MFA in Interaction Design: Home

First Year

Interaction Design Fundamentals
Christopher Fahey

Through a series of themes, this course will explore diverse disciplines, both historical and theoretical, to demonstrate how these themes shape contemporary practices in interaction design. Beginning with the core interactions of the body manifested in dance, language, music, art and architecture, continuing to the psychological and sociological ideas that have shaped how we interact with one another, through the inventions and technologies that transform the human condition, the course provides context and inspiration for the practicing designer. The fundamental interaction and communication design concepts, influential people and movements, and iconic projects and designs will be addressed. By the end of the semester, students will have acquired a vocabulary and toolkit for future design challenges.

Communicating Design
Jason Santa Maria

Centuries' worth of design principles are based on predictable constraints of physical media, but how does the unpredictable nature of designing for the screen affect those principles? This course looks at the impact our creative choices in typography, color, and layout have on the way we interact with screen–based design on the web, mobile, and more. Emphasis is placed on advanced techniques in constructing meaningful, responsive and contextual layouts across media. Students research, design, and test their creations to inform further iterations of their ideas.

Fundamentals of Physical Computing
Robert Faludi

This course explores the fundamentals of extending computation beyond the glowing screen and into the physical world. Using a programmed single-chip computer, students will learn how to connect sensors, actuators and indicators to create devices, installations and environments that move computational interaction “outside the box.” Our focus is on people rather than on devices. We will consider how the human mind is affected by physicality in all environments. By making a hands–on exploration of reactive, expressive, interactive and embodied behaviors, students learn to observe users, understand affordances and move seamlessly from digital processes to tangible actions.  Course work is done individually in weekly technique labs and in groups for longer creative assignments. Note: No previous programming or electronics experience is required.

Lecture Series

Visiting entrepreneurs, researchers, professionals and scholars will bring forward topics that inspire interaction design—from anthropology, cognitive psychology, mathematics and music to human–computer interaction, game design, and beyond. Students will take part in leading the question–and–answer session that follows each presentation. The aim is for students to understand the broader role and influence of interaction design across companies and organizations.

History of Interaction Design
Karen McGrane

Many of the principles of interacting with computers are so familiar to us that we don't stop to think how they came to be that way. In this course, we'll discuss how people adapted to these “thinking machines,” learn about many of the innovators who defined how we interact with computers today, and explore how, over time, we've changed the way computers work so they better meet our needs. We will start by looking at the earliest computers and devices, and then explore the evolution of the command line interface, the graphical user interface, mobility, hypertext and hypermedia, and then conclude with a discussion around new and emerging interactions.

Designing the Conversation
Khoi Vinh

A fundamental shift is going on in design: control is passing from designers to design consumers, and it’s changing the way we practice our craft. Now more than ever, design consumers are demanding control over the way design solutions look, behave, respond to their needs—even how design is delivered. The very patterns for consumption are evolving quickly and unpredictably. This course will examine this transformation in the role of designers. What is the nature of this change? Is it temporary or evolutionary? Can it be reconciled with traditional design values?

Strategies in Design Practice
Rachel Abrams

Business grads are excited about “design thinking,” and they are onto something. As opportunity spotters, design thinking is what we, as students of interaction, do every day. In this course, the edges between thinking and doing are intentionally blurred. Together, we'll unpack tools for thought, identifying methods for thinking through all stages of a project, through reading, exploratory research, storytelling, and sketching. Students will be introduced to theory, to expert practitioners, and case studies, and have an opportunity to rehearse your own practical methods. The point is not to end up with a finished prototype, the goal is to gain frameworks through which to generate ideas, organize findings, assess implications and represent solutions. Strategy techniques will be explored for implementation in professional design practices.

Strategic Innovation in Product/Service Design
John Zapolski

The design of interactive products and services differs from other forms of design in important ways. Developing the context for successful user experiences requires designers to think more holistically about the business models for the products they create: how the value proposition to customers and users unfolds over time; what’s being “sold” and where the costs of production and management occur; how to engage, complement, and benefit from other services that intersect with what is being offered. This course will help students in becoming more effective at understanding and describing the strategic decisions involved in the creation of interactive products and services, and to equip them with tools and methods for generating innovative options and making smart strategic choices.

Designing for Good
Tamara Giltsoff

People talk a lot about good design but they don't talk much about its responsibilities. What are the social responsibilities of a designer, and how much impact can designers have? This project–based course encourages students to spread ideas through interactive technology. We will use New York City as a project background to explore how design can move socially responsible ideas forward.

Prototyping User Experiences
Robert Fabricant – Joshua Musick

Interaction design concepts can be hard to describe. And the best way to both communicate and improve your design is to prototype it quickly and often. This course examines how to integrate lightweight prototyping activities, as well as some basic research and testing techniques, into every stage of the interaction design process. A range of methods will be covered, from paper prototyping to participatory design to bodystorming. Students will learn how to choose the appropriate method to suit different dimensions of a design problem at different stages in the process and the pitfalls of each approach. The course is highly collaborative with hands–on prototyping and testing. Working individually and in teams, students will create rapid exercises, with one prototype developed or iterated each week, with the goal of evolving toward more robust ways of expressing ideas in rich interactive form.

Design in Public Spaces
Jill Nussbaum

Interfaces are embedded in nearly every aspect of our daily lives—from grocery shopping to banking to reading books. How can we integrate technology with the physical world to create better interfaces and more useful, playful and meaningful experiences? This course explores how interaction design fundamentals apply to physical spaces by surveying branded environments, retail stores, museums, urban settings and corporate venues with specific user goals and design considerations in mind.

Thesis Preparation
Liz Danzico

This course will assist students in developing a course of action for choosing a thesis topic or topic direction, as well as a thesis advisor. The structure and presentation of the thesis proposal will also be addressed.

Narrative and Interactivity
David Womack

A well–told story transcends any particular medium, and at a very basic level, defines a satisfying interaction. The study of narrative offers designers a tool for exploring the user journey and understanding that journey from different perspectives. This course will explore aspects of narrative such as plot, setting, and point–of–view, and train students to use narrative as a way to frame and evaluate interactions.

Information Visualization
Steve Duenes

This course allows students to examine problems across space, time, and location by understanding the methods needed to develop a range of complex data visualizations and information graphics. By the end of the course, students will have the skills to conduct a rigorous examination of the choice of models and their place in the applied practice of interaction design.

Entrepreneurial Design
Rebekah Hodgson

Building on topics of design processes, this studio course will focus on needs analysis, framing, prototyping, iteration and collaboration in an applied context. Each student will choose a client, as well as engage in semester–long projects that bring together business goals, user needs and technology.

Research Methods
Alex Wright

User–centered design begins, by definition, with an understanding of users. In this course, students will learn how to model interaction by conducting qualitative and quantitative research into users' behaviors, attitudes and expectations. By exploring ethnographic techniques, usability testing, log analysis, surveying, and other research methods, students will learn how to engage user feedback effectively at every stage of the design process. We will also address how to conduct secondary research into published literature and other sources that can inform thesis projects and beyond.

Introduction to Cybernetics and the Foundations of Systems Design
Paul Pangaro, Ph.D.

This course presents frameworks for modeling interaction in terms of structure and context, augmenting traditional discussions of form and syntax. We will collaboratively address questions that are fundamental to design practice: What is a system, and what are the different types? How do we interact with systems, and what are the different types of interaction? Systems may act independently, interact with other systems, learn, and even converse. What do such systems have in common, and how can we describe them? How can we measure their limitations? The course explores the integral structures and coherent processes for the design of effective artifacts, communications, collaborations, and services. Students will apply frameworks for steering design processes and/or design outcomes based on their own interests, encompassing domains as broad as education, health and wellness, and sustainability.