81916 - Interaction Design

Learning outcomes

The module teaches the topic of the interaction between the user and digital, interactive and multimedia artifacts through the design of graphic interfaces. The course intends to make the student exercise the project on service systems, evaluating how the morphological are related to usability, functionality, and sustainability. At the end of the course, the student will have these skills:  to understand the characteristics of digital artifacts within a vast range of contemporary products;  manage the interaction between home automation systems and electronic tools for the care and monitoring of elderly people, with health problems, with relational problems;  apply the culture of interaction design to contemporary contexts of living and urban services.

Course contents

The course explores the theoretical and design-related foundations of Interaction Design, ranging from the design of two-dimensional user interfaces to the development of systems that enable interaction between people and urban environments.

The design of mobile interfaces in relation to the surrounding environment and the built context, together with the opportunity to leverage both personal data and data shared by other users, represents a valuable resource for designing services that emerge from the actual needs of citizens.

The design project developed throughout the course focuses on mobile interfaces and their specific characteristics related to information design and behaviour change, serving as the central theme of the practical design exercise.

The course aims to provide students with the theoretical knowledge and methodological tools required for design research in the field of Interaction Design. Particular emphasis is placed on developing the ability to define personas and usage scenarios as a basis for generating a coherent design concept. By the end of the course, students will be able to independently carry out the following stages of the design process:

• Conduct background research on the topics addressed in the design project;
• Carry out design research leading to the definition of a design concept;
• Define personas and usage scenarios;
• Develop the conceptual model of the product interface;
• Produce the system wireframes;
• Design the visual identity of the interface;
• Develop the final graphic design deliverables.

Through the activities carried out in the individual teaching modules, the course highlights the importance of pre-design research grounded in user observation and the synthesis of complex contemporary phenomena. The ultimate objective is to design innovative interactive tools for service design in territorial contexts across different urban scales.

Readings/Bibliography

Codeluppi, V. 2012. Ipermondo: Dieci Chiavi per Capire Il Presente. Bari: GLF editori Laterza.

Norman, Donald A. 2011. Vivere con la complessità. Translated by V. B. Sala. Milano: Pearson.

Saffer, Dan. 2009. Designing Gestural Interfaces. 1st ed. Beijing ; Cambridge: O’Reilly.. 2013. Microinteractions: Full Color Edition: Designing with Details. 1 edition. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media.

Katz, Joel. 2012. Designing Information: Human Factors and Common Sense in Information Design. 1 edizione. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Cooper, Alan, Robert Reimann, and Dave Cronin. 2007. About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Zannoni, M. (2018). Progetto e interazione. Il design degli ecosistemi interattivi. Quodlibet.

Zannoni, M., Montanari, r. (2022) Human Body Interaction. Bologna University Press.

Zannoni, M. (2024). Il design delle interfacce. Quodlibet.

Teaching methods

During the development of the course students will be offered contributions/lectures lasting about 1-2 hours each, held by the professors and/or by any guests.

The course will also make use of a system for reviewing the students' work envisaged in the two Modules, depending on the used teaching approach. The revisions can be for single group or collective, depending on the didactic calendar of the course. There are also peer to peer reviews between students and the sharing of models/assessment tools. The Professors will communicate the nature, methods and timing at the beginning of the teaching activity.

Students will be asked to carry out individual and/or group works depending on the correspondence to the more research or design component envisaged by the course.

Attendance is compulsory. It is surveyed by the teachers in class and students absent in more than 30% of the lessons will not be admitted to the final evaluation.

Assessment methods

Presentation and discussion of the final outputs foreseen for all the modules of the integrated course (final presentation of the works). Each of the results in the teaching modules will be evaluated. The criteria will be communicated by the Professors of the didactic modules. The various evaluations will form an overall final judgment of each student (in part, the result of collective work and, in part, of individual work).
When preparing the work required for the final examination, the use of GenAI is permitted. Such use is governed by the University’s specific policy and should be regarded as a tool designed to complement, rather than replace, critical thinking and personal creativity. It may be used for researching and explaining concepts and topics, as well as for generating ideas.

Teaching tools

IOL: teacher-student communications; loading teaching materials; student material deliveries; forum with students / community

TEAMS: virtual classroom

MIRO: for brainstorming and other forms of shared planning;

Presentations/slideshows;

Collaboration with external structures (labs, libraries, etc.);

Participation in conferences, talks, exhibitions and/or educational visits.

Office hours

See the website of Michele Zannoni

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