Product Interaction and Smart Environments

Unit Code: HDG512

Credit Points: 12.5 Credit Points

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> Teaching Methods
> Assessment
> Aims & Objectives
> Content
> Reading Materials

Related Course/s:

A unit in the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma of Design (Industrial Design), Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma of Design (Interior Design), and the Graduate Certificate and .

Aims & Objectives:

This unit brings issues of usability to the forefront of the design process for products and environments. The focus is on scenario-based design, allowing designers to understand how real people might use products and environments and how products can differ significantly in their usability.

Teaching Methods:

Projects are conducted in a student-centred studio, on a work-in-progress basis. Group discussion, site visits, research, consultation, evaluation, critique sessions and presentations are conducted as appropriate. Projects involve both group and individual work.

Assessment:

100% project work.

Content:

The studio provides practical design experience and enhanced understanding of Interaction Design through structured projects, especially where usability and the user experience are key determinants of design activity. Projects focus on design innovation through the development of 'smart' domestic environments and products that respond to the needs and circumstances of users by exploring the aesthetic, functional and technological potential of materials, both new and familiar, and new manufacturing processes. A variety of trends are explored in respect of intelligent systems that adapt to the behaviour and habits of the users, including built-in sensors, mechatronics, artificial intelligence and networking (Bluetooth, WiFi, Broadband). A range of usability criteria and evaluation methods are applied to test the integrity and appropriateness of the design outcomes.

Reading Materials:

Ashby, M & Johnson, K, Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002.
Grinyer, C, Smart Design: Products that change our lives, Hove, RotoVision, 2001.
Lovegrove, R, The International Design Yearbook 2002 (special materials edition), Laurence King Publishing, London, 2002.
Martegani, P & Montenegro, R, Digital Design, Birkhauser, Boston, 2000.
Frank, R, Understanding Smart Sensors, Artech House Publishers, 2000.
Gandhi, MV & Thompson, BS, Smart Materials and Structures, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1992.
Dix, A, Rodden, T, Davies, N, Trevor, J, Friday, A & Palfreyman, K, 'Exploiting space and location as a design framework for interactive mobile systems',  in ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) Vol 7, no. 3, 2000.
Hindus, D, 'The Importance of Homes in Technology Research', in Proceedings of CoBuild'99. Second International Workshop on Cooperative Buildings,  LNCS 1670, Springer: Heidelberg, Pittsburgh,1999.