Meaningful growth involves discomfort. For individuals, in relationships, for communities it can be a key aspect in the process of reaching a desired outcome, in what Ida Benedetto calls \”patterns of transformation\”. Our unique insights as designers, artists, and creative technologists can lead to innovative applications of this unorthodox tool. The Uses of Discomfort is an experience design course where we will spend six weeks delving into how this response functions, why it’s of interest to us, and what we might be able to do with it. We’ll look at four broad categories (visceral, intimacy-related, control-related, and cultural) through assigned readings, in-class lectures, and creative challenges. These challenges will ask you to manage safe risks for yourself and others, putting your ideas to the test as you critically explore the course content. Conceptual in nature, you will be expected to explore how you can apply your favored skills, technical approaches and design tools to the questions and opportunities presented. At the end of the session, you will be empowered to incorporate the course learnings into your ongoing work as designers, artists, and creative technologists. You will benefit from some prior familiarity with one or more of the following: speculative design, art-practice, concept development, or user-experience design. Note: this class was previously called Design for Discomfort.

ITPG-GT.2159.1 (22551) | Instructor: Nicholas Hubbard | Thur 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 6-Second Half | Start Date