In this course students work together to address a design challenge that is interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature. The design challenge is issued to a select group of international universities and art schools by Microsoft as part of their Design Expo. Students work in small teams to research, prototype and develop concepts in response to the challenge. Past themes include time, social networks, trust and public v. private communications (blogs / email / diaries). One of the project teams from each institution will be invited to present their work to the research and design groups at Microsoft in Redmond, WA over the summer. Students who are interested in enrolling in the course are encouraged to register early. A preliminary meeting over the Winter Session will be held to orient students to the structure and theme of the course.

At the end of the semester one project is selected by representatives from Microsoft to be presented at a design conference in Redmond, WA. Selected students are supported for this travel and are required to enroll in a 1 credit internship (no tuition fee) over the summer to prepare their work for presentation in the third week of July.

Participation

Attendance at every class is expected. Arrive prepared to present and discuss the topics at hand as well as participate fully in group presentations and workshops. Participation is essential in both critique and discussion as well as in online aspects of the course (class wiki, shared research materials / resources, etc.).

Attendance

Attendance will be taken every class period. In accordance with RISD policies, students may be dropped from the class in the case of unexcused absence for the following two reasons: (1) if they miss the first meeting of class; (2) if they are absent from two or more class meetings at any time during the term.

Please contact me in advance if you are unable to attend a class for any reason. I will frequently make announcements, distribute electronic readings and post syllabus updates via email. I will use risd.edu accounts for these communications - it is expected that you check your risd email regularly.

Assignments

Deliverables for this course include weekly presentations / updates (progress should be posted to the wiki weekly) and a final presentation. Each group is responsible for submitting full documentation of their final presentation along with documentation of their entire design process.

Objectives

By the end of the course we expect you to have:

Developed an appreciation of user-centered design process in an interdisciplinary context.

Identified a design problem or challenge: the problem should fall within the theme of "The Gigabyte Connection" according to a user-centered design process

Developed a thoroughly articulated design concept and working / non-working prototype in response to the Design Expo theme that addresses the following:

Problem: define the problem and clearly identify the scope of your address to the problem

Conceptual Approach: identify the conceptual approach and methodology

User Group and User Needs: identify user needs based on field research, interviews and direct observations

Design Brief / Requirements: a set of user needs and design constraints based on your analysis of the user group and context for use

Scenario: a narrative that describes the use of the proposed design in context - illustrate the experience in story form.

Prototype (Full Paper, Working or non-working prototype)

Future directions / Challenges

Evaluation

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