Abstract
The wide range of new interactive form factors and digital products continue to transform designers’ roles, relationships, and influence. In addition, the interconnected and agile systems of today’s industry and workflows require cohesive team collaborations from concept to deployment. Design can play a central role in creating communication and shared objectives to foster collaboration. As educators with decades of industry experience, we explore how higher education is leveraging lessons learned and industry needs to prepare the next generation of design and creative technologists. We explore multiple forms of collaborations through interdisciplinary curriculums of mixed cohorts from design, programming, digital humanities, and human-centered computing. This inclusive nature of design education expands creative knowledge and aesthetic awareness to a more diverse population and, in turn, creates more collaborative opportunities. However, it is on the edges between the programs where true creativity and collaborations are emerging. These creative explorations and industry-sponsored engagements are balanced with a rigorous 4-year interdisciplinary degree program to maintain a strong core creative and visual design focus. Our interdisciplinary collaborations can leverage expert skills from upperclassmen’s design and technology fields through industry and research-based projects for retailers, publishers, tech companies, museums, etc. The shared design and development foundation allows student teams to work together cohesively within these complex domain spaces. Our study explores the academic programs, teaching processes, industry-sponsored engagements, and student experiences that propel design education beyond the traditional scope and lead students to prepare for now and for the future.
Presenters
Hye-Jin NaeAssistant Professor, School of Design, College of Art and Design, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, United States Adam Smith
Associate Professor and Program Director, School of Design, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
HIGHER DESIGN EDUCATION, INTERDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION, USER INTERFACE AND USER EXPERIENCE
