Bo Rodda
Bo Rodda studies and builds at the intersection of design, computation, and lived experience. As Assistant Professor of Experiential Media and Data Communication at Illinois Institute of Technology, his research spans game studies, urban computing, and data visualization, with recent peer-reviewed work developing decision quality as a portable method for analyzing games and decision environments. He has built dynamic urban data platforms with the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, exhibited internationally as co-founder of ChiLab Design Studio, and led dozens of industry-partnered design studios at Illinois Tech’s Kaplan Institute.
Selected projects
LakeSIM
A prototype workflow framework coupling urban design with computational modeling, developed for the 600-acre Chicago Lakeside Development.
ChiLab Design Studio
Co-founded design research practice with internationally exhibited furniture, lighting, and exhibition work.
Decision Quality Methods
Peer-reviewed development of decision quality as a portable method for analyzing games and decision environments.
Kaplan Institute IPRO Labs
Industry-partnered design studios at Illinois Tech serving more than 1,300 students across cohorts.
Recent writing
-
Decision quality as a portable analytic lens for game studies: Method, coding protocol, and illustrative analysis of Wing Commander
Rodda, W. B.. Games and Simulation (Springer), 2026.
-
Do you want to play a game? Educational escape rooms and the skillful psychology student
Collisson, B., & Rodda, W. B.. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 2025.
-
Designing future cities — LakeSIM integrated design tool
Bergerson, J., Muehleisen, R. T., Rodda, W. B., Guzowski, L., Ozik, J., Auld, J., & Collier, N.. ISOCARP Review 11: Reinventing Planning, 2015.