This is a design brief, one of many themes that the Touch project is investigating.

RFID and NFC can be used to provide access to places in the same way as traditional keys or tickets.

This brief emerged from a frustration with existing access control systems. For interfaces of such potential simplicity they are often frustratingly difficult to use. Observe a queue forming by a train ticket gate or at a gym, and witness first-hand how an interface can cause confusion, frustration and even humiliation. Lack of feedback, delays and awkward timing make these systems some of the worst examples of interaction design practice.

Considering the issue of access control as a whole, what kinds of interactions are needed to make access easy and humane?

What are the variables involved in access control? How should access be visualised for users? When does access need to be easy and transparent, and when should it be obscure or even threatening? What kinds of feedback (audio, haptic, visual) can we use to make these interactions easier? In particular, how might an NFC-enabled mobile phone change access interactions? This might link very successfully with other briefs, in particular looking at how icon or graphic treatments might work and the kinds of interaction methods that are evolving for NFC interactions.

Going further, how should RFID work within existing architectural spaces? How might architectural structure alter once we have more advanced access systems? Does the concept of ‘boundary’ change?

Read more about these design briefs.

4 May 2007 by Timo