Design Thinking & UX Research 3500-SCC-uxd

Almost everything we find in our surroundings has been designed by someone: even the way we eat, sleep, and communicate with others. Design thinking has always been a part of of our lives, from the aqueducts of Ancient Rome to systems that help drivers find parking spots in smart cities. But not everything can be described as “well designed.” That’s why human-centered design (HCD) is becoming increasingly important in the context of interactive solutions. After all, humans and their needs should be the focus of the design process, from start to finish.

The goal of this class is to teach students about iterative, user-oriented design processes. We’ll study an approach that begins by understanding the users and the context in which they use digital products and services, and then proceeds to design and develop them. We’ll examine the role of research at each phase of the design process. Furthermore, we’ll discuss the use of psychological, anthropological, and sociological methods to perform exploratory research of user needs and to evaluate prototypes and existing solutions.

The course is divided into two complementary parts.
The first is about the theoretical foundations of Design Thinking and the implementation of a project using the method. In this way, students learn about design thinking in a practical way. Part two focuses on evaluating and testing solutions and vetting designs. Both parts of the course combine theory with applied design work.

Part 1

Design thinking (DT) is a creative approach to problem solving.
It’s a way of thinking and acting that’s geared towards generating ideas.
DT involves teamwork and improves a person’s ability to deal with uncertainty. It also creates an opportunity to learn from others and build prototypes that can be tested immediately.
In this course, students will define the challenges or problems they want to solve. This will be an opportunity for students to work through their own ideas, create early versions of original products or digital services, and think about their own professional career paths.

Next, we’ll take a practical look at the needs of the people who will be using our designs. We’ll develop insights and generate ideas using selected ideation techniques.

Part one of the course will end with a discussion of the theoretical fundamentals of prototyping, after which students will create their own initial prototypes.

Part 2

Creating digital solutions using truly human-centered design demonstrates the crucial role of research. It’s not just the final product that’s tested: early concept sketches, models, and prototypes all need to be vetted by users. Well-designed research provides support and guidance to designers as well as the decision-makers on the business side, with whom researchers always work closely. The role of the researcher is to advocate for the user, but also to recommend specific avenues and targets for the design. By studying the user’s overall experience with the design, we can learn whether a number of goals are being achieved, from business aims to functionality, usability, and a positive user experience.

In part two of the course, we’ll take a step-by-step look at the stages of research: from planning and organization, through conducting and moderating task-based usability testing, and alternative evaluation and optimization methods (such as eye-tracking and click-tracking), to analyzing the data and presenting our research. Students will group into small teams to try out selected methods. Keeping in mind the iterative nature of the design process, and that designers and businesspeople are also the end users of our reports, we’ll conclude the course by transforming the collected data into inspirations and useful design guidelines.