The Department of Design at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati offers B.Des, M.Des, and Ph.D. degrees, including the only undergraduate design degree at an IIT. The focus is on user experience and interaction design through interdisciplinary research. Courses cover areas like usability engineering, systems design, human-computer interaction, graphics, and engineering, as well as humanities subjects. The curriculum aims to teach user-centered processes, information architecture, instructional design, and management skills.

1. Department of Design
user experience course curriculum
design semantics
The department of design offers B.Des, M. Des and Ph D degrees. B Des
degree offered by the department is the only undergraduate level degree
of its kind in an Indian Institute of Technology in Design.
interaction design
The focus of the programmes is on the study, invention, and creative use
of technologies to create effective, usable, enjoyable experiences with
technology through interdisciplinary research in engineering, design,
design methdologybehavioral and social sciences, and to understand the impact of technol-
ogy on individuals, groups and organizations.
applied ergonomics
design management
usability engineering
visual communication
human computer interaction

2. course curriculum
Courses in the area of UE and UX Fundamental design courses
• Usability Engineering • Graphic Design - Principles and Application
• Systems approach to design • Design Methodology
• Interaction Design • Form Studies-1 & 2
• Design management and professional practice • Visualization drawing
• Cognitive Psychology • Plastics and Composites
• Collaborative Design methods for • Materials and Processes
new product development • Photography and Videography
• Instructional Design and Multimedia • Product Analysis
• Introduction & Applied Ergonomics • Craft and Technology
• Applied Ergonomics • Fundamentals of Animation
• Interactive communication project • Advanced Manufacturing techniques
Engineering courses Humanities courses
• Introduction to Computing (C,+ Programming) • Introduction to Psychology
• Data Structures & Object Oriented Programming • Applied Psychology
• Basic Electronics • Critical Thinking
• Engineering Drawing • Consumer Behaviour
• Engineering Sciences • Money and Financial systems
• Engineering Mechanics • Business Economics
• Physics (Electrodynamics and Optics) • Development Economics
• Mathematics (real analysis & complex analysis) • Introduction to Economics
• Indian Sociology
• Words, Sounds and Rhetorics
Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

3. course curriculum
Usability Engineering
User Centered design processes: User requirement analysis and information collection Contextual inquiry, Ethnographic observation: scenarios and perso-
nas, protocol analysis. Usability in Product Design: Product Safety and Liability. Interaction Design: layout of controls for hand held devices, instruments,
appliances and machines. Human Computer Interaction (HCI): memory, organization, structure, knowledge representation, and user interaction diagrams.
Mental models: conceptual, semantic, syntactic and lexical models.
Graphic User Interface (GUI) design: task analysis, navigation and information hierarchy. GUI design heuristics. Usability testing and software issues. Labora-
tory component: Assignments in product safety audit, product interface and interaction design audits, Conceptual modeling of GUI. Experiments in Usability
testing involving formulation of testing matrix, observations of user behavior, protocol analysis of user interactions with handheld devices, instruments and
consumer products.
Systems approach to design
Information Systems analysis: User information requirement studies and data gathering. Data Flow diagrams and modeling languages such as UML. Relation-
ship modeling. Processes specifications - pseudocodes, strucured representation, decision tables. Logical Database design. Design for visual presentation
of information and interaction using software programs.
Tutorials / Studio Assignments: Case studies and assignments in analysis and design of Information systems with emphasis on User requirement gathering,
User System specifications and User based modeling using object oriented procedures. Wire frame modeling of screens.
Instructional and Media
Overview of interface and Instructional considerations in interactive design. Case studies presentations of good websites and multimedia. Concepts of infor-
mation architecture and user study, identification of information paths and how to integrate features and content for effective information navigation. Story-
boarding and identification of information hierarchies in information design systems. Development of an interface depending on the domains of learning as
well as levels of learning.
Design Management and Professional Design
Design as a strategic tool in the corporate sector. Product management. Introduction to marketing and consumer behavior. Organization, structure and func-
tioning. Interactive role of Design including administration. Design documentation and management of processes such as ISO 9000, ISO 14000, Quality
Function Deployment [QFD] etc. Creativity, innovation and its management in a team work.
Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

4. course curriculum
Design Methodology
Introduction to the different design methodologies in problem solving: perception of the problem, broad based investigation and analytical techniques,
synthesis and idea generation techniques, their development into tangible design solutions and communication of the same. Divergence: Methods of Explor-
ing Design situations Transformation. Convergence: Methods of Evaluation – Checklists, Selecting Criteria, Ranking and weighing, Specification writing. Case
study presentations on design of simple product or package design projects.
Interactive communication Project
The project will introduce the principles for constructing Communicative Objects and Object systems as interactive Dialogues - Dialogue design principles,
Dialogue Design, Communication Metaphor and Stereotypes, Mapping, Multi modal Coding concepts and User differences. The project will apply the above
principles in the design of an Interactive Communication product system.
Applied Ergonomics
Inter relationship of system elements in relation to other elements - the environment of use, user behaviors, legality and other relationships and their influence
in design decisions making. Stages of design development and role of ergonomics; User-Product relationship; Ergonomics principles; Principles of compo-
nent layout in a system. Design evaluation techniques and assessment methods for system reliability. Study of Occupational hazards and safety. Ergonomic
considerations for people with functional limitations, physical and social, psychological disability. Inclusive Design Methodologies.
Psychology: Cognitive & Applied/ Organizatioal & Behavioural
Learning:Cognitive learning, avoidance learning, punishment, generalization & discrimination, concept learning, verbal, motor learning and transfer of learn-
ing. Memory: basic neural operations, systems: sensory, STM, organization in STM, working memory, phonological Loop, visuo-ospatial sketch pad, LTM,
implicit vs. explicit memory, autobiographical memory, constructive memory, measurement of retention. Thinking: level of processing approach, role of sym-
bols, images & language, concept attainment, problem solving: strategies & stages, reasoning, stages of creative thinking, artificial intelligence. Mental Mod-
eling & HCI, Organizational Approach and Management Practices.
Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati