Interaction Design WikiStudent Handbook

Student Responsibilities

Student Atelier

Common space rules and practical items (4K.22)

The atelier is your space during your studies.  

We welcome student initiatives to improve this space every semester to foster a warm work environment, adapted to various needs. 

From HS20, we work with floating tables. There are no personal working spaces anymore. All material needs to be stored in personal boxes as soon as students leave.
In the IAD Student Atelier you have a shared Island for the 1st year.
As a 2nd and 3rd year student you have personal desks and a mobile drawer cabinet for your personal belongings. (outdated since Corona)

To create a certain working flow, we have divided the atelier into specific working areas. You can find the current plan below.


In order for the concept to work and for everyone to be able to use the atelier at any time, we propose a clean desk policy and these following rules: 

These rules are not set in stone. We would like these rules to be seen as a starting point and develop the collaboration in the studio with you. 

Clean-Up Action

The IAD Teaching Assistant orders containers and initiates a clean-up campaign with all IAD students.

Additionally Dates, if needed:

Guardian System

1 person per semester per year, elected simultaneously with the class speakers.

1st year2nd year3rd year
Pablo BlumerDavid PolkeLoïc Hommel

All guardians are dependent on everyone's cooperation... It is not meant that they do the work, but to remember and to make the students aware.

General Tasks of all 3 Guardians

After a completed module, remind the students from the same class that the workplaces are clean (this should be done immediately) and that the material is either put away in the remainder shelf or disposed (this should be done up to a maximum of 1 week after the module).

Subtask Kitchen/Disposal

First year Guardian creates/maintains the order for the disposal station and the kitchen. 

Disposal
There are 4 larger boxes available to separate waste into PET, aluminum and glass. For cardboard there is a larger mobile box. The Guardian sends 2 different students every week and after bigger events to empty the boxes (printer room 4xxx). During the clean-up actions the bins are washed.

Kitchen
Items in the refrigerator are labeled by the owners. During the clean-up action all unlabeled items will be thrown away. In addition, students will be communicated that they took their refrigerator items home, otherwise they will be thrown away the following week as well. At the end of the semester in June, the refrigerator is cleaned up (not just the Guardian alone!).

The laundry area is checked regularly for cleanliness. If there are any discrepancies, it is communicated to the other students. The Guardian replaces the washing-up utensils at the expense of IAD. During the clean-up actions the sink and the table gets cleaned (not just the Guardian alone!).

Sub-Task Soldering Station

Second Year Guardian regularly checks the condition of the soldering station (every month). If there is a mess, communicate immediately to the students that the person responsible for that mess will clean it up. Check material and reorder from Luke if necessary. At the end of the semester during the clean-up action (February, June) the soldering station should be completely tidied up.

Sub-Task Freecycling & Prototyping Area

Third Year Guardian creates/maintains an order for the freecycling area. That task contains the remainder shelf,  board storage (MDF, Plexi, etc) and the prototyping area.

Freecycling Area and Waste (4K.22)

Freecycling Area: This is an environment friendly notice: In the IAD Student Atelier you have a freecycling area next to the glass door entrance (next to IAD project room). If you have any reusable left-over material, please put it in this shelf, so that others can use it. Before buying new materials, please first have a look at the freecycling area if you can use left-over materials for free.

There is also a larger freecycling area in the school located in 1.E02, Entsorgung.

Waste: After each course, please take your prototypes, experiments and other material explorations with you, don`t store it in the IAD Student Atelier: because we don`t have enough space!!! Each semester, we organise a clear out session with all students: last day of Winter semester and before the beginning of the Diploma Exhibition in May/June. Please be mindful about your waste management/consumption, and continuously clear out your personal space, so that the Student Atelier stays clean and in a good working atmosphere.

Project room: Use of project room (4K.22.1)

The project room is used for exhibitions, staff meetings and as a collaborative work space. In general it is used in priority for the IAD team. If you want to exhibit your semester projects, you are more than welcome to contact Marcial Koch (marcial.koch@zhdk.ch) to curate and set up the work together with him.

Presence in class 

Presence in classes is required. In case of planned absence, you need to warn your teacher and be excused.

Lateness is not acceptable. Repeated lateness in class and absences will impact your final grade in that class. Late arrivals are often disruptive and thus this is a question of respect for the instructor as well as for the entire class.

Class Speaker Election Procedure

Two student representatives are elected for each class for one year (1st-2nd semesters, 3rd-4th semesters, 5th-6th semesters). Representatives are responsible for representing student interests toward the programme. The election mode is decided by the students and communicated to us. 

The department’s student association elects its delegates to various university bodies and is responsible for other organisational matters. ZHdK Student Council (“Verso”) is responsible for representing student interests, including self-management, towards the university. For details, see verso-verso.org.

Class speakers HS 2022 / FS 2023:

1st semester3rd semester5th semester
Elena FreiLuca ZellerLars Ziegler
Noel Kampus

Jeanne Antonin

Mo Bünzli

Student Support

Administrative matters can be discussed with Karin Luginbühl (info.iad@zhdk.ch), ie ECTS points, expenses, etc.

Organisation matters can be discussed with Marcial Koch (marcial.koch@zhdk.ch), ie student atelier, courses problems, student life questions, etc. Please contact Marcial if you would like to send a circular mail to all members of the IAD team or all IAD students.

The BA Leitung, Jürgen Späth is available on appointment for discussion of any matter, confidentially, usually during office hours Thursdays 13.00-14.00 but other dates can be set-up.

If you take part in events, publish a paper or exhibit a piece, share your news with Marcial. We're happy to promote your news on our website and social media channels.

Student Advice

ZHdK’s Student Advice Centre offers useful assistance with a wide range of issues, including funding, accommodation, employment, living in Zurich, etc. for details, see www.zhdk.ch/studierendenberatung.

Semester Feedback

Contribution to Wiki

This Wiki is meant as the everyday tool for the IAD department. You can find here most of the information you need, especially regarding classes. If you have suggestions for the wiki, we welcome your feedback and we can implement changes when they makes sense. At this stage, we can't issue editing access to the wiki for students but don't hesitate to send us your ideas.

Data, Privacy and Online tools

IAD recommends to be vigilant about tools that you use to store, share and present your work. When possible consider open source, free software and non-proprietary tools. Many tools provided by companies that are 'free' such as Gmail, Google Docs and Dropbox use your data as currency: your private content can be mined and therefore spied upon for commercial purposes. Moreover, private companies can cease products or support for products and you can lose your data overnight (it's happened). They can also decide on what is appropriate for posting or not and you may have your content and yourself as a user banned from the platform altogether.

Promotion of work and IAD social media

If you take part in events, publish a paper or exhibit a piece, share your news with Jürgen Späth (juergen.spaeth@zhdk.ch). We're happy to promote your news on our website and social media channels: join us on Facebook, Instagram and on Twitter.
We also keep in touch after studies with our alumni who are an important part of IAD, whether as guest lecturers, team members, job providers, or as a warm and supportive audience. Our LinkedIn group reflects on that community.

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