The Blog

Santiago, Chile, November 2016. 11 humans, an earthquake and several dishes of wild eel. The basic ingredients for a weekend full of discussion, of debate—and not always in consensus, and final deliberation. By the end of the weekend, this talented group selected the Finalists for the 2017 Interaction Awards!

The entries this year were diverse and covered a much broader range of topics. The 2017 shortlist stood out to us as the projects mostly characterized as heavyweight problem-solving. From crime-fighting to workers rights, immigration issues, or even to help people with disabilities create music—there were a lot of fantastic design approaches to important topics.

With that in mind we invited our six jury members to the Santiago office of Continuum, who graciously hosted us and provided a space to deliberate and a constant supply of coffee. We started reviewing the shortlisted entries in pairs, two jurors covering two awards categories. Big thanks to Christian Svanes Kolding, our director of the short films, who captured the jury’s deliberation, process, and conclusions in selecting the finalist and winners in each category.

On Sunday, the focus shifted to selecting our special awards recipients: Best in Show, Best Concept, Best Student, the People’s Choice and the Future Voice Award.

We’re excited to reveal all the winners at next year’s conference in New York, where we will celebrate and honor some of the best design work around the globe.

Without further ado, we’re incredibly proud to present this year’s Finalists. The final question will be, who will win in each category? You’ll have to see for yourself in New York City on February 8th.

Connecting
Facilitating communication between people and communities

IOM – reimaging medication labelling
Frontend.com, Professional, Ireland
Microsoft Inclusive Toolkit
Microsoft, Professional, United States
Heart Partner
Novartis and FCB Health, Professional, United States
COBALT: Fighting Crime with Design
Mark43, Professional, United States

Disrupting
Re-imagining completely an existing product or service by creating new behaviors, usages or markets

LinkNYC
Intersection, Professional, United States
Re-imagining Atomic Force Microscopy
Infragistics, Professional, United States
SAVE THE FOOD
SapientNitro, Professional, United States
Kinetic
One Million Metrics Corp & RGA, Professional, United States

Empowering
Enabling people to go beyond their limits

Nume – Personalised Nutrition
Umeå Institute of Design, Student, Sweden
Eye Conductor
Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Student, Denmark
COBALT: Fighting Crime with Design
Mark43, Professional, United States
Microsoft Inclusive Toolkit
Microsoft, Professional, United States

Engaging
Capturing attention, creating delight and delivering meaning

Peer
Moment – Student project for internship, Student, United States
Mia Journeys App
SapientNitro, Professional, United States
BioDesign
Local Projects, Professional, United States

Expressing
Encouraging self expression and/or creativity

Together Radio – An Anonymous Support Group Network
Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå University / National Institute of Design, India, Student
Vochlea: Prototyping Music
Royal College of Art, Student, United Kingdom
Musiclock
Taiste, Professional, Finland
Eye Conductor
Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Student, Denmark

Optimizing
Making daily activities more efficient

IOM – reimaging medication labelling
Frontend.com, Professional, Ireland
Collective Health Member Experience
Collective Health, Professional, United States
Immigration New Zealand Visa Gateway
DNA Designed Communications Ltd, Professional, New Zealand
Kinetic
One Million Metrics Corp & R/GA, Professional, United States

Up next: People’s Choice voting will open early January 2017: All shortlisted projects are eligible. Stay tuned for details!