IAT 884 Domestic Technology Design is a graduate course taught by Dr. Carman Neustaedter at Simon Fraser University in Spring 2020.
This course explores domestic routines and practices and the design and evaluation of technology to support domestic life. This includes domestic practice that occurs both within and outside the context of the home. The course will be taught from a human-computer interaction and interaction design perspective. Thus, it will focus on how an understanding of everyday practice and human needs can inform technology design. The course will cover methods for studying domestic practice and technology design, methods for studying people and their needs, and application creation and evaluation.
Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to:
- understand the unique challenges that exist for studying and designing in the domestic realm
- understand and apply methodological tools used to study domestic life and evaluate technology use
- apply strong presentation skills to conduct informed and engaging presentations of domestic practice and technology design
- apply knowledge of domestic technology design to the creation of reports as a conference or journal publication
Delivery Methods: The course will primarily be taught through weekly seminars, lectures, and studio-style class activities. Students will be required to read and critically reflect on a large volume of readings in the area of domestic life and domestic technologies, present their thoughts on such readings, and complete an in-depth project in the area. Classes will involve discussions of readings, projects, and hands-on activities.