Class Participation (15%)

Class participation is required for everyone. This means you need to engage in the class discussion at least once, in class, each week. Please note that participation means making a meaningful contribution to an ongoing discussion; simply attending class or nodding along as another student talks does not count as participation.

You are permitted two free, unexcused absences over the course of the semester (no explanation needed), and of course you won't be penalized for a legitimate, excused absence (just drop me an email explaining what is happening, before class if possible). Each week of non-participation (beyond the two free passes and excused absences) will subtract a point from your class participation grade.

Group Design Sprints (5 @ 7% each)

Five times during the semester, we will engage in small group, in-class, rapid prototyping design sprint activities, each lasting for one week (i.e., two class sessions). Groups will be assigned at random, and topics will be announced at the beginning of the week.

You and your group will spend Tuesday (and whatever additional time you feel necessary between Tuesday and Thursday) preparing your design ideas, which you will then present to the instructor and the rest of the class on Thursday.

Each group will be responsible for presenting their own design ideas, and answering questions about their design decisions from the instructor and the other students. Given time constraints, group presentations will be strictly limited to five minutes each, plus three minutes for questions.

Group presentations should be highly visual, engaging, and demonstrate the interactive components of your design in some way. Note that these presentations are in-class assignments only; you do not need to submit anything to Canvas.

Also, while there will be one presentation per group, every group member should be involved with the presentation in some way. If you are going to miss either a Tuesday or a Thursday session during a week when we have a Group Activity scheduled, please let me know ASAP.

Individual Project 1: Design Idea (8%)

Assignment due Sunday, September 29. Please submit your assignment to Canvas.

This is an individual writing assignment that allows you to explore an idea for a product, system, or interface that you would like to design.

Spend some time thinking about your proposed design idea. This can be something totally new you are just thinking about now, something you've been eager to develop for a while but not yet had the chance to design, or something you are already working on but not yet thought through in detail (just be sure your work for this class is original).

Write a short paper covering the following points, in this order, using headings and/or subheadings to separate each point:

  1. Describe the product, system, or interface you would like to design and its intended purpose. What is your idea? What purpose would it serve? Why does it interest you? If your idea is similar to an existing product, system, or interface, please explain briefly how your idea differs from or improves upon what has already been developed.

Submit your assignment to Canvas under the "Individual Project 1" assignment. Make sure your submission includes the name and number of the course, the instructor's name, YOUR NAME, the name of the assignment, and the date submitted. Length: ~250 words.

Individual Project 2: User Profile / Persona (9%)

Assignment due Sunday, October 13. Please submit your assignment to Canvas.

This is an individual writing assignment that allows you to think about the intended users of the product, system, or interface that you would like to design.

Spend some time thinking about the design idea you proposed in the previous assignment, including who its hypothetical users might be.

Write a short paper covering the following points, in this order, using headings and/or subheadings to separate each point:

  1. Summarize your design idea, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the first project assignment.
  2. Describe the overall kinds of users that you believe would use this product, system, or interface (e.g., their demographics, backgrounds, education, experience, and/or overall goals in life). Identify one specific, representative type of user for the product, system, or interface you are designing, and provide a detailed user profile or persona that you feel describes the type of user you have in mind. You may develop either a generic user profile (e.g., Fortune 500 business executives who are frequent fliers...) or a specific persona (e.g., "Steve" is a 52-year-old man from Chicago, IL, who regularly flies around the world with a cocker spaniel in tow...) -- whichever approach will be most helpful to you. Your goal here is to carefully consider the unique requirements of this user type with respect to your product, system, or interface.

Submit your assignment to Canvas under the "Individual Project 2" assignment. Make sure your submission includes the name and number of the course, the instructor's name, YOUR NAME, the name of the assignment, and the date submitted. Length: ~500 words.

Individual Project 3: Scenario of Use (10%)

Assignment due Sunday, November 3. Please submit your assignment to Canvas.

This is an individual writing assignment that allows you to think about what your intended users would do with the product, system, or interface that you would like to design.

Spend some time thinking about your design idea, its hypothetical users, and what they might try to accomplish with your proposed product, system, or interface.

Write a short paper covering the following points, in this order, using headings and/or subheadings to separate each point:

  1. Summarize your design idea, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the first project assignment (and can be copied from the previous assignment if nothing has changed).
  2. Summarize your user profile or persona, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the second project assignment.
  3. Describe what that you believe your intended users would do with the product, system, or interface you are designing in general. Identify one specific, representative use case for the product, system, or interface you are designing, and provide a detailed scenario of use that describes what your hypothetical user might be trying to accomplish with your product, system, or interface (e.g., a primary school teacher is planning to take their students to a museum on a field trip, and is visiting the museum's website to look for ways of integrating the museum visit into her classroom activities, etc.). Your goal here is to carefully consider the unique actions, tasks, or goals of your proposed user with your proposed design idea.

Submit your assignment to Canvas under the "Individual Project 3" assignment. Make sure your submission includes the name and number of the course, the instructor's name, YOUR NAME, the name of the assignment, and the date submitted. Length: ~500 words.

Individual Project 4: Design Prototype (11%)

Assignment due Sunday, November 17. Please submit your assignment to Canvas.

This is an individual writing assignment that allows you to design a prototype of the product, system, or interface you are designing.

Spend some time thinking carefully about how your design idea might support the type of user and scenario of use you described in the previous assignments, and then design a prototype that illustrates your idea. Please note that this does not have to be a functional prototype. You can design your prototype using any tool at your disposal -- from sketching designs on paper to using online prototyping tools like Balsamiq or Figma -- just as long as you have something visual that illustrates your design idea.

Write a short paper covering the following points, in this order, using headings and/or subheadings to separate each point:

  1. Summarize your design idea, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the first project assignment (and can be copied from the previous assignment if nothing has changed).
  2. Summarize your user profile or persona, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the second project assignment (and can be copied from the previous assignment if nothing has changed).
  3. Summarize your scenario of use, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the third project assignment.
  4. Describe the design prototype for your product, system, or interface. Provide a detailed explanation / rationale of your idea that explains how your proposed user will be able to use your prototype design to complete your proposed scenario of use, and why you believe your prototype meets the needs of your proposed user. Be sure to explain the choices you made when designing the prototype of your product, system, or interface, and include some kind of visual media to accompany your written description of your design prototype!

Submit your assignment to Canvas under the "Individual Project 4" assignment. Make sure your submission includes the name and number of the course, the instructor's name, YOUR NAME, the name of the assignment, and the date submitted. Length: ~750 words.

Individual Project 5: Revised Design (12%)

Assignment due Sunday, December 8. Please submit your assignment to Canvas.

This is an individual writing assignment that allows you to revise your design prototype for the product, system, or interface you are designing.

Spend some time thinking about your design prototype, and what you learned from making this prototype that might help you improve your design in the future. Revise your design prototype to better meet the needs of your proposed users -- based on your own ideas, as well as any feedback you may have received on your ideas so far. Again, you can do this using any tool at your disposal -- from sketching designs on paper to using online prototyping tools like Balsamiq or Figma -- just as long as you have something visual that illustrates your revised design.

Write a short paper covering the following points, in this order, using headings and/or subheadings to separate each point:

  1. Summarize your design idea, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the first project assignment (and can be copied from the previous assignment if nothing has changed).
  2. Summarize your user profile or persona, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the second project assignment (and can be copied from the previous assignment if nothing has changed).
  3. Summarize your scenario of use, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the third project assignment (and can be copied from the previous assignment if nothing has changed).
  4. Summarize your initial design prototype, including any changes in your thinking since the previous assignment (if applicable). This is a short recap of the fourth project assignment.
  5. Describe your revisions to your design prototype for your product, system, or interface. Provide a detailed explanation / rationale of the changes you made to your prototype, and why you believe these changes will better enable your proposed user to use your prototype design to complete your proposed scenario of use. Be sure to explain the choices you made when revising the prototype of your product, system, or interface, and include some kind of visual media to accompany your written description of your revised design prototype!

Submit your assignment to Canvas under the "Individual Project 5" assignment. Make sure your submission includes the name and number of the course, the instructor's name, YOUR NAME, the name of the assignment, and the date submitted. Length: ~750 words.

Notes on Individual Project Assignments

Submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (EDT or EST, as appropriate) on the dates indicated above. Late assignments will not receive full credit. If you have extenuating circumstances, please let me know ASAP.

When the papers are marked, points will be assigned based on the assumption that you have carefully followed, read, and understood the assignment descriptions. Please do not hesitate to ask for clarifications!

Written Assignments should be submitted to Canvas as an individual file (PDF preferred), and please make sure your surname is part of the filename.

All submissions must include a title page or section with your name, the name and number of the course, the instructor's name, the name of the assignment, and the date submitted.

You are required to use headings and/or subheadings to make the organization of your paper clear to the reader. The main headings in your paper must correspond to the main sections of the assignment descriptions, listed above. Subdivide each section to reflect its content as necessary.

Papers must be demonstrably spell-checked, grammar-checked, and proofread for nonsense; failure to do so will result in a lower grade.