In the first-ever capstone course for the human-centered design and development program in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, two teams of students put the skills they’ve learned at IST to the test through a semester-long project. The objective: use human-centered approaches to investigate a research question, develop a prototype of an application, and evaluate it with the target audience.
The first team proposed applying near-field communication (NFC) tag-based technology to tangible items in pediatric hospital rooms. Using this approach as an alternative to the standard hospital call button, patients and their families scan an NFC tag affixed to a toy – for example, a dollhouse toilet – to make specific requests, such as bathroom assistance. The kid-friendly solution enables patients and their caregivers to easily communicate needs to hospital staff and to monitor request statuses through a mobile application.
The second team provides a tool for college students and recent graduates in navigating the process for paying off student loans and other debts. The web application aims to improve financial literacy by enabling users to request specific financial information— for example, what monthly payment would pay off a loan in a desired period of time — and reports detailed information in numbers, graphs and charts.
According to Syed Billah, assistant professor, teams drew on the design and development skills gained throughout the HCDD program to understand target users’ needs and the limitations of existing solutions. They used this knowledge to conduct interviews and surveys and analyze literature to identify optimal design parameters. The HCDD major launched in 2019 at University Park.
“Many HCDD classes focus on the design process and identifying research tactics to best assess the user experience,” said Sophia Novak, who will earn her degree in May. “As we were attempting to understand our users, define our problem, and build out a solution to test for this capstone project, our team was familiar with how to conduct informative interviews, design effective user surveys, and create targeted usability testing scenarios. Having this strong background helped us follow all the steps to complete our best final prototype.”
“Throughout my time at IST, I have learned many skills that were brought to life in this project,” added Perry McLaughlin, who graduated in December. “In this capstone course, we were given free rein on what problem to solve and how to solve it. This really helped me to improve in problem-solving and teamwork — two important skills I will undoubtedly use as I begin my career as a technology consultant.”