This is the latest version of my Science Fiction Prototyping Workshop, give at the Interaction 17 conference in NYC today.

1. Make It So Workshop
Design Lessons From the Future
Nathan Shedroff
nathan@nathan.com
@nathanshedroff
scifiinterfaces.com MAKE IT SO
Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction
by NATHAN SHEDROFF & CHRISTOPHER NOESSEL
foreword by Bruce Sterling
Many designers enjoy the interfaces seen in science fiction films
and television shows. Freed from the rigorous constraints of designing
for real users, sci-fi production designers develop blue-sky interfaces
that are inspiring, humorous, and even instructive. By carefully studying
these “outsider” user interfaces, designers can derive lessons that make
their real-world designs more cutting edge and successful.
“Designers who love science fiction will go bananas over Shedroff and Noessel’s delightful and
informative book on how interaction design in sci-fi movies informs interaction design in the real
world.... You will find it as useful as any design textbook, but a whole lot more fun.”
ALAN COOPER
“Father of Visual Basic” and author of The Inmates Are Running the Asylum
“Part futurist treatise, part design manual, and part cultural analysis, Make It So is a fascinating
investigation of an often-overlooked topic: how sci-fi influences the development of tomorrow’s
machine interfaces.”
ANNALEE NEWITZ
Editor, io9 blog
“Shedroff and Noessel have created one of the most thorough and insightful studies ever made
of this domain.”
MARK COLERAN
Visual designer of interfaces for movies (credits include The Bourne Identity, The Island, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
“Every geek’s wet dream: a science fiction and interface design book rolled into one.”
MARIA GIUDICE
CEO and Founder, Hot Studio
www.rosenfeldmedia.com
MORE ON MAKE IT SO
www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/science-fiction-interface/
MAKEITSObyNATHANSHEDROFF&CHRISTOPHERNOESSEL

2. Make It So Workshop
Introduction
Presentation
Discussion
Exercise 1: Diverge
Exercise 2: Diverge
Exercise 3: Converge
Exercise 4: Converge
Results Presentation
Discussion
:60
:30
:30
:30
:30
:30

3. presentation
Make It So Workshop
0:45:00
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6lHVkTakSs

4. Make It So Workshop
Design for Dreaming (01956)

5. Make It So Workshop
Who’s Future?
dream-house-design.blogspot.com

7. Visible Human Project (01989)
Lesson: Real Design Inspires Science Fiction

8. X-Men (02003)
Lesson: Real Design Inspires Science Fiction

9. Damien Hirst (01993)
Lesson: Real Design Inspires Science Fiction

10. The Cell (2000)
The Cell (02000)
Lesson: Real Design Inspires Science Fiction

12. X-Men (02000)
Lesson: Science Fiction Inspires Real Development

13. XenoVision Mark II Dynamic Sand Table (02004)
Lesson: Science Fiction Inspires Real Development

14. XenoVision Mark II Dynamic Sand Table (02004)
Lesson: Science Fiction Inspires Real Development

15. Star Trek (01966)
Lesson: Science Fiction Sets Expectations that Audiences and Developers Internalize

16. Motorola StarTAC (01996)
Lesson: Science Fiction Sets Expectations that Audiences and Developers Internalize

17. Motorola MicroTAC (01989)
Lesson: Science Fiction Sets Expectations that Audiences and Developers Internalize

18. The Empire Strikes Back (01980)
Lesson: Visual Scale Telegraphs Social Hierarchy

19. Revenge of the Sith (02005)
Lesson: Visual Scale Telegraphs Social Hierarchy

20. The Fifth Element (01997)
Lesson: Systems Should Respond to Erroneous Input Appropriately

21. 2001: A Space Odyssey (01968)
Lesson: Systems Should Respond to Erroneous Input Appropriately

22. The Fifth Element (01997)
Lesson: Systems Should Respond to Erroneous Input Appropriately

23. Into Eternity (02010)
Onkalo Nuclear Waste Repository, Eurajoki, Finland

24. Lifted (02006)
Lesson: Form Language Can Help Novice Users Quickly Learn Complex Systems

25. Apple “Snow White” Design Language (01984-01990)
Lesson: Most Design IS Fiction

26. Lesson: (So is much of Business)

27. Metropolis (01927)
Lesson: Humanness is Transferrable to Non-human Systems

28. Roomba (02002)
Lesson: Humanness is Transferrable to Non-human Systems

29. Knight Rider (01982)
Lesson: Conversation casts the system in the role of a character

30. Star Wars: A New Hope (01977)
Lesson: Use Nonlinguistic Sounds Expressively to Trigger Anthropomorphism

31. Moon (02009)
Lesson: Use an agent’s social pressure for a social agenda

32. Microsoft Bob & Clippy (01987)
Lesson: Anthropomorphized Interfaces Are Difficult To Greate Successfully

33. Microsoft Ms. Dewey (2006)
Lesson: Anthropomorphized Interfaces Are Difficult To Greate Successfully

34. Knowledge Navigator (01987)
Lesson: Anthropomorphized Interfaces Are Difficult To Greate Successfully

35. The Matrix (01999)
Lesson: The More Human The Representation, The Higher The Expectations Of Human Behavior

36. 40
Realistic >>>
Acceptable>>>
Star Trek:The Next Generation (01987)
Lesson: Beware the Uncanny Valley

37. Until the End of the World (01991)
Lesson: Consider Zoomorphizing (Animal-likenesses) For Low-Functioning Systems

38. Iron man (02008)
Lesson: Achieve Anthropomorphism Through Behavior

39. The Time Machine (02002)
Lesson: Achieve Anthropomorphism Through Behavior

40. Star Trek (02010)
Lesson: Rely On A User’s Recognition Rather Than Recall

41. Flash Gordon (01980)
Lesson: Avoid Reminding People of the Simulation

42. 2001: A Space Odyssey (01968)
Lesson: The Network Ruins Tension-Filled Narratives

43. Science Fiction is
a prototyping tool
Make It So Workshop

44. Make It So Workshop

45. Make It So Workshop
Sci Fi
Character
Story
Inspiration
Design
User/Persona
Scenario/Use Case
Outcome/Value
<>

46. Make It So Workshop
Exercise 1: Diverge: Design for a New User
Exercise 2: Diverge: Design for New Medium
Exercise 3: Converge: Reverse Engineer for
the Present
Exercise 4: Converge: Add a Sci-Fi Patina

47. Make It So Workshop
exercise 1 :
Diverge: Design for a New User
Choose a character from a Sci-fi film or TV show (similar to your
user) and imagine the system that would meet their needs
0:30:00

48. Make It So Workshop
0:30:00
exercise 1 :
Diverge: Design for a New User
Choose a character from a Sci-fi film or TV show (similar to your
user) and imagine the system that would meet their needs

49. Make It So Workshop
0:30:00

50. Make It So Workshop
0:30:00
exercise 1 :
Diverge: Design for a New User
Refamiliarize yourself with it by researching
its interfaces online with images.

51. exercise 2 :
Diverge: Design for New Medium
Choose one of the following media and imagine
how it might transform your system:
AR, VR or 3D
Gesture Interface
Voice Interface
Anthropomorphism
Make It So Workshop
0:30:00

52. exercise 3 :
Converge: Reverse Engineer for the Present
Redevelop your new solution into present-day
technology. How much of it can be built “today”?
Make It So Workshop
0:30:00

53. exercise 4 :
Converge: Add a Science Fiction Patina
Incorporate Sci-Fi typography, colors, shapes,
and other visual design elements into your solution.
Make It So Workshop
0:30:00

54. Lesson: Sans Serif Is The Typeface Choice Of The Future

55. The Island (c 02005)
Lesson: Incorporate Typographic Principles From Print

56. Star Trek (02009)
Lesson: Science Fiction Glows

57. Star Trek: The Next Generation (c 01987-01994)
Lesson: Science Fiction Glows

58. Galaxy Quest (01999) Supernova (02000) Battlestar Galactica
(02004) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (02008)
Lesson: Future Screens Are Mostly Blue

59. 1968 1973 1974 1977 1979
1980 1982 1983 1986 1989
1990 1991 1996 1997 1999
2000 2002 2003 2004 2005
2007 2008
Lesson: Future Screens Are Mostly Blue

60. The Fifth Element (01997) Red Planet (02000)
Star Trek: Nemesis (02002) The Incredibles (02004)
Lesson: Red Means Danger

61. Enterprise (02001) The Matrix: Revolution (02003)
Lesson: Gray Makes Interfaces Look Like An Early-Generation GUI

62. Roomba (2002)
Space:1999 (01975)
Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace (01999)
Lesson: To Create A Unique Interface, Avoid Single, Common Colors And The Glow Effect

63. Men in Black II (02002) Firefly (02002) Torchwood (02005)
Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977)
Lesson: Use Nonrectilinear-Shaped Screens To Make Them Look Advanced

64. District 9 (02009)
Lesson: Use Transparency To Order Important Information While Preserving Context

65. Star Trek (02009)
Lesson: Avoid The Confusion Caused By Too Many Overlapping, Transparent Layers

66. Eagle Eye (02008)
Lesson: Avoid The Confusion Caused By Too Many Overlapping, Transparent Layers

67. Gamer (02009) Hackers (01995)
Lesson: Three-Dimensional Data Makes Use of Users’ Spatial Memory

68. Lost in Space (01998)
Lesson: Use Motion To Draw Attention, Cautiously

69. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (02008)
Lesson: Creative Combinations of Even Common Stylistic Choices Create Unique Appearance

70. Final Fantasy (02001)
Lesson: Creative Combinations of Even Common Stylistic Choices Create Unique Appearance

71. The Chronicles of Riddick (02004)
Lesson: Creative Combinations of Even Common Stylistic Choices Create Unique Appearance

72. The Incredibles (02004)
Lesson: Creative Combinations of Even Common Stylistic Choices Create Unique Appearance

73. LCARS Interface, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek:
Deep Space 9, and Star Trek: Voyager (01987-2001)
Lesson: Creative Combinations of Even Common Stylistic Choices Create Unique Appearance

74. Misc. Alien Interfaces, Star Trek: The Next Generation,
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (01987-2001)
Lesson: Creative Combinations of Even Common Stylistic Choices Create Unique Appearance

75. present :
What did you create?
1: what is your system/interface?
2: who is your character (and what changed)?
3: what sci-fi tech did you try (and what changed)?
4: how do you bring it back to the present?
Make It So Workshop
0:30:00

76. scifinterfaces.com
Nathan Shedroff & Chris Noessel
nathan@nathan.com
@nathanshedroff
MAKE IT SO
Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction
by NATHAN SHEDROFF & CHRISTOPHER NOESSEL
foreword by Bruce Sterling
Many designers enjoy the interfaces seen in science fiction films
and television shows. Freed from the rigorous constraints of designing
for real users, sci-fi production designers develop blue-sky interfaces
that are inspiring, humorous, and even instructive. By carefully studying
these “outsider” user interfaces, designers can derive lessons that make
their real-world designs more cutting edge and successful.
“Designers who love science fiction will go bananas over Shedroff and Noessel’s delightful and
informative book on how interaction design in sci-fi movies informs interaction design in the real
world.... You will find it as useful as any design textbook, but a whole lot more fun.”
ALAN COOPER
“Father of Visual Basic” and author of The Inmates Are Running the Asylum
“Part futurist treatise, part design manual, and part cultural analysis, Make It So is a fascinating
investigation of an often-overlooked topic: how sci-fi influences the development of tomorrow’s
machine interfaces.”
ANNALEE NEWITZ
Editor, io9 blog
“Shedroff and Noessel have created one of the most thorough and insightful studies ever made
of this domain.”
MARK COLERAN
Visual designer of interfaces for movies (credits include The Bourne Identity, The Island, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
“Every geek’s wet dream: a science fiction and interface design book rolled into one.”
MARIA GIUDICE
CEO and Founder, Hot Studio
www.rosenfeldmedia.com
MORE ON MAKE IT SO
www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/science-fiction-interface/
MAKEITSObyNATHANSHEDROFF&CHRISTOPHERNOESSEL