2026/27 Design of Interactive Systems & TER

The Design of Interactive Systems course is about design methods—how to quickly design and redesign an effective interactive system. Students will investigate a design problem from the user's perspective and produce a scenario-based video prototype of a new system based on their users' needs. Students will then redesign their system to address breakdowns and accommodate new situations and present it to the rest of the class. The course includes a series of individual and group exercises that build upon each other — all are required to successfully complete the final project. Class attendance and participation is essential!

Warning: This course is designed to go fast!

The techniques in this course were created and refined in both industry and research settings and will be useful not only in other classes and for your Masters internship, but in your future career, whether you become an interaction designer, entrepreneur, or researcher. This course provides an overview of the overall design process, but also challenges many assumptions about UX design in industry. Students have applied these methods to create successful startups, to design both commercial and open-source applications, and as a foundation for HCI research.

If you complete the course successfully, you will able to observe users and design from their perspective, focusing on the interaction not just the interface. You will learn to work quickly, iterating rapidly between sketching interaction and assessing the results. You will also learn to work effectively in groups, and avoid analysis paralysis when group members disagree.

Course structure:

This is a project-oriented class that combines lectures and in-class activities over the Tuesday and Friday (TER) sessions. The course also includes specific homework exercises as well as work on the final project.

You will work in groups, ideally with four participants, on individual, paired and group exercises. You will have five weeks to create the first story-based video prototype and and two weeks to completely redesign and improve it, and then present it to the class. This website contains all the assignments and space for uploading your work, as well as links to tools that will enable you to conduct collaborative video-based assignments.

This course will be conducted in person. Attendance is required in both courses: If you have a good reason for not attending, let your other team members and the teaching assistant know in advance. We will take attendance at every class.