Note: This unit is an archived version! See Overview tab for delivered versions.
COMP5427: Usability Engineering (2015 - Semester 2)
| Unit: | COMP5427: Usability Engineering (6 CP) |
| Mode: | Normal-Day |
| On Offer: | Yes |
| Level: | Postgraduate |
| Faculty/School: | School of Computer Science |
| Unit Coordinator/s: |
Professor Kay, Judy
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| Session options: | Semester 2 |
| Versions for this Unit: | |
| Site(s) for this Unit: |
| Campus: | Camperdown/Darlington |
| Pre-Requisites: | None. |
| Brief Handbook Description: | Usability engineering is the systematic process of designing and evaluating user interfaces so that they are usable. This means that people can readily learn to use them efficiently, can later remember how to use them and find it pleasant to use them. The wide use of computers in many aspects of people’s lives means that usability engineering is of the utmost importance. There is a substantial body of knowledge about how to elicit usability requirements, identify the tasks that a system needs to support, design interfaces and then evaluate them. This makes for systematic ways to go about the creation and evaluation of interfaces to be usable for the target users, where this may include people with special needs. The field is extremely dynamic with the fast emergence of new ways to interact, ranging from conventional WIMP interfaces, to touch and gesture interaction, and involving mobile, portable, embedded and desktop computers. This unit will enable students to learn the fundamental concepts, methods and techniques of usability engineering. Students will practice these in small classroom activities. They will then draw them together to complete a major usability evaluation assignment in which they will design the usability testing process, recruit participants, conduct the evaluation study, analyse these and report the results |
| Assumed Knowledge: | None. |
| Timetable: | COMP5427 Timetable | |||||||||||||||
| Time Commitment: |
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Attributes listed here represent the key course goals (see Course Map tab) designated for this unit. The list below describes how these attributes are developed through practice in the unit. See Learning Outcomes and Assessment tabs for details of how these attributes are assessed.
| Attribute Development Method | Attribute Developed |
| This will be introduced in lectures and developed in both labs and the two assignments. | Design (Level 4) |
| This will be introduced in lectures and developed in both labs and the two assignments. | Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 4) |
| The assignments wil involve guided information seeking. The assignments will provide opportunities to develop these skills, in the particular context of the design task that the student select. | Information Seeking (Level 3) |
| This is developed in the second assignment, presented orally in the presentation and in writing in the report. | Communication (Level 4) |
| This will be a focus on the design of the user studies, with students creating materials for user consent and following ethical processes for user studies. | Professional Conduct (Level 3) |
| The first two assignments will be in small groups, following recommended best pratice for managing software teams, using state-of-the-art software systems to both support the process and make it transparent and accountable. | Project and Team Skills (Level 3) |
For explanation of attributes and levels see Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table.
Learning outcomes are the key abilities and knowledge that will be assessed in this unit. They are listed according to the course goal supported by each. See Assessment Tab for details how each outcome is assessed.
Design (Level 4)
1. Explain the applicability of design techniques learnt for different interface classes
Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 4)
2. Conduct a user study in a professional and ethical manner
3. Design, perform and analyse results of a think-aloud evaluation
4. Conduct usability evaluations using key no-user techniques
5. Describe how to conduct comprehensive summative usability evaluation experiments
6. State the relative strengths and weaknesses key usability evaluation techniques
7. Argue the merits of key usability evaluation techniques for particular contexts
8. Reading in selected advanced topics in usability engineering.
Communication (Level 4)
9. Report a usability study systematically, assessing the strengths and limitations
Professional Conduct (Level 3)
10. Design materials for conducting a user study, including recruitment forms, study protocol, address ethical considerations
Project and Team Skills (Level 3)
11. Work in a team to conduct usability evaluations
12. Work in a team to perform parallel iterative prototyping and usability evaluations
| Assessment Methods: |
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| Assessment Feedback: | Each laboratory session will have activities that are related to the lectures and the assignments. Students will conduct self-assessments of their work as well as peer reviews during class time and via their online group management and portfolio site. They will also be given formative feedback by the tutors in class. There will be feedback on the first assignment, being partly formative for Assignment 2. Best solutions will go into a Hall of Fame so that other students can learn from these. |
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| Grading: |
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| Policies & Procedures: | IMPORTANT: School policy relating to Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism. In assessing a piece of submitted work, the School of IT may reproduce it entirely, may provide a copy to another member of faculty, and/or to an external plagiarism checking service or in-house computer program and may also maintain a copy of the assignment for future checking purposes and/or allow an external service to do so. Other policies See the policies page of the faculty website at http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/student-policies/ for information regarding university policies and local provisions and procedures within the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies. |
| Prescribed Text/s: |
Note: Students are expected to have a personal copy of all books listed.
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| Library e-Reserve: | Please check the Library e-Reserve site for additional course resources. |
| Online Course Content: | The class website will provide additional links to online resources. |
Note that the "Weeks" referred to in this Schedule are those of the official university semester calendar https://web.timetable.usyd.edu.au/calendar.jsp
| Week | Description |
| Week 1 | Introduction: what is usability, test-driven development, Assignment 1 overview |
| Week 2 |
Pragmatic, iterative evaluation: think aloud Reading |
| Week 3 | Usability across interface types: web, desktop, mobile, gestures and touch, speech, brain |
| Week 4 |
Project planning, SSM defining usability requirements Reading |
| Week 5 | Understanding users: card sorting, tree tests, questionnaires, surveys |
| Week 6 |
Understanding users: Focus Groups, interviews Reading |
| Assessment Due: Assignment 1 -- Usability study - in lab | |
| Week 7 | Design: prototyping, designing information architecture, use cases, task analysis, parallel design - Assignment 2 overview |
| Assessment Due: Practice examination assignment | |
| Week 8 | Mid-semester in class quiz |
| Week 9 |
Cognitive issues: Fitts, perception, human factors. Reading |
| Week 10 | No-user techniques: Cognitive Walkthrough |
| Week 11 |
No-user techniques: Heuristic Evaluation. Reading |
| Week 12 | Summative evaluations: design, conduct, statistical analysis |
| Assessment Due: Assignment 2 -- Project presentation, demo | |
| Assessment Due: Assignment 2 -- Design project | |
| Week 13 | Other issues of international users, universal usability |
| Exam Period | Assessment Due: Final exam |
Course Relations
The following is a list of courses which have added this Unit to their structure.
Course Goals
This unit contributes to the achievement of the following course goals:
| Attribute | Practiced | Assessed |
| Design (Level 4) | Yes | 13% |
| Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 4) | Yes | 53% |
| Information Seeking (Level 3) | Yes | 0% |
| Communication (Level 4) | Yes | 20% |
| Professional Conduct (Level 3) | Yes | 12% |
| Project and Team Skills (Level 3) | Yes | 2% |
These goals are selected from Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table which defines overall goals for courses where this unit is primarily offered. See Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table for details of the attributes and levels to be developed in the course as a whole. Percentage figures alongside each course goal provide a rough indication of their relative weighting in assessment for this unit. Note that not all goals are necessarily part of assessment. Some may be more about practice activity. See Learning outcomes for details of what is assessed in relation to each goal and Assessment for details of how the outcome is assessed. See Attributes for details of practice provided for each goal.
