Well, looks like graduation has come up out of nowhere, just as everyone promised it would. In just a few days, I will no longer be a student, having completed my undergraduate degree in architecture at Mississippi State University. What happens next is the topic for another post – right now, I’d like to talk about the semester’s work.
My research took a slightly different turn than I originally intended. Initially, I was hoping to finish with something of a multifaceted project, complete with writing, scientific testing, and perhaps even tangible proposals. As I continued to work and explore, however, I found myself becoming more and more interested in the foundational (even, perhaps, strictly psychological) aspects of digital design and human computer interaction. Additionally, circumstances both within my control (read: burnout) and beyond it unfortunately slightly short-circuited the work. Consequently, my final document is the result of my research into the topic of “playfulness” – how children play, how craftsmen play, and how that begins to relate to computer environments. While it is not quite what I had in mind, I am happy that I was able to conclude it as such, and thankful that I had the opportunity to do such work in an undergraduate setting.
I hope eventually to apply this work more specifically to the architectural design environment. I plan to continue this research and invest myself more in the realm of HCI, especially as it relates to architectural education. Looks more and more like one day I will be teaching…
I may post some extracts from it directly to this blog. You can find the PDF up at the top menu under Portfolio, or simply by clicking here.
Scott Penman 