Human-Centered Technology Design is an approach to problem solving that puts humans (users) at the center of the design process.  The process starts with building deep empathy for those being designed for, and is used to design both physical and digital products.  After completing the program, students will have a thorough understanding of how to execute HCTD activities and methods and will have first experience to plan HCTD in a realistic environment.  To be able to work in multidisciplinary teams, students are introduced to related topics in various fields, including psychology, computing and information technology, and entrepreneurship.  The structure of the curriculum begins with courses with a view to specialization in later terms.  Introductory courses provide an overview of human-centered design, followed by in-depth examinations of HCTD activities in the areas of prototyping, user research, usability evaluation, and usability engineering.

Students are introduced to fundamental theories and concepts of human-centered design, including interface design and evaluation, usability and universal design, multimodal interfaces (touch, gesture, natural language), virtual reality, and spatial displays.  Exploring and refining desired behaviors and user experience, students learn methods, concepts, and techniques necessary to make human-centered design an integral part of developing effective interactions.  User experience and interaction design, grounded in psychology, help students recognize the centrality of people’s needs, and the context of use, frames product opportunities, so that they can skillfully propose useful, usable, and desirable (usually digital) solutions.  Such knowledge and skills prepare students for work in active areas of research and development, including bio-inspired design using the human system as a model for good design and for exploring the role of collaborative intelligence in design, smart and connected systems for supporting human interactions and engagement.

The structure of the HCTD program provides consistent support for student success through repeated, progressive research and creative opportunities where students discover or invent effective paths to resolving artistic or analytical challenges that may be complicated by a competitive environment, opposing interests, and divergent or uncertain data and information.  As a result, students come to understand not only the technological transformations impacting interaction and communication, but also the technological, social and political changes that underlie the movement toward a digital society, informed by historical and critical perspectives.

The proposed Human-Centered Technology Design program is based on a review of dozens of well-established creative technology and game design programs and a separate review of as many undergraduate educational institutions deploying experiential learning throughout their curricula, integrating problem-based learning (PBL) at institutional, college, program and course levels.

• Students begin the HCTD program with classes that provide hands-on experiences in several areas of HCTD, promoting a DIY-DIWO culture.  Experiential learning throughout the curriculum focuses on the open-ended exploration on the expressive and inventive potentials of  various emerging technology areas.  All coursework supports a ‘maker’ culture and collaboration, working with interdisciplinary groups, cultivating appreciation and practical skills in project-development and management. Throughout the curriculum, students would stay engage by working on projects connected to real-world challenges.  These progressive undergraduate research opportunities culminate in either laboratory and/or co-op learning on real-world projects with collaborative partners through programs including the VEMI Lab, Maine Geospatial Institute, Multisensory Interactive Media Lab, and ASAP Media Service, or through off-campus industry opportunities.
• The core curriculum is designed to cover a plethora of basic required skills, including problem-solving, computational thinking, wireframing, rapid prototyping, and communication skills.  In addition, students have flexibility to specialize in their identified pathway.  These core skills will be essential to prepare students for real world problem solving and work in multidisciplinary teams in the future.
• HCTD students take the introductory Innovation Engineering course through the Foster Center for Innovation, where they begin developing an entrepreneurial mindset and learning the tools that are essential to realizing true and sustainable positive change.
• The academic culture of HCTD must be collaborative,  with classes being offered in dedicated spaces emphasizing cooperative exploration. Students have the flexibility to choose projects that align with their interests; faculty would act as coaches, mentors and advisers, providing responsive, contextually informed instruction and helping student teams find the resources they need.
• Students may co-op at on-campus facilities or with companies throughout Maine, working on multi-semester projects in teams or cohorts on real-world research and development with UM research faculty, for the campus, community organizations or industrial partners.

Our Project-Based Learning method further uses a tiered method of mentoring, where advanced-level undergraduates mentor early-year participants and graduate students mentor advanced-level undergraduates.  Faculty facilitates mentoring throughout the project continuum.  This Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) model is a natural fit for the HCTD program at UM.