Fifty questions. Tick every right answer, and nothing else.

Modules

1. 01

   Module 1: HCI foundations

   Week 1

   What HCI is, why it matters, and the usability and user experience goals that every later module builds on.

   • What HCI is and why interfaces matter
   • Usability, user experience, utility and usefulness
   • The six usability goals
   • Design rules: standards, guidelines, principles and patterns

2. 02

   Module 2: Perception and cognition

   Week 2

   How people see, attend, remember and decide, and what that means for the interfaces we design.

   • Cognition, information processing and visual perception
   • Gestalt laws of perception
   • Hearing, speech and touch
   • Memory, and why recognition beats recall
   • Attention, decision-making and Fitts Law
   • Emotion, motivation and affective computing

3. 03

   Module 3: Cognitive frameworks, interaction design and PACT

   Week 3

   Mental models, the gulfs and the seven stages of action, user-centred design, lifecycle models and the PACT framework.

   • Cognitive frameworks, mental models and Norman's gulfs
   • Interaction design, user-centred design and the Double Diamond
   • Lifecycle models, Agile UX and the practical issues of design
   • The PACT framework

4. 04

   Module 4: Requirements and data gathering

   Week 4

   Requirement types and MoSCoW, then surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation and diaries.

   • Requirements, their six types and MoSCoW prioritisation
   • Planning data gathering: five key issues and recording
   • Surveys and questionnaires
   • Interviews and focus groups
   • Observation and diary studies

5. 05

   Module 5: Analysis, task analysis and presenting findings

   Week 5

   Contextual inquiry and ethnography, data analysis, HTA and GOMS, use cases, personas and scenarios.

   • Contextual inquiry, ethnography, documentation and choosing techniques
   • Analysing data: quantitative and qualitative
   • Task analysis: hierarchical task analysis and GOMS
   • Presenting findings: use cases, personas and scenarios

6. 06

   Module 6: Conceptual design and prototyping

   Week 6

   Conceptual models, metaphors, interaction types, sketches, storyboards, wireframes and prototype fidelity.

   • Conceptual models and interface metaphors
   • Interaction types and object/operation analysis
   • Envisionment: sketches, storyboards, wireframes and wireflows
   • Prototypes: lo-fi, hi-fi, Wizard of Oz and compromises

7. 07

   Module 7: Prototyping tools, evaluation planning and inspections

   Week 7

   Prototyping tools, planning an evaluation, ethics, heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthroughs and analytics.

   • Prototyping tools, clickthroughs and physical prototyping
   • Planning an evaluation: why, what, where, when
   • Ethics in evaluation with people
   • Inspections: heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough
   • Analytics, A/B testing and model-based evaluation

8. 08

   Module 8: Usability testing, experiments and field studies

   Week 8

   Running usability tests, consent and SUS, experimental designs, and studies in the field.

   • Usability testing: roles, tasks and participants
   • Consent, paperwork, the session and the SUS
   • Experiments, variables and experimental designs
   • Field studies and in-the-wild evaluation

9. 09

   Module 9: Interface types and social interaction

   Week 9

   Command line, GUI and post-WIMP interfaces, conversation, co-presence and groupware.

   • CLI, GUI and post-WIMP interfaces
   • Social interfaces: conversation, remote talk and presence
   • Co-presence, awareness and shareable interfaces

10. 10

    Module 10: Accessibility: colour, contrast and situational impairments

    Week 10

    Colour accessibility, contrast and legibility, and impairments caused by the situation rather than the person.

    • Colour accessibility and colour blindness
    • Contrast, legibility and the problem with blue
    • Situational impairments and sensing users

11. 11

    Module 11: Guest lectures

    Week 11 · not examinable

    Industry guest lectures. This module is not examinable; read it for context only.

    • Guest lecture: mediated social touch
    • Guest lecture: AI personality and user perception

12. 12

    Module 12: Exam format and sample questions

    Week 13

    How the final exam is marked, with every sample question from the exam-prep session.

    • Exam format, scoring and sample questions