How People Work | Syllabus Fall 2021

Class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 pm to 4:20 pm EST.
Instructors: Silvana Juri and Donna Maione
Teaching Assistants: Carol Auh and Ann Li

Course Description

Whether you are designing products, communications, environments, systems, or services, you are designing for interactions. These interactions are between people, between people and nature, between people and things, and between people mediated by things.

It is important to understand how people exist as part of a larger whole within social, technological, and ecological systems; how they feel; how they see, hear, touch, smell, and taste; how they perceive and think; and how they are characterized and function physically.

This knowledge can empower designers to create things, experiences, and environments that look good, fit well, feel good, and are safe to use, please the human senses, provide intuitive information through graphics and form, and enhance life through beauty, intrigue, satisfaction, and fun. More importantly, the decisions we make as designers can actually impact how people live their lives, safely, productively, with fulfillment and self-worth, and with care for others and the planet.

This course will expose you to principles of human-centered design; providing the basis for asking good questions, gathering information, drawing conclusions, and utilizing the perspectives of human centricity in the design process.

The course will be organized around five primary themes relevant to how people work. Each theme focuses on elements that designers consider when making decisions, taking into account:

How people feel: Perception and Emotion (Worldview, Design & Emotion)
How people think: Cognition (Sensation, Perception, Cognition)
How people can be researched: Design Methods and Usability
How people interact with design: Physical Human Factors
How we craft a design practice: Reflection-on-Action

It is notable that this course is offered to and required of all design students, regardless of career intention. The School of Design believes that an understanding and use of the course content is fundamental to all of the design disciplines that our students pursue, for every context and scale of design for interactions.

Course Objectives

• To gain a basic understanding of design principles relevant to human interactions with the designed world.
• To gain a basic understanding of human principles of emotion, behavior, sensation, perception, cognition, and physicality.
• To articulate what you have learned from others through reflective written work.
• To develop a constructive and wise language for critiquing design from a human-centered perspective.
• To collect information through basic methods of human-centered research, and design.
• To apply the course concepts together with research findings to the creation and evaluation of your own design work.

Class Schedule

Note that dates & content may be subject to change over the course of the semester. Guest speakers will be announced in class and additional readings may be assigned as relevant to speakers’ topics.

Week 1: Overview
8–30: Course and Student Introductions + In Class Lab
9–1: Overview of Human Factors + Principles Intro | Assignment 1 Brief

Week 2: Context and Setup
9–6: Labor Day No Classes
9–8: Human Factors in Everyday Life + In Class Lab | Assignment 2 Brief

Week 3: How People Feel: Perception
9–13: Worldview & Holistic Design | Assignment 1 Due
9–15: More than human design

Week 4: How People Feel: Perception
9–20: Design and Emotion Lecture
9–22: Design principles Speed-dating session |Assignment 2 Due

Week 5: How People Think: Cognition
9–27: Cognitive Human Factors and Perception lecture
9–29: Cognitive Human Factors and Perception lab: “mystery tools” |Assignment 3 Brief

Week 6:How People Can be Researched to Inform Design
10–4: Sensitivity & otherness: Racial sensitivity in Design
10–6: Positionality and ethics

Week 7: Design Methods + Final Semester Project Work
10–11: Research Methods Intro +HMW|Assignment 4 & 5 Brief
10–13: Examples in practice (guest case study) + Team formation Lab |Assignment 3 Due

Week 8: Semester Project Work
10–18: Exploratory workshop: project scoping
10–20: Examples in practice (guest case study) + Team project Lab (territory & stakeholder maps)

Week 9: Semester Project Work
10–25: Poster presentations mini-lecture. Semester project research plan Lab
10–27: Semester project research plan soft crit session |Assignment 4 Due on 12.29

Week 10: Physical Human Factors (appearance and appeal)
11–1: Physical Human Factors & Anthropometry intro
11–3: Design beyond the visual: Proxemics & somaesthetic interactions

Week 11: Inclusivity
11–8: Semester project work session
11–10: Social innovation, social design and human-centered design

Week 12: Crafting a Practice (reflection-on-action)
11–15: A sustainability lens to Design — Design as futuring
11–17: Multiple pathways to practice — Ph.D. presentations

Week 13: Final Semester Project Work
11–22: Project research summary, draft posters, pinup + soft crit
11–24: Thanksgiving Break No Classes

Week 14: Final Semester Project Work
11–29: No Class / Office hours available for teams
12–1: Project work session + office hours |Assignment 5 Due on 12.3

Week 15: Final Semester Project Work
12–6: Final Project Poster Presentations | Design Week

Course Structure and Expectations

The course meets twice a week, on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Any exceptions to the normal class times will be announced in advance. During class, you’ll listen to lectures and participate in discussions, workshops, and labs. Various faculty, the teaching assistant/s, and guests will conduct the sessions, which will enable you to work with a range of people with diverse backgrounds and expertise.

Course Assignments

There is an emphasis on in-class participation and work for this course. The simple acts of attendance and engagement will prove to help you the most. Be here, listen, think, and ask questions, read the assigned readings, do the assigned projects. There will be design activities, but most of the work will be short-term exercises, rather than large projects typical of a studio course.

This course includes five main (graded) assignments, where the last 2, correspond to a single semester project:

A #1 — An individual short reflection essay;
A #2 — A Design Principles card to be presented to your peers in a speed-dating session to be prepared in pairs;
A #3 — A reflective blog post to be developed in pairs;
A #4 — A project plan to include scope, guiding principles, stakeholders, and methods to be completed as a group;
A #5 — A final presentation of the group project with poster submission.

Building on the in-class exercises, the last two assignments, you will complete in teams to be presented at the end of the semester. The project will involve research, testing, and suggested redesign of a product, communication, environment, system or service. This assignment will be detailed separately.

Details and due dates will be announced in class and are specified in the Course Schedule table.

Evaluation and Grading

You will receive feedback for each assignment that you complete throughout the semester. Evaluation will be based on how well you articulate and utilize the skills and knowledge that you acquire, relative to each assignment. Please refer to each assignment for specific grading criteria. Your midterm and final grades will also take into account your attitude and participation during class activities. Work that is incomplete, improperly done, or turned in late due to missed or misunderstood information will result in a lower grade. Work that is not turned in will be graded as failing.

Assignments

Total grade %
1. Essay –individual — 15%
2. Principles Worksheet — 15%
3. Blog post –pairs — 15%
4. Project plan- scope, principles, stakeholders, methods — 20%
5. Project presentation / Poster- group (4–5) — 35%

Communication

The questions and comments received from students are often relevant to everyone, so you are encouraged to ask things in class. If you have questions outside of class please email the TA(s) and instructors. One of us will respond to you as soon as possible. We frequently use email as a means of distributing pertinent project information to all of you. It is your responsibility to check email often to obtain this information.

Required Textbook

Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design. William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler. Rockport Publishers 2010 (or previous edition from 2003)
Available on CMU library — https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/universal-principles-of/9781592535873/

Policies

Use of Zoom in Class

This class is expected to be delivered in person, but as the changing reality dictates, and per the university’s policies and guidelines, there is a possibility that we need to deliver classes in remote mode.
In this case, we will be using Zoom in our classes to make sure everyone has the opportunity to attend (regardless of location and accounting for preventive distancing measures).

For every class that is recorded on Zoom, we will provide the recording on our Canvas site. Please make sure that your Internet connection and equipment are set up to use Zoom and able to share audio and video during class meetings. See this page from Computing Resources for information on the technology you are likely to need.

Sharing video: In this course, being able to see one another helps to facilitate a better learning environment and promote more engaging discussions. Therefore, we will ask students to turn their cameras on during specific points in the lectures and discussions. However, We also completely understand there may be reasons students would not want to have their cameras on. If you have any concerns about sharing your video, please email us as soon as possible and we can discuss possible adjustments. Note: You may use a background image in your video if you wish; just check in advance that this works with your device(s) and internet bandwidth.

Video Recording of Class Sessions

All sessions that are recorded via Zoom are for the purpose that students in this course (and only students in this course) can watch or re-watch. Please note that breakout rooms will not be recorded. We will make the recordings available on Canvas as soon as possible [https://canvas.cmu.edu/courses/18414]. They will be available only for the duration of the semester. Please note that you are not allowed to share these recordings. This is to protect your FERPA rights and those of your fellow students.

Office Hours

The instructors and Teaching Assistants schedule Office Hours to meet with students to discuss the material presented in class, give early feedback on assignments or other related interests. Consider office hours to discuss course-related material, ask for help, seek clarification of material presented in class or to follow up on concepts covered in class that you find compelling and want to engage with on your projects.

While attendance is not required, it is recommended to use this time to strengthen your work. These sessions are student-driven and provide a space to address their questions and their thoughts. The schedule will be posted in Canvas.

School of Design Attendance Policy

Absences of any kind are strongly discouraged, as your learning and work will be adversely affected by the information and activities you miss. Be punctual, arriving just before the class start time so we can begin sessions promptly, and stay for the duration of each class. If you are five minutes late or leave class (Zoom session) early you will be marked as absent. Three absences may cause your final grade to drop a letter. Six absences may earn you a failing grade for the course. Please schedule doctor’s appointments, interviews, etc. for times other than class sessions. In the event that you encounter a health or life issue that requires you to miss class (such as a physician providing you with instructions that necessitate your quarantine) please notify us as soon as possible to provide an idea of the severity of your illness/issue and the length of time needed for recovery. Keep in mind you are responsible for information you miss through absences or lateness. Note: If your illness/issue requires recovery time that exceeds the absence policy for a passing grade, a leave of absence may need to be considered. If this becomes the case consultation with university resources on how best to support you may be necessary

Attendance policy

Attendance is mandatory. An unexcused absence may result in a student’s grade being lowered. You are responsible for getting missed information/materials from peers. Students should come to class on time. Continued tardiness may also lower a grade. Participation in class is important. An exchange of ideas and good dialogue among students and the instructors make for a better learning environment.

Any conflicts or issues affecting your appropriate attendance to class (considering the current situation) need to be pointed out to the instructions immediately.

Plagiarism

The University and the School of Design regard plagiarism as a serious academic offense. Depending on the content and context of the offense, and at the recommendation of the course instructor, the penalty shall be either failure of the assignment or failure of the course. There’s more information online at:

https://www.cmu.edu/policies/student-and-student-life/academic-integrity.html

Here’s the gist of what it says: Plagiarism includes but is not limited to, failure to indicate the source with quotation marks, footnotes, or other appropriate referencing if any of the following are reproduced in the work submitted by a student: 1. Text, written or spoken; 2. Graphic elements; 3. Mathematical proofs; 4. Scientific data; 5. Concepts or materials derived from the work, published or unpublished, of another person.

Note that plagiarism does not only refer to copying portions of written text, but also includes copying designs and other visuals such as photographs without proper attribution. While less obvious than written plagiarism, design plagiarism is often characterized as copying both the design (type, color, composition, image style, etc.) and the concept/communication goal of a project. With design examples easy to find online, it is important to use what you find as references and not copy them directly.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:

If you have a disability and have an accommodations letter from the Disability Resources office, I encourage you to discuss your accommodations and needs with us as early in the semester as possible. We will work with you to ensure that accommodations are provided as appropriate. If you suspect that you may have a disability and would benefit from accommodations but are not yet registered with the Office of Disability Resources, we encourage you to contact them at access@andrew.cmu.edu.

Taking Care of Each Other

We must treat every individual with respect. We are diverse in many ways, and this diversity is fundamental to building and maintaining an equitable and inclusive campus community. Diversity can refer to multiple ways that we identify ourselves, including but not limited to race, color, national origin, language, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or genetic information. Each of these diverse identities, along with many others not mentioned here, shape the perspectives our students, faculty, and staff bring to our campus. We, at CMU, will work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion not only because diversity fuels excellence and innovation, but because we want to pursue justice. We acknowledge our imperfections while we also fully commit to the work, inside and outside of our classrooms, of building and sustaining a campus community that increasingly embraces these core values.

We expect that you will abide by all behaviors indicated in The Tartan’s Responsibility, including any timely updates based on current community conditions. Each of us is responsible for creating a safer, more inclusive environment.

Unfortunately, incidents of bias or discrimination do occur, whether intentional or unintentional. They contribute to creating an unwelcoming environment for individuals and groups at the university. Therefore, the university encourages anyone who experiences or observes unfair or hostile treatment on the basis of identity to speak out for justice and support, within the moment of the incident or after the incident has passed. Anyone can share these experiences using the following resources:

Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion: csdi@andrew.cmu.edu, (412) 268–2150
Report-It online anonymous reporting platform: reportit.net
username: tartans
password: plaid

All reports will be documented and deliberated to determine if there should be any following actions. Regardless of incident type, the university will use all shared experiences to transform our campus climate to be more equitable and just.

The School of Design also includes a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEI) which is open for participation and to which concerns of issues related to these topics can be raised or discussed. You can also find more information on DEI matters at the College of Fine Arts here.

Taking Care of Yourself

Take care of yourself this transitional semester. Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating well, exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, getting enough sleep, and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress.

All of us benefit from support during times of struggle. You are not alone. There are many helpful resources available on campus and an important part of the college experience is learning how to ask for help. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful.

If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) is here to help: call 412–268–2922 and visit their website at http://www.cmu.edu/counseling/.

Consider reaching out to a friend, faculty or family member you trust for help getting connected to the support that can help.

If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal or in danger of self-harm, call someone immediately, day or night:

CaPS: 412–268–2922
Re:solve Crisis Network: 888–796–8226
If the situation is life-threatening, call the police:
On campus: CMU Police: 412–268–2323
Off campus: 911