DESIGN REALIZATION CS294-12: Design Realization
Berkeley Institute of Design
Fall 2002
COURSE NOTES

Lecturers:

Steve Harrison
SHarrison@cal.berkeley.edu

Maribeth Back
mbb@media.mit.edu
mbb's home page

A project-based course balancing design theory and design practice.

 

Class home

Course description

Design theme

Resources

Administrative

Readings

Course Notes

Berkeley
Institute of Design

 


week 1 8-27: Introductions and Overview

Lecture One
Readings

8-29:
Design theme: Physical Instruments for Digital Data

Lecture Two
Readings

week 2 9-3: Social aspects of design

Lecture Three
Readings

9-5: Design generation: So, where do you get your ideas....?

Lecture Four
Exercise #1: problem finding
Readings

week 3 9-10: Imagining the instrument: understanding usage and usefulness

Lecture Five
Readings

9-12: Class presentations and discussions of Exercise #1.

week 4 9-17: Design Representations. Sketching: its forms and virtues.

Exercise #2: the varieties of sketching.
Lecture Seven
Readings

9-19: Mechatronics: conceiving a system

Lecture Eight

Readings

week 5 9-24: Mechatronics: Input. Survey of sensors and their common constraints; exercise for ideation around sensing.

Lecture Nine
Readings

9-26: Mechatronics: Output. Survey of output styles and techniques, with various actuators, effectors and displays, including newer technologies and some unusual interpretations (art robotics, etc.)

Lecture Ten
Readings

week 6 10-1: Class presentations of Exercise #2. Continue discussions on sketching as analysis.

10-3: Design generation: special guest Florian Brody.

Lecture Notes
Exercise #3: design generation.

week 7 10-8: Design Integration: the Whys of Form and Behavior. The impact of hardware and software on design, and vice versa, in physical/digital instruments.

Lecture Notes
Readings

10-10: Rapid prototyping: tools and techniques. Carlo Sequin, special lecturer.

Readings

week 8 10-15: In-class review of Exercise #3 (design generation). Impact of form on function in physical/digital instruments. Continue exploration of problem spaces in each project.

Exercise #4: first physical implementation of team project.

10-17: Mechatronics: Processes. Survey of processes and platforms: I/O issues, databases and data formats, real-time processes, platforms.

Readings

week 9 10-22: Guest lecturer: physical art with embedded processes.

10-24: Early reflections: problem-solving and design considerations in first implementations of team projects. In-class presentation of Exercise#4 (first physical implementation).

Exercise #5: iterated implementation of team project.

week 10 10-29: Panel on nature of design reviews vs. user studies.

10-31: Design Iteration. The nature of iterative design. Discussion on possible directions for iteration in projects based on responses to the first design review.

week 11 11-5: Design Review: Class presentations and discussions of team designs to date, including sketches, writeups, reflections, and iterations. Should show developing relationship between generation, sketch and physical form.

11-7: Design Review con't.

week 12 11-12: Design Iteration. Based on responses to the design review. Team term projects are now focus through end of term.

Exercise #6: final implementation of team project, with writeup.

11-14: Late reflections: what's actually useful? Which questions are the right questions? Revisiting problem space in light of lessons learned so far.

week 13 11-19: Doing the Right Thing: problem-solving, fire-quenching, and face-saving in the late cycles of design.

11-21: Techne (the art of craft). The philosophy of design and technology.

Readings

week 14

11-26: Aesthetics - What is beauty? A shallow view of a deep topic.

  • in engineering (i.e. "elegance")
  • in art
  • in design

    Readings

    11-28: Thanksgiving holiday.

week 15 12-3: The last mile: final design implementations. What is unexpectedly hard? What works better than expected? Why?

12-5: Design analysis and reflection: writing about and presenting the project. Projects will be presented in class (this was Exercise#6) and at a special seminar/fair TBA.