The User Interaction Design Module will cover the first three of a classic four-phase (Discover, Define, Design, Deliver) process, each of which will focus on the concepts, tools and techniques relevant to a typical software interaction design process. Students work in teams throughout the module.
The first phase (Discover) of the design process turns research findings into insights and the development of personas, scenarios and requirements that drive the definition of the application. During the second phase (Define) the design teams explore options for the design of the application and develop this into a high-level design framework, which can be validated through paper and interactive prototypes. Phase three (Design) of the process will see the teams move on to detailed design of the form and behaviour of the application.
Discover
Discover – This phase in the design process entails finding user and business goals and understanding the constraints the design must work within. In the course, this should be reflected by a number of weeks outlining the design process, defining interaction design and the perspective, knowledge and skills required to design interactions well. We will also look at a number of UI designs to help students develop the facility and vocabulary required to evaluate designs. Students should gain foundation skills and concepts required in the rest of the module and the ability to look at problems from perspectives other than their own.
Define
Define – In this phase the design process is about converging on a solution to the goals identified and sketching in a framework for the application and a set of requirements to guide detailed design. In the course, this should be reflected by a number of weeks looking at various high-level architectures for user interface design, creating and evaluating flows through an application and defining design principles and requirements that should constrain the design. Students should gain knowledge of how users move from place to place within an interface, how to chunk objects and actions up into logical groups or states and be able articulate the design principles and requirements for an application.
Design
Design – In this phase, design moves into the detail of screens, components and interactions. We’ll look at screen layout, visual hierarchy, calls to action, and the details of various controls and widgets that make up a user interface. We’ll also look at error handling, text as user interface and principles for guiding usage through visual cues, labels, prototypes for data entry and related tips and tricks.
Deliver
Deliver – In this phase of the design process, the design is communicated and built, something we won’t be covering in the course in detail. However we will cover the prototypes, and exercises throughout the course will emphasise the practical steps of building an interface starting with paper sketches and moving up to more interactive forms of prototyping.
Class time is split into a series of interactive “studio classroom” based lectures and practical problem solving in labs.
A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) will be employed to distribute all teaching materials and to support student interaction with other students and academic staff. Where new material is not presented in lectures, such material will be made available through the VLE and students will be expected to proactively use this resource. Learning and teaching will consist of lectures and tutorials to ensure students have a firm theoretical grounding alongside a set of robust practical skills and abilities as well as more innovative, student-based learning methods such as case studies and practical project work.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 100 |