User-centred design for industrial designers Pere Ponsa Kevin Garvin, Fernanda González Raíssa Ruegger, Larissa Santos Barcelona Tech University Av. Victor Balaguer, 1, 08800 Vilanova i la Geltrú, 0034938967231 pedro.ponsa@upc.edu Toni Granollers GRIHO research group C Jaume II, 69, University of Lleida Campus Cappont 0034973702750 antoni.granollers@udl.cat Ramon Vilanova Telecommunications and Systems Engineering department School of Engineering Universitat Autònoma Barcelona 0034935812197 ramon.vilanova@uab.cat ABSTRACT The association between human computer interaction methods within traditional design methods is presented in this paper. The engineering degree of industrial design and product development is composed by subjects and an international mobility program that facilitates this relationship. For this reason the role playing model is used with the aim to work with multidisciplinary teams. This paper shows study cases of interactive systems: design, prototype devices (vibrating bracelet) and evaluation of small interfaces (Tablet PC) and the assessment of this teaching experience. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.2. Information interfaces and presentation: User interfaces – evaluation/methodology, user-centered design. General Terms Measurement, Design, Human Factors. Keywords Role playing, interactive systems, usability. 1. INTRODUCTION Within the engineering degree in Industrial Design and Product Development at the technical school of Vilanova i la Geltrú, we have been working on the inclusion of human centred design methodologies inside the curriculum for the last four years. In the first academic year, we have an “Accessibility and Innovation” subject where students follow the model process engineering approach by Toni Granollers [1] taking into account the design of interactive systems and design for all approaches. During the third academic year, there are a set of subjects in user centred design. The subjects are: “Human-System interaction”, “User centred design and inclusive design” and “Usability and accessibility engineering”. The “Human-System Interaction” subject shows the basic methods and tools from the point of view of interaction design. Finally, during the last academic year, these engineering design students have the possibility to begin the International Design Project Semester beside international students. The International Design Project Semester (IDPS) is an innovative training program which addresses the new professional demands that future engineers will need to face. The program focuses on industrial design and adheres to the learning outcomes established by the European Higher Education Area. The IDPS is one-semester course designed to train third-year industrial design engineering students to work in international teams. In the IDPS, an international team of students works on a real-life project. The IDPS has two complementary parts: - Courses (12 ECTS): Four core courses are offered during the semester. Each of these is made up of 20 contact hours plus assignments and a final evaluation. - Final degree project (18 ECTS): During the semester and under the guidance of an academic tutor, an international team of four to six students works on a real-life project. The following courses are included in the IDPS study program: Eco design, Social Sustainable Design, Human Centred Design, Visual Business, Graphical Visualization of systems, Minding the gap and Spanish language for Foreigners. The IDPS will enable students to apply technical knowledge acquired during the previous years of their engineering education to real, practical projects. The program also offers the opportunity to learn to work in teams in an international and multicultural atmosphere, similar to that found in many companies nowadays. In the current edition of the IDPS program, the 14 th engineering students came from Europe (Denmark (1), Sweden (2), Ireland (2) and Spain (2)); and Latin-American (Brazil (3) and Mexico (2)). With the objective to reduce the gap between the research activities of industrial designers and the Human Computer Interaction HCI materials and methods, a Human Centred Design (HCD) subject is presented in the second section of this paper [2], [3]. The third section explains the use of the role playing model inside the Human Centred design subject. This model increases the interaction between designers, users and stakeholders. In this section, we show that is possible to include user experience aspects and measure the system usability scale to the design of new products. The fourth section explains the set of final projects inside the IDPS program and the relationship between the contents of these projects with HCI. The fifth section shows details of a final degree project related to the design of small screens. In this sense, an informal evaluation study of three tablets PC is presented with the help of three designers in the role of Actas del XIV Congreso Internacional de Interacción Persona- Ordenador. Celebrado en el Marco del CEDI 2013, del 17-20 de septiembre de 2013 en Madrid, España. Congreso promovido por AIPO – Asociación para la Interacción Persona-Ordenador. Usabilidad y diseño centrado en el usuario 127 ISBN: 978-84-695-8352-4