I think the VFS Digital Design Program ; don’t forget to check out their blog OOMPH

and the OCAD Design Strategic Insight and Innovation should be on the list.

User Experience: User Centered Design - VFS Digital Design Program

Students are taught the principles of UCD. They conceptualize, expand, refine and pitch concept to an industry panel. Class includes ethnographic research, observations, interviews, research strategies, identifying and visualizing patterns, persona creation, brainstorming, individual and team pitches

The Gamification of Life : Creating Rewarding Experiences - VFS Digital Design Program

This course provides student with the methodology to envision, design and prototype rewarding experience. Students will learn a “digital design” approach to game design. This course will provide an introduction to gamer types (Bartle Player Types: MUD’s,) and provide an overview of the MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics,) game design model. In addition students will by introduced to fundamental topics around meta game strategies, and utilizing social mediums and sporadic game mechanics. Students will go through the process of understanding how to form a core idea / fantasy, how themes change and effect games, and what compulsions and activities create “fun and rewarding” experiences.
Students will be introduced to new principles through the combination of workshops, lectures, lab sessions and present their design ideas both individually and as part of a team. Throughout the course students will incubate an idea while providing rough documentation around their process used to reach all final design solutions.

Interface Design - VFS Digital Design Program

The Interface Design class introduces students to the concepts, principles and techniques to design effective interfaces. Students will explore areas of information design, interaction design and sensorial design to achieve the goals of the interface design. Students will be challenged to plan their design and make conscious choices with respect to all physical aspects of their interactive design.

Students create websites based on current IA principles. They are responsible for delivering a design document that includes research, competitive analysis, concept, mood & tone, language / taxonomy / nomenclature, informational design (user flows, hierarchies, reward models,) interaction design (wireframes, prototypes,) and interface design (color theory, visual scanning, menus, fitz law, seduction, CTA’s: Calls to Action, alpha testing strategy, and SEO.)

Interaction Design – VFS Digital Design Program

In order to be a good interactive designer you need to learn to think like an interactive designer by establishing and refining the way you approach, process and execute projects. The interaction design class introduces students to information and interaction design principles. Students will have to produce a documentation that effectively communicates design to stakeholders and design team. Students will be challenged to conceptualize, design and present an online experience. Students will make and defend design choices around the behaviors, structure, and the user experience.

Information Design -/ NPO Client Projects – VFS Digital Design Program

This is a course in storytelling and meaning. Information design transforms otherwise obscure information and data points into narratives and visualizations that are relevant and revelatory for an audience. It goes beyond the mere presentation of information and into defining what the information means and identifying the best way to engage the audience with that information.

Students will explore practical approaches to identifying the underlying relevance of information or data sets, applying data visualization techniques to bring out that meaning for an audience, converting information into usable tools for an audience, and defining theme, mood, and style for their projects.

Creative & Art Direction - VFS Digital Design Program

Students focus on communicating messages through a number of different techniques including, contrast, substitution, and association. We explore mechanism, medium, context, tangible & intangible attributes, viral marketing, & controversy

Portfolio Development – VFS Digital Design Program

Students focus on understanding where they live within the design universe, understanding their USP (unique selling proposition,) creating a personal brand and refining projects The goal is to create a unique personal voice and showcase for all graduating digital design graduates.

Interactive Entertainment Production – VFS EBM Program ( Entertainment Business Management)

Interactive entertainment spans everything from traditional videogames to branded web experiences to alternate reality games (ARG). Unlike traditional entertainment mediums such as film and animation, interactive properties use radically different methodologies both for envisioning the core concept and for developing the finished product. Students will learn the production management techniques used in these types of projects as they work with designers, programmers, and other professionals on the development of one of the hub projects for the term.

In Interactive Entertainment Production 1, students will learn to interpret (as opposed to create) interactive design artifacts such as wireframes, interactive storyboards, and prototypes. Students will also learn how to write user stories, compile functional specifications, and create paper prototypes.
Major deliverables will include in-class assignments and the complete interactive design document for the term hub project..

Check out more at VFS Digital Design

As an educator at VFS I am always excited when we take on socially responsible projects. Serving as the Executive Producer I help guide groups of talented students as they execute real briefs, for real clients.

Creating a sphere of awareness and empowering your audience is key to the success for all social, humanitarian and sustainable initiatives. This term we challenged the DD 19′s to create and execute a strategy for increasing the awareness for three causes; Cyber Bullying, LOCO BC and Hope Air. But there’s a lot more than meets the eye to executing a successful awareness campaign. Commanding audience attention is not as easy as it might appear.

The term three interactive & information design course is a seven week bullet train ride through the creative process where students present information across multiple mediums in order to increase audience understanding, influence opinions and encourage action.

It was VFS students tackling real issues, providing real solutions, to get real results.

The causes:

Hope Air – An organization dedicated to “Getting Canadians to getting better.” Hope Air believes that everyone in Canada should have access to the healthcare they need, despite distance, or cost of travel. Donations, awareness and corporate sponsorship is key to success of this organization.

Cyber Bullying- Bullying is now 24/7 with the internet. Social networks, email, text, and chat rooms have increased the amount of time and exposure children and young adults have with cyber bullies. Empowering and educating both parents and children is the first step in understanding and preventing cyber bullying. This project was recently covered in the Province.

Visit pinkshirtday.ca and cyberaware.info for more information.

LOCO BC- “Own your Own;”is a campaign to inspire awareness of what makes Vancouver innovative, unique and fun. This organization is committed to supporting local businesses that strive to source local products and services. Creating a campaign that encourages Vancouverites to support local businesses will create employment, increase the number of boutique shops and reduce environmental impacts.

Having the opportunity to share, support and collaborate with future design leaders is an incredibly rewarding and inspiring experience. VFS has played an integral part in shaping the Vancouver design community for over 20 years. I have developed and evolved curriculums in User Centered Design, Interaction Design, Interface Design, Creative Direction, Creating Rewarding Experiences, Information Architecture and Portfolio Development

Excellence in Teaching Award

“VFS will annually recognize one instructor who demonstrates excellence in instruction and exemplifies passion, innovation, experience and ‘results’ in their teaching. This year, VFS will establish the Miles Nurse Scholarship in the amount of $2,500, which will be awarded annually to an incoming Digital Design student. Miles won this award by besting the competition from over 13 fulltime VFS programs. VFS has over 200 full and part time instructors, so congratulations Miles on an outstanding year.”