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About the course

This course looks at interaction design from a cognitive science perspective. Using (digital) artefacts as the main study object, the focus is on theoretical considerations of interaction design and its (cognitive) consequences on human users. We usually attribute character and intentional behavior to the people and artefacts that we interact with. How we perceive these artefacts is partly shaped by their design, and partly by our own cognitive capabilities and previous experiences. Understanding how design affects cognition (and vice versa) becomes increasingly important in the age of ubiquitous computing and the rise of autonomous systems.

The covers includes:

• questions of how (digital) artefacts are perceived and conceptualized by their users;
• artefact complexity: different kinds of complexity, the artefacts role in interaction, and how to mediate it;
• cognitive tools: supporting cognition with (digital) artefacts, and artefacts as (integral) part of cognition;
• user interfaces: from desktop to mobile to ubiquitous computing;
• the role of emotions and aesthetics;
• an outlook on latest developments in the field.

Some of the theories and techniques are applied in group-work project assignments.