VIMA3031 Interaction Design (5 cr)
Cooperation network course
Network: Cross-institutional studies in technical and professional communication
Available for: Master's students, Bachelor's students and Bachelor's and Master's students
This course is offered through the Network for Communication Specialist. These studies are available for bachelor's and master's degree students studying in language and communication sciences.
Description
This course offers a critical exploration of interaction design, examining how design practices shape social, cultural, technological, and ecological systems. Students engage with theories from cognitive science, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and cultural studies to understand human–technology relations and the broader contexts in which design operates. Emphasis is placed on equity, responsibility, sustainability, and more than human perspectives. Through student led, hands on workshops, participants apply critical theory, co design, participatory design, and semiotics to practical design tasks. Building on VIEK1016 Interaction Design Basics, the course addresses cognition and culture, research in the wild, ethics, critical design, and life centred approaches to develop responsible, reflective, and sustainability oriented interaction design skills.
This is a Master’s level advanced course that requires applicable higher education studies in the field. Please also check prerequisites.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course students will know and be able to:
* Be able to facilitate interaction design (user experience) co-design workshops
* Have deeper knowledge of interaction design
* Be familiar with current, critical, and complex issues in the field
* Be able to apply theory in practice to interaction design processes
* Be able to apply semiotics (and semiotics-based principles) in practice
* Be able to support value-driven decision-making
* Be able to apply ethical awareness and critical thinking in design as a self-reflexive professional
* Be able to critically analyze and study design and its interaction from the perspectives of usability, user experience, technical communication, and accessibility
* Be able to evaluate and design interaction solutions from social, environmental, and sustainability-oriented perspectives, including justice-based and more-than-human considerations
Additional information
* Compulsory: VIMA/Interaction Design
* Optional choice: other VIMA-students
**Right to participate: Exchange Students in Commucation**: Qualifications for the course VIMA3031 Interaction Design are basic knowledge of Communication Studies, e.g. an introduction course.
Description of prerequisites
Interaction Design Fundamentals
This is an advanced level course in the Communication Studies, which requires completed basic and intermediate studies in the Communication Studies.