Stanford University
Computer Science
JAMES LANDAY
James Landay is a Professor of Computer Science and the Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan Professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University. He specializes in human-computer interaction. He is the founder and co-director of the World Lab, a joint research and educational effort with Tsinghua University in Beijing.
BIOGRAPHY
Previously, Landay was a Professor of Information Science at Cornell Tech in New York City and prior to that he was a Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. From 2003 through 2006 he was the Laboratory Director of Intel Labs Seattle, a university affiliated research lab that explored the new usage models, applications, and technology for ubiquitous computing. He was also the chief scientist and co-founder of NetRaker, which was acquired by KeyNote Systems in 2004. From 1997 through 2003 he was a professor in EECS at UC Berkeley. Landay received his BS in EECS from UC Berkeley in 1990, and MS and PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 1993 and 1996, respectively. His PhD dissertation was the first to demonstrate the use of sketching in user interface design tools. He was named to the ACM SIGCHI Academy in 2011 and as an ACM Fellow in 2017. He formerly served on the NSF CISE Advisory Committee.
PROJECTS
DESIGNING FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE
How can user interface designs help us change behaviors that we have committed to change? We are exploring several different ways of accomplishing this from ambient awareness on the background screen of a phone to vibration on the wrist to changing the experience in cars. We are also exploring how narrative can lead to longer term engagement.
THE SMART PRIMER
The Smart Primer is an interactive, narrative-based tutor that combines some of the best features of both physical- and electronic-based learning methods. Our initial focus will be on creating stories that help students develop skills in science, computing, mathematics, reading, and writing.
AUTONOMOUS WANDERING UIS
Personal drones are becoming more ubiquitous in our everyday environments. Most commercial work in this area assumes either fully autonomous or fully manual control of the drones. We believe instead that a mix between these extremes will be common. In our work we explore new scenarios for drone use and new challenges in how to best interact with them.
TEACHING
CS147: DESIGN THINKING FOR USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN, PROTOTYPING & EVALUATION
Autumn
The dt+UX course focuses on bringing design thinking, processes, and tools to user experience design. From sketching to hands-on studio sessions, students in the dt+UX course learn the importance of making many design artifacts before narrowing down the space to focus on a final design.
CS377E: DESIGNING FOR GLOBAL GRAND CHALLENGES
Spring
CS377E focuses on bringing design thinking, processes, and tools to the global grand challenges in health, environment, and education. In 2016, students in the course took on the challenge of applying this methodology to various aspects of the refugee crisis ranging from aiding re-settled refugees to helping volunteers on the ground.
CS194H: DESIGN THINKING FOR USER EXPERIENCE SOFTWARE PROJECT
Winter
The dt+UX^2 course (CS194H) focuses on bringing design thinking, processes, and tools to human-computer interaction. Students in the course continue to improve on the designs they created in the prior quarter's course (CS147).
SCPKU 2016: DESIGNING FOR GRAND CHALLENGES IN CHINA
Summer 2016
SCPKU 2016 focused on bringing design thinking, processes, and tools to China. Students in the course, from Stanford, Peking University, and Tsinghua University, took on the challenge of applying this methodology to various problems in health, environment, and education in China.