Use of Project-Based Learning and Living Personas to Train Future Designers of Interactive Applications

Abstract : In a course to train future designers of interactive applications, an original pedagogical approach is implemented and proposed for the students’ practical work. It is organized in project mode, complementing the more traditional lectures and tutorials (exercises) in the classroom. The subject is provided in the form of a call for tender, encouraging each group of students to innovate by simulating companies responding to this call. The practical work consists of an articulation between two pedagogical approaches and a methodological one. The two pedagogical approaches concerned are project-based pedagogy and living persona. Through the living persona technique, the teacher plays a double role, including that of the customer, spokesperson for future users; the descriptive persona is made available to the students, at the same time as the call for tender. The methodological approach is the agile one. In this paper, we aim at describing the complete process, including needs analysis, mock-up and prototyping, with oral and written defense of the proposed solution in front of the customer, as well as a first experience feedback. This approach should be generic enough to be used for most of the application areas covered by the ICSEng conferences.