Product Design Studio 5 (Usability)

Course aim

To introduce students to the principles and concepts of design for usability and interaction design focused on usability principles and methodologies for user research and analysis.

Course content

Usability principles; affordances, constraints, mapping, visibility, conceptual models; the nature of usability problems, wicked problems and implicit and explicit knowledge in design; the concepts and principles of qualitative user research; the use of personas an scenarios as tools in design for usability; analysis of design problems and creating plans for conducting research using methods appropriate for the context; interaction with users and client groups in order to negotiate and conduct research; understanding ethical issues and processes related to conducting user research; analysis of data from user research and use the conclusions to inform new design solutions; evaluation of designs with users with various testing techniques; communicate designs using images, oral presentations and written reports.

Textbook(s)

Courage, Catherine & Baxter, Kathy 2005, Understanding your users, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco

Prerequisite(s)

Common to all relevant programs
Subject Area & Catalogue Number	Course Name
GRAP 2032	Product Design Studio 3 (Human Factors)

Corequisite(s)

Nil

Teaching method

Component	Duration
INTERNAL, CITY WEST
Lecture	2 hours x 13 weeks
Studio	6 hours x 13 weeks
Field Placement (Field Trips)	N/A x as required

Note: These components may or may not be scheduled in every study period. Please refer to the timetable for further details.

Assessment

Evaluation and Communication, Research Plan, Research, Analysis and Concepts, Summary Report, Usability Trial

Fees

EFTSL*: 0.250
Commonwealth Supported program (Band 1)
To determine the fee for this course as part of a Commonwealth Supported program, go to:
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Fee-paying program for domestic and international students
International students and students undertaking this course as part of a postgraduate fee paying program must refer to the relevant program home page to determine the cost for undertaking this course.

Non-award enrolment
Non-award tuition fees are set by the university. To determine the cost of this course, go to:
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Not all courses are available on all of the above bases, and students must check to ensure that they are permitted to enrol in a particular course.

* Equivalent Full Time Study Load. Please note: all EFTSL values are published and calculated at ten decimal places. Values are displayed to three decimal places for ease of interpretation.