Course Number: INF 7930 UX Design

Credits: 3

MLIS Prerequisite(s): INF 6420 or permission of instructor

MSIM Co-requisite(s): INF 6000, INF 7455

Rationale for Inclusion in Curriculum:

The interactions between human beings and computer technologies have become an integral part of our daily lives. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has two sides: on one hand it focuses the methods and processes of designing for quality user experiences (UX) of products/systems; and on the other hand, it focuses on the methods and processes of evaluating and testing products/systems for better UX. This course focuses on the UX designing side of HCI. Designing for better user experiences has become a necessity for product developments. Correspondingly, the demand for UX designers has increased dramatically in recent years. Students will learn from this course the UX design models, designing process, and various modern designing methods. This course complements the INF7940: HCI course that focuses on the fundamentals of HCI and various usability/UX testing and evaluation methods.

The course offers to students the opportunities to apply the HCI theories in practice through a series of assignments for a class project, which will include applying various methods, including user research, to design and develop and prototype a system/product with good UX.  This course contributes to the School’s user experience specialization curricula, and demonstrates the School’s effort to train professional UX workforce as the demand continues to grow from various organizations.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course students will be able to:

• Select an appropriate system/product design and development model from alternatives
• Collect and synthesize the UX design requirements for a product 
• Apply models of human performance in the UX designs
• Direct the UX design & development process
• Apply various UX design methods and tools
• Assess UX for a given product
• Explore advanced topics and research issues in UX design

Content:

This course will explore the UX design aspects of HCI. Specifically, the course will cover the following topics:

• UX design for interactions: principles and guidelines
• UX design & development process
• Priority strategies
• User research and task analysis (UX requirement analysis)
• Scenarios; personas, and storyboarding for early design ideas
• UX evaluation in the design and development process
• Wireframes
• Prototyping methods: Low and high-fidelity prototypes
• Prototyping tools
• Design for user behaviors
• A/B testing with alternative designs
• UX design trends

Course Methodology:

The course combines lectures, discussions, demonstrations, quizzes/exams, and assignments/projects to help students learn UX design processes and various UX design methods and tools.

Bases for Evaluation of Student Performance:

Projects, exercises, quizzes/exams, and class participation/discussions.

Text: To be determined.

revised: 4/2024