George Guffey

Nearly everything designers create demands interaction: reading screens, operating objects, navigating spaces, or interpreting responses over time. As interaction spans physical, digital, and spatial realms, communicating how experiences behave is a fundamental design skill. This course introduces methods to visualize interaction, from initial storyboards to tested proposals.
Intended early in the Designed Objects sequence, this core skills studio has no prerequisites and requires no prior interface design or interactive prototyping experience.
Students build storyboards, user journeys, and flow diagrams to map human movement through systems. Using Figma, they construct and animate low- and high-fidelity prototypes, applying principles of layout, typography, visual hierarchy, and motion. Prototypes undergo user testing and iterative refinement based on observation and feedback.
Coursework introduces established interface patterns and UI kits to adapt and extend. Accessibility standards and ergonomic considerations integrate throughout the design process. AI tools assist iteration and alternative development, teaching students to evaluate outputs and apply design judgment.
By course end, students complete one interactive experience from storyboard to working, user-tested prototype. They leave equipped to make interactions legible before construction, demonstrating, testing, and defending how designs behave beyond mere visual appearance.

As products incorporate increasingly complex displays, functionality, and intelligence, their usability can become a challenge. This studio-seminar explores methods for designing intuitive and effective interfaces that enhance both the usability and overall experience of a device. Through presentations, discussions, and hands-on exercises, students will analyze existing interfaces and devices, identifying strengths and weaknesses in their design. The course emphasizes the integration of user interface (UI) and industrial design (ID) to create seamless, visually cohesive, and functionally intuitive products. Students will engage in critical evaluation of real-world examples and apply digital media tools to prototype the interface and interaction components of their own design projects. Key topics include understanding user behavior, mapping device functionality, designing appropriate two-way communication, and developing graphic elements that support usability. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of interface design as a critical factor in product development, enabling them to craft more user-centered, visually compelling, and engaging product experiences.