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Kursusbeskrivelse
Kursusnavn (dansk):User Experience and Prototyping 
Kursusnavn (engelsk):User Experience and Prototyping 
Semester:Efterår 2017 
Udbydes under:cand.it., spil (games) 
Omfang i ECTS:15,00 
Kursussprog:Engelsk 
Kursushjemmeside:https://learnit.itu.dk 
Min. antal deltagere:
Forventet antal deltagere:
Maks. antal deltagere:40 
Formelle forudsætninger:A wide knowledge of game design literature and of games is desirable but not required. Programming skills are required as students will be developing game prototypes individually. 
Læringsmål:After this course, students should be able to:
- Compare and contrast different key user experience (UX), interaction design (IxD), player experience (PX), participatory design (PD), and prototyping methods in the context of players and game design.
- Conduct design research for the purpose of learning about players.
- Harness design research findings to inform and inspire game design and game mechanics.
- Establish different ways of prototyping a game mechanic or other game design concept.
- Develop prototypes to effectively communicate various aspects of game play, including aesthetics and kinesthetics.
- Reflect on the process and challenges of incorporating UX, IxD, PX, and PD methods into game development. 
Fagligt indhold:This a project-based course, where students will work with different user experience and prototyping methods to qualify the design choices of their game production. In this course, we will examine the current state-of-the-art of design methods related to prototyping, user experience and interaction design in a game development context.

Students will be introduced to and work with iterative prototyping processes and use prototypes to develop an understanding of player experience. Some of the prototyping methods we will explore are: paper and other forms of physical prototyping techniques, video documentation, and digital prototyping: including aesthetic, gameplay, and technological aspects.

Construction and development of actual prototypes are essential to the course. The students are required to develop a game design of any kind, but must contain some digital elements to it. Students may develop for any platform of their choosing, provided that they are themselves able to develop for that platform. 
Læringsaktiviteter:

The course presents new theories and concepts about user experience and protoyping in a series of four lectures and exercise classes in the beginning of the semester. In these lectures we will explore the field of user experience and prototyping through hands-on experiences. Students will be expected to develop and iterate their project statements from week to week to arrive at starting point for their self-driven project to be developed under supervision for the rest of the semester.

After these lectures students are expected to carry out design research (i.e. applying design research methods covered in class for the purpose of inspiring design concepts), and develop several prototypes based on their research. The students will meet with the course manager regularly for individual supervision sessions as needed. 

Obligatoriske aktivititer:Active participation in a project presentation critique session with the rest of class at the end of the lecture series.

Be aware: The student will receive the grade NA (not approved) at the ordinary exam, if the mandatory activities are not approved and the student will use an exam attempt. 
Eksamensform og -beskrivelse:C: Skriftlige arbejder uden mundtlig eksamen., (7-scale, external exam)

Student will be assessed based on
- a final prototype (50% of the grade)
- a reflective paper (50% of the grade)

The final prototype that the students submit in learnIT must be based on the design research and the earlier prototypes, and must represent the core mechanic and aesthetics of the envisioned game.

The exam paper is a reflection on the student’s process. The students must reflect both on his/her own design choices based on both methodical insights and theory.  

Litteratur udover forskningsartikler:Throughout the course, students will be assigned particular games (digital and
not), videos, and other media that they will be expected to play/watch/explore.