––This Project Week will be held in English––

Master Seminar Open to all Disciplines
6 ECTS

In this interdisciplinary project week, students from all disciplines learn how to leverage technology-supported design research methods for investigating and understanding users’ responses to designed artifacts and environments. Understanding human emotions and physiological reactions in relation to (a) the environment they are in, (b) physical or digital products they interact with, or (c) intangible services they use, is relevant for many disciplines. For example, students from architecture might want to measure people’s wellbeing in a designed building, students from mobility or aerospace might want to measure people’s emotions while being in a self-driving vehicle or a new airplane, and robotics students might want to investigate how their social robots are actually perceived by the intended users.

This interdisciplinary seminar first provides an overview of established design research methods, such as interviews, observations, experience sampling, or cultural probes. Then, participants will be introduced to a variety of technological measurement tools that can be used to triangulate different data sources and provide an additional perspective. Among the provided technologies are, for example, heart rate monitors, EEG headsets, motion tracking devices, facial expression recognition software, skin conductors, and other bodily monitoring tools. In interdisciplinary teams, students will develop relevant and appropriate research questions, experiment with technological tools, and collect sample data that indicates the emotional states and stress levels of the participants. An introductory lecture series with invited guest speakers provides additional insights into the potential of technology-supported design research.

Dates:

Kick-Off Workshop 18.11. 15:00 – 19:00 
Preparation workshop  02.12.24  15:00 – 19:00
Preparation workshop  16.12.24  15:00 – 19:00
Project week 13.01 – 17.01.25 10:00–18:00
Final presentation 27.1.25 16:00 – 18:00

all in Room 3328, Thierschbau, TUM City Campus

Registration