Intended Learning Outcomes
The programme provides opportunities for students to acquire and demonstrate knowledge, understanding and intellectual and practical skills in relation to the design and evaluation of advanced interactive environments.
Knowledge and Understanding of:
A1. The key psychological determinants of interface usability, particularly perceptual and cognitive influences such as those associated with object recognition, memory functioning, language comprehension, and reasoning.
A2. The broader social and contextual factors underlying human performance in interactive environments.
A3. The formal and informal aspects of approaches to task analysis, requirements specification, system design, and system evaluation.
A4. The prototyping approach to interactive-systems design, as exemplified in the development of web-based interaction environments.
A5. Statistical skills, introductory programming skills, or both (depending upon entry-level skills).
Teaching and learning methods used to enable outcomes to be achieved
? Tutor-led lectures and seminars are used to overview and discuss conceptual ideas and methodological issues associated with the design and evaluation of interactive systems, and to facilitate critical reflection on controversial topics.
? One-to-one tutor-student sessions are used to supplement lectures and seminars, and facilitate students' development of an in-depth critical understanding of conceptual and methodological issues.
? Recommended reading augments lecture and seminar activities by providing students with an opportunity to prepare for such activities and to develop further understanding subsequent to them.
? Problem-based learning forms a central core of the students' learning experience aimed at developing their knowledge and understanding.
Assessment methods used to demonstrate the achievement of the outcomes
? Students' knowledge and understanding is assessed by means a variety of coursework assignments, including essays, literature reviews, reports of system-design and system-evaluation activities, structured project proposals, web-based portfolios, web-based products and their associated documentation, project diaries, individual and group-based oral presentations, and dissertation work.
? An examination forms part of the assessment structure for one core module within the course. An essay question on this examination paper is used to assess, in controlled conditions, the students' depth of knowledge and understanding of key conceptual issues relating to the psychology of interface design.
Intellectual Skills able to:
B1. Develop requirements specifications and design specifications for advanced interactive
systems, using task-analytic approaches (e.g., Hierarchical Task Analysis and Scenario-Based
Design).
B2. Develop prototype interfaces for advanced interactive systems, using one ore more platforms (e.g., Java, Visual Basic, FileMaker Pro, Hypercard, HTML and related web-building environments, VRML, and Prolog).
B3. Conduct empirical evaluations of advanced interactive systems using both qualitative approaches (e.g., ethnographic and grounded-theory methods) and quantitative approaches (e.g., experimental usability testing).
B4. Work as part of a multi-skilled design team in the development and evaluation of interactive systems, communicating with team members and managing emergent design issues, problems and opportunities effectively.
B5. Present to clients, academics and managers key aspects of design and evaluation work and associated rationales, both orally and in written-report formats.
Teaching and learning methods used to enable outcomes to be achieved
? Tutor-led lectures and seminars are used to demonstrate core intellectual skills associated with the design and evaluation of advanced interactive systems.
? One-to-one tutor-student sessions provide students with an opportunity to plan and conduct design and evaluation work and to receive critical feedback on their ideas.
? Recommended reading augments lecture and seminar activities by providing students with an opportunity to prepare for such activities.
? The use of problems forms a central core of the students' learning experience aimed at developing their intellectual skills.
Assessment methods used to demonstrate the achievement of the outcomes
? Students' intellectual skills are assessed by means of structured project proposals, reports of system-design and system-evaluation activities, web-based products and their associated documentation, project diaries, individual and group-based oral presentations, and dissertation work.
? An examination forms part of the assessment structure for one core module within the course. A methodology-oriented question on this examination paper is used to assess, in controlled conditions, the students' system-design and system-evaluation knowledge.
Practical skills able to:
C1. Select and apply appropriate methods of data collection in order to gather empirical data concerning user-system interactions.
C2. Analyse work domains in order to uncover psychological aspects of skilled performance and their limits.
C3. Translate from task analyses to design specifications.
C4. Select and apply appropriate methods of quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
C5. Use computer packages and other equipment for the control of psychological investigations.
C6. Specify, design, implement and evaluate web-based interactive environments.
C7. Report system design and development work, and associated system evaluations, in a clear and cogent manner.
C8. Use databases and other information resources for locating relevant published research material.
Teaching and learning methods used to enable outcomes to be achieved
? Tutor-led lectures and seminars are used to demonstrate examples of relevant practical skills.
? One-to-one tutor-student contact provides students with an opportunity to receive advice and feedback on practical skills relating, for example, to data collection and analysis, and to interface-design and interface-evaluation work.
? Recommended reading, including, handbooks, practical exercises and work-sheets, are provided to students by the course tutors.
? Problem-based learning, such as that which is focused on project work, is central to students' development of practical skills in interface design and evaluation.
Assessment methods used to demonstrate the achievement of the outcomes
? Students' practical skills are assessed by means of essays, literature reviews, reports of system-design and system-evaluation activities, structured project proposals, web-based portfolios, web-based products and their associated documentation, project diaries, individual and group-based oral presentations, dissertation work, and an examination that forms part of the assessment structure for one core module within the course.
Transferable skills able to:
D1. Design and conduct interaction projects.
D2. Communicate in an effective and scholarly manner both orally and in writing.
D3. Use information technology to find relevant information.
D4. Use information technology to analyse data and present reports.
D5. Use information technology to develop prototype interface applications.
D6. Work independently and under supervision.
D7. Work collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team.
D8. Manage time, workloads and competing demands, and work to deadlines.
D9. Evaluate one's own ability to develop and conduct projects.
