Teaching

I taught (or am teaching) the following classes at University of Washington, in the School of Art + Art History + Design, in the Division of Design. Some classes are specific to the interaction design program, others are offered to all design students or design master students.


DES 206 - Design Methods
This class leads students through an exploration of fundamental methods and design processes in Industrial Design, Interaction Design, and Visual Communication Design. Students in this class will examine the design process and fundamental design approaches and techniques including: design ethnography, cultural probes, participatory design, problem finding, precedent taxonomy, ideation, concept design, design variations, design selection, detail design, user journey, and design communication.

Taught: Winter 2017, Winter 2018, Winter 2019, Winter 2020, Winter 2021
Next offering: Winter 2022



DES 215 - Visual Storytelling
This class explores visual storytelling techniques for the development and communication of design concepts. Based on a survey of visual concepts and narrative structure in film the students will experiment with the temporal and dynamic aspects of visual form to share stories about the future: how we envision design to take shape, play out, and be experienced by others.

Taught: Spring 2017



DES 371 - Interface Design 1
The purpose of this class is to help students develop the skills necessary to design an effective user interface (UI) - the space and controls through which a user communicates with a tool/application/device. Specifically, students will: (1) Research, plan and design prototypes for two different mobile applications and (2) Discuss, analyze and evaluate what makes a UI effective or ineffective. * This course was co-taught with Professor Karen Cheng.

Taught: Winter 2017, Winter 2018



DES 372 - Interface Design 2
This course introduces students to advanced topics in interface design, including complex information architectures, dynamic information design, multimodal interaction, crossplatform interface design, and tangible interface design. We will take a hands-on approach to designing, prototyping, and evaluating interfaces across a range of devices and applications, including news services, lifestyle applications, data in the home, and semi-public interfaces.

Taught: Spring 2017



DES 372 - Interface Design 2 - Co-taught with Computer Science seniors
This course introduces students to advanced topics in interface design, including complex information architectures, dynamic information design, multimodal interaction, crossplatform interface design, and tangible interface design. The IxD students work in collaboration with computer science students to create a public interface on the UW campus. * This course was co-taught with Assistant professor Katharina Reinecke.

Taught: Spring 2018, Spring 2019
Video of the 2018 edition



DES 485 - Interaction Design Senior Capstone
Senior Capstone represents an opportunity for advanced, individualized design research and development. In this class, students develop a unique project based on their own design interests and experiences. Students spend 10 weeks working on projects that can inspire, educate, incite, or humor an audience. The final pieces go through a jury process for display in the Design Show, usually held in the Jacob Lawrence Gallery in June.

Taught: Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020



HUM 498 - SIAH: Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities: Creating Alternate Worlds
The 2019 Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities will draw on world building practices in design, literature, gaming, art, afrofuturism, philosophy, and science to encourage students to envision and materialize different worlds. In doing so, we wish to explore world building as an interdisciplinary practice that explores how all acts of making involve implied worlds, how the genesis of other worlds remain tethered to the present, and how a focus on "worlds" shifts inquiries from the making of "things" to the delicate act of co-creating with and for a community of human and non-human others. This class is taught in collaboration with Heidi Biggs, Tyler Fox, Nat Mengist, and Phillip Thurtle,

Taught: Summer 2019



DES 496 and DES 596 - Directed Research in Interaction Design
This is a 2 credit Directed Research Group. The point of this DRG, which we call Studio Tilt, is to work together on the edge of what is known/unknown, in the discipline of Design Research. Every quarter, we work on large collaborative research projects, where there is constant trial and error, experimentation, and hands on learning. Overall, students learn how and why design research is conducted, and are inspired to think about design differently (as a way of producing knowledge!).

Taught: Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021
Next offering: Spring 2021



DES 581 - Graduate Seminar: Theories in Design
The purpose of this class is to familiarize students with historical and current theories in design and design research. In this class, we read and discuss a sampling of texts that exemplifies design discourse: argument about what design is, what it could be, and perhaps what it should be. In addition to the discussion in class, students will write short papers that enter into a dialogue with the readings as well as write a full length academic essay on a topic of their choice to investigate further issues in and around design. This class is offered to students in the Master of Design program

Taught: Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2021
Next offering: Fall 2021



HCID 511 - Ideation Studio
Part of the Master of HCI+Design program, Ideation Studio is a project-based studio, focusing on different techniques for exploring possible responses to a design challenge. For this course, the studio is focused on identifying human behaviors and using technology interventions to the change those behaviors. In addition to ideation and problem-solving methods, this studio will also provide light-weight research and prototyping techniques for ensuring the proposed interventions resonate with users. This class is co-taught with MHCI+D Director Michael Smith.

Taught: Fall 2018