USER EXPERIENCE (4 SCU)

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, students are expected to be able to: identify and explain cognitive and social factors that can make interactive software effective; interpret user requirements and apply them to interface design; explain and apply key design principles and guidelines that can assist user interface designers, and understand the limitations of such guidelines; create an effective evaluation method for a particular design project; identify and apply appropriate site structure and navigation; apply techniques of contextual analysis around the present use of technology; and elicit user requirements and present proposed solutions to a range of audience.

Topics:

This course introduces students to the principles of design that can be applied to either a graphical user interface (GUI), a web interface, or a mobile interface. Frequently users are exposed to software programs or websites where information or functions are not easily identified or located. This directly impacts the effectiveness of the users in achieving their goals and therefore increases user frustration. After learning several design concepts, students should be able to identify examples of existing interfaces as well as draw parallels with real-world interactive devices, such as mobile phones and personal computers. Combining this knowledge with the skills of various software programs (i.e. VB Editor for Excel and Dreamweaver MX), students should feel confident in creating interfaces that will best meet users’ requirements and provide a good user experience.

Pre-requisite(s): None