In this course, you will learn how to design technologies that bring people joy, rather than frustration. You'll learn several techniques for rapidly prototyping and evaluating multiple interface alternatives -- and why rapid prototyping and comparative evaluation are essential to excellent interaction design. You'll learn how to conduct fieldwork with people to help you get design ideas. How to make paper prototypes and low-fidelity mock-ups that are interactive -- and how to use these designs to get feedback from other stakeholders like your teammates, clients, and users. Armed with these design-thinking strategies, you’ll be able to do more creative human-centered design in any domain.
This course is part of the Interaction Design Specialization
Human-Centered Design: an Introduction
Offered By
About this Course
4.7
1,765 ratings
Skills you will gain
Rapid PrototypingStoryboardingHeuristic EvaluationPaper Prototyping
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
1Introduction
A brief introduction to the topics and goals of this Interaction Design Specialization
6 videos (Total 41 min), 6 readings, 1 quiz
6 videos
Welcome!1m
Human Computer Interaction4m
The Power of Prototyping11m
Evaluating Designs12m
The Birth of HCI8m
6 readings
Sketch Notes: Evaluating Design & The Birth of HCI10m
Connecting with Your MOOC Community10m
Advice and Stories from Former Students10m
Resources from Students10m
How to: Host a Lecture Screening10m
Attend a Meetup10m
Week
2Needfinding
This module’s videos and assignment cover a really important topic: where can you get good design ideas from? Ideas that help you create meaningful designs that have a real impact on real people’s lives. Of course, good ideas come from lots of places. And wherever they come from, great. There are a few strategies I’ve found that are especially valuable, and that’s what we cover in this module’s videos. Given our focus on *real* people, we focus on going out, watching what people do, and talking to them. Check out the first video, describing participant observation. Combining observation with interviewing (the second video) provides a powerful foundation for needfinding and brainstorming.So what happens after you’ve observed a lot of stuff -- how do you connect the high-level needs to concrete design ideas? To help you bridge this gap, this module closes with a video on Creating Design Goals.
4 videos (Total 46 min), 1 reading, 2 quizzes
4 videos
Interviewing11m
Additional Needfinding Strategies11m
Creating Design Goals16m
1 reading
Example Interview Guide10m
1 practice exercise
Learning check-in2m
Week
3Rapid Prototyping
This module's lectures introduce storyboarding and several strategies and media for rapid prototyping, including paper, Wizard of Oz, and video. An important part of the creativity of a designer is to think about how you can rapidly prototype and get feedback on your ideas. Because it's almost never the case that the first idea you have will be the best. As a designer, you can learn the most when you're creating and getting feedback on multiple alternatives. Your work will nearly always benefit from thinking broadly to find the right design, and then from lots of polish to get the design right. Prototyping is also a great way to achieve common ground across the design team and other stakeholders. We begin with storyboards, paper prototyping and mockups.Students often ask about the relationship between needfinding and prototyping: how closely does one flow into the other? Ultimately the quality of your final design is the real measure and there are lots of ways to get there. While most design work benefits from prototypes directly informed by the needfinding process, it's not required. This module seeks to introduce you to doing human-centered design, and walk you through one path that such an approach could take. In both this Specialization and in real life, you are welcome to revise your ideas as much as you like.
4 videos (Total 46 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
4 videos
Wizard of Oz14m
Video Prototyping11m
Creating and Comparing Alternatives8m
1 reading
Sketch Notes: Wizard of Oz10m
Week
4Heuristic Evaluation
With this module's videos, we turn our focus from brainstorming and prototyping to the concrete elements of interaction design. We introduce ten key principles of good design -- like the importance of feedback and helping people recover from errors. We call these heuristics -- watch the first video here. I hope you'll find these heuristics practical and applicable to your work both inside and outside class. The lectures discuss these heuristics with a bunch of examples drawn from real-world designs. The goal is to illustrate the many ways that designs can be successful or run into trouble. While heuristic evaluations (HEs) focus on issues that lead to improvement they can also identify areas we think show successful compliance with a heuristic
5 videos (Total 63 min), 1 reading, 2 quizzes
5 videos
Why and How?16m
Heuristics: Understanding8m
Heuristics: Action9m
Heuristics: Feedback19m
Watch Two Students Do Heuristic Evaluation8m
1 reading
Ten Heuristics Summary Poster10m
1 practice exercise
Cumulative Quiz20m
4.7
31%
83%
25%
Top Reviews
By SM•Feb 28th 2018
This course sustained my interest throughout the videos with lots of practical information and good pacing. I found the assignments to be challenging and fun to do. Really enjoying this course.
By GS•May 16th 2017
I really recommend this course. Even for who is already working as a professional designer. I have 16+ years of experience and still got a lot of good insights on how to improve my workflow.
Instructor
Scott Klemmer
ProfessorCognitive Science & Computer Science
About University of California San Diego
UC San Diego is an academic powerhouse and economic engine, recognized as one of the top 10 public universities by U.S. News and World Report. Innovation is central to who we are and what we do. Here, students learn that knowledge isn't just acquired in the classroom—life is their laboratory.
About the Interaction Design Specialization
You will learn how to design technologies that bring people joy, rather than frustration. You'll learn how to generate design ideas, techniques for quickly prototyping them, and how to use prototypes to get feedback from other stakeholders like your teammates, clients, and users. You'll also learn principles of visual design, perception, and cognition that inform effective interaction design.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
What is the refund policy?
Is financial aid available?
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.
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