Kicking off the 2nd semester in the Bachelor of Science, Interaction Design program at Santa Monica College
So I missed out on telling you about my first semester, but here is a quick recap. I was totally eager to soak up all the human center design and methods of storytelling for ux remotely. The design for mobility project wasn’t as speculative as I wanted, since my group encountered real stakeholder constraints. However, that project helped me become better at presenting a concept, leading a group and building some solid connections amongst my peers. I even managed to get a UX design internship interview with Activision but didn’t get the offer. The main takeaway of the semester is you are always evolving. So what might be a great semester in the academic design world might not translate completely over to the real world experience. You just gotta keep trying.
Now I am in the 2nd semester of the Interaction Design Bachelor of Science at Santa Monica College. It is pretty thrilling to be part of Cohort 5 in this rare education pilot program. Our courses are taught by several design professionals who have attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and have worked for large companies like JPL, NASA, Coca Cola and so forth. Each instructor brings a different teaching approach and makes an effort to model our classes like a real design studio.
This semester we will be doing everything remotely. Yes, there are times when I think that some things are just not the same and discussing design decisions face to face is better. But the silver lining of it all, is the additional skill we are gaining. Designing remotely as a team seems to be prevalent since the pandemic and it seems like many companies are now choosing to go that route. So to add this on top of everything we are learning is great.
The Spring curriculum encompasses multifaceted design classes. One is product design where we are encouraged to think through “making”. So rapid prototyping, sketching , 3D modeling and 3D printing is a must. We meet once a week through Zoom and can check in with the professor via Canvas or email for questions. This class I’m excited and nervous about because I don’t have much exposure to doing hands on making. However, the instructor and the faculty rally that we should experiment by incorporating user experience, design research and storytelling with what we create. I’m thinking about IoT stuff . I’m very curious what my end result will be.
I’m also taking project management. The course gives a comprehensive overview of current design development processes (i.e. agile) and tools to complete design projects. This class is taught in a “flexible” manner. Essentially, we have an optional time to meet with the instructor but it’s highly recommended to come in order to check-in with them and also our own group. The main goals of the course are to identify and articulate project objectives. Translate project goals into a plan and process for design. Negotiate and collaborate with clients and partners, recognizing their different objectives. We’ve been set up in groups of 5 and started discussing what type of project management tools and methods we use for our design process. Later this week we are having a Working Agreement workshop with an International Diversity and Inclusion lead from Riot games. She will provide a co-creative workshop and empower us with tools to thrive personally and professionally — and to help us students create healthy and collaborative environments to design in.
To supplement the project management class, I’m required to take a Communication Studies Organizational and Small Group Communication. The main objectives of the course is to identify elements of effective group communication, particularly in small group contexts. Assess sources of small group conflict in workplace and everyday life situations and manage such conflicts effectively. Collaborate in small groups to analyze problems in local diverse organizations and design creative solutions to such problems using systematic and thorough approaches. And lastly, survey case studies to understand the experiences of diverse American cultures and/or groups in historical and contemporary organizations, including, but not limited to, the experiences of African Americans, Latin Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and LGBTQIA communities. This course is being taught completely in a “flexible” asynchronous manner; meaning we don’t have to meet on Zoom but simply complete the readings, discussions and other module activities. So far we have kicked off the class by uploading a video of ourselves and sharing very honest introductions, as well as instances where we had issues while working with an organization or small group project/assignment.
My last class of the week is Interaction Design Studio 2. I’m excited for this class because it will focus around microinteractions and eventually tie into my Product Design class final project. The goals of the class is to design end-to-end user experiences and detailed interaction flows. Identify and apply appropriate interaction paradigms and forms based on screen and software context. I will also need to conduct user-testing sessions to develop further iterations of a project and create multiple paper and digital prototypes for a specific feature task-flow analysis. The class lecture was on the button and its history. Usually a Zoom lecture of 45 minutes can take a toll on the attention span but something about the “magical” button had me enthralled. We are left to do some readings and asked to contribute to an online discussion about what is the future of the button. Another exciting project is having to redesign the mundane : an email client and its interactions. Not much detail has been given to us, but I’ve definitely been pondering ideas and how to strategically get the ball rolling.
So I have a loaded curriculum this semester but I’m so thrilled to experience and see what I will create and learn.
