Usability

This course will give students a foundational introduction to user experience (also known as UX, CX, HCI) and introduce some of the core UX research methods in use today, as well as applying these methods to a product to create a final presentation that can hopefully be used in their portfolio/job seeking adventures. Accordingly, the class will cover 5 major areas: 1. Have an in-depth understanding of some primary UX methods relevant to product development (e.g. Heuristic evaluation, Moderated User testing, UX Benchmarking). 2. Understand the principles of other important UX tools/methods (e.g. Information architecture tests (card-sorts), RITE testing, Competitive Analysis, Thematic coding of qualitative data, etc.). 3. Have a working understanding of the most frequently used UX methods at each point of the development lifecycle, with a specific focus on which methods are best suited to evaluative research. 4. Learn the scientific underpinnings of the various methodologies, including the specific advantages and disadvantages of each. 5. The “real world” application of these skills to industry-paced projects