This is part eight of an eight-part design for communication series. This series is adapted from a master’s paper on the intersection of design and technology-mediated communication.
Design in itself is an act of communication, and through design, we can create experiences for richer communication and greater feelings of closeness. Design signals from the size of a box to a complete profile can help overcome our uncertainties when interacting with strangers and create enough trust to open our homes to people we’ve never met. By design more nonverbal cues into our media and allowing for more immediate feedback we can recreate the physical closeness we feel through electronic channels. The platforms best equipped to help facilitate human communication are those with a cohesive conversation between the individual and the channel. By listening to user feedback, we can iterate the designs of new capabilities to provide features for better communication and sharing of information, data told us that users take to real-time interaction, therefore live video commenting features create richer experiences.
Design can help grow communities, particularly those focused on user-generated content with multiple sharing functions. The design takes a back seat to the interactions and sharing of information between users. The mobility of future technology such as the rise of smartphones and the emergence of augmented reality and wearables allows us to communicate and share from anywhere. Designers should be aware of these growing and emerging trends to be prepared to design in new spaces that take advantage of the real-world around them or even a completely new world (virtual reality).
Thank you for reading our series on Design for Communication! Did you miss a part? Check out the full series here: Design for Communication.

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