Windsor
University of Windsor, Erie Building
401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON
Designing for Real Users
May 23 & 30, 2026
11:00 AM – 03:00 PM
WORKSHOP
Designing for Real Users
An AI workshop focused on designing for real users, with students creating more intuitive, engaging, and polished digital experiences through interactive stories and chatbot refinement.
May 23 & 30, 2026
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About this workshop
In May, students shift from simply building technology to designing AI experiences for real people, learning that the best digital products succeed not just because they work, but because they feel intuitive, engaging, and meaningful to users. This workshop emphasizes empathy, creativity, and user-centered design, helping students understand how people interact with technology and how AI can be used to create more personalized experiences. In the Beginner Track, students build emotion-responsive interactive stories that adapt in real time to a viewer’s facial expressions, creating dynamic storytelling experiences that respond to human feelings, while in the Advanced Track, students refine and polish their Python chatbots by improving logic, error handling, usability, and personality through peer testing and real-world feedback, preparing their projects to feel more like real products than school assignments.
This workshop is FREE, and all learning materials are provided.
Designing Interactive Stories with AI
Theme: Emotion-Matching Storyteller (Biggest Project!)
This is the culminating creative project of the beginner AI series. Students design and build interactive stories that change based on the viewer’s detected emotions. Instead of following one fixed storyline, the narrative branches—happy faces may lead to cheerful adventures, while sad faces trigger comforting story paths. Learners spend time planning characters, settings, and scenes before coding, emphasizing that great projects start with thoughtful design. Students then build and test three emotion-driven story paths in Scratch.
Key Activities
- Understanding interactive vs. traditional stories
- Learning how emotion-matching creates personalized experiences
- 20-minute story planning session (characters, setting, 3 scenes)
- Reviewing sample stories (Lost Puppy, Space Explorer, Magical Forest)
- Building three story paths (one per emotion)
- Writing dialogue and switching backdrops
- Coding emotion-based scene triggers
- Testing all story paths
- Saving projects for the showcase
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- Distinguish interactive stories from linear stories
- Plan multi-path narrative structures
- Create branching logic in Scratch
- Implement emotion-triggered scene changes
- Design coherent story experiences
- Write engaging character dialogue
Materials Needed
- Laptops with Scratch
- Story planning worksheets
- Emotion models from February
- Backdrop and sprite libraries
- Sample story structures
Deliverables
- Complete 3-scene interactive story
- Story planning document
- Saved project for showcase
Refining & Polishing Chatbots
Theme: Logic, Creativity & Real-World Use
With working chatbots already built, students shift their focus to making them professional and user-friendly. This workshop teaches the difference between a school project and a real product. Learners improve their code through cleanup and documentation, add error handling so chatbots don’t crash, and enhance user experience with clearer instructions and creative personality features like emojis, personalization, and contextual responses. Through peer testing and feedback, students iterate on their designs to make their chatbots more polished and realistic.
Key Activities
- Code review and cleanup
- Adding comments and documentation
- Implementing error handling (try/except)
- Improving user experience (UX)
- Adding creative features (emojis, random responses, ASCII art)
- Adding user name memory and personalization
- Peer testing session
- Completing feedback forms
- Final polish and improvement cycle
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- Refactor code for clarity and maintainability
- Implement error handling in Python
- Design positive and intuitive user experiences
- Add creative personality features
- Conduct peer testing and give constructive feedback
- Improve projects based on real user feedback
Materials Needed
- Laptops with chatbot projects
- Code review checklist
- Error-handling examples
- Peer testing feedback forms
- Creative feature inspiration sheets
- UX best-practice guide
Deliverables
- Polished chatbot with error handling
- Fully commented and documented code
- Peer feedback received and implemented
- Feature list documentation
Register by location
Vancouver
Centre for Digital Media
685 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, BC
Designing for Real Users
May 16, 2026
11:00 AM – 03:00 Pm
Need help registering?
Visit our registration FAQs for help.
TESTIMONIALS
Feedback from our community
The class was really fun. And the teachers help you out a lot. I can't wait to come here next year. I feel like this would help me because I want to be an IT engineer, and I…
Temi, Toronto
The class has brought out… hidden critical thinking skills like logical, reasoning, problem solving and creativity. We appreciate the program for providing a conducive, inclusive and student centered environment. This program help built student confidence, understanding and ultimately preparing them for future success.
Oluwaseyi, Parent, Regina