COURSES TEACHING

Design is one complex cognitive behavior and has attracted a lot of research attention. Researchers use various theoretical and empirical approaches to study how designers think. Thus, design cognition has become a well-defined research domain since 1970s. This course will cover major theories and methodologies in design cog-nition.

The main focus of this course is mainly through observing the users cognitive behavior and their psychological feelings to discover the users needs. By analyzing the product components and investigating the design vocabulary, designers are able to allow the product to communicate with users in terms of conveying the product image and usability correctly.

According Norman, even the smartest user can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault lies in design that ignores the principles of cognitive psychology. This courses discuss and practice why some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.

Basic Design 2 is the foundation of all product designs and the it focuses on the composition design of 3D objects. The issues of it includes: form, color, material, presentation, and so on. Through a series of exercises and the use of various basic tools and materials, this course will cultivate students' keen observation, perception of beauty, and creativity.

Mindfulness is an ancient concept originating from Buddhism. In contemporary research and practice, it specifically refers to a psychological state of consciously observing one's physical and mental conditions, emphasizing living in the present moment and initially refraining from making value judgments about circumstances. In recent years, Western research has confirmed that mindfulness has positive effects on human attention, cognition, emotion, psychology, behavior, creativity, and empathy. Therefore, the practice of mindfulness offers excellent potential both for enhancing designers' soft skills and for design research.

The main difficulty of writing a thesis is usually not from choosing research methodology, designing experiment processes, analyzing research data, or writing in English, but from acknowledging the logic of constructing a research paper. Thus, this course is focused on the logic of academic writing in English for graduate student.