Using an Art Museum Field Trip to Spark Classroom Discussions about Mobile App Design

Classes on mobile computing are popular in schools all over the country, however, the author is not aware of any that include sessions on mobile app design. How do you help students understand what constitutes a good design? Faculty have used wireframes and affinity diagrams to teach design in the classroom, included user experience and design in final course projects, and incorporated problem-based learning, opportunities for service and video-making to develop further HCI skills. One option the author has tried in the past to teach mobile app design is to ask students to choose a few mobile apps that they consider the best and a few that they consider the worst in terms of aesthetics and usability and then lead a discussion on the different factors that make the app aesthetically pleasing and usable. A new approach the author attempted this year was to hold the class meeting at the art museum instead. Looking at the different art pieces, the class engaged in a discussion of the factors that allowed the artists to capture the attention of the audience and convey their message. This activity also introduces a cross-disciplinary approach into a computer science class.