Experience and Interaction Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course introduces students to experience and interaction design principles, methods, and tools by using data-intensive experiences and services as the main field for observation and experimentation. Design research and experiments will complement lectures and seminars, in a mix of studio-based and theoretical activities.

The aim of the course is to let the students research on and understand the systemic nature of human experiences by designing around a socially relevant issue. They will learn the opportunities and the risks in including data-related technologies as part of a design process and the role of human and non-human interactions in creating meaningful experiences. The focus in practicing design will be on prototyping and iterating in a collaborative context and on the interdependencies between problem framing and problem solving.

Students will engage in guided conversations to question the current user-centered design framework: Through a more-than-human approach, they are asked to assess the impact of their design decisions in the context of a complex, global, and diverse world.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

Teaching and learning strategies for this course will include:

A minimum of 36 contact hours, typically to include interactive group teaching, co-curriculars, individual meetings, in-class presentations, and exams.

Course information and supplementary materials are available on the College’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

Students will receive individualised developmental feedback on their work for this course.

Students are required to attend and participate in all the formal and timetabled sessions for this course. Students are also expected to manage their directed learning and independent study in support of the course.

Assessment

Formative

Students will be formatively assessed in class through class activities, and during office hours. Formative assessments are ones that do not count towards the final grade but will provide students with developmental feedback.

Summative Assessments

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive feedback in a variety of ways: written (including via email correspondence); oral (within office hours or on an ad hoc basis) and indirectly through class discussion.

Feedback is provided on summative assessment and is made available to the student either via email, the VLE or another appropriate method.

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is used as part of the approval/modification process only.

Books

• Duerden, M. D., Rossman, J. R. (2019). Designing Experiences. United Kingdom: Columbia University Press.
• Farrington, T. (2020). UX Design 2020: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to User Experience. (n.p.): Amazon Digital Services LLC – KDP Print US.
• Goodman, E., Kuniavsky, M., Moed, A. (2012). Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner’s Guide to User Research. Netherlands: Elsevier.
• Kalbach, J. (2016). Mapping Experiences: A Guide to Creating Value Through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams. Japan: O’Reilly.
•  Noessel, C., Reimann, R., Cooper, A., Cronin, D. (2014). About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design. Germany: Wiley.

Journals

• Journal of User Experience
• ACM Interactions
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Design Issues
• Electronic Resources
• Maldonado, T. (2002). Defoe and the “Projecting Age.” Design Issues, 18(1), 78–85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1512032
• https://servicedesigntools.org/

Indicative Topics

Students will study the following topics:

• Social complexity
• Systems Design
• Experience Economy
• User Experience
• Interaction Design
• Customer (Journey) Mapping
• Prototyping
• User testing and evaluation