User Experience Design

This course introduces students to the many ways technologies make users feel (e.g., fun, playful, fulfilling, intimate) and what specific tech design choices can create these effects. Open to everyone, it is suited for any student who wants to design interactive applications for themselves or people like them. Students who want to become professional tech product designers can also benefit from the course’s deep dive into the cognitive science and psychology of user experience (UX).

Prerequisite: None. No programming experience required, though the course project requires prompt engineering and no-code “coding” for those who choose not to code.

Format: Lectures are reading-and-discussion based. Students will complete a course project individually or in pairs, primarily outside lecture hours.

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Lecture 1 | Design Fun Technologies

Lecture 2 | Design Playful Technologies (And How does it Differ from Designing Games)?

Lecture 3 | Design Thrilling Technologies

Lecture 4 | Project Work Hour 🤹

No lecture this week; students will schedule office hours with the instructor for early project feedback.

Lecture 5 | Project Play-Testing 🤹

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Lecture 6 | Design Tech as Smooth Operator in the Theater of Social Life

Lecture 7 | Design Tech as Side-Kick in the Theater of Social Life

Lecture 8 | Project Work Hour 🤹

Lecture 9 | Project Show-and-Tell 🤹

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Lecture 10 | Design Tech that Becomes Part of Who You Are

Lecture 11 | Design Tech for Experiencing the Self in the Moment

Lecture 12 | Design for Reminisance

Lecture 13 | Design Tech that Makes People Feel Like Who They Aspire To Be

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Lecture 14 | Design Creativity Support + Student Project Show-and-Tell 🤹

Lecture 15 | Design for Decision-Making (and for Human Irrationality)