Applying Experience Design Principles to Improve Student Experience in WPI’s IMGD Program

Matticoli, Mikel

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Applying Experience Design Principles to Improve Student Experience in WPI’s IMGD Program

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Experience design is a core facet of WPI’s Interactive Media & Game Development program. Games and other forms of media, especially those for the sole purpose of entertainment, are valued by the experiences of the audience members that engage with them. However, the principles and processes of experience design are widely applicable beyond the scope of media, games, and consumer products/services. The elements that make up WPI’s IMGD program — its community, its curriculum, the resources it provides — can be strengthened through deliberate application of experience design principles, improving the overall experience for its students, faculty, and staff. This project provides a case study for the application of experience design principles towards improving the experience of students in an academic program. It aims to serve as a repeatable and extensible foundation for applying these principles towards improving the student experience through small and tightly scoped deliverables. The research results assert that community is central to the student experience, and the project itself demonstrates how the combination of emergent strategy, human-centered design, and puzzle/interactive experience design can serve as an approach for designing and evaluating artifacts and systems that contribute positively to community-building.

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