Formerly pos TC omm re:Design The annual magazine for alumni and friends of the University of Washington Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering Summer 2009 Tracked Changes Message from the Chair Time of Transition 2008–2009 has been a dynamic year that will not soon be Features forgotten. It has been a year of transition. We have come through an incredible amount of change in a very short time, all the 03 TC to HCDE stronger and better for the experience. We have a new name, a new Beginning January 1, 2009, physical location, four new tenure track faculty, a new department UWTC became the Department chair, new degree programs, new curricula, and more students in of Human Centered Design & the entering class than ever before. As it was a time of beginnings Engineering. for our new faculty who taught their first classes, it is a time of endings for Tom Williams, who taught his last official HCDE class 06 PhD Student Thrives HCDE Chair Jan Spyridakis and will be retiring next autumn. The change of name from Technical Communication to Human Centered Design & in Academia Engineering (HCDE) was not undertaken lightly. A task force of our best and brightest Quan Zhou, now assistant professor at University of spent many days and nights working to find an elegant solution. And even after the name Wisconsin-Stout, receives great was official on January 1, 2009, we had a last-minute identity crisis over “to hyphen or not honor. to hyphen.” Alas and alack, most style guides state that you do not hyphenate proper nouns. And our department title is indeed that—a proper noun. Of course, you should realize our concession when we gave in on the hyphen but adopted the ampersand! 14 Matt Shobe’s And only those of you who shared some time with us in the bowels of Loew Hall or Daring Adventure the Engineering library, or chasing bats in the rafters of the Engineering Annex would HCDE Alum Matt Shobe wins understand why those in HCDE so appreciate the light-filled offices of Sieg Hall, with its 2009 “Early Career” Diamond wide hallways, windows that open and bring in Seattle sun, meeting rooms, and a true Award. student lounge. Our new faculty, Cindy Atman, Julie Kientz, Sarah Kriz, and Charlotte Lee, have settled in and now seem like they have been with us a very long time. Of course, it helps to have us all sharing one big echoing circular hallway in Sieg—we know each 19 HCDE Welcomes other’s business and see each other’s smiling faces on a daily basis. The department also Cindy Atman experienced a shift in staffing this year when I gained a full-time assistant, Julianna Jones, Research design process and who has proven to be a wonderful Jill of all trades, and Kate Long became our publications Atman’s research are a natural fit coordinator extraordinaire. for HCDE. Along with the department name change came new programs and curricula. What a great time to get Jen Turns to sign on as the Associate Chair of Learning and Mark Zachry to 23 Economy succeed her as Associate Chair of Academics. Jen Turns and Gian Bruno, our Adademic Adviser, and Maggie Bardacke, our Program Coordinator, have heralded through new Got You Down? HCDE degree titles for the BS, MS, and PhD programs and created a variety of degree Alumni offer unique perspectives pathways within the degree programs. These hard efforts have paid off big time. on how to land a job and to thrive in the workforce. In closing, I hope you enjoy reading the articles in our first issue of re:Design as much as I have. The editorial and production team has worked day and night to bring you this publication and created a great set of articles about our doings this past year. You can find out more about our escapades by sitting down and planning for a very good read. Sections Team Contact re:Design 03 Tracked Changes re:Design Human Centered Design & Engineering 06 Students & Alumni College of Engineering, University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195 Box 352315 206.543.2567 | [email protected] 14 Accolades Cover Design Formerly posTComm 17 Department Updates Created by Breanne Miller, the cover design loosely resembles an 23 Careers re:Design affinity diagram using Top Row from Left: Tiffany Rooney, Theresa The annual magazine for alumni and friends of the University of Washington post-it notes. The new Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering Maramba, Sophia Fong, Chad Driesbach. name of the publication, Summer 2009 25 In the Real World Bottom Row from Left: Devor Barton, Jacob Warren, Catherine Treadgold, Kyle Hurt re:Design, was suggested Not Pictured: Linet Henry, Kate Long, Breanne and selected by the Miller, Patrick Kreuch, Jonathan Morgan, Jan HCDE community. 35 Donors Spyridakis 2 \ re:Design Tracked Changes TC to HCDE A New Name for an Expanding Department by Sophia Fong n January 1, 2009, the Department of Technical continuous process of contacting people from industry and colleges OCommunication (TC) rang in the new year with a new across and outside of the country. department name: Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE). The new name helps to highlight the expanding Represented colleges include the University of California, Irvine; curriculum and research of a department that has been in the UW the University of Toronto; Carnegie Mellon; Georgia Tech; Penn College of Engineering for over three decades. State; the University of Texas; Michigan State; and many others. People were excited to hear about the change, and many professors A name change for the department has been brewing for some and industry professionals found the prospect of a name change time but really began in fall 2008. Faculty and staff had small- interesting and innovative. One professor from the University of group discussions over different words and phrases relating to Wisconsin wrote in an email, “What an interesting change, I like it!” the department’s curriculum and “Technical Communication.” Everyone was aware of the challenging task that naming such a A wide variety of industry professionals were contacted in search long-standing, multidimensional department would be. As Assistant of ideas and feedback on possible names. An email with possible Professor Julie Kientz emphasized, the new name can’t just be the name ideas was even sent out to over 1,000 Microsoft employees name of a specific research area, but needs to encompass the entire who work closely with communication and production experts. department and evoke the right imagery and ideas for current The committee received many valuable responses that helped them industry professionals and prospective students. explore and finalize a new name. A small committee representing faculty, staff, students, and alumni The hundreds of emails, phone calls, and meetings resulted in was formed and members worked hard to find ideas, comments, a new name for our department that is both contemporary and and feedback. The committee spent hours exploring name ideas in a representative of what we do. Sieg Hall Move by Tiffany Rooney from Cellar... chool is out, and students and birds alike chunks home with them. One CSE graduate Stwitter happily in the summer sun—a student reportedly based his decision to sun that HCDE actually got to see this attend UW on his chunk of Sieg. “How year! No longer must we suffer in (relative) could I say ‘no’ to a school that gave me a silence, relegated to the dungeon commonly piece of their computer science building?” known as Loew’s basement. HCDE now he asked. resides in the esteemed Sieg Hall, called “The Pride of UW” by its (rather sardonic) Regrettably, students can no longer pilfer prior inhabitants, the Computer Science chunks of Sieg; the building was remodeled and Engineering (CSE) department. to fix that—a mere $6,500 per column. But at least we know Sieg’s remodeled columns Sieg has a fairly rich history, starting as can withstand earthquakes. After an recently as 1960, when $1,061,468 bought earthquake in March 2001, someone sent an UW a new building. It’s “contemporary email to the dean of CSE saying, “I’m sorry design” was even featured on a 25-cent to hear that Sieg is still standing. Better postcard. But even masterfully engineered luck next quake!” As of the January 2009 engineering buildings don’t last forever, and earthquake, that luck had not improved. Sieg’s contemporary columns soon started (continued on page 4) Sieg Hall crumbling. By 1999, students were taking re:Design \ 3 Tracked Changes ...to Penthouse (continued from page 3) Ladies, if you have not yet used the facilities on our floor, prepare yourselves. Upon HCDE’s new locale encompasses the entering, you will see urinals on the wall— entire fourth floor of Sieg and some of something that would make any woman the third. Highlights include upgraded stop, wide-eyed, then spin around and facilities for the Laboratory for Usability flee the scene, thinking that one of those Testing and Evaluation (LUTE), a bigger horribly embarrassing nightmares had just and better lounge (it even has couches!), come true and hoping nobody was there to and—you might want to sit down for this witness it. Even after re-reading the signs, it one—windows. That’s right my friends, we still somehow feels like breaking the rules. can actually see the sun. That is, whenever And yes, that is “signs” plural. When we HCDE settles into its new fourth-floor home. those persistent Seattle clouds decide to first moved in, there were two signs, one him Steven “SiegHall.” Faculty and staff of which was a sheet of paper that had are walking around with revived energy “Women” printed on it no less than five and more spring in their step, and students times.