Dinesh Ramaswamy
Dinesh Ramaswamy, a master’s student in the Human-Computer Interaction program at the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, has been selected as a finalist in the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) Student Design Charette in Seattle Feb. 5-8.
The 2019 IxDA Student Design Charette challenge focuses on empathy, and the challenge aims to create a mechanism that will allow judges and the community at the Interaction 2019 conference to better understand a day in the life of someone with misunderstood or ignored differences. The Student Design Charette, which annually draws more than 100 entrants, selected nine finalists from Indiana, Texas, Michigan, California, the United Kingdom, France, and Costa Rica to demonstrate their unique talents and articulate their point of view regarding the role of design and inclusive experiences in unlocking empathy.
“This design challenge is a great opportunity to work with other very talented designers,” Ramaswamy said. “We will really be pushing our limits to get as much out of the design brief as possible to produce a full-fledged project in a short period of 72 hours. My expectation is that it is going to be life-changing and one of the most exciting things I have ever done.”
The finalists will be broken into teams and be given a 72-hour period to work on a narrow brief while receiving mentorship, and they will present proposals to the greater IxDA Conference. Ramaswamy’s submission used a creative, humorous video to lay out how he would help people build empathy through technology and other various methods.
“Aside from the design process itself, I am also greatly looking forward to presenting my work in front of the prestigious audience at IxDA which will include some very prominent designers from Microsoft among other companies,” Ramaswamy said. “I look forward to all the conversations I will have over the days of the Student Design Charette and hopefully get a great reading on the pulse of the interaction design industry the world over.”
The IxDA was established in 2003 and has grown into a global network of more than 100,000 individuals and more than 200 local groups.
“Dinesh is an intellectually curious designer who pushes himself and those around him,” said Jeffrey Bardzell, professor of informatics and director of the human-computer interaction/design program. “To participate in an international event like this gives him a chance to take his practice to a new level and showcase our HCI/d program.”