Course Offerings

This course introduces students to foundational knowledge, methods, and skills for designing human-centered user experience (UX) around interactive systems. Students will become familiar with user research, concept generation, design methods, and user evaluation. In addition, students will also learn how to collaborate in a team setting, communicate design rationales, and present compelling narratives about their work. The class will be structured with lectures, hands-on design activities such as design critiques, projects, and presentations.

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*THIS TOPIC WILL NO LONGER BE OFFERED AFTER SPRING 2025In this course, we will work to understand and address the challenges of misinformation, disinformation, and strategic manipulation in online environments. First, we will work to develop a deep understanding of the problem space. We will read and discuss existing research (both historical and contemporary) on how and why misinformation and disinformation spread. Next, we will explore the process, both personal and interpersonal, by which these issues can be approached and addressed in our own lives. This will involve reflecting on our own presuppositions, beliefs, and biases about information; and doing a project in which we apply the principles of Human-Centered Design to investigate different design directions for addressing misleading information. Students will gain important contextual knowledge and hands-on design experience that they can take into future professional domains (from education to policy to technology), where they can contribute to building more trustworthy information systems.

Develop fundamental graphic design theory and skills to prepare students for careers in Informatics and related fields.

This course addresses concepts and methods of user experience (UX) research, from identifying users’ problems and needs to evaluating concepts and designs for viability, usability, and satisfaction. It also covers aspects of managing the research process, including recruiting participants, setting up and conducting studies, analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, and disseminating insights. Students will work both individually and as part of a team to complete research exercises and projects. The course includes hands-on practice with several common UX research methods such as observation, interview, survey, focus groups, and expert review. We will also touch on applied topics such as research in enterprises, consulting, and startup organizations, lean/agile techniques, mobile research approaches, and strategies for persuasively communicating findings and product implications.

This course focuses on the unique design practice of (1) representing and organizing information to facilitate perception and understanding (information architecture) and (2) specifying the appropriate mechanisms for accessing and manipulating task and play information (interaction design). This course also explores design patterns appropriate for the HCI professional.

Examine social and psychological experiences of virtual environments and immersive technologies, such as in virtual reality and augmented reality. Through the course students will learn about the immersive technology and the research behind people’s experiences of virtual environments.

Digital Accessibility has become a critical topic for product leaders, developers, UX designers, and usability researchers. This course will explore the legal, ethical, and practical aspects of Accessibility as it relates to creating inclusive products and experiences for persons with disabilities. While Accessibility applies to both the physical and digital world, a large portion of the course will be focused on digital experiences, and those that combine technology with devices and tools.

This course introduces human aspects of AI systems for UX design students. It will provide an overview of AI's psychological and societal implications and the opportunities to design AI-integrated products by applying human-centered design principles.

Introduction to the methodologies and techniques required for designing an ideal user experience with physical objects. Students will use qualitative, quantitative, and anthropometric data to design and iterate projects.

The first half of the course describes interaction design while the second half covers information design. Each student will keep a sketchbook and turn in sketches corresponding to exercises. No sketching experience is required. Each student will participate in a group project developing a prototype of an information artifact such as a website, app, or kiosk. The prototype is usually completed using Figma, which will be taught as part of the course. During the information design part of the course, students will be introduced to Tableau and have the opportunity to create a data visualization in Tableau.

Online communities are important to our cultural, social, and economic lives and especially to how we find and share information. Yet they also threaten our well-being and may undermine critical social institutions as well as the integrity of public discourse. This course is an interdisciplinary inquiry that seeks to understand online communities. It covers the history of online communities from their origins in the pre-Internet to the rise of social media platforms and contemporary challenges and also the social, psychological, and human-computer interaction research that both explains the practical barriers to building an online community and motivates technical and organizational designs that aim to overcome them.

This course explores the fundamental principles and practical applications of Information Architecture (IA). Drawing from the seminal work "Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond" by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jorge Arango, students will delve into the essential concepts, methodologies, and best practices shaping the organization and presentation of information in digital environments. Simply, this course addresses how to make content organized and findable based on human understanding. Throughout the course, students will examine the critical role of IA in enhancing user experience, facilitating navigation, and optimizing content discoverability. Topics covered include information organization, navigation design, metadata implementation, taxonomy development, and user-centered design principles. Through a combination of theoretical discussions, case studies, hands-on exercises, and a real project with a real client and real world constraints, students will gain proficiency in designing effective IA solutions tailored to diverse user needs and contexts. Emphasis will be placed on understanding user behavior, conducting user research, and iteratively refining IA structures to align with evolving user requirements and organizational goals. Course Objectives: Gain a comprehensive understanding of Information Architecture principles and methodologies. Learn how to analyze and evaluate existing IA structures in digital environments. Develop proficiency in designing and implementing effective IA solutions for websites and digital products. Explore techniques for conducting user research and applying user-centered design principles to IA. Understand the role of IA in enhancing usability, findability, and overall user experience. Acquire practical skills in wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing within an IA context. Explore emerging trends and technologies shaping the field of Information Architecture.

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

A practical introduction and guide for using statistics to solve quantitative problems in user research. Many designers and user researchers view usability and user research as qualitative activities, which do not use formulas and numbers. However, usability practitioners and user researchers are increasingly expected to quantify the benefits of their efforts. The impact of good and bad designs can be quantified in terms of user performance, task completion rates and times, perceived user satisfaction. The course will address questions frequently faced by user researchers, such as, how to compare usability of products for A/B testing and competitive analysis, how to measure the interaction behavior and attitudes of users, how to estimate the number of users needed for usability testing. The course will introduce students to a foundation for statistical theories and the best practices needed to apply them. It will cover descriptive statistics, confidence intervals, standardized usability questionnaires, correlation, regression, and analysis of variance. It will also address how to effectively communicate the quantitative results.