Important Dates

  • Last day to add a class Fri., Feb. 5
  • Last day to drop a class Fri., Feb. 12
  • Last day to withdraw from a class with a grade of W Fri., Mar. 12

Holidays

  • Presidents’ Day Mon., Feb. 15
  • Spring Break Mon.–Sun., Mar. 15–21

Assignment and Important Dates

  • Research Domain presentation: Fri Jan 29
  • Website/Blog Wed Feb. 10
  • Object mini-project Feb. 3rd and 5th
  • 1st one page writing assignment: Wed Feb 17th
  • Space mini-project final critique: Fri Feb.19th
  • Final project 1 minute pitches: Wed Feb. 24th
  • Writing workshop #1: Fri Feb 26th
  • 2nd one page writing assignment: Wed March 3rd
  • Play mini project final: Fri March 5th
  • MIDTERM PRESENTATIONS (final project proposal): Mar. 10 & Mar. 12th
  • Final paper outline due: Tue March 23rd 9:00 am (via email & blog)
  • Writing workshop #2: Friday March 26th
  • Research paper rough draft: Tue April 13th 9:00 am (via email & blog)
  • Final Paper rough draft due: Tuesday April 13th 9:00 am (via email & blog)
  • Writing workshop #3: Fri April 16th
  • FINAL PAPER DUE: Tuesday April 27th 9:00 am (via email & blog)
  • FINAL PRESENTATIONS:  Wed May 12th and Fri May 14th

Week 1

Wednesday January 27th

  • Overview: syllabus, rules, grading. The three mini projects: Object, Space and Play.
  • Student introduction: background, motivation, goals, expectations.
  • Activity: Domain Mapping
  • Assignment:
    1. Begin creating your 7 Objects in 7 Days now. The first half of the class will present next Wed Feb 3rd, the 2nd half on Fri Feb 5th
    2. Create a website or blog for all of your departmental work, if you don’t already have one, and send me the url by Wed Feb 10th. All stages of work for this class should be posted directly to the class website, but you should also post final projects to your departmental site.
    3. Create a short presentation that maps out your ideas of interest. Be prepared to present and discuss with the class on Friday.
  • Reading: Read Mark Weiser’s The Computer for The 21st Century for Friday. Consider how so much has been done in the realm of media of computing, so much has yet to be conceived. Think about this in relationship to domains that interest you. Discussion will be lead by reading group 1 on Friday.

Friday January 29th

  • Discussion: Reading group 1 leads a discussion about Weiser’s The Computer for the 21st Century.
  • Presentation: students present their areas of interest
  • Assignment: 7 objects in 7 days
  • Reading:
    1. Donald Norman’s “The Psychopathology of Everyday Things” from The Design of Everyday Things for Wed Feb 3rd (group 2 leads discussion) and
    2. Do Artifacts Have Politics?” from Landon Winners’s The Whale and The Reactor for Fri Feb 05 (group 3 leads)
    3. ** Supplemental Reading: “Interaction Relabelling and Extreme Characters: Methods for Exploring Aesthetic Interactions” by Djajadiningrat, Gaver,and Frens (If you didn’t read this last semester, you should do so now to get more out of the experience on Feb 5th)

Week 2

Wednesday February 3rd

Objects: 1 of 2

  • Critiques: Objects, Group A
  • Discuss: Group 2 leads discussion of Donald Norman’s The Psychopathology of Everyday Things
  • View: Extreme Objects (Diller & Scofidio, Maywa Denki, Noam Toran)

Friday Feb 5th
Objects: 2 of 2

  • Critiques: Object, Group B
  • Discussion: Group 3 leads discussion of “Do Artifacts Have Politics?” from Landon Winners’s The Whale and The Reactor
  • Activity: Interactive Relabeling exercise & discussion
  • Assignment: Space Project
  • Reading:
    1. Lev Manovich’s “Poetics of Augmented Space”, from Space Time Play, ed. Von Borries, Watz, and Bottger for Wed Feb 10 (R group 4) and
    2. Borden, Ian, “Another Pavement, Another Beach: Skateboarding and the Performative Critique of Architecture.” For Wed Feb 10 (R group 5)
  • Writing for Feb 17: One page critique of any interactive project that falls within your domain of interest. To be written in free writing style: Choose the work to be discussed and form a basic article in your head. Once you sit down to write, don’t stop. If you cant think of something to say, write, I don’t know what to say over and over until you do. Start writing on the top left corner of the page, don’t stop writing till you reach the bottom right corner. Submit by email and post to blog.

Week 3

Wednesday Feb 10th

Space Project, 1 of 4

  • Discuss:Manovich’s “Poetics of Augmented Space,” (R group 4) and Borden’s “Another Pavement Another Beach” (R group 5)
  • View: Interactive Installation Art: Synthetic Times, Act / React
  • Group Work Time
  • * Due: Website/Blog URL

Friday Feb 12th

Space Project, 2 of 4

  • Critique: Space, all groups, initial prototype
  • Assignment: revised Space project prototype for Fri Feb 19
  • Reading:
    1. Alison Sant’s “Redefining The Base Map,” from Intelligent Agent for Wed Feb 17 (reading group 1)
    2. IAA’s “Tactical Cartographies” from An Atlas of Tactical Cartography for Feb 17 (R group 2)

Week 4

Wed Feb 17th

Space Project, 3 of 4

  • View: Psychogeographic and Locative Media Projects
  • Discuss: Sant’s “Redefining the Base Map” (R group 1) and IAA’s Tactical Cartographies”
  • * Due: 1 page writing assignment: interactive project critique. Handed in via email and posted to blog.
  • Group work time

Friday Feb 19th

Space Project, 4 of 4

  • In class critiques: Space, all groups, revised prototype
  • Assignment: Final Project 2 minute pitch, everyone, Wed Feb 24
  • Reading:
    1. Greg Costikyan’s I Have No Rules But I Must Design: Toward a Critical Vocabulary for Games for Wed Feb 24 (R group 3)
    2. Johan Huizinga, Nature and Significance of Play as a Cultural Phenomena for Wed Feb 24 (R group 4)
  • Writing assignment #2 Shape of Change Design for Change assignment, due March 3rd: answer 4 shapeofchange.com project questions to describe they type of change you want to create as designers, analyze your interactive experience and critique the shapeofchange.com interface. To be handed in via email and blog.

Week 5

Wed Feb 24th

Play 1 of 4

  • Discussion: Costikyan’s I Have No Rules But I Must Design (R group 3) and Huizinga reading (R group 4)
  • Present: 2 minute Final project Pitches
  • In Class Exercise: Game in a Minute or Exquisite Corpse game
  • ** NOTE WELL: writing workshop this Friday on Feb 26th

Fri Feb 26th

Play 2 of 4

  • Critiques: all groups, initial prototypes
  • ** 1st Writing Workshop
  • Assignment:
    1. Paper prototype of game project for Wed March 3rd, play test in class, final for Fri March 5th
    2. Two paragraph concept for final project research paper, due via email 9:00 am Tue March 2nd
  • Reading: Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman’s “Meaningful Play,” and “Defining Play” from Rules of Play for Wed March 3rd (R group 5)
  • Writing assignment #2 for March 03: Shapeofchange.com writing, interaction analysis, interface critque. To be handed in via email and blog.

Week 6

Wed March 3rd

  • Play 3 of 4
  • Discuss: Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman’s “Meaningful Play,” and “Defining Play” from Rules of Play (R group 5)
  • Play test in Class
  • Due: short writing assignment #2, Shapeofchange.com writing assignment, interaction analysis, interface critque
  • Individual conferences on final project ideas & research paper concept (side bar in class)

Fri March 5th

Play 4 of 4

  • Critiques: Play final
  • Assignment: final project research & design presentation for Wed 10 & 12
    Presentation must include your thesis statement for your project (one or two sentences that describe your project in its entirety), general methodological approach, approx 3 style frames, general diagrams or example images, and 2 precedents that help you explain what technical, artistic or design oriented field you cite your work.

Week 7

Wed March 10th

  • MID TERM REVIEW: group A
  • Guest Critics in attendance

Fri March 12th

  • MID-TERM REVIEW: Group B
  • Guest critics in attendance
  • Assignment for ** Tue 3.23 9:00 am **, due by email and posted on blog. Taking into account feedback from your critics, please:
    1. Write research paper thesis statement & outline. Introductory paragraph with developed thesis concept must be written out, followed by an outline of the paper’s argument that references at least 5 researched sources.
    2. Revise story boards, wire frames or non linear flow chart w/images for final project

    Both will be discussed in our individual midterm conferences

Week 8

Wed March 17th: SPRING BREAK (no class)

Fri March 19th: SPRING BREAK (no class)

Week 9

Wed March 24th

  • Individual conferences: Group A
    1. In my office 2W 13th St. rm 1110
    2. Discussing research paper outline and revised wire frames of your final project.
  • ** Due Tue 3.23 9:00 am: Research thesis statement and outline, before Individual conferences, due via email & blog.

Friday March 26th

  • Individual conferences: – Group B
    1. In my office 2W 13th St. rm 1110
    2. Discussing research paper outline and wire frames of your final project.
  • ** 2nd Writing Workshop
  • Design Assignment for next week:: Look and feel prototype: Visual mock up of your design, elments hint toward interactivity.
  • Writing assignment: Revised research paper outline due Tue March 30th 9:00 am via email
  • Reading assignment for Wed March 31st: Marie-Laure Ryan’s Beyond Myth and Metaphor: The Case for Narrative in Digital Technologies (r group 1)

Week 10

Wed March 31st

  • In class critiques – Group A
  • Presentations: Look and Feel Prototypes

Friday April 2nd

  • In class critiques – Group B
  • Presentations: Look and Feel Prototypes
  • Assignment for next week: Role prototypes that outline functionality, user interaction, user experience
  • Writing assignment: Research paper rough draft due Tue April 13th 9:00 am via email
  • Reading assignment for Wed Apr 7th: excerpts from Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed (r group 2)
  • ** For a review of different types of prototypes, please consult Houde & Hill’s What Do Prototypes Prototype?

Week 11

Wed April 7th

  • In class critiques – Group A
  • User interaction (role) prototypes

Friday April 9th

  • In class critiques – Group B
  • User interaction (role) prototypes
  • Assignment for next wk:
    1. User test the interactivity of your prototype again. Based on feedback, how would you like your design to be used, to convey your overall concept?
    2. Based on your decided interactivity, create your Technical Prototype
  • Writing assignment: Research paper rough draft due Tue April 13th 9:00 am via email

Week 12

Wed April 14th

  • In class critiques - Group A
  • Technical Prototypes 1
  • *** Note Well: Writing Workshop Friday April 16th

Friday April 16th

  • In class critiques – Group B
  • Technical prototypes 2
  • 3rd Writing Workshop
  • Assignment for next week:
    1. User test, iterate
    2. Sign up for time during my office hours to discuss your summer research plan

Week 13

Wed April 21st

  • In class critiques - Group A
  • Technical Prototype 2

Friday April 23rd

  • In class critiques – Group B
  • Technical Prototype 2
  • Assignment:
    1. continue user testing iterate Tech Prototype
    2. Prepare for Mock Presentations next week
  • Writing assignment: Research paper final draft due Tue April 27th 9:00 am via email

Week 14

Wed April 28th

  • Mock Presentations: Group A:
  • ** Note Well: Final Paper Due Tue April 27th 9:00 am via email

Friday April 30th

  • Mock Presentations: Group B
  • Assignment:Prepare for Final Presentations next week

Week 15

Wed May 5th

  • FINAL PRESENTATIONS: Group A

Friday May 7th

  • FINAL PRESENTATIONS: Group B

Week 16

  • Last Day of Class
  • Due on Disc during class:
    1. Final Design Presentation,
    2. Final paper,
    3. Domain bibliography,
    4. Summer research plan

Friday May 14th

  • Available: for individual appointments for summer research plan