Awareness, Perception, Influence & Impact
Faculty Profiles

Lauren Celenza
Design Lead, Writer, Journalist Seattle, WA, US

Rajiv Arjan
Senior UX Researcher at Google
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
This course will present a view of how human behavior, perception, and information is changing due to rapid technological development across the world, and the implications and responsibility this has on makers of tech & AI.
We’ll discuss how bias, memory, attention, access, and influence impacts how we think, communicate, and design. We’ll also explore ways to unearth and challenge our own inherent biases and habits.
We’ll apply this thinking through exercises and projects that explore how to uncover bias in the design process and how to unite global teams together towards a greater awareness of their audience.
Learning highlights
- Understanding the behavioral shifts occurring across the world, due to rapid technological development
- How bias, memory, attention, access, and influence impacts how we perceive the world
- Understanding how easy it is to unconsciously create experiences that could feel inaccessible and unnatural to someone’s life
- Becoming aware of your own habits, behaviors, bias; and how they impact how and what you create
- How to influence and unite global teams together
Course outline
4 classes
Introduction
- Who we are
- Factfulness
- Goals & overview for the course
- First Project Brief
Technological impact across the world
- Global shifts in behavior due to technological development
- A quick guide to the laws of motion, and how it applies to design at scale
- Design principles for respectful impact
Psychology, how we are wired
- What is cognition
- Memory, attention and mental models
- Emotional interaction
Psychology, how we are wired II
- Bias types & how they affect us
- Acknowledging our own biases
Prerequisites
This course is one of three in a wholistic series.
Students that have already taken MSL-111 and those with prior experience with HTML, CSS, and Javascript building simple web pages will be good candidates for this module.
Lauren Celenza is a digital designer, writer, and journalist with a decade of experience spanning multiple contexts, cultures, and industries. Her work and essays have appeared in Fast Company, Forbes, and NBC News. She has led product design at Google Maps, The World Resources Institute, and Code for America, with a focus on creating emerging technology for inclusive maps, land restoration, and accessible and efficient tax filing. Lauren is the author of Tech Without Losing Your Soul, a newsletter and interview series examining tech’s influence across geographies, burnout and loneliness, and the possibilities for a balanced relationship with technology. She is also a moderator for UNFINISHED Festival in Bucharest, Romania, celebrating art, design, and democracy. She holds a BFA in Graphic and Interaction Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a Master’s Certificate in Modern Journalism from New York University.
See full profileFor the past 5 years, Rajiv has been working in the international research team at Google learning about how to create products and services for the next billion users, most of which are coming online for the very first time.
His research projects have taken him to India, Kenya, Senegal, Indonesia, Brazil and more. Raj is passionate about making information accessible to all and spends time working with various product teams at Google to help make that a reality.
See full profileApply for this course
Awareness, Perception, Influence & Impact
by Lauren Celenza, Rajiv Arjan
Total hours
30 Hours
Dates
Jun 17 - Jun 28, 2019
Fee for single course
€1000
Fee for degree students
€500
How to secure your spot
Complete the form below to kickstart your application
Schedule your Harbour.Space interview
If successful, get ready to join us on campus
FAQ
Will I receive a certificate after completion?
Yes. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate signed by the director of the program your course belonged to.
Do I need a visa?
This depends on your case. Please check with the Spanish or Thai consulate in your country of residence about visa requirements. We will do our part to provide you with the necessary documents, such as the Certificate of Enrollment.
Can I get a discount?
Yes. The easiest way to enroll in a course at a discounted price is to register for multiple courses. Registering for multiple courses will reduce the cost per individual course. Please ask the Admissions Office for more information about the other kinds of discounts we offer and what you can do to receive one.