00 Design Thinking

Human Computer Interaction

Valle Hansen
valle.hansen@ischool.utexas.edu

University of Texas at Austin

Mick McQuaid
mcq@utexas.edu

University of Texas at Austin

26 Aug 2026

Day ONE

How to Start?

Read the syllabus?

(eventually we’ll hafta, but it’s a boring way to start)

Go around the room saying our names?

(eventually we’ll hafta, but better if we’re energized)

Get the juices flowing!

WHY?

I think it’s better to start with an exercise that reminds us of what we do, no matter how proficient we are at it.

I need to know something about you and this is a very revealing exercise.

EDIPT

  • Empathize
  • Define
  • Ideate
  • Prototype
  • Test

‹watch video›

Now do what they did!

Materials

  • three pages
  • some index cards (about 6)
  • some colored sharpies (at least 3)
  • a pen or pencil

Protocol

  • Empathize (interview)
  • Define (list of needs)
  • Ideate (storyboard sheet)
  • Prototype (cards)

‹interview›

  • break into pairs so everyone gets a chance to be interviewer and interviewee
  • interview is about supporting the other person’s new year’s resolutions
  • if you’re a trio go 2-on-1 or 1-on-2 either way

‹make a list of needs›

  • analyze the interview
  • be sure to think about what they meant, not just what they said
  • think about how you could have gotten more from the interview

‹storyboard›

  • draw four panels of cartoons on the ideate page
  • show a successful interaction with an app
  • don’t worry about the app details
  • concentrate on the user experience — what did the user feel?

‹prototype›

  • now use the index cards
  • draw a few main app screens
  • focus on making it easy for the user
  • think about the circumstances of use

test

  • we’re skipping the test phase due to time constraints
  • but keep your cards so you can test later
  • it’s never too early to test
  • but testing is not the focus of this course (although we will test our prototypes)

our focus: prototype

iterative cycle: design, prototype, evaluate

what did we learn?

  • give me your insights about each phase and write them down so we can refer to them
  • phases were
    • empathize (interview)
    • define (list)
    • ideate (storyboard)
    • prototype (cards)

END

References

Pink, Daniel E. 2005. A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. Riverhead Books.

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