Category: learning
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reflection improves communication
tl;dr If you’re not reflecting on your product practices, then you’re going to have a hard time improving them. Today I reflect some more on communication. When you’re the communicator, you have the power to establish a clear frame of reference for your audience in order to minimize the possibility…
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New Human-Centered Design Syllabus
We’re closing in on the end of the spring semester here at Penn State University, and, unlike in year’s past, I’ve already finished my syllabus revisions. Download the new version here. The speediness of these revisions is due to a stellar graduate student who is also the instructional assistant who…
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design Design Education design fiction design methods design pedagogy design research design theory design thinking education experiential learning Human-Centered Design Instructional Design Instructional Technology knowledge production knowledge tools learning learning objectives learning outcomes learning theory online learning pedagogy Understanding by Design User experience UX
design course development
I’ve been sketching some new ideas for undergraduate design courses, and, although I came up with these with a particular program in mind, they could easily be iterated on to fit within many other curricula, as electives, etc. I’m sharing them here so that you might be inspired to take…
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human-centered design education
I piloted an in-class activity with my human-centered design class today. In preparation for class, students read Don Norman’s essay, Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful. Then, in class, I presented them with the following brief: Using Adobe Photoshop, create a one-sheet explaining/describing the main principles of human-centered design to non-designers. Export…
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Revised HCD Syllabus
I’m close to stabilizing the 2019 version of my human-centered design course. This is an 300-level undergraduate course that I teach here at Penn State’s College of Information Science and Technology. Students do a lot of sketching, prototyping, and design work. The course progresses from conceptual discussions of HCD, design…
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The Design Exchange
Today I discovered the design exchange. Think Wikipedia but for design methods and case studies. It seems like a great resource for students (and practitioners) curious about different design methods—especially their strengths, weaknesses, and relevance to different design projects and project stages. I’ll be using it in my spring semester course…
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You Can Always Start Designing
Over the past few days, I have heard a few students and colleagues say a variation of the following: I don’t know enough to start designing yet. I want to challenge this idea. I don’t think that there is some threshold of knowledge that must be passed before one can…
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Towards Good Collaboration
This is a list of rules for collaboration from an expert on what doesn’t work: Be compassionate. If you’re in a design critique, for example, then you ought to be both critical and encouraging. Good critique should be encouraging. If you’re making someone less excited to work on their project…
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a short reflection on writing and failure
there’s this line in a song that goes something like, “please don’t confront me with my failures. i have not forgotten them.” (Nico – These Days) something motivated me to revisit some writing i did in the earlier days of my studies in Bloomington, and i really didn’t like what…
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Course Design
I’m really excited about an introductory HCI course I’m developing (with some amazing collaborators) for the spring semester. For the last week or so, I’ve been working with several practicing designers to establish a set of core skills interns and/or entry-level designers ought to know in order to succeed in…
jordan beck, phd 