Instructors: Joshua Cohen, Political Science, Philosophy and Law; Terry Winograd, Computer Science.
3 units, M/W 2:15-4:15, d.school (Peterson Building)
TO BE OFFERED AGAIN IN Spring 2011. Watch here for information and signup.
See description of our collaboration with our partners in Africa
See the projects that teams did in the course
Small interdisciplinary project teams will work with selected NGOs to design new technologies for promoting development and democracy. Students will conduct observations to identify needs, generate concepts, create prototypes, and test their use. The focus for the students will be a term-long design project, taking advantage of the design process structures and methods that have been developed in the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (d.school).
For the 2010 class we will be developing mobile applications for health, in conjunction with partners working on HIV programs in Kenya and Malawi. We will collaborate with Nokia Research Africa, FrontlineSMS:Medic), and the University of Nairobi. Collaboration with these groups will provide students with access to the settings for design and their needs and values will be the touchstone for measuring the success of the projects. The goal for the course is for each team to brainstorm, research, design, build, and field-test critical aspects of both the product and the dissemination/business model. Promising projects will be able to work with Nokia and the d.school Social E Lab to go beyond the end of the academic course to turn the ideas into real products and applications. We will have funding available for some students to travel to Kenya to support this ongoing development. Previous similar d.school courses have led to a number of ventures, including two that were included recently in Time magazine's list of "Responsibility pioneers" (see http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=1034225 )
Class sessions will include background and discussions on issues that contribute to and/or hinder social change through technology. Students will analyze case studies of interventions that have been attempted in a variety of social contexts – both success stories and striking failures. Readings, speakers, and discussions will provide a technical grounding and will address political and cultural concerns, including:
The focus for the students will be a term-long design project, taking advantage of the design process structures and methods that have been developed in the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (d.school). Successful projects may continue past the quarter towards full-scale implementation.
The course will be affiliated with the d.school and with an interdisciplinary Stanford research project called “Liberation Technology,” which is being created under the auspices of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Students in the course will participate in research seminars and other activities of the Institute.
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