GIXD-614: IxD History and Futures

Department
Credits 3
Instructional Method
Academic Level
Interaction Design in various forms goes back more than a century to the industrial age. That history is marked by a gradual evolution from direct tactile and mechanical interfaces to metaphorical interactions, paralleled by an evolution from machine-centric design to human-centric design. In this course we will examine these histories around thematic areas of tactile/mechanical interfaces, graphical/screen-based interfaces, and multi-modal interfaces such as voice, gesture, etc. Charting the specific history of entrepreneurial design in technology, students will see how their own design process, focusing on people and prototypes, prepares them for emerging technologies, social change, and the future of human interactions. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) sits at the confluence of computer science, psychology and cognitive science. Students explore commonly used HCI research methods as they apply to interaction design and emergent future casting models. Moving from past to present and then future Interaction models, students will examine scifi-predicted/designed future tech. Through readings, seminar discussions, and hands-on experiments, students will learn how to apply methods HCI and futurecasting into their design practice.