Postgraduate Course: The Human Factor - Working with Users (PPLS11007)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | "If the user can't use it, then it doesn't work at all." (Susan Dray) When technical systems that have been crafted in years of painstaking work fail in practice, more often than not this is due to a lack of fit between the complex system, the people who interact with it, and the contexts in which it is used. In the best case, failure is just annoying, in the worst case, it costs lives. |
| Course description |
In this course, we will look at the art and craft of building technical systems that people can actually use successfully. To this end, we will draw on relevant results from anthropology, behavioural, cognitive and social psychology, and sociology. The course will be taught using a 'flipped classroom' - before class, you will watch videos; in class, we will work on a case study together.
Taught by Dr Maria Wolters.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
77 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Mid-term quiz in Week 5 (10%):
Final quiz in Week 10 (10%):
Extended discussion of a case study, 500 words (25%):
Short usability report, 2000 words (55%): |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand how anthropometric, behavioural, cognitive, and social factors (ABCS) affect the interaction between people and technical systems
- Produce design specifications for a human-computer interface together with relevant stakeholders
- Evaluate the usability of a human-computer interface
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Reading List
1. Ritter, Frank E.; Baxter, Gordon D; Churchill, Elizabeth F. (2014): Foundations for Designing User Centred Systems. Springer (main textbook)
2. Preece / Sharp / Rogers: Interaction Design. 3rd Edition. Wiley |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Attend all lectures as scheduled |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Adam Moore
Tel: (0131 6)50 3369
Email: amoore23@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Toni Noble
Tel: (0131 6)51 3188
Email: Toni.noble@ed.ac.uk |
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