About Interaction Design
Interaction Design
Interaction Designers define the structure and behavior of interactive products and services. Interaction Designers create compelling relationships between people and the interactive systems they use, from computers to mobile devices to appliances; Interaction Designers lay the groundwork for intangible experiences.
Visit the Interaction Design Blog for news about the program, additional resources, and most recent interaction design work.
The need for interaction designers for the development of new interactive products, systems and services has increased exponentially in recent years in virtually all industries. Interactive systems are present in many areas in everyday life where people coordinate tasks and engage in activities in collaboration with others, facilitated through technology. Examples range from mobile phones to computer software, from GPS systems for cars or navigation in the open ocean, and information systems that support the work of expert practitioners in technology-driven domains such as aviation, medicine, and process control.
The design of interactive systems poses new types of challenges for designers. In the course of the interaction design sequence, students are introduced to the opportunities for designing interactions. They learn how to identify design problems in interactive devices, systems, and services. They learn how to respond to these design challenges by a) applying observation techniques to understand interactions in context, b) develop conceptual models and representations (stories, scenarios, mock-ups and prototypes) to assess the perspectives of prospective users (understand their understanding) in the course of a participatory design process to develop interactions that are useful, understandable, and useful.
Students in the Interaction Design concentration have opportunities to build expertise during interdisciplinary design project work with students from other Human-Computer oriented fields in the three Interaction Design studios ART383, 483, and 484. These interaction studios are part of the HCI degree option in the iSchool and the Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering, and the studios are integrated in course offerings by UW’s strong HCI community—the DUB Group is a coalition of HCI/design faculty and researchers from partnering departments — amongst them the Departments of Human Centered Design and Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, the Information School, and the Division of Design.
Interaction Design Undergraduate Concentration
Design undergraduate students can take the sequence of three Interaction Design Studios (ART383, ART483, and ART484) as a concentration in their Industrial Design or Visual Communication Design BFA degree or Design Studies BA.
Interaction Design Minor
Students may also choose a minor in Interaction Design that is comprised of the three Interaction Design studios (ART383, ART483, and ART 484) and two electives from a list of HCI courses. The minor in Interaction Design is currently under development (projected for Spring 2010).
Facilities
The School of Art Computing Center has extensive resources for scanning, printing, video and audio editing, authoring, and 3-D modeling and animation. The Division of Design also offers model shop and rapid prototyping facilities. Extensive video and sound production facilities as well as photo, video and audio equipment is available through the School of Art Computing Center and several other media centers across campus.