School of Computing and Technology

MODULE HANDBOOK
CET308
UXD: User eXperience Design

Module Leader
Dr Sharon McDonald

CONTENTS
Introduction
Amplified Content
General Information
Learning Outcomes
Teaching & Learning Approaches
Assessment
Collusion and Plagiarism
Reading List

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INTRODUCTION
This is a 20 credit level 3 module. There are no pre-requisites or co-requisites
beyond those for your programme.
The module has three main elements to it: understanding users, design, and
usability evaluation. These three themes will be used to structure the teaching
and assessment. Please see learning schedule for a break down of individual
sessions.
This module involves reading, analysis and practical exercises. Students are
expected to develop a thorough understanding of the role of the context of use
in making design decisions and in evaluating the outcome of these decisions.
To succeed on this module you must be able to plan your time effectively,
communicate your judgments clearly and credibly, and most of all to apply
critical skills to all of your reading and writing.

AMPLIFIED CONTENT
Rather than consider a wide range of diverse research issues in Human
Computer Interaction, this module will focus on practical user experience design
principles. That is not to say that there will be no theoretical content; there is,
and reading around the subject is an important aspect of the learning
experience for this module.
The module begins with a consideration of usability and user experience
principles. The remaining content is then presented around 3 themes:
Understanding Users, Design, and Usability Evaluation Methods.
The Understanding Users theme focuses on research methods for eliciting user
requirements, and the Human-centred design tools such as personas and
scenarios that can be used to make effective use of user data in the design
process.
The design theme focuses on the tools and techniques used in early stage
design, web usability, navigation, colour, and dialogue design.
The Usability Evaluation Methods theme focuses on providing an understanding
of different usability evaluation methods, (analytical and empirical), their
advantages and disadvantages and how to make best use of them.

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GENERAL INFORMATION
Module Leader
Dr Sharon McDonald,
Reader (Human Computer Interaction)
Room 201c Informatics Centre. Ext 3278
Sharon.McDonald@sunderland.ac.uk
The total time allocation for the module is 200 hours. This means that students
should expect to devote substantial additional time to self directed research and
study. This self-directed study will include assimilating practical material
covered, and preparing the assignments and other documents on the topics set
for the module assessment.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Knowledge
1. Critical appreciation of principles of human-centred design.
2.

Critical appreciation of approaches to user experience evaluation methods.

Skills
3. Critically evaluate the usability of a given interactive system
4.

Formulate and apply techniques to elicit user data for design purposes

TEACHING AND LEARNING APPROACHES

Lectures provide an introduction to a topic. Students must develop their
mastery of each topic through practice on tutorial exercises, independent
reading, using the recommended readings, module bibliography and the module
web-site. During some weeks a lecture may be given in the tutorial session.
The module has a space on WebCT VISTA.
Teaching will take the form of mini lectures followed with practical work. All
lectures and activities feed directly into the assessment. They are the main
opportunity for you to identify and improve any difficulties that you have with the
module content.
The main and only truly effective method of learning on this module is doing.
The assessments let you test and develop your understanding of grounded
design, grounded evaluation, and proven designs. Designs are grounded by
reference to their expected context of use and business objectives. Evaluations
are similarly grounded. Designs are proven by showing that they meet their
evaluation targets.
All these processes require extensive and careful
preparation. There is limited scope for flair and last minute attacks on the
problem. Creativity and insight do not happen to order. They are the result of
incubation after careful preparation. Your opportunities for excellence in
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analysis and design will be significantly increased by starting early, planning,

thinking, doing something different, and returning regularly to the problem.

ASSESSMENT
The module will be assessed through one individual assignment carrying 100%
of the available marks. The assignment is handed in in two stages. Further
details will be given in the handouts for the assignment.

COLLUSION AND PLAGIARISM

All forms of collusion and plagiarism are forbidden, and when proven, will
receive the strictest penalties. Plagiarism is claiming the work and ideas of
others as your own: this includes failing to acknowledge or reference sources.
Collusion involves seeking and using help from an unacknowledged source that
can include working in combination with others on an individual assignment with
the aim of gaining higher marks, or easing the challenge placed upon the
individual to complete the assignment alone. This is not the same as openly
discussing and debating academic issues with peers.
Cases of collusion and plagiarism are easy to detect and are not worth the risks
involved.

READING LIST
There are a number of good texts available on interaction design. Some of the
better books are listed below:
Designing Interactive Systems: people, activities, contexts and
technologies. David Benyon, Phil turner and Susan Turner. AddisonWesley 2005
Interaction Design: beyond human-computer interaction.
Preece, Yvonne Rogers and Helen Sharp. Wiley. 2002.

Jennifer

Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity, Jakob Nielsen, New

Riders Publishing, Indianapolis, 2000. ISBN 1-56205-810-X

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Web Site Usability: A Designer`s Guide by Jared M. Spool, Tara

Scanlon, Carolyn Snyder, Terri De Angelo and Will Schroeder, Morgan
Kaufmann Series in Interactive Technologies, 1999
Designing Easy-to-use Websites, Vanessa Donnelly, Addison-Wesley,
December 2000, ISBN: 0201674688
It is necessary and obligatory to expand and extend this fundamental material
with reading from additional textbooks. More important is that you use
academic papers (either from the web or from the library, but be sure you
mostly use refereed material or papers derived from it). In addition the tutors
supporting this module have expertise in HCI research and will be able to
provide directed reading to academic papers when necessary during the
module.

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