What is an experience? What does it mean to design experiences? UX Design – “User Experience” design – is a major growth area in design hiring today. Recent economic theorists have claimed that we now live in an “experience economy” that differs markedly from the economic models of the last centuries. DES 40C, “Design Aesthetics and Experience” asks us to question experiences, with examples that range widely from dance to Disney, from the design of concerts to the Whole Earth Festival, to the design of exhibition spaces and narrative environments. What can we learn from the built environment and design of embodied experiences that can be applied to the development of new spaces of virtual reality including apps and games? This wide-ranging and experimental course charts an arc linking the three dimensions of lived experience with the dreams and goals driving the creation of two-dimensional spaces. Whenever possible, guest speakers will share their experiences to heighten the contemporary emphasis of this historically-grounded course.

Spring 2016 Catalog Course Description:

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Priority to Design majors. Global historical survey of design’s engagement with changing notions of aesthetics and experience. Relates transformations in the theory, production, and reception of all aspects of design (objects, landscapes, architectures, etc.) to larger cultural, social, and political contexts. Not open for credit to students who have taken course 40 or 140.

Read more from Professor Housefield’s course flyer here.

Click here to view all courses offered for Spring Quarter 2016.