Connecting:  Facilitating communication between people and communities.

Engaging:  Capturing attention, creating delight and delivering meaning.

Empowering:  Enabling people to go beyond their limits.

Expressing:  Encouraging self expression and/or creativity.

Disrupting:  Re-imagining completely an existing product or service by creating new behaviors, usages or markets.

Optimizing:  Making daily activities more efficient.

I have a concept but I haven’t built it.

It’s ok! Are you able to demonstrate that your concept has impact? Just show that your concept shows potential impact to the people you’ve designed it for. Be it through prototyping or concept evaluation, impact on the opportunity area and the people you’re designing for is key.

I don’t have a glossy video, so why even bother?

This is not about production value; this is about your story. Bring your story to life. It can be as simple as sitting in front of the camera and telling us about your work and impact. You can show other people engaging with your product and service. You can bring your project process to life. It’s your chance to demonstrate impact beyond what your written words and images could do. Don’t be shy; turn the camera on! [Also - we don’t mind if videos are not in English. The written entry needs to be in English, but your video need not be.]

We don’t work for a big agency, and our project doesn’t have a big budget.

We encourage you to take a look at the finalists for 2012 and 2013. It's commercial and concept. It’s a huge mix of big agency, small shop, in-house, consultancy, entrepreneur, not-for-profit and student work.

Overall, stop that dialog in your mind that might be saying your work couldn’t compare. It’s about looking at each project independently and evaluating how well the project met its objectives and delivered impact to its recipients. Your work is evaluated in and of itself, first and foremost. How do we choose finalists? It comes down to how well did any one project better create impact and address its audience over another. This allows the jury to look at projects as wide as a bicycle scheme meant to encourage biking and reducing auto congestion down to the smallest of interactions within a product.

Celebrate your work! Take pride, share your work with the world.

We'd like to introduce you to Matt Nish-Lapidus and the category of Connecting.

Matt is a Design Director at Normative in Toronto, Canada, and sits on the Board of Directors for IxDA. Read more about him and his work.

Connecting:  Facilitating communication between people and communities.

We asked:

1. Why is it important for us to recognise Connecting in Interaction Design?

Connecting is the ultimate expression of the power that well designed system and technology can have on people and society. Almost every system that we design has, at its core, an exchange between people in order to share, collaborate, and communicate. Recognizing work that highlights this type of connecting ability helps us move our focus from the pragmatic use of technology to accomplish tasks towards a more holistic view where technological systems facilitate people working together. Using our craft to understand and enhance the connections people have with each other and with their communities is one of the best ways in which we can have a positive impact on our society.

2.  What kind of projects come to mind when you think of Connecting?

Connecting projects can fall under a wide range of organizations and types of work. Social networks, enterprise intranets, forum platforms, team collaboration tools, and social activity trackers all enable different types of connections. These systems help people work together, share knowledge, develop relationships, and even compete against one another. All of those things are type of connections that enrich our lives. Examples of well known products that I could see in this category include RunKeeper/HealthGraph API, Discourse, Google Hangouts, and many more.

Thanks, Matt! Looking forward to your perspective on the jury.

Can you see your work in this category? Looking for more inspiration? Take a look at the finalists from the past two years:

Obama for America Mobile Campaign, the 2013 Interaction Award Best in Category for Connecting. See all of the finalists and winners from 2013.

Pepsi Refresh Project, the 2012 Interaction Award Best in Category for Connecting. See all of the finalists and winners from 2012.

What Interaction Design work do you think of when you think of “Connecting”?

We'd like to introduce you to Xin Xiangyang and the category of Disruption.

Xin is a Professor and Dean at the School of Design for Jiangnan University in Wuxi, China. Read more about him and his work.

Disrupting:  Re-imagining completely an existing product or service by creating new behaviors, usages or markets.

We asked:

1.  Why is it important for us to recognise Disrupting in Interaction Design?

As behaviors are common subjects of interaction design along with other attributes of actions including people, their purposes, means of support, and contexts in which behaviors are taken place, it is important and natural to recognize the mutually affecting relations among different attributes of actions. While new products and services lead to new behaviours new behaviors may redefine existing products and services.

2. What kind of projects come to mind when you think of Disrupting?

Educational products, games, location based services, Apps, and etc.  

Thanks, Xin! Looking forward to your perspective on the jury.

Can you see your work in this category? Looking for more inspiration? Take a look at the finalists from the past two years:

Nike+ FuelBand, the 2013 Interaction Award Best in Category for Disrupting. See all of the finalists and winners from 2013.

Ford SmartGauge, the 2012 Interaction Award Best in Category for Disrupting. See all of the finalists and winners from 2012.

What Interaction Design work do you think of when you think of “Disrupting”?

We’d like to introduce you to Aaron Siegel and the category of Expressing.

Aaron is the Head of Interaction and Online Experience at Fabrica in Treviso, Italy. Read more about him and his work.

Expressing:  Encouraging self expression and/or creativity.

We asked:

1. Why is it important for us to recognise Expressing in Interaction Design?

Creating new means to empower individuals with the ability to express themselves creatively is a difficult task requiring intensive thought and skilled implementation. Well designed new tools and platforms offer new mediums and methods for creative expression. The products of these tools propagate and a culture begins to develop around them that is focused primarily on creation, innovation and sharing. The continual change in design of the technologies that allow people to create new cultures is important and worth recognizing.

2.  What kind of projects come to mind when you think of Expressing?

Reactable – http://www.reactable.com/

Makey Makey – http://www.makeymakey.com/

Vine –https://vine.co/

Three.js – http://threejs.org/

Thanks, Aaron! Looking forward to your perspective on the jury.

Can you see your work in this category? Looking for more inspiration? Take a look at the finalists from the past two years:

Paper, the 2013 Interaction Award Best in Category for Expressing.

See all of the finalists and winners from 2013.

LoopLoop, the 2012 Interaction Award Best in Category for Expressing.

See all of the finalists and winners from 2012.

‍

What Interaction Design work do you think of when you think of “Expressing”?

‍

Ahhh, we have some breathing room.

Good news! We’ve looked at the schedule, considered when we need to hold peer reviews and when the Jury will meet, and have determined we can extend the 2014 Interaction Awards submission deadline from 15 September to 30 September!

What does that mean? No excuse now – celebrate your work! Enter!

Work with enterprise products? You’re working on tools and experiences that impact the worklife of many. From an improvement of an existing system to a totally new product, think about the impact your work is having and share your stories!

Work with a start-up? Are you on to something that will change the way people live, work, or interact? Maybe you’re still in the concept stages but want to showcase the idea, or you’re up and running and seeing great impact. Share your stories!

Work in healthcare? Are you changing how healthcare is provided, or impacting the experience of patients and staff? Share your stories!

Work in an agency? Are you partnering with your clients to create cross-channel experiences? Are you dabbling with transactional work as well as those pushing the boundaries of design? Share your stories!

Work in-house? Perhaps your products have been around for a while, and your team is introducing new features and services around it. Or maybe you’ve introduced a new product or service all together. Share your stories!

Are you a student? Your concept work is plenty, and you’ve got a portfolio to strengthen. Maybe you’ve come up with something on your own or with other students. Share your stories!

The entry is easy. You can read all about the rules, but here are the basics:

Pick a category (or submit to more than one): Connecting, Engaging, Empowering, Expressing, Disrupting, Optimizing.

Tell us about your project – What opportunity was the project addressing? Who were you designing for? What impact did your project have? What was the design process?

Then share a couple of images and a video that can bring the project to life. We’re not looking for high-production quality, nor gloss. Tell us your story, in the way you’re able to.

Large company or small, student or professional, we need to celebrate great examples Interaction Design. Enter today!

The Interaction Awards rely on the individual and collective experience of its esteemed jury to evaluate and consider the work submitted from around the world. During the jury weekend, each juror will be on point for representing one category’s work to the rest of the jury. We’d like to introduce you to our jury and give you some insight into the categories you can submit your work against, be it student, concept or commercial work. We’ve asked our jury members to give us some thoughts about why their category was important in Interaction Design and what kind of work comes to mind when they think of that category.

Today’s introduction: Anab Jain and the category of Empowering

Anab is the Founder and Co-Director of London- and India-based design studio Superflux, serving as a consultancy and a research lab. Read more about her and her work.

Empowering: Enabling people to go beyond their limits.

We asked:

1. Why is it important for us to recognise Empowering in Interaction Design?

The name says it all : Empowering: Enabling people to go beyond their limits. Interaction Design projects that can play a role in increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices, and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes, needs recognition. Also projects that are able to build new opportunities for communities, or create power shifts within formal or informal structures in favour of the lesser blessed deserves public acknowledgement.

I would also consider empowering from the perspective of the designers or the makers. So projects which push the limits of what’s possible, projects done under difficult or under trying circumstances, projects which explore the new interaction paradigms or technologies become inspirations within the community and are empowering in that sense.

2. What kind of projects come to mind when you think of Empowering?

Within the sort of broader remit of Interaction Design, these projects come to mind:

http://www.ushahidi.com/
http://drones.pitchinteractive.com/
http://blog.safecast.org/
http://www.fairphone.com/
https://ahwaa.org/
https://crowdvoice.org/
http://fffff.at/free-universal-construction-kit/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa
http://f-l-o-a-t.com/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/694835844/pool-tile-by-tile
http://www.grampower.com/

This list could go on, but I’ll stop here for now.

Thanks, Anab! Looking forward to your perspective on the jury.

Can you see your work in this category? Looking for more inspiration? Take a look at the winners from the past two years, and check out the finalists and shortlisters too!

ZocDoc, the 2013 Interaction Award Best in Category for Empowering. See all of the finalists and winners from 2013.

ReadyforZero, the 2012 Interaction Award Best in Category for Empowering. See all of the finalists and winners from 2012.

What Interaction Design work do you think of when you think of “Empowering”?

As we’ve just hit the one month mark for the submission deadline, we thought we’d give you an update on what’s going on in the Interaction Awards HQ.

After a (normal) slow start, we are starting to see the rate of submissions picking up. Traditionally we know that people like to wait up until the last minute before hitting the submit button, and in anticipation of this we have run our server hamsters through intensive training to prepare for the last-minute onslaught of submissions.

Last weekend the Interaction Awards joined the IxDA Board of Directors and the Interaction14 committee for a 3-day full-on planning & strategy session in Amsterdam, the host city of next year’s conference, and of course the 2014 Interaction Awards ceremony.

The rich history of Amsterdam, combined with its innovative design and architecture scene, equals a unique location for the international interaction design community that’s gathering come February.

Although we’ve been sent pictures and elaborate planning schematics from our esteemed crew on the ground in Amsterdam, the value of eyeing the possible event venues in person has really started to get our creative juices flowing in terms of the execution of the event itself. The conference crew has done a great job securing some of the most exiting and creative spaces in the city. You are truly in for a treat!

Although we are not able to disclose all the goodness that will meet you in Amsterdam in February next year, we can reveal that the Awards ceremony will take place on February 8th and will be the final event on the conference program. The Awards Ceremony is seen as the culmination of the conference and the celebration of both the finalists as well as the community. Even though you may not end up with a trophy in your hand, we can guarantee you that you will have an unforgettable time, in a unique location with some of the best, brightest and most interesting minds in our industry.

A big shout out goes to the volunteers that are making this possible, both on the ground in Amsterdam, and elsewhere around the globe. We can proudly say we’re on track for an incredible conference, and the best Interaction Awards to date. You don’t want to miss out on this one!

Seriously… Don’t…

Back in November 2012, our esteemed 2013 jury met in New York to evaluate the shortlist of projects and select the winners of the 2013 Interaction Design Awards. As a part of that process, Christian Svanes Kolding created short documentaries around the process of evaluation. In the midst, he asked our jurors, “What is the state of Interaction Design today?” Here are some of their thoughts. How would you respond?

Along the same lines, we asked our inaugural 2012 jury how they defined Interaction Design.

The 2014 Interaction Awards are now open until 30 September 2013 for submissions. In its third year, the Interaction Awards recognize and celebrate examples of excellence in Interaction Design across domains, channels, environments and cultures. We’re excited to continue inspiring the global Interaction Design community to share, discuss and celebrate excellence. Enter now!

We are honored to have Dr. Genevieve Bell, Intel Fellow and Director of Interaction and Experience Research, Intel Labs as this year’s Interaction Awards Jury Chair. Dr. Bell is joined by an international panel of experts across design domains. The six jury members for 2014 are:

Aaron Siegel (Treviso, Italy)
Head of Interaction and Online Experience, Fabrica

Anab Jain (London, UK and Ahmedabad, India)
Founder and Co-Director, Superflux

Fiona Raby (London, England)
Partner, Dunne & Raby and Professor of Industrial Design, University of Applied Arts, Vienna

Matt Nish-Lapidus (Toronto, Canada)
Design Director, Normative and Board of Directors, IxDA

Simona Maschi (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Co-founder and Director, CIID

Xin Xiangyang (Wuxi, China)
Professor and Dean, School of Design, Jiangnan University

The jury will meet in November 2013 at Fabrica in Italy to evaluate entries and select outstanding projects across six categories that speak to the intentions of our designs and the nature of the interactions we create: Optimizing, Engaging, Empowering, Expressing, Connecting, Disrupting. Entries will be evaluated based on the criteria of opportunity, audience, impact and craft. Finalists will be notified December 2013 and winners officially announced and celebrated at the Interaction 14 conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on February 8, 2014. Read more about the Interaction Awards rules, categories and prizes.

The 2013 Interaction Awards recognised 25 projects selected from hundreds of entries from 27 countries. These projects demonstrated exceptional interaction design ranging from health-related products to interactive installations to new tools for civic participation. 21 Balançoires, from Daily tous les jours was awarded Best in Show, UX for Good: New Orleans, UX FOR GOOD was awarded People’s Choice,100 BPM, by Maxime Dubreucq, Doris Feurstein, Shivanjali Tomar, Natalie Vanns and Umeå Institute of Design took home both Best Student and Best Concept.

Celebrate your work! Start working on your entries and get them in by 15 September!

In the meantime, please help us spread the word:

Tweet about the Interaction Awards and follow us on Twitter for updates.
Show your support on Facebook Like the Interaction Awards.
Seen great examples of Interaction Design that should be recognized? Let us know about it by nominating it and we will reach out to encourage submission.