Video scenarios present people interacting with fictional technology by faking the actual functionality through the use of film techniques. I'm a big fan of the technique, since they can free designers from obsessing about the how of technology design and focus on the what, who and why. People's needs form the core of good video scenario, rather than technological capabilities. Once people's needs have been identified and interactions explored, the more rigorous work of technology development can start, but the idea of making little movies that demonstrate interaction ideas is really liberating. Plus, they're entertaining to make and watch, and the process of making can identify problems with interaction concepts that mere descriptions don't.
At the 2006 Milan Furniture Fair, back in April, I was particularly pleased to watch a set of video scenarios for the design of technology products created by students of the Kingston University product and furniture design program. They took the idea of detaching technology from interaction and ran with it, clearly stating that their concern was not with how their products did what they did, but that they did them "as if by magic".
The ideas that came out of this exercise are whimsical, interesting and highly creative: a rolling suitcase that follows you, a mug vacuums up spilled coffee, dust turns into bubbles that float to a specific person and pass on a message (and 28 others). Great stuff.
