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Spring 2017: March 28 - May 5.

Instructors:
Dr Joëlle Bitton
joelle.bitton@zhdk.ch 

Nicole Foelsterl
nicole.foelsterl@zhdk.ch

Office hours by appointment 

The module takes place from March 28 - May 5, over 6 weeks, including a reading week (5), from Tuesday to Friday each week, 9.30-17.00.
Class sessions include lectures, discussions, mentoring sessions, in-class exercises, home assignments and independent study blocks.
Projects are conducted in groups of 4 students. 

Overview and Objectives

This course puts the students in the context of realising an interaction design outcome from initial idea to final proposal, with a particular emphasis on user-experience. In this interaction design process, different methods are applied in several stages of project development: Context/User Inquiry, Concept Generation, Idea Testing, Prototype Development, Evaluation and Concept Iteration. 

This course is project-based and will allow students to have a hands-on experience with a range of methods at different stages of interaction design process.
Organised in groups, students will develop innovative design concept for a product, a service or an experience. 
Following a structured stages of observation, creation, and evaluation we will discuss and apply situated and user-centered methods to creative design practice (eg. bodystorming, context analysis, video scenarios). 

Topic ....

Spring 2017: March 28 - May 5.

Instructors:
Dr Joëlle Bitton
joelle.bitton@zhdk.ch 

Nicole Foelsterl
nicole.foelsterl@zhdk.ch

Office hours by appointment 

The module takes place from March 28 - May 5, over 6 weeks, including a reading week (5), from Tuesday to Friday each week, 9.30-17.00.
Class sessions include lectures, discussions, mentoring sessions, in-class exercises, home assignments and independent study blocks.
Projects are conducted in groups of 4 students. 

Overview and Objectives

This course puts the students in the context of realising an interaction design outcome from initial idea to final proposal, with a particular emphasis on field research and user-experience.
In this interaction design process, students work through the several stages of project development: Context/User Inquiry, Concept Generation, Idea Testing, Prototype Development, Evaluation and Concept Iteration. 

Following these stages of observation, creation, and evaluation, we will discuss and apply situated and user-centered methods (eg. bodystorming, context analysis, video scenarios, etc).

This course is project-based and will allow students to have a hands-on experience.
Organised in groups, students will develop innovative design concept for a product, a service or an experience. 

Topic

"How do you want to change the world?"
This year, the topic for this class takes a typical design question that starts many project premises, especially in education environments that encourage students to have an impact in the world. The sentence has become a form of "pep talk" statement, where individuals should embrace forms of agency (see discourses from MIT Media Lab, Ted Talks, design thinking courses, various pitches competitions, etc).
In this class, we take that sentence upside down and within it question the role of the designer itself: what does "the world" mean?, what does "change" mean?, is "how" meant for a designer to think with?, how does that addresses the question of a designer's agency? and finally, what's the underlying expectation o
f such sentence?

During the course the student will learn:

...

1. A working prototype, user-tested and evaluated
2. A The presentation of an this interaction design product, a service and/or an experience grounded on the understanding of the user and the context
3. The documentation of assignments and design process in a blog
 

...

  • Week 3: Play 
    Creating prototypes and confronting them to the 'real world'
    Methods: participatory methods with mockups, cartoon scenarios, acting out an experience  etcexperience, etc.
  • Week 4: Stories and users
    How is your work being evaluated? 
    Methods:  forms of evaluation, from user-testing to narratives enacting scenarios

  • Week 5: Production 1
    This reading week allows you to work Reading week: working on your production assignmentassignment 

  • Week 6: Production 2
    This week is to finalise your work.Finalising the project 

Expectations and Grading

Grades will be based on group presentations, class participation, home assignments, documentation (journal) and final work. All work should be produced in English.
Contributing to constructive group feedback is an essential aspect of class participation.
Regular attendance is required. Two or more unexcused absences will affect the final grade. Arriving late on more than one occasion will also affect the grade.

...

The course IAD Design Methods provides the background literature for this class.
Readings are made available in the shared IAD server.

Additional readings are provided heremay be provided as the class progresses.

Calendar

Independent Study Morning

Week 1

Tuesday 28.3

Wednesday 29.3

Thursday 30.3

Friday 31.3

Morning

Kickoff
09.30-11.00
Introduction about the module, Presentation of the topic, Note on Documentation
JB

11.00-12.00
Ethnographic study
NF

Field Research

Independent Study11.00-12.00
Exercise: Idea
Generation

JB





Field Research / Independent Study 

Afternoon

13.00-13.45
Brainstorming session
NF

13.45-14.15
Exercise: group building
JB  

14.15-14.45
Renting Equipment
NF

14.45-15.30
Get prepared for Field Research
NF

15.30-
Initial Field Research 

13.00-14.00
Group presentations:
First Impressions
JB, NF

14.00-15.00
Sense Making (AEIO)
NF

15.00-
Independent Study 


13.00-15.00

Mentoring: Sense Making and Clustering (Going Back to the Field)
NF

15.00-16.00
Exercise: Idea
Generation with Diagrams

GB

16.00-
Field Research

13.00-1514.0030
Group presentations: Inspirations and Field Research
JB, NF

Week 2

Tuesday 4.4

Wednesday 5.4

Thursday 6.4

Friday 7.4

Morning

0910.3000-1112.30 00
Theory Class - IAD Method
JB


09.30-12.00
Mentoring: Narrowing
Down

NF

Independent StudyBasic GUI preview
JG 

Independent Study:
Preparation of presentation

Afternoon

13.00-13.15
Expectations for the week
JB

13.15-1514.3045
Exercise: Very rapid prototyping
JB

14.45-15.30-16.00
Group Presentations:
mock-ups
JB, NF 

Independent Study:
Desk-based Research
(Related work,
state of the art)

Independent Study 

13.0030-15.0030
Group presentations: Related Work and Production Plan for the next 4 weeks
JB, NF

Week 3

Tuesday 11.4

Wednesday 12.4

Thursday 13.4

Friday 14.4

Morning

09.30-11.30 
Theory Class - IAD Method
JB

11.30-12.30
Mentoring: Protyping
JB

Independent Study 

09.30-12.00
Mentoring
JB

.4

Morning

10.00-12.00 
Theory Class - IAD Method
JB


Basic GUI preview
JG 

Independent Study

Holiday

Afternoon

13.00-15.00
Exercise: Prototyping Ideas
JB

15.00-
Independent Study 

13.00-15.00
Mentoring: Protyping
JB

13.00-15.00
Group presentations: Prototypes
JB

Week 4

Tuesday 18.4

Wednesday 19.4

Thursday 20.4

Friday 21.4

.4

Friday 21.4

Morning

10.00-12.00 
Exercise: Storytelling

JB

09.30-12.

00 

00
Mentoring: Storytelling
JB

Independent Study

Independent StudyBasic GUI preview
JG 

09.30-12.00
Group presentations:
Storytelling
NF 

Afternoon

Independent Study

13.00-15.00
Exercise: Storytelling
JB13.00-16.00
Mentoring
JB

Independent Study

13.00-16.00
Mentoring: Storyboards
NF

Week 5

Tuesday 25.4

Wednesday 26.4

Thursday 27.4

Friday 28.4


Reading Week


Reading Week

Mentoring: Video production (optional) 
NF 

Reading Week

Reading Week


Week 6

Tuesday 2.5

Wednesday 3.5

Thursday 4.5

Friday 5.5

Morning

0910.3000-12.00
Group presentations:
Back from the reading week
JB, NF 
09.30-12.00
Mentoring
JB
09.30-12.00
Mentoring: Editing
NF

09.30-12.00
Final Group presentations
JB, NF 

Afternoon

13.00-16.00
Mentoring: Editing
NF
Independent StudyIndependent Study


JB: Dr. Joëlle Bitton, NF: Nicole Foesterl, GB: Prof. Dr. Gerhard M. Buurman, JG: Joël Gähwiler