Master or Bachelor Degree Project Ideas in Interaction Design

Contact Mattias Arvola if you want to work with degree projects in any of the following areas.

Minnesmark

All of the following possible research questions are aimed at extending our existing platform for mobile augmented reality called Minnesmark.

• How can mobile augmented reality be used in different settings, as tourism or outdoor education for example? How should it be designed?
• How should an editor for mobile augmented reality be designed? How should it be implemented?
• What is an appropriate architecture for a mobile augmented reality platform; what should client-side and what should be server-side and why?
• What are the possibilities and obstacles to achieving portability for a mobile augmented reality platform such as Minnesmark?
• How can markerless augmented reality be used in combinations with other forms of augmented reality in mobile applications?

Background knowledge: Programming, human-computer interaction, interaction design, cognitive science.

Locomotion

In this project you will implement an existing design of a groupware system for sharing digital objects in a design studio. There is a basic system called Locomotion which needs to be expanded and fitted into the technical environment of the studio. You will perform development in .Net and the first increment is to fit the system into the environment. The next increment includes transforming it to work on Windows-based PDAs. Future work includes developing locomotion so that a handheld can work as a remote control to large displays. Depending on your interests, the project it will also include usability and technical evalutation of the system in use.

Background knowledge: Programming, human-computer interaction.

Scrapbook

Designers work with large amount of data, notes, expressions of their design (sketches, models, prototypes et.c.), ideas, and documents. One approach to manage that while also documenting the design reationale (the argument behind the design) is to write design diaries. The problem is that they get very messy and it is har d to find everything that is dated to the same day. Too much is scattered in too many places. If the design diary was a digital collage with a built in history everything could be searched and browsed either according to subject, or according to date. This project aims to build (and design) such a digital design diary.

Background knowledge: Programming, human-computer interaction.

Tools of the Trade

This project aims at developing tools for working with interaction design quality analysis (IxDQ) in a structured way. IxDQ aims at identifying what the desirable qualities of a system-in-use are. The analysis is based on socio-cultural models of usage and multiple-aspects models of interaction design quality. Methods used in the analysis includes categorisation, concentration, affinity diagramming, objectives tree, functional specification, weighted objectives and value engineering. Project work includes design, programming and testing.

Background knowledge: Programming, human-computer interaction, design.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

How do interaction designers judge their own and others' design work? What counts as good design and what counts as bad design? What are the appreciation practices?

Background knowledge: Interaction design, cognitive science.

What Designers Design

We have performed and video recorded workshops where interaction designers work on design projects. In this project you will analyse the design process according to what their object for design is.

Background knowledge: Conversation analysis, cognitive science, design.