Interaction Design Studio
Instructor: Keke Wu
Semester: Spring 2026
When: Tue 2:00-4:45pm EST
Where: HBK 0302J
Course Description
This studio-based course introduces the principles and practice of interaction design. Students learn how to understand users and problems, generate and prototype ideas, design and evaluate interactive systems, and communicate design intent. Topics include user research, personas and scenarios, ideation, prototyping, visual design, evaluation, data-driven design, accessibility, and ethics. Through hands-on projects and critique, students explore interaction design as both a practical skill set and a way of asking questions about how technologies shape human experience.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Practice interaction design as an iterative, reflective process.
- Use sketching and prototyping to think through interaction ideas.
- Model users, contexts, and experiences to inform design decisions.
- Critique and refine designs through structured feedback.
- Articulate how design choices affect people, systems, and society.
Teaching Team
Schedule
This course is a studio-based interaction design class that combines short lectures, discussion, hands-on activities, and critique. We meet once a week for a 2 hour and 45 minute in-person session, with a break built into the middle. Class time is highly interactive and focuses on learning by doing through sketching, brainstorming, prototyping, and peer feedback. Work outside of class is designed to prepare you for in-class activities and extend what you explore during studio time through readings, observation, reflection, and iteration. Active participation, collaboration, and engagement with critique are essential to success.
| Week | Topic | Tuesday | Assignment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Welcome! | 1/27 | The Interactive Self |
| 2 | How Design Works | 2/3 | Design Autopsy |
| 3 | Understanding Problems | 2/10 | Observation Analysis |
| 4 | Making Sense of People | 2/17 | A Day in Their Life |
| 5 | Ideation & Brainstorming | 2/24 | Project #1 Ideation |
| 6 | Ways of Prototyping | 3/3 | Project #1 Prototype |
| 7 | Project #1 Presentation | 3/10 | Project #1 Design Brief & Reflection |
| 8 | Spring Break | 🏖 | 🏖🏖🏖 |
| 9 | Visual Design & Design Systems | 3/24 | Pattern Critique |
| 10 | Evaluation & Judgment | 3/31 | Project #2 Group Formation |
| 11 | Communicating Your Design (Yiwen Yu) | 4/7 | Project #2 Design Question & Elevator Pitch |
| 12 | <Designing with People (Dr. Willie Payne) | 4/14 | Project #2 Idea Sketches |
| 13 | Designing with Data (Dr. Elsie Lee-Robbins) | 4/21 | Project #2 Low-Fi prototype & Mid-Fi Design System |
| 14 | Design Lab | 4/28 | Project #2 Evaluation, Iteration & Mid-fidelity wireframe |
| 15 | Project #2 Presentation | 5/5 | Project #2 High-Fidelity Prototype, Design Brief & Reflection |