Thesis Paper Presentations

Last Friday, the graduating (!) students presented their thesis papers to faculty, students, and guests. A very nerve-wracking event: sets of 10-minute presentations followed by five minutes of Q&A. My presentation is the basis for the talk I'm giving in March at the IA Summit, so I won't give anything away here until after then. But here's some work that resonated with me:

• Ashley Deal's "Simplicity in Design" which focused on the need for clarity of thought before simplicity in action
• Yuan-Chou Chung's "Supporting Collaborative Experience in Human-Product Interaction" which examined karaoke as a platform for emotional experiences
• Chun-Yi Chen's "The Role of Design in Product-Mediated Human Interaction" which put forth the ideas that products should be both performers and be masks that help preserve human dignity
• Phi-Hong Ha's "The Role of Design in Public Life" about encouraging consciousness in public information spaces
• Jeff Howard's "The Creation of Place in Design" in which all of design is a means of wayfinding
• and Miso Kim's "A Case Study on 'Design By Users' " which looked at the role of meta-design in the attempted impeachment of the Korean President in 2004.

Originally posted on Monday, January 24, 2005