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University of Washington
Division of Design
Interaction Design Concentration

Interaction Designers define the structure and behavior of interactive products and services. Interaction Designers create compelling relationships between people and the interactive systems they use, from computers to mobile devices to appliances; Interaction Designers lay the groundwork for intangible experiences. The University of Washington Division of Design offers a MFA in Industrial or Visual Communication Design with a concentration in Interaction Design.

Program Overview
The role of interaction designers in the development of new products, systems and services that include aspects of Human Computer Interaction has increased exponentially over the past few years. Interactive systems are present in many areas in everyday life where people coordinate tasks and engage in activities in collaboration with others. Examples range from mobile phones to computer software, from GPS systems for cars or navigation in the open ocean, and information systems that support the work of expert practitioners in technology-driven domains such as aviation, medicine, and process control.

Three Interaction Design studios form a platform for interdisciplinary design teams of graduate and undergraduate students from Industrial Design, Visual Communication Design, Human Centered Design and Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Informatics, Information Science and Management, and many other fields from the University of Washington’s thriving Research-1 campus. The three interaction design courses (ART383, ART483, and ART484) address human-computer interaction issues that designers encounter when they design for the interactions between people and technology. The courses are offered regularly every quarter and approach different projects in different teams every year. All three classes are open to design students and students with a focus on Human-computer interaction from outside the Division of Design.

ART 383 – Fundamentals of Interaction Design (SU and AU quarters) Introduces students to the study of interaction in context, foundations such as dynamic and interactive representations, affordances, activities, processes, and systems; the role of different views shared by prospective users, clients, and designers; and the presentation, simulation, and testing of interaction design concepts.

ART 483 – Fundamentals of Interface Design (WI) focuses on the display and interaction with information. In the course of a quarter long design project, student teams are introduced to an expert domain such as aviation or medicine and learn techniques to elicit domain knowledge, develop conceptual models, and design information display concepts that support the work of practitioners in the domain. Past collaborations with industry include the design of future flight deck interfaces with the Boeing Flight Deck Concept Center (WI’08 and WI’09)

ART484 – Projects in Interaction Design (SP) challenges students with the design of an innovative new interactive product, system, or service for everyday use. Broad topics such as ‘Health and Wellness’, ‘Learning and Education’, and ‘The Future of Work’ have recently laid the framework for a cutting edge exploration of new interactive technologies and their potential for implementation in new products. Students are familiarized with participatory design techniques, contextual inquiry, and generative design research to conduct user-centered design that results in useful, understandable, and usable products. Past collaborations include the invited participation in the Microsoft Design Expo 2007, 2008, and 2009.

An additional introduction class at the sophomore level (ART212, SP quarter) introduces design sophomore students to Human-Computer Interaction/Design. This class covers basics such as fundamentals of user research in design, scenario development, storytelling, usability evaluation, and techniques such as audio and video recording and editing and animation

The design of interactive systems poses new types of challenges for designers. In the course of the interaction design sequence, students are introduced to the opportunities for designing interactions. They learn how to identify design problems in interactive devices, systems, and services. They learn how to respond to these design challenges by a) applying observation techniques to understand interactions in context, b) develop conceptual models and representations (story’s, scenearios, mock-ups and prototypes) to assess the perspectives of prospective users (understand their understanding) in the course of participatory design process with prospective users to develop interactions that are useful, understandable, and useful.