CAB210 User Experience Fundamentals
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | CAB210 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | IFB103 or INB103 or ITD103 or INB182 or EGB100 or ENB100 or EGB101 or IGB120 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $1,118 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $4,104 |
| International unit fee | $4,788 |
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Gardens Point, Internal
| Unit code: | CAB210 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | IFB103 or INB103 or ITD103 or INB182 or EGB100 or ENB100 or EGB101 or IGB120 |
| Coordinator: | Bernd Ploderer | b.ploderer@qut.edu.au |
Overview
User experience (UX) means how a person feels when interacting with digital technology, like mobile applications, web services and games. This unit introduces user experience methods to study people’s needs in a real-world context, and to evaluate the usability and experience with technologies.
This unit is important to inform the design and development of technologies that meet the needs of people who are going to use them and the context within which they will be used. A stronger understanding of user experience will provide students with an edge in the market place for jobs such as interaction designers, usability engineers, game designers, app developers, information architects, and user experience designers.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply established user experience (UX) methods to study people in a real-world context.
- Collaborate with others in a team to define technology design specifications from real-world insights
- Evaluate the usability and user experience of interactive technology and be aware of the strength and limitations of your evaluation.
- Conduct user experience research in an ethical and honest manner
- Create professional deliverables through reports, presentations and visual media.
Content
Students will be introduced to user experience (UX) methods and concepts in addition to basic principles of usability and human-centered design. Students will learn different evaluation techniques focused on expert, participant-based and in-situ evaluations.
This unit aims to give you a broad understanding of the important issues, topics and paradigms in designing interactive systems. Current and emerging interactive technologies are discussed, including the web, mobile and tangible computing. The unit addresses both the existing and the new 'uncharted' user experience design challenges using a practical and collaborative approach.
Learning Approaches
This unit is available for you to study in either on-campus or online mode. You can on average expect to spend 10 hours per week involved in preparing for and attending scheduled classes, preparing and completing assessment tasks as well as independent study and consolidation of your learning.
A variety of teaching modes will be used in CAB210. These include online lectures, workshops, group work and independent learning. The topics for each week will be available on Canvas. Information available on Canvas includes lecture slides, workshop activities, readings and assessment information. More detail on lecture topics can be found in the recommended readings. It is expected that you will attend lectures and workshops. After the lecture and workshop, you should (in your own time) study and reflect on the material presented. This will verify your understanding of the material. If something is not understood, check with any tutor or lecturer associated with this unit either by email or during their normal consultation times. The workshops will follow the lecture and are designed to reinforce your understanding of the content. Assessment focusses on skill development in interaction design critique, design and evaluation.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Feedback and guidance is principally provided to groups and individuals through the workshop sessions. Criteria sheet grading will be undertaken. A summary of whole class feedback comments will be given after the first and second assessment and exemplars of good work will be discussed in the lecture. Peer review of assessment items will also be conducted in a structured workshop session. Feedback will be received on assessment tasks prior to the submission of the next task.
Assessment
Overview
The assessment in this unit is based on a user experience project in a real-world context. The project consists of 3 interconnected parts: (1) a research proposal; (2) a report to present research findings; (3) a usability and user experience evaluation of a technology prototype. Modelling real-world user experience practice, assignments will be communicated through a combination of presentations, reports, and videos.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: User Experience Research Proposal
The aim of this assessment is to prepare a detailed proposal to study people and technologies in a real-world context. The proposal will contain a research plan, research instruments (e.g., interview guide, diary instructions), and ethics documents (participant information sheet, consent form). The proposal will be presented during the workshop.
Assessment: User Experience Research
Based on your research proposal, the aim of this assessment is to conduct user experience research and to present your outcomes as a report. The report will contain detailed insights into the problems and needs experienced by people in a real-world context, as well as specifications to inform the design and implementation of interactive technology. The report will be approximately 2500-3000 words long. Teamwork will be reviewed through individual peer assessment.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Assessment: User Experience Evaluation
The aim of this assessment is to evaluate the usability and user experience with an existing website, mobile app, or prototype, and to generate suggestions from improving the design. For this assignment you need to recruit 2 participants who give written consent to participate. The evaluation will be presented through a 6-9-minute video that highlights usability and user experience issues and recommendations for re-designing the technology.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
The following references are recommended and available through QUT library. You are not required to purchase them.
No extraordinary charges or costs are associated with the requirements for this unit.
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Goodman, E., Kuniavsky, M. and Moed, A. (2012). Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research. Morgan-Kauffmann.
Greenberg, S. (2012). Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook Morgan Kaufmann.
Sharp, H., Preece, J., Rogers, Y. (2019). Interaction Design: beyond human-computer interaction. (5th edition) New York, NY: Wiley.
Risk Assessment Statement
There is minimal health and safety risk in this unit. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the Health and Safety policies and procedures applicable within campus areas and laboratories.
Standards/Competencies
This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.
Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer
1: Knowledge and Skill Base
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation
Relates to: User Experience Research
Relates to: User Experience Evaluation
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation
2: Engineering Application Ability
Relates to: User Experience Evaluation
3: Professional and Personal Attributes
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation
Relates to: User Experience Research
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research
Relates to: User Experience Research
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.IN05 Bachelor of Games and Interactive Environments
- Demonstrate broad knowledge of games and interactive environments principles and theory, with an in-depth knowledge of one games-related discipline.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO3, ULO4, User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Evaluation - Apply creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills to generate solutions to design challenges.
Relates to: ULO3, User Experience Evaluation - Collaborate effectively in transdisciplinary teams to achieve shared goals and to manage projects in professional contexts.
Relates to: ULO2, User Experience Research Proposal - Communicate complex concepts at all stages of the development cycle to specialist and non-specialist audiences in written, oral and interactive visual formats.
Relates to: ULO5, User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation - Critically reflect on social, ethical, cultural, legal and accessibility issues in the context of games and interactive environments, including as they relate to First Nations Australians.
Relates to: ULO4, User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Online
| Unit code: | CAB210 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | IFB103 or INB103 or ITD103 or INB182 or EGB100 or ENB100 or EGB101 or IGB120 |
Overview
User experience (UX) means how a person feels when interacting with digital technology, like mobile applications, web services and games. This unit introduces user experience methods to study people’s needs in a real-world context, and to evaluate the usability and experience with technologies.
This unit is important to inform the design and development of technologies that meet the needs of people who are going to use them and the context within which they will be used. A stronger understanding of user experience will provide students with an edge in the market place for jobs such as interaction designers, usability engineers, game designers, app developers, information architects, and user experience designers.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply established user experience (UX) methods to study people in a real-world context.
- Collaborate with others in a team to define technology design specifications from real-world insights
- Evaluate the usability and user experience of interactive technology and be aware of the strength and limitations of your evaluation.
- Conduct user experience research in an ethical and honest manner
- Create professional deliverables through reports, presentations and visual media.
Content
Students will be introduced to user experience (UX) methods and concepts in addition to basic principles of usability and human-centered design. Students will learn different evaluation techniques focused on expert, participant-based and in-situ evaluations.
This unit aims to give you a broad understanding of the important issues, topics and paradigms in designing interactive systems. Current and emerging interactive technologies are discussed, including the web, mobile and tangible computing. The unit addresses both the existing and the new 'uncharted' user experience design challenges using a practical and collaborative approach.
Learning Approaches
This unit is available for you to study in either on-campus or online mode. You can on average expect to spend 10 hours per week involved in preparing for and attending scheduled classes, preparing and completing assessment tasks as well as independent study and consolidation of your learning.
A variety of teaching modes will be used in CAB210. These include online lectures, workshops, group work and independent learning. The topics for each week will be available on Canvas. Information available on Canvas includes lecture slides, workshop activities, readings and assessment information. More detail on lecture topics can be found in the recommended readings. It is expected that you will attend lectures and workshops. After the lecture and workshop, you should (in your own time) study and reflect on the material presented. This will verify your understanding of the material. If something is not understood, check with any tutor or lecturer associated with this unit either by email or during their normal consultation times. The workshops will follow the lecture and are designed to reinforce your understanding of the content. Assessment focusses on skill development in interaction design critique, design and evaluation.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Feedback and guidance is principally provided to groups and individuals through the workshop sessions. Criteria sheet grading will be undertaken. A summary of whole class feedback comments will be given after the first and second assessment and exemplars of good work will be discussed in the lecture. Peer review of assessment items will also be conducted in a structured workshop session. Feedback will be received on assessment tasks prior to the submission of the next task.
Assessment
Overview
The assessment in this unit is based on a user experience project in a real-world context. The project consists of 3 interconnected parts: (1) a research proposal; (2) a report to present research findings; (3) a usability and user experience evaluation of a technology prototype. Modelling real-world user experience practice, assignments will be communicated through a combination of presentations, reports, and videos.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: User Experience Research Proposal
The aim of this assessment is to prepare a detailed proposal to study people and technologies in a real-world context. The proposal will contain a research plan, research instruments (e.g., interview guide, diary instructions), and ethics documents (participant information sheet, consent form). The proposal will be presented during the workshop.
Assessment: User Experience Research
Based on your research proposal, the aim of this assessment is to conduct user experience research and to present your outcomes as a report. The report will contain detailed insights into the problems and needs experienced by people in a real-world context, as well as specifications to inform the design and implementation of interactive technology. The report will be approximately 2500-3000 words long. Teamwork will be reviewed through individual peer assessment.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Assessment: User Experience Evaluation
The aim of this assessment is to evaluate the usability and user experience with an existing website, mobile app, or prototype, and to generate suggestions from improving the design. For this assignment you need to recruit 2 participants who give written consent to participate. The evaluation will be presented through a 6-9-minute video that highlights usability and user experience issues and recommendations for re-designing the technology.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
The following references are recommended and available through QUT library. You are not required to purchase them.
No extraordinary charges or costs are associated with the requirements for this unit.
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Goodman, E., Kuniavsky, M. and Moed, A. (2012). Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research. Morgan-Kauffmann.
Greenberg, S. (2012). Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook Morgan Kaufmann.
Sharp, H., Preece, J., Rogers, Y. (2019). Interaction Design: beyond human-computer interaction. (5th edition) New York, NY: Wiley.
Risk Assessment Statement
There is minimal health and safety risk in this unit. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the Health and Safety policies and procedures applicable within campus areas and laboratories.
Standards/Competencies
This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.
Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer
1: Knowledge and Skill Base
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation
Relates to: User Experience Research
Relates to: User Experience Evaluation
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation
2: Engineering Application Ability
Relates to: User Experience Evaluation
3: Professional and Personal Attributes
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation
Relates to: User Experience Research
Relates to: User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research
Relates to: User Experience Research
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.IN05 Bachelor of Games and Interactive Environments
- Demonstrate broad knowledge of games and interactive environments principles and theory, with an in-depth knowledge of one games-related discipline.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO3, ULO4, User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Evaluation - Apply creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills to generate solutions to design challenges.
Relates to: ULO3, User Experience Evaluation - Collaborate effectively in transdisciplinary teams to achieve shared goals and to manage projects in professional contexts.
Relates to: ULO2, User Experience Research Proposal - Communicate complex concepts at all stages of the development cycle to specialist and non-specialist audiences in written, oral and interactive visual formats.
Relates to: ULO5, User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation - Critically reflect on social, ethical, cultural, legal and accessibility issues in the context of games and interactive environments, including as they relate to First Nations Australians.
Relates to: ULO4, User Experience Research Proposal, User Experience Research, User Experience Evaluation