Course content

The core of this course is to introduce the students for Design Thinking and they will learn to use it by identifying a problem or a need in a software interface for a defined group of users. The students wil then develop suggested solutions through using creative techniques and make sketches and prototypes and in a systematic way, test these solutions on the primary users of the software. After that, the whole process is repeated partly or as a whole to develop the understanding of iterative and human-centered design methods and thinking.

Topics:
Iterativ user-centered design
Personas and user stories
Development of scenarios
Universal design
Creative techniques
Sketching and prototyping
Systematic User Testing

Learning outcome

Learning outcome — knowledge:
After completing the course, the student will have the following knowledge:


Have fundamental knowledge about what user-centered design is and what phases, methods and principles that is at the core of this design thinking
Have fundamental knowledge about the term user experience, and user interface
Have fundamental knowledge about regulations regarding research ethics and GDPR as it relates to a researcher handling possible person-sensitive data
Have fundamental knowledge about guidelines and best practice regarding universal design and universal access
Have fundamental knowledge about scientific methods and established rules-of-thumb/heuristics as it relates to design, prototyping and testing of user interface development/improvements.

Learning outcome — skills:
After completing the course, the student will have aquired the following skills:
Be able to analyse a end-users needs with regards to a software based system and map out problems with the current solution
Use creative techniques to suggest solutions to established problems/shortcomings
Be able to make sketches and prototypes
Use creative techniques to develop solutions to established problems
Ability to participate in a group-based project
Ability to document a design project in a simple formal report.

Learning outcome — general competence:
Be able to establish a project group, discuss leadership, develop at set of collaborative guidelines and describe the level of ambition and a topic for the project
Analyze and agree on a project topic/task as a group and execute the work according to the syllabus and in such a way that the work represents a suggestion for a real improvement for the selected end-users
Recruit representative end-users that suits the task at hand and perform a test among this group that brings in relevant and reliable data that use useful for the project
Be able to describe and organise the work in the group as a teachnical report

Learning methods and activities

Lectures, video lectures, group-based project, group-based tutoring.

Compulsory assignments

• Initial discussion document
• Description
• Status report 1
• Status report 2
• Reference group report

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

Requires admission to study programs:
Bachelor in Web Development, Bachelor in Interaction Design, Bachelor in Programming and the one year program in Informatics.

Course materials

Course material will be disclosed at the start of the course.