Design & Technology Studio

Interaction Design
Fundamentals
Interaction Design Fundamentals
Fall 2013 || 6th Semester
Friday 11:00am - 1:30pm
Room IX
Visual Arts Department
Karachi University
Instructor
Ahmed Ansari
aansari86@gmail.com
Language of Instruction
English
Office Hours
I will respond to emails, so dont
hesitate to be in touch!
Course Blog
ixdfundamentals.wordpress.com
General Supplies
External flash or hard drive (2 GB+)
Additional supplies for each
assignment will be recommended
as needed
Note
This syllabus is subject to change.
Revisions will be announced and
posted to the blog as needed.

OVERVIEW
The artifacts of design, both intangible communications and tangible products, live within complex
social, economic and technological ecosystems. To fully understand the user experience, designers
must be highly flexible communicators, facilitators, mediators and thinkers. Whether designing a
public service campaign, a mobile phone app, or redesigning pedestrian flow in urban environments,
design is as much about framing user experiences as it is about the creation of new artifacts and
services. This course focuses on the relationships between objects and their contexts, how to identify
human behaviors and needs, and how those behaviors and needs converge to create user experiences
and innovative, sustainable solutions.
We begin by exploring design and the human condition, discussing the nature of human beings
and their physical, psychological, and spiritual or cultural needs, as well as how designers respond
to human needs and issues of value. Throughout the semester we will discuss the scope of design in
our personal, social, and cultural environment, observing how thoroughly design has permeated our
lives through images, physical objects, services, and material ecosystems. Students will, through a
series of projects, also be exposed to a variety of basic methods in exploring problems and designing
interventions in complex ecosystems. This course includes lectures, discussions, presentations and
both written and studio assignments.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the highest level, by the end of this course, you should walk away with:
A sense of the scope and impact of design and its issues in shaping both our material environments
and our own behaviors today
A developed understanding of interaction design principles, frameworks, and methods with the
ability to apply this knowledge
The ability to articulate, both through oral and visual presentation, the breadth, depth, and
limitations of your design process and solutions
Additionally, successful students should have a foundational understanding of the following concepts:
Sketching & Protyping In the Design Process. Practice the processes of sketching and creating
physical prototypes as a formative tool for realising ideas, and honing skills in both articulating your
concepts, and receiving and delivering constructive criticism.
Human Centered Design Methods. Understanding the overall flow of the design research process
works, from problem framing and exploration, to synthesis and modelling, to iterative concept
generation and evaluation, and being able to utilise a set of basic methods at each stage.
Conceptual Modelling. Mapping a content domain is an effective way to understand it. Students
should be familiar with the various ways of organizing and sifting through their current knowledge of
a complex system, and modelling the flow of interactions and affects throughout the system.
Critical Design Frameworks. Develop critical and analytical sensibilities for the nuances of
interactions, being able to map both tangible and intangible affordances of artifacts, as well as
critically evaluate products in their behavioral, social, economic, ethical and environmental impacts.

COURSE OUTLINE
This has been planned as a fourteen week course, and there will be a total of five projects over
the course of the semester. If, from circumstances unseen classes are cancelled at any point in the
semester, you will be still be required to carry on with your work - updates on what is expected of you
will be posted on the course blog, so please be sure to check.
Week I. Introductions, Syllabus Discussion, Design in the 21st Century, Designs Four Orders,
Project I. Design All Around Us
Week II. Tool Being, Worlding, Ontological Design

IxD Fundamentals |1

Week III. Taste Regimes, Value & Attachment, Focal Things, Persuasive/Seductive Technologies
Project II. Products for Pleasure
Week IV. Human Centered Design, Designing for Service, Service Innovation & Value
Week V. Mediation & Action, Nonhuman Actants, Thingly Ethics & Politics, Coercive Technologies
Project III. Mapping Nonhuman/Human Relations
Week VI. Wicked Problems, Systems Thinking, Autopoeisis, Materiality & Power
Week VII. Sustainability, Lifecycle Assessments, Akrasia,
Project IV. Mapping Product Ecosystems
Week VIII. Design Praxis & Research, The Lab, Field & Showroom, Final Project Given
Project V. Designing Interaction
Week IX. Problem Framing & Secondary Research
Week X. Exploratory Research & Synthesis (Presentation on Primary Fieldwork & Key Findings)
Week XI. Generative Research
Week XII. Prototyping & Defining A Solution (Presentation on Prototypes & Possible Solution)
Week XII. Execution & User Testing
Week XIV. Solution Presentation & Evaluation (Final Presentation)

CLASS POLICIES
Participation & Attitude. Building a sharp, critical design thinking ability requires you to articulate
and discuss the various themes and issues we will cover in class, and to offer constructive criticism of
design both in class and everyday life. Additionally, a large part of the course involves developing the
ability to evaluate your and others work. Critiques should help you to verbalize your thoughts, learn
new vocabulary, and develop the ability to accept and work with criticism. Critiques may be informal
one-one-one desk crits, student-led group discussions, or instructor-led reviews. You are expected to
make good and efficient use of class time on work daysno multitasking please! Please silence cell
phones and other mobile devices. Respect the time we have in the studio.
Attendance & Punctuality. You are expected to be on-time to class given the broad ground we hope
to cover in the semester. Attendance is mandatory and will be documented with a roll call. It is your
responsibility to respond to roll call, if you do not, your attendance will be counted as an absence. If
you arrive to class after roll call, you will be marked as late. Two lates will count as one absence, and
two absences will result in the loss of a full letter grade. Three absences will fail you for this course.
Absences for which you have a documented and signed medical, religious, or approved university
excuse (e.g., athletic) will not be counted toward a total of missed classes, but if you need to miss
class for these reasons, please be in touch with both instructor email. It is your responsibility to get
information on assignments and class content from Blackboard or another class member. Serious
attendance problemseven excusedmay be grounds for failure in the class.
Deadlines. Deadlines are a part of the professional world, and hitting them is a necessity of
professional behavior in every field. You are expected to hand your assignments in on time. Each day
late results in a full grade deduction. Three days late equals a D, four days late will not be graded and
registered as an F.
Assignments. This course is studio-based and comprised of assignments ranging from short
foundational exercises to more in-depth projects. Projects require work in both traditional and digital
mediums, and there will be a mix of individual and team based projects. Sensitivity of craftsmanship
and completion of each assignment per specifications is expected of each student. The quality of your
reflection and communication about a design solution will also be assessed in the grading process.
Students are expected to post research reports and findings, progress reports, prototypes and final
solutions to their personal blogs. You might be required to bring printed hard copies as needed and
will be informed beforehand.
Keep in mind: while working, save often! It is your responsibility to ensure files are not lost. Please

IxD Fundamentals |2

backup your working files on an external flash or hard drive from time to time. Lost files are no excuse
for not submitting on a deadline.
Plagiarism. Plagiarism is taken very seriously in this class, and any indication that a solution has been
taken from an external source will be grounds for failure on that project. Plagiarism includes, but is not
limited to, failure to indicate the source with quotation marks or footnotes where appropriate if any
of the following are reproduced in the work submitted by a student: a phrase, unaccredited, written
or musical; visual elements taken from templates or other sources; an unaccredited proof; specific
language; an idea derived from the work, published or unpublished, of another person.

READINGS
Reading Policy. Academic papers, articles and excerpts will be made available in PDF format on the
course blog in advance of class dates. Students are responsible for downloading all readings and
checking the blog for new material. We will be using the readings to frame class discussions, and
students are expected to familiarize themselves with content and refer to concepts and vocabulary
during class critiques and lessons. You may be tested on your grasp of the material. Additional
recommended references will also be posted to the course blog.

TECHNOLOGY
A working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite is required, especially Photoshop, Illustrator, and some
video editing or animation tool. A knowledge of HTML+CSS, Adobe Flash or Processing is highly
recommended, but not required. Over the semester, you will be introduced to protoyping tools like
Axure Sketchup, or Balsamiq, but this course focuses on design thinking, not software training - it will
be up to you to obtain proficiency in these softwares. For additional technical support, explore the
resources listed on the course blog. Take advantage of open hours in the school clusters to complete
your assignments. If you have a Mac or PC with design software you are welcome to work from your
own computer. However, be aware of conversion or compatibility issues between older versions of
software and between Macs and PCs - these issues crop up especially in team projects.

PROCESS BLOGS

In design there are no clear pathways or absolutes, but documenting your path to a solution helps
present a broad exploration of ideas and reinforce design rationale. Furthermore, your growth as
a designer relies on developing a process and reflecting on discoveries you have made during the
journey of each unique project.
You will be responsible for maintaining a Wordpress blog that incorporates both verbal and visual
reflections on your personal design process. This digital journal will be a private site with limited
access. For every studio project, you will be given guidelines as to what structure the posts on your
blog should reflect, since every project will have its own parameters.
Each post should be of appropriate length and summarize where you are in your project coherently
and cogently - entire essays are not expected, but neither are single paragraphs acceptable. Your
process should outline where you are, what youve done, what your findings or reflections are, and
show the development of your prototypes and other generative exercises as you move towards a final
solution. If you refer to secondary research sources in your blog, please cite them using the Chicago
Style format, with links if they were found online.

EVALUATION & ASSESSMENT

Your final course grade is determined by graded components and pass/fail components. If you have
any issues, please email or see me after class hours.
Assignments (70%). The following assignments will be graded according to students performance
against the specifications for each project. Please see Class Policies for general expectations, and
review the Assignment Sheets for specific details on the requirements of each assignment, including
grading criteria.
Project II. Products for Pleasure (10%)
Project III. Mapping Nonhuman/Human Relations (10%)
Project IV. Mapping Product Ecosystems (10%)
Project V. Designing Interaction (50%)
Pass/Fail Components (15%).
Project I. Design All Around Us (P/F, 5%)
Process Blogs (P/F, 10%)
Attendance & Critique Participation (10%). You are expected to attend all class sessions and to
participate actively in class critiques, which are an essential part of this course.

IxD Fundamentals |3