ARTD 477 CRN 20471 Department of Art, University of Oregon
Tuesdays, Thursdays 12:00-2:50 112 Millrace Lab and Wilkinson House
Associate Professor Mary Flanagan Winter 2002

What is good interactive design? What does it mean to be able to design for interactivity? These questions and more will be explored in Multimedia Design I. This quickly paced course explores the study of, creation, design, and development of multimedia. Special attention is given to the conceptual systems of interactivity as well as the authoring tools, interface development, and user testing of applications in their current and developing digital forms. Cutting edge technology will be explored and students will be expected to devote time to personal inquiry into always changing developments in the field of multimedia design. This is an advanced course, and requires a good deal of work outside class, including much independent initiative. There is a book to purchase at the UO bookstore, and we will have several critical readings to explore during the course of the term.

Download your syllabus here in pdf format.

Readings:

Reading 1: From Participation to Interaction: Toward the Origins of Interactive Art
Reading 2: Art in the Age of Digital Simulation, by Margot Lovejoy (excerpt)
Reading 3: The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald Norman (excerpt)
Reading 4: The History of the Interface in Interactive Art by Soke Dinkla

Assignment specifics:

Project 1 Interaction
The assignment is to experiment with what interaction is. How do you, as a designer, represent cause and effect inside a project? What does responsiveness look like?

Project 2 Interface
The assignment is to create an experimental type of interface for the content provided to you from the professor. You must experiment to find ways to represent interaction without resorting to clichés of buttons and text links. (the week they hand in, do a week of user testing to see if it works)

Project 3 Autobiography
Figure out a way to describe yourself interactively - visually, with audio, with the kinds of interaction, or even something more obscure. These formal concerns can be explored through personal, political, narrative, abstract, humorous, or other types of content/stylistic elements and approaches.

Teams:
New Art
Opportunities
TechTips
Behind the Scenes

Resources:
See Professor Flanagan's resource page.