Introduction to Interaction Design will provide students with a hands-on introduction to interaction design. The course will focus on design methods and design thinking and will allow students to develop their design sensibilities and practical skills through a series of design exercises. The course will cover individual and group ideation techniques; sketching on paper and using software tools; prototyping approaches, tools, and techniques; and contemporary perspectives on interaction design for common platforms (e.g., web, desktop, tablet, mobile, and beyond).
SI 699-002: Mastery User Experience (UX) Research and Design (*new*)
This course requires students to demonstrate mastery in the application of design theories, concepts, and principles to defining valid problems, uncovering user needs, articulating service requirements, documenting UX research results, proposing, refining, and prototyping design solutions, and communicating with stakeholders effectively. Students will have opportunities to integrate methods and theories about user experience design in this course by engaging in a whole process from identifying design issues to developing design solutions. Students will work on a single project end-to-end during the semester, either individually or in pairs. Students will choose and design projects from scratch, though projects for real-world clients will be allowed as long as they meet the course requirements.
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 8:00am – 10:00am (NQ4360)
SI 701-006: Research Methods for Special Populations
Researchers and designers from computational fields are beginning to understand how the complexity of systemic, structural, and historical circumstances affecting communities (e.g., poverty, illiteracy, and geographical isolation) shape the design process. For example, participatory design (PD) and community-based participatory research (CBPR) have been heavily used in HCI to design with underserved communities. However, there is an opportunity for HCI researchers and practitioners in related fields to improve their use of these methods to account for circumstances that may impact participants’ engagement (or lack thereof) in the design process.
This seminar will examine methods used in empirical research studies that focus on designing or researching computational technologies with or for people from underserved communities (e.g., empirical studies from IS-related fields such as HCI and CSCW). We will analyze how principles of PD and CBPR are applied to these studies. This course will provide students with a critical understanding of established or perhaps unestablished research design methods, which support the creation and evaluation of ICT systems and services that would be inclusive and beneficial to a broad range of users.
SI 582: Introduction to Interaction Design
Introduction to Interaction Design will provide students with a hands-on introduction to interaction design. The course will focus on design methods and design thinking, and will allow students to develop their design sensibilities and practical skills through a series of design exercises. The course will cover individual and group ideation techniques; sketching on paper and using software tools; prototyping approaches, tools, and techniques; and contemporary perspectives on interaction design for common platforms (e.g., web, desktop, tablet, mobile, and beyond).
The course will combine readings, lectures, and in-class exercises to convey and reinforce the intellectual content. Individual and group assignments, including a substantial group project at the end of the course, will provide an opportunity to engage more deeply with the material. In-class presentations, along with group critique will allow students to receive feedback from peers and instructors to improve and refine their craft. In-class discussions will rely heavily on concrete examples that are analyzed and critiqued by students and instructors alike, and are used to illustrate and reinforce the course content.