Visual Design is a fundamental skill for Industrial Designers. It is important for the design a graphical user interface, to communicate their ideas to a customer and create visual appealing products. The recent developments of computers and software enabled the designer to express his or her creative ideas faster and more precise, given sufficient knowledge about the software tools and techniques. The students shall develop a visual sensitivity that enables them to perceive and create visual designs. This includes awareness of colors, typography and composition. At the same time they should learn the technical foundations that enable them to use visual design tools effectively and efficiently. The activities include the creation of several visual designs, such as a product information flyer, a report and a magazine article. In a final bigger design the students will demonstrate their visual design skills. More details will be available at the start of the assignment. A sequence of obligatory discussion sessions will accompany the assignment. Continue reading “Visual Design Course”
Author: Christoph Bartneck
Design and Science Course
To know that we know what we know,
and to know that we do not know what we do not know,
that is true knowledge. – Copernicus
Understanding the status of design as a form of research is both important and problematic.The National Science Foundation’s Science of Design program, which highlights the role of design in the development of interactive systems, and the First International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology both point to the need for a community concerned with articulating different visions of design science and design research.This module will shed some light on the underlying concepts of design and science and their inherent conflicts. The students will reflect on their role as a designer and the methodologies they follow. In addition, the quality criteria that are used in design and science to evaluate the value of the produced knowledge and artifacts will be considered. This documents compiles relevant literature for the Design Science module. Continue reading “Design and Science Course”
Affective Design Course
A true gentlemen is one who is never unintentionally rude. Oscar Wilde
Emotions are important for cognitive processes, decision-making, guiding actions and controlling resources. They play an important role in human-machine interaction since people tend to tread technology as social actors. It is impossible to not communicate emotions, since absence of affect in communication may be perceived as not caring. It is therefore necessary to carefully design the affective communication between humans and artifacts.The interaction cycle consists of first sensing the environment including the affective state of the user. Next, the artifact needs to reason about its own affective state before it can express it and adjust its behavior accordingly. Evaluating the artifact’s affective system is crucial to guarantee successful communication. Continue reading “Affective Design Course”
Step-by-step tutorial on how to install and run iText with Eclipse to create PDFs
This tutorial will show you how to install and run all the software necessary for you to create PDF files in Java. We will be using the Eclipse editor to write the Java code. Of course there are many other Java editors, but we consider Eclipse to be particularly convenient. This tutorial focuses on the Windows platform. You will work through the following five steps: Continue reading “Step-by-step tutorial on how to install and run iText with Eclipse to create PDFs”
Tutorial on how to install and run Java on Lego Mindstorms NXT using Eclipse
This tutorial will show you how to install and configure all the software necessary for you to develop Java programs for the LEGO Mindstorms NXT. Java is much more powerful and flexible than the original NXT-G software that LEGO provides. We will be using the Eclipse editor to write the actual Java code and to download this into the NXT. This combination enables you to conveniently write software and to quickly test it on the NXT. Of course there are many other Java editors, but we consider this combination to be particularly convenient. This tutorial focuses on the Windows XP platform, A Mac OS X tutorial is also available. We have two additional steps for Windows Vista. You will work through the following five steps: Continue reading “Tutorial on how to install and run Java on Lego Mindstorms NXT using Eclipse”