- Spring 2021
Syllabus Description:
Class will be held each Tuesday and Thursday from 4:30-6:30 PM through Zoom.
6:30-7:30 will be for completing individual and group assignments.
Please download class presentations from Canvas (Files)
Course Overview
As a practice, Interaction Design aims to craft digital and physical experiences that address an existing human need in a surprising way. Consequently, Interaction Designers have the potential to shape how we encounter and engage with people, technology and the world around us.
This course introduces students to the principles and practice of interaction design.
Students will learn and apply the human-centered design process (research, concept generation, prototyping, and refinement) to the creation of a none-intrusive interactive experience (i.e. calm technology).
One of the primary goals of this course is for students to fully experience what professional designers do on a daily basis. Hence, students will be asked to research, reflect, make, and communicate, both individually and in small teams.
Course Objectives
- Identify and render a scenario involving multiple stakeholders
- Produce a competitive analysis
- Deliver a comprehensive creative brief
- Manage design fidelity and build skills in a variety of mediums
- Prototype, test and iterate
- Communicate design ideas to a variety of stakeholders
- Effectively participate in critiques and design reviews
Required Texts
- Don Norman: The Design of Everyday Things (eBook) https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/kjtuig/CP71193767540001451
- Amber Case: Calm Technology. Principles and Patterns for Non-Intrusive Design (eBook) https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/kjtuig/CP71290806670001451
Recommended Bibliography:
- Bill Buxton: Sketching User Experiences. Getting the Design Right and the Right Design (eBook) https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/kjtuig/CP71290597450001451
- Kat Holmes: Mismatch. How Inclusion Shapes Design (eBook)
- Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction and Social Dreaming (eBook) https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/kjtuig/CP71344207570001451
- Tim Brown: Change by Design (print only) https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/kjtuig/CP71132120540001451
- Cathy Pearl: Designing Voice User Interfaces (Amazon)
- Steve Aukstakalnis: Practical Augmented Reality (Amazon)
Course Schedule and Assignments
Week 1
- Class Overview
- What is Interaction design
- Intro to human centered design
- Intro to inclusive design
- Intro to AI
- Intro to ethics and responsible innovation
- Intro to speculative design
Week 2
- What are user needs
- Jobs to be done
- What is a scenario
- What is a user journey
- What is a use case
- What is an information architecture
- Assignment #1 due week 3
Week 3
- Assignment #1 due
- Interface design fundamentals
- Interface considerations across devices
- Interface considerations across inputs
- Basics of wire framing
- Assignment #2 due week 5
Week 4
- What do we mean by ubiquitous computing
- What is calm technology
- New interfaces: voice, mixed reality, biometric computing
- Final Assignment description: product inspired by covid-19 - due week 7
Week 5
- Assignment #2 due
- Brainstorming techniques
- Gathering insights and research methodologies
- Leveraging subject matter experts
- Managing fidelity across the design lifecycle
- The pitch
Week 6
- Visual design systems : goals metaphor and examples
- Multimodal design systems
- On linear and visual storytelling
- Motion design
- Sound and audio
Week 7
- How to gather quality feedback (fostering productive share out and crits)
- Critique: final project proposal due and presented
Week 8
- Project check in and critique
- Guest lecturer TBD
Week 9
- Project check in and critique
- Guest lecturer TBD
Week 10
- Final project due and presented in class