R. Luke DuBois

Introduction
The Interaction Design Studio is a graduate production course that looks at the ways in
which we can build compelling interactions through a combination of software
engineering and best practices in HCI. For this course, students will investigate
standard (keyboards, mice), expanded (controllers, cameras) and bespoke (custombuilt) physical interfaces for sensing user input and look at ways in which these inputs
can be mapped in software to develop successful experiences. Students will be
assigned regular case studies and design sketches exploring the pros and cons of
different interfaces; they will also develop and user-test a semester-length design
project using a physical interface in a novel way to create a tool, a performance, an
installation, or something in between. The course will be hardware and software
agnostic but will be taught primarily in Max/MSP/Jitter, a visual development
environment for real-time media.
Course Objectives
Students in this course will:

• familiarize themselves with best practices in HCI through a series of case studies,
  informed by readings in cognitive analysis.
• apply these best practices to a variety of interface tasks using software.
• learn standard computer interface protocols (serial interfaces, network interfaces) to
  understand design from a standpoint of maximum interoperability and flexibility.
• experiment with different techniques for mapping a user input under a variety of
  situations.
• propose and develop a complete experience as a final project.