Transitions in design education: a comparative study of Australian and Japanese interaction design education

With ever-increasing pressure from technological and social changes to teach competence in interaction design, new teaching methods and syllabuses need to be explored. This study presents an approach to developing a syllabus that is focused on the cultural characteristics in interaction design. This study hypothesises that an international cross-cultural society will be the next shift to appear in the social structure. Working with this hypothesis, we applied comparative study methods to explore an Australian and Japanese interaction design educational practice and to analyse the theory and practice underpinning the current development of interaction design education. Most importantly, this study takes into account the cultural contexts that affect the interaction design characteristics in these two countries. Based on these findings, a design model sensitive to the cultural context in interaction design is proposed, which reflects the progressive transitions in interaction design education across these two countries.