Course Information

HCI Design Theory · I604 -- Fall 2008

School of Informatics, Indiana University, Bloomington

Instructor

Professor Erik Stolterman (estolter@indiana.edu)
Office hours: I check email all the time. Just email me to set up a meeting.

OBS: A full syllabus will be available later. If you have any questions about the course, please send me an email!

IMPORTANT: This Fall the course will be taught mostly as a distance course (using appropriate technology) since I will be located in Sweden. I will visit Bloomington and some lectures will be in person. If you have any questions about this, please email me!!

About the course

Most professionals are involved in the ongoing design of our reality. This is may be especially true for informatics and HCI professionals. Professionals that are involved in design are evaluated based on how well they can design new things that have certain qualities that can be incorporated into the world of people and organizations.

This course focuses on that professional design process. We will study and discuss how design can be understood, described, and developed as a process of inquiry, thought, and action.

We will discuss how it is possible to become a more skilled and successful designer and what it takes to develop both design thinking and design practice. We will compare HCI design with other design fields such as architecture, product design, graphic design, landscape design, organizational design, etc. We will do this by reading some of the seminal texts on design, by experiementing with the design process, by analyzing design behavior, by reflecting on design experiences, and by conducting intellectual discussions.

Based on this developed understanding of design we will also explore, analyze and criticize underlying assumptions and the rationale behind some of the most influential theoretical attempts in HCI design with the purpose to develop a critical thinking around the role, purpose, and function of theories. The overall purpose of the course is to support students to establish a personal, reflective and examined intellectual position in relation to design as a process of inquiry, thought, and action, and in relation to contemporary theoretical developments.

Time and Place

The class will meet on Tuesdays 9.00 - 11.30 in room I105 in the informatics building.

Prerequisites     

Permission of the Instructor. This course is suitable for PhD and MS students in Informatics and HCI design. It is also a core PhD course for anyone in our Informatics PhD program. The course is also open to anyone who has the interest in the content. Please, send me an email if you want to find out more.

Readings

Readings will be announced later.