Screenless Connected People module (DJ32018)

You will develop a deeper understanding of the different roles of prototyping. This will be in the context of a digitally-enabled experience using technology to connect two or more people. The interactions that will be designed will not be screen-based. This will be in order to complement learnings on other modules.

You will conceive and make a prototype experience with a particular purpose in mind. These will be shared with other people to learn things about the design and to reflect upon the prototyping process itself. You will document your process and outcomes. This will allow you to potentially include these in your professional portfolio.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• explore digital technology interfaces that connect people in different ways than through screens. This can be done through various ways such as speech, sound, movement, or colour
• engage in deeper prototyping: considering the role of the prototype and the reason it is being made
• make credible prototypes even if these might be crafted from cardboard and circuitry
• share prototypes within the studio for testing
• reflect on (a person’s) experience of being given a prototype to test
• capture and document the process and outcomes of deploying a prototype. This will combine video, photography, visual communication and writing
• represent the project process, outputs and outcomes within a professional portfolio

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• show an understanding of the many roles of prototyping with technology
• conceive a constrained prototype with a specific role in mind
• learn from deploying a technology prototype
• craft a credible and visually coherent technology prototype
• build and iterate a robust technology prototype with a specific role in mind. You will be able to combine the technical and physical aspects of the prototype
• explore interpersonal connections through alternative interfaces to screens
• evidence prototyping skills and understanding in a professional portfolio
• relate module experience to individual career aspirations

Assignments /assessments

Assessment will be conducted through series of project briefs with deadlines timetabled across the semester.

Learning outcomes will be assessed through 100% coursework and will typically include:

• individual & group presentations
• a series of deliverables relating to specific learning outcomes
• portfolio submission on completion of module
• written critical reflection

Formative assessment throughout the module will be supported by group crits.

Summative written feedback and feedforward will be provided at the end of the module and grades will be issued at the end of the Semester.

All components have to be passed in order to successfully complete the module.

Teaching methods / timetable

• lectures with demonstrations of design practice and prototyping techniques
• workshops providing students with practical hands-on experience of thinking through making
• talks by invited speakers
• tutorials to enable students to share work with small groups and gain supportive feedback from tutors and class discussion
• project work combining individual and teamwork

A core text will be Houde, Stephanie, and Charles Hill. "What do prototypes prototype?" In Handbook of human-computer interaction, pp. 367-381. North-Holland, 1997.

You will conceive a prototype and place it on Houde and Hill's triangle of Role; Look and Feel; Implementation. Together the class will appreciate this landscape – particularly with prototypes in honours year projects in mind.

As the last 'joint' project in Third Year, you will be supported in developing your own direction. In response to a common brief(s), you will be encouraged to develop a clearly conceived prototype with a role in mind for its creation and early deployment.

A professionally credible standard of prototyping will be encouraged (and expected in excellent coursework) that will involve a considered visual language and perhaps also the incorporation of ready made objects.

Documentation of prototypes as submissions and also with future portfolios in mind will be required and supported.