88460 Interactive Product Design: Methodology and Research
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2023 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 12 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 84811 Smart Design
Recommended studies:
some experience with basic electronics, user-centred design, writing reports
Description
Interaction design can be defined as 'interactive products containing embedded electronics that respond to people's actions' (Rogers et al., 2011). In this subject an interactive prototype is created, and this making is a tool in the process, not the end goal. The focus of this subject is to explore people's desires in everyday life through people-centred design methods and to create a not-yet-existing product as a support for those people, which is used in the real-world to evaluate the impact of the designed intervention.
The overall aim for this subject is for each individual student to generate new knowledge by going through a complete research-through-design process, including communication of the results through a video, a presentation and a paper.
Aside from gaining experience with this type of process, the content includes the application area of physical interaction design (also known as tangible interaction) and methods used in people-centred design.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
| 1.. | Active participation and professional behaviour |
|---|---|
| 2.. | Understand design research |
| 3.. | Understand physical interaction design |
| 4.. | Understand people-centred design methodology |
| 5.. | Implement people-centred design methods |
| 6.. | Create an interactive prototype |
| 7.. | Generate design knowledge |
| 8.. | Communicate interaction design |
Teaching and learning strategies
Semester long, delivery is a combination of weekly lectures followed by weekly practical tutorial classes and weekly theoretical tutorial classes. Tutorial classes incorporate a range of teaching and learning strategies that include hands-on studio activities, reading, writing, presenting and discussing.
Students gain a broad appreciation for the combination of a variety of activities making up an interaction design process.
Content (topics)
- Interaction design
- Physical/tangible interaction
- People-centred design methods
- Design research
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Video
| Intent: | Create a 2-minute video (using the h264 video codec, which will result in .mp4) explaining the rationale of the project, the idea behind the concept and showing the interactive prototype in action. The video needs to be submitted digitally, send an e-mail to the subject coordinator with a URL where the file can be downloaded. File-size should not exceed 100MB, but is preferably compressed to less than 50MB. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1., 6. and 8. This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): .5, .6 and A.4 |
| Type: | Demonstration |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 25% |
Assessment task 2: Presentation
| Intent: | Give a 10-minute presentation providing an overview of the project, including user method, prototype, evaluation and generated knowledge. The presentation needs to be submitted digitally, by e-mail to the subject coordinator, the day before the presentation. File-size should not exceed 5MB. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1., 5. and 8. This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): A.4, C.3 and R.1 |
| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 25% |
Assessment task 3: Paper
| Intent: | Write an 8-page paper using this template: http://www.sigchi.org/publications/chipubform/sigchi-paper-format-2016/view The paper should summarise all the work done in this subject, including a literature review, the people-centred design method used and its outcomes, the ideation process, the prototyping process, the evaluation method, overall findings, a critical reflective discussion, conclusions, acknowledgements (optional) and references. The paper should provide a clear description of the generated knowledge using a research-through-design process. Information that is relevant but does not fit in the 8-page paper can be added in an appendix. The paper needs to be submitted physically (a hard copy) in the subject coordinator's lab (CB06.06.69), and digitally, by e-mail to the subject coordinator. Deadline for both is a week after the day of the presentation. File-size should not exceed 10MB. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., 7. and 8. This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): .5, .5, A.4, C.2, I.1 and I.2 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 50% |
Minimum requirements
Minimum attendance is 80%.
In case of absence the subject coordinator has to be informed by the student using e-mail prior to the absence.
References
Rogers, Y., Sharp, H. & Preece, J. (2011). Interaction design: Beyond Human?Computer Interaction, 3rd Edition. Wiley, Chichester, UK.