HCDE 318: Introduction to User-Centered Design

This introductory course explored the fundamentals of thinking like a user-centered designer, as students explored the full user-centered design cycle from a broad perspective, with an emphasis on the importance of developing and applying design processes and strategies. Through hands-on experience in user research, ideation, prototyping, and evaluation of their own designed objects, students obtained deeper insights into their own skills and interests as budding designers.

The course also provided critical perspectives on design, as students engaged with topics like discrimination by design and data feminism, helping them grow their abilities to identify the myriad explicit and implicit choices made in design processes.

I taught this course across 6 quarters from January 2021 to December 2022, and made changes to the curricula every quarter based on student feedback. Additionally, I introduced ungrading, assigning grades based on student reflections and completion of rubric items accompanied by extensive instructor and peer feedback, instead of grading for quality of work.