This five-day course explored the foundations, history, aesthetics, and core models of Interaction Design in a collaborative studio setting. Designed for a range of experience levels, it offered foundational knowledge for non-designers while enabling more experienced designers to deepen their expertise.The course emphasised a hands-on approach, encouraging students to engage actively with interaction design concepts through a mix of lectures, videos, and practical exercises. Core skills such as sketching, storyboarding, and prototyping were introduced, offering students the chance to translate ideas into concepts.As the week progressed, students applied their new knowledge and skills to develop projects. The course culminated in a final presentation and critique, where they shared their work, received feedback, and reflected on their design process.
Matt has directed strategy and design projects for clients such as Google, Prime Minister’s Office of the UAE, Expo 2020, Samsung, and Philips. Tellart’s work has won many top awards including Cannes Lions, SXSW Experimental, IxDA, Webby, D&AD Yellow Pencil, AIGA Case, Core77 and the 2016 National Design Award. Their work is a part of the permanent collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. Matt is an internationally recognised speaker and professor of design. He is a member of the Core Faculty at Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID, Denmark) and was previously an Adjunct Professor at Umeå Institute of Design (UID, Sweden), and a member of the Rhode Island School of Design faculty for ten years (RISD, USA). Matt holds both Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Industrial Design degrees from RISD, as well as a Masters of Fine Arts in Interaction Design from Umeå University. In addition to his design education and practice, Matt has been an Advanced Life Support Paramedic on the United States’ federal disaster medical team and National Ski Patrol. He is also an Ocean Yachtmaster (RYA) and Rescue Diver (PADI), and is a member of Royal Ocean Racing Club, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and Sons of the American Revolution.
Laura is an experience designer at Tellart, whose practice weaves together filmmaking, interaction design, and semiotic theory to craft immersive, multi-sensory experiences that transcend platforms. Driven by a belief in storytelling’s ability to spark emotional engagement and critical reflection, she combines rigorous research with narrative and technical expertise.
From strategic narrative development at McKinsey Design to playful smart-city research at UC Santa Cruz and colour and light studies at Meaningful. Laura holds an MFA in Interaction Design from Umeå Institute of Design and a BA (cum laude) in Audiovisual and Multimedia Production from Eram University School. In addition to her freelance work as a filmmaker, photographer and front-end developer, she teaches audiovisual theory and photography, and continuously explores new ways to design interactions that resonate deeply and leave a lasting impact.
