Content, progress and pedagogy of the module

This course trains students to research, analyse, conceptualise and prototype design considering all system aspects including the social and cultural contexts of use. The course gives a comprehensive knowledge about user involvement in the design process, going beyond traditional methods such as usability lab testing and giving the means to better understand and represent the different levels of interaction within a service. The objectives are realised by presenting methods and tools in a case based framework and through the students’ active participation in workshops and assignments.

Learning objectives

Knowledge

Students who complete the course module will obtain the following qualifications:

• Knowledge about the system design methods including the social and cultural contexts of use.
• Knowledge about ethnographic study methods for user behaviour research
• Knowledge about advanced qualitative research methods involving both design, data collection, data analysis and reporting.
• Knowledge about validity and reliability within qualitative methods
• Knowledge about interaction design methods

Skills

Students who complete the course module will obtain the following qualifications:

• Apply the taught methods to solve concrete design problems.
• Able to evaluate and compare and apply the methods for a specific design problem.
• Understand user analysis and organise data from and interaction in a way that can be used in the design process (synthesis).
• Apply knowledge to facilitate the design process involving users in real-life contexts.
• Apply personas and scenario based design methods in different contexts for facilitating both different user types and system descriptions. 
• Apply data into specific strategies for implementation taken different stakeholders into consideration.

Competences

Students who complete the course module will obtain the following qualifications:

• Ability to choose the appropriate methods to suit different dimensions of a design problem at different stages in the process and the pitfalls of each approach (synthesis)
• Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of methods.

Type of instruction

See general description of the types of instruction described in § 17.

Exam

Exams