LIS590SBD / CS598SBD Scenario-Based Design
Wednesdays 9-11:50 (Location: 1129 Siebel Building)
4 hours
This
doctoral level seminar will survey different approaches to the design and
evaluation of advanced new interactive software, particularly that intended for
public use. The focus will be on techniques that enable a principled exploration
of a design space and how that exploration can be used to uncover important
research issues and guide the development of insightful prototypes and proofs of
concept.
In the seminar we will attempt to address the following
questions:
- How can one explore a design space of possibilities afforded by rapid
changes in hardware and infrastructure?
- In particular how can we undertake a principled investigation of new
opportunities in ubiquitous and mobile computing?
- How can new hardware and networking infrastructures be combined to yield
powerful new ways of interacting with computational devices?
- How can computational devices be integrated with existing physical devices
in useful ways?
- How can these technologies support new kinds of collaborative working,
learning and interaction?
- Is there a better way than just hacking together some hardware and
software in ways that have not been done before and leaving others to worry
about real applications and the fundamental issues that arise in real use?
- Can a detailed exploration of prototypes (and even paper prototypes) be
used to test the claims often made for generic architectures?
- How can rapid prototyping and iterative evaluation and redesign be
achieved cost effectively?
- What are the advantages of building and testing low cost prototypes and
proofs of concept?
- What are the contributions of very early evaluations using techniques such
as Wizard of Oz studies and especially Scenario-based Design?
- How can crucial issues of social informatics be factored into the design
process?
- How can convincing demos be developed that make the case for complex
issues in a way that is easy for outsiders to understand?
- How can a research student refine a problem down sufficiently to decide
what would be a useful thing to build in order to address an important
research question?
The seminar will investigate scenario based design in particular as a
core technique for exploring a design space. We will compare it and combine it
with other high speed low cost analysis and synthesis techniques.
We will
investigate how various low cost observational analytical techniques such as
ethnography can be used to inform the design process.
Students will work in
design teams to apply the concepts studied to particular design contexts.
There will be a range of ongoing design projects relating to novel consumer
applications.
These include, but are not limited to applications of
ubiquitous and mobile computing in the contexts of: museum visits, visits to
historic cities, visiting and working on a university campus, integrating
advanced technologies into domestic life, supporting scientific research teams
in their regular work, supporting urban planning decision-making, supporting
conventional office work in ways to achieve continual productivity improvements.
Readings
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