DE5032 - Designing Interactions

What will I learn on this module?

This module will give you an understanding of the importance of user-experience in design and how to enhance use-experience in relation to products. Even simple products can be enhanced through consideration of usability and user-experience; while many products now support complex interactions through embedded technologies and or connection to cloud-based platforms and services. Understanding the principles and methods that underpin product interactions is a vital part of being a designer.  

  

You will learn the principles, tools and techniques of designing interactions, through projects that link theory and practice in the creation of interactive product concepts with tangible and embodied interactions. The module celebrates the ongoing need and value of physical and embodied interactions as a vital counterpart to screen-based digital interactions.  

  

Building on your knowledge of human factors in design, the module will introduce usability principles and relevant theories including the aesthetics of experience (drawing on the field of contemporary aesthetics); critical and speculative approaches; embodiment; and slow and ambient-interactions. Current and emerging technologies will also be explored through the module, this might for example include; AI, Internet of Things, Big Data and Physical-Digital technologies. 

 

The module will introduce core competences such as: 

 

Storyboarding; 

Experience prototyping;

Using creative technology in products; 

Using data and connectivity; 

Lo-fi and hi-fi prototyping; 

 

By the end of this module, you will have developed a broad range of interaction tools, methods and principles that can be deployed in future design propositions. The module will give you the skills and confidence to add meaningful interactions to products that can support or enhance product experience and link the use of products to wider services

How will I learn on this module?

Through studio-based and workshop activities, your sessions, which simulate real-world design studios, allow you to apply product design skills advancing a deeper understanding of the discipline while also providing opportunities for critical debate and feedback in a supportive and respectful environment. You will progress through a structured design process, group tutorials and peer group discussions to help you develop and deliver your design output. 

 

Additional studio-based and workshop sessions will introduce you to foundational principles underpinning product interaction design and creative technology. These will cover key methods and skills for designing experiences with and for emerging digital technologies. Our primary goal is to provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to explore, experiment, prototype and get creative with technology. This approach enables you to effectively communicate, test and propose concepts to users and clients. You will be expected to expand upon the knowledge gained from these sessions through further self-directed learning tailored to your emerging response to the design brief. 

  

You will receive a design brief challenging you to apply knowledge gained from the taught sessions. This will see you crafting innovative responses to the evolving landscape of emerging technologies in everyday life, either present-day or future oriented. This brief will require you to develop a rich understanding of the context, and people who will be engaging with your product through desk research and/or user research methods. Using various methods including storyboarding and lo-fi prototyping you will respond to this user research to design creative responses to the use of technology. The outcome will be a prototype that effectively communicates user experience, therefore demonstrating a clear and empathetic response to both context and user requirements, while also showing creativity when designing with and for emerging digital technologies. 

How will I be supported academically on this module?

Each project will begin with a comprehensive briefing that will outline and clarify the design project along with the expected learning outcomes, the module and project requirements / deliverables and a detailed schedule. Where a collaborative or live project is involved, professionals from the external partner will work with your tutors to agree a suitable project and any additional support they can offer. This may include in-person briefings, feedback and guidance throughout the project, site visits, access to proprietary research and specialist equipment.



You will have regular weekly sessions in a studio setting to structure your learning experience. In these, you’ll participate in group discussions to receive guidance and feedback from your peers and tutors. Tutors are aligned to each module that relates closely to their own design expertise and experience providing specialist support, whether that is through prior professional experience, through ongoing industrial collaborations or through current research work undertaken within the University.



The module has a specific virtual learning environment (eLearning Portal) which acts as a resource where you can access all the relevant documentation including module briefs and guides, presentations and assessment requirements. The digital submission of work, both formative and summative assessments, allow for expedient communication and the effective review of work whilst also utilising industry standard practices. During core working hours for the Design School but outside your timetabled sessions and project dependent, you will have access to a wide range of technician-supported workshop environments. Project and solution driven, these will support all your making requirements including specialist model making materials, laser-cutting, 3D printing, creating sewn soft-products, sensors and electronics, photography and videography. CAD workstations and industry-standard digital modelling software are accessible on campus 24/7 in certain buildings.

What will I be expected to read on this module?

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

What will I be expected to achieve?

Knowledge & Understanding:

Demonstrate design understanding with the appropriate integrated selection and skilled use of applications, tools, methods and processes during design research and development.



Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

Appropriately select, articulate, justify and share design research and development using established methods and processes in the development of design concepts.



Create design concepts, proposals and solutions that appropriately respond to the brief, clearly identified needs or issues.



Personal Values Attributes

(Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

Experiment and develop product design skills through the creation of sketching, prototyping and communication of design concepts.

How will I be assessed?

You will be regularly assessed formatively and informally, using verbal feedback during timetabled sessions and at key stages of the design development process. Students may be asked to present their work verbally to an audience of peers, tutors and stakeholders to receive feedback and guidance. 



Students will be summatively assessed against one or more product design assignments over the course of the module submitted at the end of block 2. For each assignment, students will be assessed against the module outcomes and criteria set out in the briefs. The combined marks for the projects will form 100% of the overall mark.

 

Feedback is written and delivered via tutorial review and via eLearning portal (eLP) after the submission at the end of each block (module).

Pre-requisite(s)

N/A

Co-requisite(s)

N/A

Module abstract

In this module, you will learn the principles, tools and techniques of designing interactions. The module will be delivered through a project that links theory and practice in the creation of interactive product concepts. The knowledge and skills you learn will be focused on interactive products, with tangibility and embodied interactions a key component. Philosophically, the module celebrates the ongoing need and value of physical and embodied interactions as a vital counterpart to visual and screen-based digital interactions.

Course info

UCAS Code W246

Credits 20

Level of Study Undergraduate

Mode of Study 3 years Full Time or 4 years with a placement (sandwich)/study abroad

Department Northumbria School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries, Northumbria School of Design

Location City Campus, Northumbria University

City Newcastle

Start September 2025

Fee Information

Module Information

All information is accurate at the time of sharing. 

Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.  

Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.

 

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