User Interfaces and Usability for international programs

Introduction to Programming

Software Engineering

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

1. Understand what good usability is, how user experience relates to it, and which factors contribute to both.

2. Know about the evolution of interfaces and how they led to current practices.

3. Design interactive systems that provide a good usability.

4. Understand the most common usability techniques and evaluation methods.

5. Design and conduct a small user study using basic HCI research methods.

6. Use the findings of a user study to create a conceptual design of an interactive system.

7. Apply design knowledge to most common contemporary interactive environments, such as mobile and web.

8. Realize the designs using a current front-end programming language.

Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., Preece. J. 2023. INTERACTION DESIGN: beyond human-computer interaction. Sixth Edition. Wiley.

Ideo.org (aukeaa uuteen välilehteen)(Opens in a new tab) (2015). The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. PDF available at https://www.designkit.org/resources/1 (aukeaa uuteen välilehteen)(Opens in a new tab)

Other materials announced during the course.

The course involves simple programming exercises and a programming project in Python. Completing the introduction to programming with a passing grade (or equivalent knowledge) is strongly recommended.

This course is taught in person in Lappeenranta and Lahti. The course has some online and blended learning opportunities, but attendance at scheduled course events can be required to pass the course. The course has both individual and teamwork components. Attending to team design events during normal studying hours can be required to pass the course.

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The course is related to UN's sustainable development goals (SDG):

4 quality education, 8 decent work and economic growth, 9 industry, innovation and infrastucture.