C o u r s e s

Special Topics on Interactive Media Design (I) is comprised of two phases. In phase 1, students from local and international master programs will be mixed and divided into six groups to join the HCI studios lead by six different faculties. Through six weeks intensive workshop, each group is expected to identify a design problem and propose a solution in the final presentation in the seventh week. 

Special Topics on Interactive Media Design (II) aims to help student move from the HCI design to the research application of human-computer interaction. Through the parallel developments of understanding the HCI academic and engaging in the HCI academic. Class will meet in group to learn how the HCI academic function, and then each develop one’s own research project to actively engage in the HCI academic. 

The aims of this course are to explore the nature of design research at three various levels of scientific philosophy, research methods, and practical execution. The contents involve the introduction of the definition of the design problems, selecting the quantitative or qualitative research methods and specific instruments, interpretation of research results, case studies, as well as writing a thesis.

A weekly seminar discusses the current progress of individual projects.

Interaction design can be considered as an extension of the long-established fields of architectural, industrial, and graphical design. Regardless what types of the recent emerging field of interaction design such as UI, UX, responsive website, tangible interaction design, or smart environment, the image remains as the visual language for design ideation to realization. This course introduces the concept of digital pipeline which is mediated on wide range of image related digital technologies. Through those modularized technologies, we can form a working pipeline to create a prototype for an interaction design proposal.

Seeing is a creative process that involves our eyes and mind to transform what we see into what we know, but sometimes the process is reversed—we rely on what we know to interpret what we are seeing. To draw what we see can, therefore, be a process of the interaction of seeing and understanding. The goal of this course will focus on this seeing, thinking, and drawing interaction while drawing architecture on location. 

Technologically, this course reviews the recent developments on research-based interaction design. Theoretically, this course introduces the theories and methodologies of the research applications in the field of human-computer interaction, and teaches how to design a HCI experiment.

Virtual reality (VR) is an integration of art and technology. It is widely used in fields that are very different in nature such as aviation simulator, medical inspection equipment, preview of finished products, etc. This course will focus on the impact of VR application in the future technology and lifestyles as well as explore the relationships among engrossment, imagination, interaction, and human psychological cognition. The course content includes graphic-based VR, imaged-based VR, and hybrid VR.

This course will cover the fundamentals of user experience design and provide the students with insights into the measurement of user research. The real-life processes, challenges, considerations, tools, team works, models and case studies of user research are introduced in this course by lecturing, discussing and practicing methods. Students are expecting to learn user experience principles, to designing, evaluating, implementing and measuring user experience in both qualitative and quantitative methods in the aspect of interaction design, space design and product design individually.

This course is focused on introducing the knowledge regarding human-computer interaction (HCI) design. Students can understand the basic knowledge, application and research relevant to HCI design, which will help them develop expertise in practical interface design and planning. This course is set up under the structure of Human-Machine-Scenario theory and case study.

This course will use Problem-based Learning (PBL) method to teach the five kernel steps of design thinking including the following: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. It will also help students in knowing the interdisciplinary innovation methods of interaction design by case studies and real case operation. The main course goals include the following: gain an understanding of the methods and steps of interaction design; explore the methods and operation models for the interdisciplinary innovation of interaction design; and gain the experiences of interaction design by real cases analysis and operation.

This course mainly introduces sound design and electronic music production tools and skills. Through the introduction of audio editing technology and the use of related sound design tools, students can learn creative sound design. In the course, students are taught to use the Ableton Live sequencer software, combined with its sound design tools in Max for Live, to design their own software synthesizers and digital effects to be used in the sequencer. These skills may be used in multimedia design, game audio, new media performances, and etc.

Service design is the activity of planning and organizing related resources of service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between service provider and users. The backbone of service design methodologies is to understand the behavior of the users, their needs and motivations, so as to create user-friendly, competitive and relevant services for the users. The service design concepts and methodologies, and user experience analysis, are used in this course in order to discuss the developments and applications of interactive technologies with respect to various scenarios and application fields.

A thesis is required to complete the program in the first semester of the second year. A proposal is expected to detail the thesis project in the second semester of the second year, and the student is expected to complete a thesis with an academic documentation and an oral defense to demonstrate a contribution to the interaction design field.