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Experience Design, Minor

Investigate human needs and experiences to devise improved services, systems and environments. Experience design is a holistic approach that utilizes investigation into human environments in specific situations to improve quality. Given an understanding of goals, needs, and desires, it seeks to improve the various contexts by identifying and studying events and how they can be turned into beneficial practices.

Designers propose alternative futures and create new choices using principles and processes to create, compose, and construct meaning in diverse knowledge fields. Designers seek a broad understanding of principles and systems of perception, communication, and action. Experience designers take a holistic and integrative approach that focuses on the quality of the human experience in concrete situations. They employ research, analysis, creativity and technology as tools to understand human goals, needs, and desires. Their work examines and improves contexts, systems, services or events.

Design Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply iterative design processes to create, revise, evaluate, and develop effective prototypes and innovative solutions.
  2. Engage human-centered design research methods and systems thinking to identify and understand values, goals, motivations of intended audiences as a mode of inquiry, question framing and guide to action.
  3. Develop a high level of craft and technical skills in a relevant range of media and tools and effectively weigh applicability for intended audiences and outcomes.
  4. Develop and realize intent, concept and content with awareness of context and consequence.
  5. Implement visual patterns incorporating text, image, diagram including temporal and spatial representations to recognize, categorize, and articulate significant form and meaning
  6. Employ and embody ethical practices, team and cross-disciplinary collaboration, and effective communication and presentation skills.
  7. Apply relevant communication theories and principles and appreciate the pervasive and long-term impact of design decisions on people and societies.

Experience Design Learning Outcomes

  1. Explore participatory methods of research ethnographic, shadowing and co-creation to better understand values, goals and intentions of diverse audiences.
  2. Synthesize research findings and model existing conditions, relationships, system components, and interactions through visualization, mapping, and prototyping methods to understand and make evident patterns and opportunities.
  3. Propose design solutions in response to research that envision future conditions, encompassing a broad range of design possibilities from innovative objects and spaces to processes, services, interactions, and collaborations.

Multidisciplinary Skills

collaboration
creative problem-solving
critical thinking
data analysis
design research
design software
graphic representation
fabrication
facilitation
human factors
information design
interviews
leadership
listening
observation
personas
programming
project management
problem framing
rapid prototyping
semiotics
sketching
technical skills
typography
experience mapping
user stories
user testing
verbal and written communication
visual synthesis
visualization

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