Summer 2025 Course
Instructor: Arpita B
Course: HCDE 210, 3 credits (MyPlan)
Location: UW Campus
The systems that are designed and built by engineers have the power to influence people’s lives. Where do these ideas come from? Who gets a say in what is built? Who is excluded? How do we learn how these systems are impacting people’s day to day lives and maintain what works and change what doesn’t work? To strive towards answering these questions, the human centered design (HCD) approach includes techniques such as user research, ideation, interaction design, prototyping, and usability studies.
In HCDE 210, we will introduce students to the main activities and techniques used in HCD and explore domains in which they can be applied.
Students will:
- Explore the core principles, methods, and applications of human centered design practice
- Apply their knowledge and reflect on weekly mini-projects related to different techniques used in the HCD. For example, we can use a human centered design approach to envision better public transportation for the greater Seattle area.
User Research
Identify stakeholders and their challenges such as people who use public transit, drivers, and/or leadership and learn from them using social research methods such as interviewing, surveys, or observations. E.g., understanding issues with the safety of bus drivers and passengers.
Ideation
Brainstorm many different ways a problem can be addressed and prioritize one way of addressing the issue. E.g., designing a call box for the driver to send a message with steps for safe evacuation to people in their proximity on the bus.
Prototypes
Ideas are made tangible and given function and form using prototyping. Early prototypes can include a call box made from cardboard and paper.
Usability studies
Design tasks to learn how the stakeholders engage with the prototype such as using the call box prototype in a situation with a disruptive passenger.