6.813/6.831 — User Interface Design & Implementation
Spring 2018

PhD Studio Readings

Friday Studio

Friday Studio for PhDs will occur every Friday immediately after lecture, from 2pm-3pm in 26-142.

Studio Format

Most Friday studios involve a class discussion based on the week’s readings. Each week, one or two students will prepare questions and lead the rest of the class in a discussion. Everyone needs to read the required reading. There will also be optional reading, which will include some of the “the greats” of the field. Read the optional papers for your pleasure, intrigue, and inspiration.

See below for how to prepare for studio…

When You Are Leading the Studio Discussion

For one studio session throughout the semester, you will lead the class discussion during the Friday studio. When it is your turn, you will need to do the following:

  1. thoroughly read the week’s assigned papers before the week begins
  2. create questions that will be sent as a Google Form by Sunday at 10pm (details below)
  3. develop activities during class (details below)
  4. post at least one substantive comment or reply to a comment on NB for the given readings by 10pm Thursday, the night before studio

When it is your turn to lead the discussion, you will have to develop questions for the class to answer in a Google Form, based on the readings for that week. Please send these questions to the 6.831D TA (Kenny Friedman, ksf@mit.edu) by Sunday at 11:59pm on the week of your studio.

You will also need to come up with activities during class for creating a dynamic discussion. Here are some ideas for things you could do:

  • Open questions directed at the entire group for discussion.
  • Have class participants discuss with their neighbors before opening to the group.
  • Collect quantitative data in the form / asking people to raise their hand (everyone gets a feel for how much the group agrees on something).
  • Quote some comments from the form answers, contrast them with each other if you find opposing arguments.
  • Asking participants come up with real-world examples in their life or in their research.
  • Do a hands-on activity alone or with a partner. Don’t forget to bring supplies if you will need them.

Be creative!

When You Are Not Leading the Studio Discussion

On the remaining weeks, when you are not leading a studio, you will have three main tasks to complete.

  1. actively read the week’s assigned papers (print out and take notes to remember important points)
  2. post at least one substantive comment or reply to a comment on NB for each paper in the set of readings by 11:59pm Thursday, the night before studio.
  3. answer the questions on the Google Form by 11:59pm Thursday, the night before studio (the Google Form will be posted to the class website by lecture time Wednesday).

If you feel the readings are taking too long, have a look at this quick guide on efficient reading of research papers.

Feb 9 Studio

Required Readings

Optional Readings

Feb 16 Studio

Required Readings

  • Paper 1: Grudin. Why Groupware Fails
  • Paper 2: Daniela Retelny, Se ́bastien Robaszkiewicz, Alexandra To, Walter Lasecki, Jay Patel, Negar Rahmati, Tulsee Doshi, Melissa Valentine, Michael S. Bernstein Flash Teams
  • Paper 3: Travis Kriplean, Jonathan T. Morgan, Deen Freelon, Alan Borning, Lance Bennett ConsiderIt
  • Paper 4: Adam D. I. Kramer, Jamie E. Guillory, Jeffrey T. Hancock Massive-scale Emotional Contagion

Optional Readings

Google Form Questions: Complete by 11:59pm Thursday evening.

Feb 24 Studio

Google Form to Submit: https://goo.gl/forms/GpqqP3tNIoVf9CXN2

Required Readings

Optional Readings

March 2 Studio

  • GR1 Presentations

March 9 Studio

  • GR2 Presentations

March 16 Studio

  • GR3 Building

March 23 Studio

  • GR3 Presentations

March 30 Studio

  • Spring Break

April 6 Studio

  • Experimental Design Lecture

April 13 Studio

  • Experimental Analysis Lecture

April 20 Studio

  • GR4 Presentations

April 27 Studio

Optional Readings

May 4 Studio