Topic outline

  • Team Projects

    • Students may select a thematic focus area – domain (domestic context, learning, healthcare, interactive museum exhibit, public spaces etc.) and demographic group (children, adults, elderly, migrants, special needs group etc.). They must research prior work and related projects in these areas, along with distinct issues and challenges regarding the domain and demographic to propose a potential project. (Weeks 1-2) 
    • Form multi-disciplinary teams (preferably across SCI, ELEC, ARTS, BIZ) and try to find a potential set of end users or an organization to serve as client or context for inquiry, co-design and evaluation. (Weeks 2-3) 
    • Prepare a working project proposal and present interim research for discussion and feedback. (Week 4) 
    • Conduct research, devise proof-of-concept mockups, co-design concepts, do rapid prototyping and working applications and/or devise a user experience and evaluation. (Weeks 5-11) 
    • Share findings and prototypes with a brief write-up (4-5 pages) in the final presentation on 5.4.2022, with feedback and guidance for future work. (Week 12) 
    • OPTIONAL (extra credit 3 points): Teams may future develop the projects and conduct extended user evaluations and trials in field-based contexts to prepare a potential conference publication on their findings (say over 6-8 weeks until end of May if needed). 

    Evaluation Criteria

    Students will be evaluated based the following criteria:

    • Active participation in all seminar and lab sessions.
    • Reading assigned texts and papers with verbal discussion and response in class sessions.
    • Team project including a working concept prototype or study, interim and final presentations, and write-up of findings from research, design and/or evaluation.


    Participation Effort: 5 credits (150 hours)

    • 12 seminars (2 hours x 12 = 24 hours)
    • 12 Labs (1 hour x 12 = 12 hours)
    • Readings & Reflection (3 hours x 10 = 30 hours)
    • Project work (10 weeks x 5 hours/week = 60 hours)

    Course grading on 0-5 scale