Interaction Design

24 Jan.

Topics

• Introduction

From class

• Elizabeth Coleman at TED and AIGA

Projects

• Start Tour
• Start your weblogs

31 Jan.

Topics

• RTFM: mental models
• Let’s break things: fast paper prototyping
• Bring pen and markers, scissors or x-acto knives, tape, and (if you own one) a mobile device with POP installed

Projects

• Exchange Tour documents
• Start Interface

Reading

• The iPhone symphony incident in the New York Times and from John Gruber
• Tiny Story

7 Feb.

Topics

• Stories about users: personas and scenarios

In class

• Example persona

Projects

• Present and critique Tour
• Present your initial ideas for your project for Interface

Reading

• Norman, Design of Everyday Things, ch. 1
• Optional: The Messy Art of UX Sketching

21 Feb.

Topics

• How people read interfaces: affordances and feedback

Reading

• Sarah Parmenter, Speaking up (a problem in the IxD/tech field)
• Wodtke and Govella, Information Architecture, ch. 6 (personas and storytelling)
• Optional: Cooper on writing useful personas
• Optional: Don Norman on quick and casual persona use
• Optional: Example persona formats

28 Feb.

Topics

• Doorways, not tabs: designing navigational systems

Reading

• Norman, Design of Everyday Things, ch. 4

7 March

Topics

• A place for every thing, and every thing in its place: website organization and cardsorting methods
• Big push on Interface

Reading

• Wodtke and Govella, Information Architecture, ch. 1 (principles)
• Optional: NYT on fax machines in Japan

14 March

Topics

• Ways of knowing: analytics and usability testing

Reading

• Wodtke and Govella, Information Architecture, ch. 3 (organizing information!)
• Optional: Learnable programming
• Optional: Google Glass and the experience of everyone else

28 March

Topics

• Everyone makes mistakes: managing user error
• 238,900 miles from home: design in the Apollo Program

Projects

• Semifinal critique for Interface

Reading

• Wodtke and Govella, Information Architecture, ch. 8 (navigation)
• Optional: The Gramar of Interactivity

4 April

Topics

• Process, and communicating design

Reading

• Optional but illuminating: William Langewiesche on the many causes of an airplane crash

Projects

• Start wrapping up Interface
• Informally introduce Experience and structure

11 April

Topics

• The Internet of Things: physical computing

Reading

• What will our (future) interfaces feel like?
• A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design
• Optional: NYT Changes in how people use search

Projects

• Critique Interface (final if possible)
• Start Experience and structure

18 April

Topics

• Guest speaker: Willie Shubert, Internews/Earth Journalism Network
• Reach out and touch someone: physical computing
• Place: design for spatial problems

Reading

• [moved]

25 April

Topics

• Only connect: design with accessibility in mind
• Text as interface

Reading

• 99% Invisible architecture you can’t see
• How the Blind are Reinventing the iPhone

Optional reading

• WebAIM Introduction to Web Accessibility

2 May

Topics

• One hand, one eye: navigation for mobile contexts

Optional reading

• Mark Pilgrim, Dive Into Accessibility (Week 1 – personas!)
• Anil Dash, The Web We Lost

16 May

Topics

• Optional makeup class
• Arduino/physical computing intro