Approval

The course was established 2006-12-13. This syllabus was approved 2007-09-07 by the Education Committee at Arts and Communication. The syllabus is valid from 2007-08-31.

Purpose

The purpose of the course is to develop design ability for students in application areas where interaction design is prominent. The scope includes problem framing, ideation and concept development, development of a repertoire of design examples, design materials, methods and tools.
A second purpose of the course is to develop an understanding of the multidisciplinary character of interaction design work, in particular collaboration in group across disciplines where each group member contributes with her individual competence to the qualities of the end result.

Stage

Mandatory course for the Master degree in Interaction Design.

Entry requirements

Admitted to the study programme Interaction Design, 120 higher education credits.

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes are specified as follows.

Knowledge and understanding

After completing the course, the student should
• display knowledge and understanding of the field of interaction design and its development
• display substantial knowledge of current research themes in interaction design
• display knowledge of a broad repertoir of examples within the interaction design genres covered in the research themes in the course
• display knowledge of the design materials most important for the research themes in the course
• display knowledge of the design methods applied in the research themes covered

Skills and ability

After completing the course the student should
• display ability to work in multidisciplinary teams in interaction design
• display ability to formulate and soplve problems in complex design situations based on limited information
• display ability to develop a creative framing of the design problem that reaches beyond the assignment as orginially formulated, to explore a range of possibilities and thereby gradually develop knowledge about what problems should be focused given the limited resources available

Critical skills and approach

After completing the course the student should
• display ability to exercise judgement accounting for societal and ethical aspects of the design process. In particular, the student should develop ability to assess design qualities related to perspectives on gender, migration, ethnicity and environment.
• display insight into the role of information technology in society, and the responsibility for the interaction designer to develop technology that aligns with a humanistic tradition, making technology meaningful to people and enriching the society and culture it becomes a part of.
• display ability to reflect on the design process, acknowledging experience gained and identifying new learning goals, thereby take responsibility for the individual learning process.

Assessments

Each design project is evaluated using critera operationalized for the specific research theme in question. The following areas are assessed: problem framing, concepts developed, and expression of concepts. The following criteria are used:
• Innovativeness: how innovative is the framing of the problem or design situation? How innovative are the concept(s) developed? How innovative are the forms for expressing the concepts?
• Pedagogical relevance: does the design work respond well to the theme as presented or does it lead astray? Is the design work firmly grounded in current research and design examples related to the theme? It is perfectly possible to present a frutiful problem framing, and concepts thare are highly innovative, well fitted to contexts of use, and clearly presented, but where the design work as a whole has a weak connection to the original theme with its current research and design examples.
• Contextual fit: is the problem framed in a way that displays a good sensitivity to the particulars of the users and the design situation? Do the concepts reflect this sensitivity with high precision in the fit between interaction details and user needs? Is the presentation of the concepts convincing? Does it capture the sensitivity in understanding the user and the precision in interaction details?
If an assignment handed in does not comply with the requirements of the course, the student is allowed to hand in additional material or an improved version of the original results.

Course content

The course covers the following themes in interaction design, selected from current research and grounded in ongoing projects at the school.
-Mobile computing
The purpose of the theme is to outline developments towards more place-oriented approches to interaction design with focus on sociocultural and structural aspects of technology in use.
-Physical computing
The purpose of the theme is to introduce phenomenology as a frame of reference for interaction, and to combine it with practical design work around interaction that reaches beyond screen and keyboard.
-Massmedia and interactive media
Projects in cooperation with the media industry providing an orientation in core questions for interaction design in the meeting between mass media and interactive media. An explorative work process is employed where many ideas are developed and tested.
-Explicit interaction
The theme integrates product design and interaction design. In this theme, different degrees of control are explored that can be made more or less explicit, e.g. by being materialized in physical interaction points, and thus allowing the user to control the degree of transparency in technology.
-Critical design
In critical design designed artefacts are used as an embodied critique or commentary on consumer culture. Both the designed artefact (and subsequent use) and the process of designing such an artefact causes reflection on existing values and practices in a culture. A critical design will often challenge the preconceptions and expectations of its audience thereby provoking new ways of thinking about the object, its use, and the surrounding environment.
-Individual prototyping project
In the final individual project, students will pick one concept developed in earlier themes during the year, elaborate the concept and develop a full working prototype that can be tested with users.

Learning activities

The pedagogical approach takes as its starting point a fundamental assumption about learning as reflective practice. Therefore the dominating form of teaching is studio based where students work with design projects, individually or in groups. The principal role of the teacher is as tutor with the double goal of assisting the student in developing good solutions for the design situation at hand, and also to help the student in acquiring valuable knowledge for design practice.
Within each theme, projects are carried out following approximately the following structure:
• Introduction to the theme. Relevant theory, important design examples, possibilities, design ideas and core problems of the theme are presented. The introduction may include group exercises or research assignments to develep an understanding of the theme.
• The introduction is followed by one to three design projects. In each project, a problem setting is presented, often by an external problem owner.
• For each project, design work under supervision. The students start out to formulate problem framings of the design situation, collecting necessary information through field studies, and further research of relevant theory and design examples. The work is carried out in a design studio, to some extent under supervision (technological, aesthetic, analytical and critical).
• For each project, presentation. Problem framing, concepts, design representations and results from evaluation are presented to be assessed by problem owners and from technological, aesthetic, analytical and critical perspectives. Forms for presentation include oral, written, and multimedial forms, individually and in groups, exhibition and design critique.

Grading system

Fail (U), Pass (G) or Pass with Distinction (VG).
ECTS grading system can be used on students demand.

Reading list

Entire course
Literature study year 2007/2008
Recommended reading

Dourish, P. 2001. Where the Action Is – The Foundation of Embodied Interaction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Dunne, A. & Raby, F. 2002. Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects. Birkhauser.

McCullough, M. 2004. Digital Ground – Architecture, Pervasive Computing, and Environmental Knowing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Winograd, T. (ed.) 1996. Bringing Design to Software. Addison-Wesley.

Part of the design projects consists of the student surveying and selecting readings relevant for the chosen area of study, as well as for the specific problem framing of the project, in dialogue with the supervisor.

Additional reading

Thackara, J. 2005. In the Bubble – Designing in a Complex World. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Course evaluation

At the end of the course, a written course evaluation is carried out.