6 EC
Semester 2, period 4
5072INTE6Y
| Owner | Bachelor Informatiekunde |
| Coordinator | dr. H. Seiied Alavi PhD |
| Part of | Bachelor Information Sciences, year 1 |
| Links | Visible Learning Trajectories |
The main goal of the course is to convey the basics of interaction design in theory and practice. In particular, after completing the course, students will be able to articulate, implement, and take into account user-centered design concepts and processes, to support them in developing interactive systems in the future.
The content will be conveyed and illustrated through the textbook Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction by Sharp et al. (2019), research articles and real-world examples, as well as a research project conducted by the students themselves.
The central theme of the course focuses on how to design interactive digital systems, and the key factors of human cognition, behaviour, and individual characteristics that need to be taken into account in such a process. In addition to the academic content covered in the lectures and theory seminars, students will complete a practical design project (in groups of 3-5 students) using an iterative user-centred design process. This practical component aims to deepen the students’ understanding of the theoretical content covered and convey how to approach the development of interactive systems while taking users into account from the ideation phase onwards.
Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., and Preece, J. (2019). Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (5th edition). Wiley.
Additional articles will be linked to and/or made available on Canvas.
The teaching and learning methods used are lectures (including a guest lecture as a special variant), seminars, and poster and prototype presentations.
The course format is as follows: each week will feature one lecture (hoorcollege, 2 hours), one theory seminar (werkcollege, 2 hours), and one practical seminar (werkcollege, 2 hours).
Lecture (hoorcollege):
During the lectures, the academic content of the course and associated literature will be presented and discussed. In order to prepare for the lecture, students should read the assigned textbook chapter(s) and article(s) and prepare any questions they would like to ask. In case students prefer not to ask questions during the lecture, such questions can also be sent in advance via email to the course coordinator.
Theory seminar (werkcollege):
In this seminar, the weekly assigned reading will be presented briefly and addressed. For this seminar, students will be asked to submit weekly assignments which will be prepared and submitted before noon on the day before the next theory seminar. Students will work on this individually but can collaborate through researching together and discussing their thoughts.
Practical seminar (werkcollege):
In this seminar, students will form groups of 3-5 to focus on a design project chosen from a list of project options presented in the first practical seminar session. Each week, the tutor will guide the groups in conducting the steps of iterative user-centred design (determining requirements, prototyping, evaluating, etc.). The practical seminar concludes with a research report describing and presenting the developed prototype, and a poster presentation with a short pitch.
|
Activiteit |
Uren |
|
|
Hoorcollege |
14 |
|
|
Tentamen |
2 |
|
|
Werkcollege |
28 |
|
|
Poster presentation |
2 |
|
|
Zelfstudie |
122 |
|
|
Totaal |
168 |
(6 EC x 28 uur) |
In addition to attending the lectures and seminars (6 hours per week), students are expected to spend approx. 14 hours per week on the course: e.g., 4 hours studying the required literature, 2 hours completing the required weekly assignment (theory seminar), and 8 hours designing, implementing, and reporting for the design project (practical seminar).
Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):
Additional requirements for this course:
In accordance with OER-B (Teaching and Examination Regulations, Aanwezigheidseisen opleiding), this course sets a minimal attendance requirement of 70% for the seminars (theory and practical). When students cannot attend, they should contact their tutor prior to the session to be marked as “absence notified”.
| Item and weight | Details |
|
Final grade | |
|
1 (100%) Tentamen digitaal |
Late Policy:
For graded assignments in the theory seminars, the course upholds a late policy in which late submissions are graded at a 10% penalty per 24-hour-block after the deadline, up until 72 hours after the deadline (i.e., 30% penalty). After that point, submissions are no longer accepted for grading.
For example, when the deadline is on Monday at 11:59 (noon), then an assignment that would have been graded as an 8, is graded as a 7 if submitted between Monday 12:00 (noon) and Tuesday 11:59. If submitted between Tuesday 12:00 and Wednesday 11:59, the same submission is graded as 6. If submitted between Wednesday 12:00 and Thursday 11:59, the same submission is graded as 5. Students cannot submit past Thursday at noon.
There are no exceptions unless in very rare circumstances (i.e., the kind that is resolved through the study counselor, or when a late submission is announced by the student with a very good reason and approved by the TA and the course coordinator well ahead of the deadline).
The course contains the following assignments:
The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl
| Weeknummer | Lecture Content | Theory Seminar Content | Practical Seminar Content (Multimediaontwerpproject) | Study Material from Main Literature |
| 1 | Introduction to Interaction Design | Design Principles | Interaction to Multimediaontwerproject & design briefs > Form groups, choose design brief, begin background research | Sharp et al. 2019 (Chapters 1, 2 & 7), article(s) |
| 2 | Conceptualising Interaction & Data Gathering | ACT & SELF products and goal & action modes in Hassenzahl’s user experience design model | Conducting interviews > Semi-structured interview activity (using interview template) | Sharp et al. 2019 (Chapters 3 & 8), article(s) |
| 3 | Cognitive Aspects & Discovering Requirements | Dark patterns | Personas > Persona creation & scenario activity & requirements formulation | Sharp et al. 2019 (Chapters 4 & 11), article(s) |
| 4 | Social Interaction & Prototyping | Objections to robots for social interaction needs (coercive design, replacing humans, privacy incursions, counterfeit companions) | Low-fidelity prototyping > Low-fidelity prototyping activity | Sharp et al. 2019 (Chapters 5 & 12), article(s) |
| 5 | Evaluation With and Without Users | Heuristic evaluation | Cognitive walkthrough > Cognitive walkthrough of low-fidelity prototyping, mid-fidelity prototyping | Sharp et al. 2019 (Chapters 14, 15 & 16), article(s) |
| 6 | Emotional Interaction & Presenting and Interpreting data | Design spaces & research contribution types in HCI | Usability tests > Plan & run usability test with mid-fidelity prototype | Sharp et al. 2019 (Chapters 5 & 9), article(s) |
| 7 | Guest Lecture/Interview & Ethics in Interaction Design | Speculative design activity | Ethical considerations activity > Written response on ethical considerations of prototype, reflection on inclusive design of prototype | article(s) |
| 8 | Exam | Poster presentations |
This course is taught together with a practical part (the Multimediaontwerpproject as the practical seminar) as one course ("Interaction design: Theory and practice"). Both courses should be taken at the same time. Specific exceptions can occur only in rare cases; requests to take only one part (e.g., to partially carry over grades from previous years) must be sent to the course coordinator by the end of the first week for review & approval.