Design Studies 2011

Design Studies / HCI 2011

This is a website for students taking the Design Studies / HCI course at the Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark in Sønderborg. Class materials, lecture notes, updates, deadlines, deliverables and other information will be posted here throughout the semester.

Course Description

Designers don’t just create new products and systems; they are responsible for structuring the environments and capacities within which people live and work. To do this well, they need to understand the kinds of problems that arise through the use of designed artefacts and systems, and to be able to redesign technologies to support (rather than hinder) human activities.

This course will develop your skills in pinpointing interaction problems with technologies, appreciating the role of artefacts and technologies in the accomplishment of cooperative work. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the theories and tools covered in class through undertaking an analysis of a work setting, and proposing a redesign of the artefact(s) or technologies in question.

The course will be delivered through a series of lectures and practical exercises geared at enabling participants to develop these skills. Classes will run 9:00-12:00 in U402 at Alsion on select Mondays throughout the semester.

Announcements

Exam primer Our HCI/Design Studies exam will be on Monday 6 June. The timetable is as follows. 9:00 Mike, Yen & Wafa 9:30 Mikkel & Doa 10:00 Yasan 10:30 ...
Posted May 23, 2011 2:57 AM by Ben Matthews
For next week (16 May) For our next class, you should be working on a new prototype that addresses issues you have pinpointed in your interaction analysis (and you can also address issues you discovered ...
Posted May 9, 2011 4:40 AM by Ben Matthews
Universal Principles of Design This book is very popular with students and some practitioners. At £13 for a paperback, it is also pretty affordable. Design principles such as these—they have 125 in this ...
Posted May 9, 2011 3:20 AM by Ben Matthews
...now on to design With our analysis presentations finished now, we're on to the design part of the course in earnest. For our next class (likely to be the 9th of May, depending ...
Posted Apr 20, 2011 5:37 AM by Ben Matthews
Class feedback Thanks for the constructive feedback on the course. I've attached the pictures of the board here so you can see them. At the end of the class, I had ...
Posted Mar 28, 2011 4:35 AM by Ben Matthews

Showing posts 1 - 5 of 14. View more »

Deliverables
1. A video and transcript-based analysis of interaction problems in a work (or similar) setting in which designed artefacts (products and systems) are implicated

2. A physical mock-up of a redesigned artefact or environment that adequately addresses these problems, drawing on the results of the analysis, and theories & tools presented in class

Assessment
This course will be assessed based on an oral exam where you will present your video analysis and redesign mock-up. You are permitted to work and present in groups, but note that you will be questioned and graded by the examiners on an individual basis.

Instructors
Ben Matthews (matthews@mci.sdu.dk)
Trine Heinemann (trine@sitkom.sdu.dk)

Course program (current 28 March)

Monday 7 February	Course introduction
Monday 14 February	Class 0: Friendly Fire Analysis & Design discussion
Monday 21 February	Class 1: Design principles, Analysis principles
Monday 14 March	Class 2: Analysis workshop
Monday 28 March	Class 3: Analysis presentation
Monday 4 April	Class 4: More design principles
Monday 11 April	Class 5: Analysis presentations
Monday 9 May	Class 6: Design principles discussion
Monday 16 May	Class 7: Redesign critique
Monday 23 May	Class 8: Class review