Interaction Design – a field dedicated to creating relationships between people and their environment - will be offered as a baccalaureate program at Farmingdale State College beginning with the Fall 2017 semester. From products and services to computers, mobile devices and appliances, Interaction Designers ensure that users can utilize devices and other tools in ways that meet their expectations. The BT will be the first bachelor’s program of its kind offered in New York State.
“The Interaction Design program addresses industry needs by providing students with a curriculum that focuses on how things work and less about how they look,” said Jack Harris, assistant professor in the Department of Visual Communications and co-author of the program. “It is the evolution of traditional graphic design to create the next generation of design thinkers and thought-leaders.”
Interaction Designers have the ability to influence the future development of products, systems and services in fields as diverse as education, healthcare, banking, business, and more. Graduates of Interaction Design programs enjoy careers in fields such as web development and design, application development, user interface design (UI), user experience design (UX), interactive installation, kiosk design, museum experience design, data visualization and more.
“We live in an interconnected world where our devices and their interfaces; the context and environments in which we use them; and what we want from them, affects how we live, work and play,” said Allison Puff, Acting Assistant Provost and Professor of Visual Communications. “Students graduating from the new Interaction Design program will be prepared to design for these complicated systems by getting a well-rounded background in traditional design and basic programming while also focusing on the human factors that affect design.
“We hope to build a culture that will allow students to learn the value of collaboration, vision, risk-taking, discovery, entrepreneurship, social responsibility, and even play, because these are the tools of successful innovators and problem solvers.”
Department of Visual Communications
Farmingdale State College’s Department of Visual Communications offers a bachelor degree in Art and Graphic Design, which develops skills that transcend traditional delivery platforms and focuses on emerging technologies essential to web, mobile, and social media. This prepares them for employment in a field that is both expressive and innovative. Graduates will have the ability to generate solutions and effectively communicate ideas to collaborators, clients and audiences. The department invites top artists throughout the visual communications community to lecture and exhibit in the Memorial Gallery, which is free and open to the public.
