Perfomance Design As A Method

Performance Design as a Method

Searching for literature pertaining to "Performance Design" has proved difficult, as there are few (yet diverse) interpretations of this design 'method'. I've referred to performance design as a method for two reasons. First, one of the many definitions found for 'performance design' states the following:

"Performance Centered Design (PCD) focuses on intuitively increasing the performance of the user, focusing to decrease the amount of time it should take for an individual to learn a piece of software." (Marion, 1997)

This definition is synonymous to "Interaction design", which also focuses on providing the user with intuitive, context-based designs. A definition given by Alan Cooper defines Interaction design as the following:

"When a software-enabled product is intended to fill an identified need, interaction design defines what product should be built and how it should behave, down to the last detail. Interaction design discovers users' goals...Anticipating how the use of products will mediate human relationships and affect human understanding." (Nelson, 2005)

Due to its redundancy, I argue that such a methodology already exists, and it's recognized formally as Interaction Design.

The second reason for why I refer to PCD as a method is because the proceeding definition, taken from Giulio Iacucci, a professor at the University of Oulu, PL, best describes the notion of 'performance design'. The term he uses is "Informance Design", which is defined as the following;

"Informance Design is a visualization technique where scenarios are rendered as plays and interactive environments. Designers are actors that "bodystorm"