History and Future of Interaction Design

The history of Interaction Design (IxD) is far richer than what is visible from today’s tech. Many great ideas have been mangled and even lost. By making prototypes inspired by this history, we reach new insights and illuminate a future of promises and perils.

In this course, students begin by mining historical IxD innovations and building prototypes in a modern vernacular that forefront lost contributions. In three sprints, students render a powerful but lost essence in the form of a concept storyboard, video or clickable prototype. Thus, students explore the history of IxD. To explore the future of IxD, students are invited to invent it—by developing their own vision in the design of a final project prototype with the focus and scope that they control.

Coursework is partly historical review and largely designing and producing prototypes in a studio setting, especially suited for backgrounds in interaction design, computational design, responsive architecture, media and/or coding.