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INTERACTION DESIGN THEORY SEMINAR 5th semester

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"Sweet Dreams are Made of This" proposes to dive into the very essence of interaction design agency, ahead of the thesis semester. How does a design project emerges from a particular interest? Should it have an impact? And at what scale? Through a variety of references, we'll address notions of dreams, contribution, position and ownership, especially as they relate to contemporary societal questions. We usually consider that a novel contribution to knowledge has to be read about, dreamed about in a visionary sense, used and related to, through hands on testing, iterations and prototyping at various stages, explored orally and visually, and discussed by peers and tutors. The course is structured around materials discussions showcasing social engagement, activism and aesthetic movements, various assignments such as fictional dream-like scenarios and practical workshop formats.

This course is also a guided exercise in your autonomy to look for relevant references and to integrate them as part of your research endeavour. You should start early with topics of interest for your diploma work, even it is expected that they might evolve or even change completely. In that sense, even if your topic changes, the questions & methods that will be addressed in this class will be valid throughout your diploma work. Different than previous theory classes, with mostly discussions based on readings, this class is a continuous assignment-based exploration of your research engagement. It is required that you follow through and ride the wave.

COURSE OUTLINE 

12 sessions structured around the notions of engagement, positioning, research and ownership.
 

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Mid-semester assignments (2114.11.22)

Statement of Intent for the BA thesis.

  • 2-page essay describing your field of interest, motivation, choice of research method and intended contribution.
    See detailed guidelines

Literature Review

  • Compile a detailed literature review of at least 8 essays/book chapters (no web articles or blog posts) that help you advance your research and unpack your topic. Each essay cited should be credited with author(s), year, country, institution and should be commented for its relevance to your topic. Write half a page introduction to your literature review. 

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Assignment for 14.11.2022: Develop your research interest into a statement of intent (see questions) and compile a detailed literature review of 8 essays (no web articles or blog posts) that help you advance your research and unpack your topic. The goal is to narrow down your topic from a big overview to 2-3 possible angles - make one paragraph introduction to your literature review. Additionally, find 8 10 related projects, define the criteria from them that matter and make a visualisation where you situate your own interest. This should keep being developed until the final assignment which is an extension and update of this work. Share on the server.

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Sadhna Jain's Bio:
I am the Course Leader of the MA Graphic Design Communications Course, Camberwell College at University of the Arts, London. My educational and professional background is in Screen Arts, Interaction Design and Communication Design. Current research attends to the physio-geographies from the many human and living systems perspectives and the need to re-imagine complex ecologies and practices within this.
Culturally Complicated – Critically Diverse

Sadhna's talk “Encounters at the end of the Earth: manoeuvres with Black Studies” will acknowledge the work of Black Studies scholars and creatives. Their work can help us understand how the narratives of Earth-bound capitalist systems can be arrested or suspended. Alternative possibilities are illuminated through new Black Ecologies, in which time, space, technologies, spirits, and lifeforms offer other trajectories of living and undisciplined ways of thinking as designers. 
 

Assignment for the following week:

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Jarvis, N., Cameron, D., Boucher, A. 2012. Attention To Detail: Annotations of a design process. pp. 11-20. 

Gaver, W. 2011. "Making spaces: How design workbooks work" in Proceedings of CHI 2011, Vancouver.

Assignment for the following week:

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Exercise-in-class: list where your thesis work is not changing anything.
Exercise-in-class: looking at former IAD students' BA thesis

Readings (Browse through):

Eco, U. 2015. How to Write a Thesis. MIT Press. 1st ed. 1977. 

Koskinen, I., Zimmerman, J., Binder, T., Redström, J., & Wensveen, S. 2011. Design research through practice: From lab, field, and showroom. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.

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During class, share your ultimate dream. 
How far can you go: watch the Importance of Self-Delusion.

How far do you expect the research to go?

*** 09 12.12.22 - 10.00AM - Final Assignment: deadline - NO extension!***

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